Midland Van Lines No Longer In Business

In a nutshell... they are unreliable, unresponsive and untruthful . I received 3 different delivery dates starting with May 8- 10 , then May 22, then May 25, when it actually arrived May 29. We chose this company based on their delivery, so we packed accordingly. We then spent the next 3 weeks sleeping on an air mattress, living with one kitchen utensil Not they best way to start a new job. Next they told us a price 3 times the price quoted. Hard to believe that a small apartment with no appliances, couch, bed, dresser and boxes could weigh over 3500 lbs, however once they have your stuff you are at their mercy. Also they insisted on a bank online transfer, visa, cheque not accepted. Hmm hindsight tells me why. Unable to stop payment. We also were in touch with the Better Business Bureau advising them, they have since forwarded a letter to the company however as expected we did not receive any response. After seeing other reviews I do question how they manage to stay in business at all.

We contracted this company to move our furniture across province. Mark gave us a quote and offered to price match any competitor, didn't happen. Mark sent a much smaller truck than was agreed upon and our stuff was piled over 15 feet high. there is a rating for your furniture before it is loaded on, they don't show you anything until its all loaded, when we singed after the truck was loaded we saw that every piece of furniture was listed as previously damaged or worn. Once they had our belongings, they jacked up the price and included a over 500.00 in fees. Mark Told us 7-10 business days, didn't happen. They jacked up the price once they had our stuff. They demanded immediate payment over the phone or they would not deliver our stuff even though the contract clearly stated that the payment was a certified Cheque upon delivery. No two bills will ever line up! No one will answer your calls or emails. We have given copies of all emails and bills to the RCMP and Visa. If you are being jerked around by this company don't pay cash for anything notify your credit card Company ahead of paying them, Our Credit Cards fraud-department began Monitoring, Our furniture was over a month late ( no furniture, no clothes, no fridge, no stove, no washer, no dryer, just what we brought in the car) Keep your inventory list and check off each Item yourself. Don't allow the driver to rush you. Any missing Items have the driver document them on both inventory lists. If you have to block them in with your car and call the police, do so. Please, If this company is screwing you around, Report them to your local RCMP or Police. If you are looking for a moving company read the reviews ask around do your homework.

I used Midland Vanlines contacted Mark Califf after getting 5 different quotes of 3000-5000 dollars. Told Mark how big our home was as well as the size of our family. Also told Mark the amount of belongings we had and what was in the boxes and all our furniture. Mark then purposely under quoted us at 1800 dollars I asked him why so cheap he said and I quote "because your wife is a government employee and we do not just pick up on family we do multiple pickups" so I said if you are sure we will not have to go with UHAUL. After Midland picked up our belongings they told us once everything got to Lethbridge that it would not cost an extra 3500 dollars. I asked why we did not get any weigh scale tickets at all to prove the weight of this arbitrary cost. I also told Steve at this point that he purposely under quoted so that he could in fact extort even more money out of us. We have filed complaints against the BBB Consumer Affairs as well as the Competition Bureau. We are even filing a complaint with the RCMP for fraud and extortion. Please for all who read this do not call these people use UHaul or if you have the money use a more reputable service! Oh by the way we paid before hand and the drivers did not put any amount where it says amount owing so they knew we were under the impression that it would be only 1800 dollars/

The following are the emails I have sent to this company none of them have gotten a response and when I phone no answers are provided:

MARCH 31

Hello Mark,

Thanks for your help so far. The movers were terrific last night - doing a great job loading the truck with our set/props/costumes.

I just want to confirm the delivery time with you.

We will need the shipment to arrive at the Mady Centre (1 Dunlop Street, West - Barrie, ON) on Sunday, April 6th around noon.

If you can confirm that delivery time for me that would be great.

Best,

Peter

APRIL 2

Hey Mark,

Just following up on the email below.

Please confirm the delivery time as soon as possible.

Order # is 0147

Best,
Peter

APRIL 4

Hello Mark,

It is extremely frustrating that I haven't gotten a response to the emails below. Not only that - but I've called and spoken to two different people who can't give me any information on my shipment.

I need to know by the end of today - exactly where my shipment is and when it is estimated to arrive in TO.

As you know it is a set for a theatre production. We have a crew coming to the theatre on Sunday to install the set. If the set isn't there it will put our entire production schedule in jeopardy.

Please get back to me TODAY with the information I need.

Best,
Peter

APRIL 4 (again)

I need someone to call be back before the end of business today.

It is imperative that our shipment be delivered this weekend. And we need to figure out how to make that happen.

604.XXX.XXX

Best,
Peter

APRIL 4

This is so so so so frustrating.

The lovely people who work in the office can not get me any helpful information at all - and we need information to help minimize the disaster that is about to befall our theatre company if this shipment doesn't get to its destination on time.

WHOEVER IS READING THESE EMAILS I NEED A RESPONSE!!!!

Questions I would like answered:

A - when did the shipment leave Vancouver?
B - where is it right now
C - why is it delayed
D - what is the best and worst case scenario for delivery.

Again - this shipment contains the set, props and costumes for our entire show. In order for the show to be ready for an audience on Thursday evening we need the set at the theatre as soon as possible. It takes a full day to put the set together, a full day to focus the lights once it is installed and a day to work with the actors/technicians/musicians that are involved.

Not getting this set on time f**ks our company completely.

I'm sure we can sort out a plan to deal with this but not without adequate information.

If the set arrives on Sunday as planned - great
If the set arrives on Monday - a delay we can deal with
If the set arrives on Tuesday - we start having to deal with costs of overtime for technicians/cast/crew in order to have the show ready
If the set arrives on Wednesday - it is a major set back - barely doable
If the set arrives on Thursday - we keep our fingers crossed that by some miracle we can pull the show together on time.
If the set arrives on Friday - it's useless to us - costing us tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue and payouts for services we no longer need.

I need someone at Midland to go to get on the phone - call me - call the shippers - call the train company - call everyone they can possibly imagine until we have the answers to these questions and I need it to be done NOW. The longer we have to wait for answers the more screwed we are.

Be a good person - help us out.

We have people getting on planes tomorrow morning to begin work on this show.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RESPOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter

It is now APRIL 7 and I still have no answers to my questions and no idea when my shipment is to arrive.

Do not give yourself this stress. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

I am very unsatisfied with this moving company. I contacted them received quote $595 from Mark. It's a small one bedroom apt. No sofa/TV/dinning set as we already sold them. Once I paid $100 for booking, they are no longer available by phone or by email. They used to response by email before booking but after $100 is paid it has become impossible to get touch with them. It rings and then go to voice mail. I had to call 20 - 30 times a day to get hold of someone. So, once I got Mark, he said truck will be in between 27th to 29th Jan to pickup my furnitures. I waited, waited they never show up. ON the other hand I already bought ticket for 31st Jan to go to Toronto. OK, Mark then said they will come on 31st Jan. Even though I told him I am flying on that day, he did not really care. huh ... the truck then arrived on 30th Jan with an one hour notice. They came and picked up furnitures. Thanks God. We then came to Toronto on our specified time on 31st. When we were making deal with Midland, Mike told there is no hidden fee involved. It is straight first 500 lb is $350 and the rest is 40 cent/pound plus $45 for scaling. Thats the deal. We estimated the weight could be 1000 to 1200 lb. They delivered my furniture on 8th Feb. And amazing!!! .... they showed me the weight is 2800 lb. Can you believe? They cant explain why. I had to pay for it. After that when I attempt to contact someone named Sophia receives the call and I never get Mark. She says she passes my msg to Mark as he is busy! Needless to say, they never reply email.
This is the way they are doing business!

Midland did an excellent job. My wife and I could not be more satisfied.

This was a short move from Toronto to Ottawa. We needed someone to move our house hold items to Ottawa in a short time period and with next to no notice. The guys that came to the house were very kind and respectful.

Mark was the sales representative and was very detailed and accurate in describing the services that would be provided. (We had obtained quotes from three different movers.) He was also very good about getting back to us when we had questions. Midland was the only vendor to give us a "price match guarantee" and it was still very competitive. The moving guys were so efficient packing the truck and unloading. They wrapped everything carefully, loaded it gently, and unloaded our belongs into the desired rooms in Ottawa.

We highly recommend Midland Van Lines. They actually made it a pleasurable experience hard to imagine (for a move), but true.