If you care about how your furniture is handled, be wary about using VASY!!!
I am a 71 year old living in Ontario. My daughter was moving from Halifax to Ottawa and she asked me to research and select a moving company for her. One of the reasons for selecting VASY was that their quote to me contained this clause “Wrapping all furniture with moving blankets for better protection, including tape to secure, plastic cover for mattresses”. This was what I expected from all professional movers, so I gave VASY my deposit.
On moving day, the truck and two helpers showed up late at 6:06PM. They said they were delayed because their first pickup was much larger than expected. My first clue to their lack of professional moving experience was when they walked through my daughter’s carpeted house without putting down covers on the floors like all professional movers do. I hoped that everything else would be OK. I noted that they only had 3 blankets.I then noted there was only 6 1/2 feet of space left on the truck.
I said to the driver that all the furniture must be wrapped properly and that the space would not likely be enough. I looked in the back of the truck and saw how some of the furniture at the back from the previous pickup was not wrapped in blankets as they should have been. I asked the driver about this and he said don't worry about how the other customer's furniture looked. I was worried.
The driver spent about 15-20 minutes talking to someone in the VASY Montreal office and the other helper indicated that they were being asked by VASY to make room on the truck. The driver said "I could cram a lot more stuff in this truck". I said to the driver that if he could secure blankets from somewhere and also show me how he could repack the other customer's stuff to make room, and ensure me that our furniture would be properly wrapped, then he should proceed. He then said “I am tired and leaving”. He then abruptly got in his truck and left at 6:38pm, approx 30 mins after arriving.
We were stunned by the driver’s action as we needed the house to be empty for the next afternoon. Later, Mike from VASY called me with an apology and he also confirmed that the first pickup was greater than expected. Mike tried to get us another truck, but could not in the timeframe we needed for pickup and delivery.
I and my daughter then frantically contacted several local moving companies and we were very fortunate to find someone who had a large moving truck going to Toronto, and they could fit our stuff on, and do the Ottawa delivery a day later than we needed. We had no choice but to take this offer, even though it required an extra day. After packing everything in their truck, they confirmed to me that all of our belongings would have never fit on the space that was left on the VASY truck.
When I arrived in Ottawa with my daughter, I received another email from Mike. He said his driver told him “a different story”. The driver now said to Mike that he had plenty of room on the truck and that I argued with him for 2 hours and he then decided to leave because he was tired of arguing with me. Mike also said that I was a "picky" customer. I have witnesses that the driver was only at my house for approx 30 minutes and that the driver was arguing with his dispatcher in Montreal for most of the time. I was merely trying desperately to have the driver understand the situation and find a solution so that my daughter’s furniture could get safely moved to Ottawa as we needed to vacate the house. I have 2 witnesses who will confirm I did not argue with the driver.
I was shocked with this email from Mike. I emailed him back and informed him that his driver was not truthful. I also told him that their screw-up had cost my daughter money for extra hotel night, lost day of work and increased moving expenses. I asked Mike to please send me back the $150.00 deposit as they did not do the move as stated in our contract. I indicated to Mike that calling us "picky" was not very professional. I asked him if he would allow his own personal furniture to be moved without proper wrapping. I told him I doubted this.
After 1 week, not hearing back from Mike at VASY, I followed up with another email requesting my $150.00 refund. All my emails to Mike at VASY have been ignored. If the amount in question was higher, I would be taking VASY to Court. Instead, I have documented what truthfully happened with my daughter’s VASY experience and hope that others will have a better experience than we had.
In retrospect, I wish I had selected a professional moving company rather than VASY. The extra $ this cost were more than worth it.
My recommendation is to be very wary if you decide to use VASY as your mover. In my mind, they are unprofessional, unethical, and not to be trusted.
