When can you say you are happy with your movers? We had great sucess with Sean and Cody. They were…read morea few minutes late but called to inform us. Everything was moved carefully and they put down protection for the floors. There were more than helpful and the price was great. No hidden costs. I will update with phone number when I can get settled into my downsized home. He is in the book, give him a call.

BEWARE is the best advice I can offer after two experiences with TALO…read more This is what I have learned to expect from them: They will be late. On the first move, they were 3 hours late because a driver had called in sick. That can happen, and I thought it forgivable. Two years later on the second move, they were 4 hours and 40 minutes late. Again "a driver called in sick". Apologies were offered on both occasions, but that did nothing to mitigate the exhaustion experience by this senior caused by a 9-hour moving day for a 550 square foot space. They will lose something. On the first move, vacuum cleaner attachments went missing. I didn't notice this until the next day so too late to report. On the second move, two woven baskets and a 3-foot silk plant went missing. This I noticed and reported within an hour of the team leaving but I received only repeated assurances of how important my concern was and how "Our top priority as your go-to home moving company is the protection and safety of your possessions". Nice words, no action. There will be damage to something. On the first move, it was minimal. The leg of a dresser was loosened and bent and the frame of a folding table was slightly bent. On the second move, there was damage to a leg on each of two recliners, a chip out of a wooden kitchen table, and slight damage to the finish of a TV stand. Again, I was far too tired to notice these things before the team left, so too bad for me. The team will be friendly and personable. Fairness demands that I report the good as well as the negative. Justin and Jason were both very pleasant to deal with and are good ambassadors for TALO. This is the first negative review I have ever posted in any circumstance but conscience dictates that I alert unsuspecting potential clients of the pitfalls that I met with on two separate encounters with Take A Load Off Moving Ltd.

Don't ever us this company on a long weekend! Their regular people call in sick and they scramble…read moreto find any warm body they can. Doesn't matter if they are experienced or brand new to moving, the replacements are the worst movers I've ever experienced. I've had numerous moves for over 50 years. The company appeared to be competent and well organized professionals but moving day was the worst ever. The "manager" threw the bosses plan out the window and did as he pleased. Many antiques were damaged. It took them 12 hours to load drive 5 minutes and unload. I could go on but I'd like to forget this experience. Just don't hire them on a long weekend.

Yikes. I called and a man forwarded my call to Chris the 'estimator'. I explained to Chris I…read moreneeded 2 guys for 2 hours to move boxes. Chris said the minimum was 3 guys for 3 hours because of the elevator. I explained I would look after the elevator and didn't need three guys. Chris said I need to understand that's their company policy. I replied I hope he can undersand customers don't want to overpay for services they don't need, and asked if he'd consider sending just 2 guys because I'd be there to help. At that point, he hung up on me. I called back, thinking I would get the first guy again. Unfortunately, it was Chris that again answered. I asked him if he hung up on me and he said yes, because he doesn't need people telling him how to do his job. Thankfully, there's loads of movers in the marketplace and no need to deal with this type of attitude in the business community.

First, let me say that Scott, my moving consultant, was a really polite and helpful guy--before the…read morecompany received my money. He was very available by phone, text, and email to answer my questions. He even delivered complimentary boxes and wrap paper to my location twice. After the move and money was paid, however, he ignored my emails and didn't take my call. I was moving into a high-rise condominium building. The service I received from Arrowsmith for the actual move, particularly the move-in, was abysmal. Here is a brief rundown of the main problems I had: 1. In contravention of the strata rules, the two movers delivering my goods refused to wear masks in the building lobby and hallways, as well as in my suite--despite my asking them twice to do so. Further, the contract I negotiated explicitly states, in red ink, that the movers must wear masks. 2. The movers initially placed their unloading ramp laterally across the tenant driveway access to the parkade, and stacked goods in an intermediate holding location which was right in the path of residents entering the lobby. The building concierge and security guard informed them that neither of these strategies, which would have been more convenient for the movers but contravened strata rules and presented an obstacle and hazard to other residents, was permitted. The response from the movers was to eventually comply, but not before arguing with the management, threatening to "blacklist" the building, and loudly making angry remarks such as, "This is ridiculous," "This is the worst building I have ever worked at, and "It will take us ten hours to unload because of these restrictions." To me, they said "We are going to leave and put all your stuff in storage." Apparently after calling their office, they reneged and continued unloading, barking at me "You are going to be charged extra for this." They finished in a total of two hours, although they hastily and carelessly dumped the goods into my suite, as you shall see. (As of yet, I have not been charged extra.) 3. The movers left three items of furniture which Arrowsmith disassembled at pickup--two bookcases and a large dining room table--on the floor in my living room unassembled. The dining room table finished surface was left face down on the floor with no padding or protection. Glass shelves were stacked on top of each other up against floor-to-ceiling glass windows with no padding or protection. 4. The movers marked the laminate in the master bedroom when moving in a dresser (see image). 5. Several screws and a caster were missing from the unassembled bookcases. 6. I was charged the full ferry fare ($700) for their truck (from Vancouver Island to the mainland and back) even though, according to the movers themselves, they had three other deliveries on the mainland. 7. Finally, my emails to the company asking for someone to return and assemble the furniture were ignored. I finally hired another moving company to come and assemble my furniture. UPDATE: The owner of Arrowsmith contacted me about a week after the move. I subsequently received a cheque from Arrowsmith for the cost of hiring the second company, and $50 for the laminate floor.

My move was so easy. Very hard working and on time. Highly…read morerecommend and would hire again! They were calm throughout entire move. N. Butler

From the owner: Our business specializes in going above and beyond for our customers. We take great pride in being…read morean established business in the town with a heart, also known as Port Alberni. Our abilities are wide-ranging from doing simple home moves to more experienced, lengthy moves that include items such as pianos, safes and boats. Our company also provides self-storages in a variety of sizes. Please feel free to give us a call anytime and we'd love to answer any questions you may have.

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! broke a bunch of stuff. Don't show up when they say they will, over and…read moreover. Broke one of the specific items we asked them to take extra care with.

This was not a positive experience. We booked this company…read morefor our move from the mainland to Vancouver Island because they're a small business and they offered storage in their warehouse at their location. This was a benefit to us as we had not found a house yet and felt it would be a bonus to have our belongings at the movers location and then when we purchase a new house our items could be transported from the warehouse to our new home. Four days before the move, we called Tamara, the owner of the company to confirm that the moving crew would have wardrobe boxes for our hanging items and that our belongings would be held at their warehouse for $300 per month. She confirmed this. On the day of the move Tamara arbitrarily decided that our belongings would be transported to a public storage location an hour from our new location. The movers told us that they weren't sure where our items were going - Parksville or Coombs or ? When I spoke to Tamara the day after the move, she told us she had run out of space and could not accommodate our belongings at the warehouse. She gave us the location and gate code of the new location once the invoice was paid. We paid the invoice the day it was emailed to us. The invoice was $700 higher than quoted. And the company's website lists that there are no "additional or hidden fees". There were. There was an extra $50 charged for mattress covers. Additionally, the movers could not find any wardrobe boxes on their truck. Eventually they found one. The majority of our hanging items were squished into regular boxes. We visited the storage facility a few days after our items had arrived. The monthly rate is $350 per month and not the $300 that Tamara quoted. When I spoke to Tamara the day after the move and told her of our concerns I asked her if there was a way we could turn this into a more positive experience. She accused me of trying to get money off the bill (which was $700 higher than quoted), and told me that I was "nitpicking" and I was "just one of those customers". My intention is not to sabotage Sunrise Moving. We picked this company because of the warehouse storage and we wanted to support a small business. If I had seen the F rating on Better Business Bureau or the D rating on Yelp I would have gone with a different mover. My hope is that my review might help others who are thinking of choosing a mover and that hopefully, Tamara will learn from this and change the way she treats people. Sadly, I doubt this will be the case. This will be my last comment on the matter.

BEWARE. I hired them to store my household goods for 5 months in a so called heated warehouse. When…read moremy goods were restored to me, they had obviously been stored outside in a leaky container. Everything I owned was sodden and covered with black mold, ruined books, ruined original artwork, moldy carpets and clothing. EVERYTHING had to be washed and cleaned, some things professionally. Some of my furniture was gouged. Not only that but many of my treasured items were missing, presumed stolen....gifts from my deceased parents, kitchenware, art work, a shelving unit, gardening tools, the list goes on. I was still finding out after a year things I was missing. I would NEVER hire this company in one million years. Only got a third of my costs through small claims. BEWARE. I wish I had read these before I ever hired them.

BEWARE. Household possessions which were to be stored "in a heated warehouse" for 5 months, were…read moredelivered, covered in black mould, wet and sodden. They had stored my stuff outside in a leaking c-can. EVERYTHING I owned had to be washed. Every spoon, sock, book, everything. Ruined artwork, warped books, and worst of all a whole load of missing items, that can never be replaced. Gifts from my deceased mother and old friends, missing artwork, kitchen ware, shelving unit, garden tools, etc. I was still discovering missing items over a year later. Had to take them to small claims court. It was an absolute NIGHTMARE. BEWARE.

If there was a zero star option, that is what i eould choise…read more I had the absolute worst experience. Severe damage to several pieces of furniture is the least of the issues. Try DOUBLE the rate for the move out...estimated at 6 hours and took 11.25. Try a move in crew that apparently could not read and left clearly marked FRAGILE boxes under tool boxes in the garage. Or boxes marked KITCHEN in the garage. Or bookshelves left at odd angles and not up against the walls. Add to that being verbally threatened by the guy in charge and you may understand why in my opinion you should stay clear of this company. I paid way less 3 years ago to have 2 5 ton trucks move me over here from Maple Ridge.

this company was the worst moving experience ever. items were broken and the service was awful…read more don't use them at all.

In general, I don't review a business the first time that I deal with them, because I'd rather get…read moreconsistently excellent service than service that's outstanding one day and lacking another. This is an exception, since I'm writing a review after my initial experience; however, I've given 4 stars instead of 5 only because of my limited knowledge. To start, I found All Around on Yelp, where they have a number of 5-star reviews, but none are recommended - filtered out by software. Most, if not all, look legitimate to me, and only two are by the same user, but were submitted in different years. As a "geek", I find software algorithms useful: I'm not criticizing Yelp, and I understand that staff can't override the software. However, the end result - no recommended reviews - does not appear to reflect Yelpers' experience with this vendor. I messaged the business on Yelp late in the evening just before the end of a month (the busiest time for movers), and before long, the owner messaged me back. His response time was far faster than that of a competitor whom we've used before and could use again to move a piano. My aim was to have a piano, which we'd loaned to an aging musician in a care facility, moved, as he wasn't coming back, and passed away. Despite leaving and getting voicemail, we'd been unable to talk directly with staff. As luck would have it, Laird not only knew the facility, but a senior staff member, and when I left him a message, he quickly called back and agreed to the piano staying over the weekend. Meanwhile, we could arrange to donate the piano to benefit the community, rather than bringing it home - saving us money in the long run. The crew of two led by Rory was just as professional and helpful as Laird. Although we have no immediate plans to move, I'd definitely contact All Around if we needed help to rearrange big pieces of furniture like a Murphy bed, and highly recommend them.

From the owner: Our Team specializes in complete household setup…read more We deliver, assemble, and setup almost all your store purchases: Television Packages, Appliances, Garage Door Openers, Gazebos, BBQs, RTA Furniture, Picture Hanging, Garden Sheds, and More! We are assembly experts with many years experience as residential & commercial movers, which makes us a one stop shop for all your household needs! We provide the following services: Secure Packing & Unpacking, Hauling & Deliveries, Piano Moving, Home Setup, Office Setup, Exercise/Gym Setup, Household Item Assembly, Picture Hanging, Down-sizing & Estate clearance.