The Backstory to our Nightmare
This is the experience every homeowner dreads: the moving company from hell that over-charges, abuses the customer, and causes serious damage to valuable possessions. Move Seniors Lovingly did all that, and more. They claim they “wrote the book on senior move transition services.” What they wrote for us was a horror story. We have the pictures to prove it! Read about our story below so you can avoid Move Seniors Lovingly and the cost and heartache this company inflicted on us.
Their website boasted a sensitive and supportive hand for seniors going through a downsizing move. We thought we could trust them. Afterall, what kind of company would stake their reputation on making things easier for seniors and then do everything possible to turn their move into a living hell? But Move Seniors Lovingly did just that.
I paid them their 50 percent deposit, which amounted to thousands of dollars. On moving day, the truck and the crew that showed up were from a different moving company entirely — something called Niko Moving. I had never heard of them, and had no idea whether they could be trusted with our move. But by that time, we had no choice.
Before I agreed to the contract, Move Seniors Lovingly assured us they would follow the highest standards when it comes to COVID-19 public health measures. Ontario was struggling with the third wave of the virus and, as seniors, we were very concerned about our safety. The movers didn’t wear masks properly, and often not at all. They never sanitized their hands. They didn’t practice social distancing when they were interacting with us. They spent a lot of time on their phones instead of doing the move. We repeatedly had to ask them to stop placing drinks and tools on our fine wood furniture.
Early on, they knocked over a stack of boxes, which crashed to the floor with a terrible thud. I called the company to express concerns about their carelessness. The next thing I knew, three large, angry men were shouting at me in my bedroom, just inches from where I was standing, and demanding to know why I complained. It was very upsetting to say the least.
It soon became clear that the two trucks they arrived with would be too small to accommodate the move of a large home. Sure enough, they ran out of room and couldn’t finish the job, so they left after three hours. Arrangements had to be made for them to return a second day to finish the move. Even then, they arrived with one truck and two men and ran out of room again by the end of the day. We had to leave some of our things behind because they couldn’t fit them in the small truck.
Think it was bad to this point? You haven’t seen anything yet.
The company’s president demanded that I pay the bill he had illegally inflated by thousands of dollars above the quoted price, or he would call the police to force me to pay.
The next business day after the move, I wrote to the company to complain about the conduct of the movers and express fears about the condition of all the furnishings and possessions we had entrusted to storage with Move Seniors Lovingly. I was really worried that the mishandling of our items had caused serious damage. But I had no idea about the full extent of the costly nightmare that was ahead of us at the hands of this company.
All I got back from my complaint was a huge bill that was much larger than the estimate. They charged us for an additional day when they caused the problem by sending too small a truck in the first place. They charged for three men when only two showed up. I asked for an explanation. What I got instead was an email from the company’s president, Brian Salnek, threatening to call the police to force us to pay the bill that was thousands of dollars over what it should have been and to dispose of all the furniture we had entrusted to their storage. Ontario law prevents a mover from charging more than 10 percent above the contract estimate unless the customer agrees to the increase. Our contract explicitly stated no additional charges would be billed unless specifically authorized by me. Move Seniors Lovingly neither sought my authorization for the thousands in extra charges they invoiced, nor received it. The company’s president, Brian Salnek, lied about obtaining my permission for the extra charges, but was unable to provide any proof when pressed to do so. If that’s not the definition of a sleazy mover, I don’t know what is.
Even though the company’s bill was paid in full, they refused to allow access to our furniture and possessions. Then they threatened to dispose of everything if we didn’t withdraw our complaints to the BBB and the Ontario consumer protection watchdog. In the end, we had to pay thousands more for a lawyer to make this company release our goods in storage and thousands after that to have another company move them to our new home.
Not satisfied with its billing shakedown, Move Seniors Lovingly pulled another stunt. Prior to the move, we told them we would need to have our furniture and possessions stored for a brief time before they could be taken to our new home. The company said they could provide their own storage facility, which they told us was more secure than a self-storage. They said it would cost twice as much as the going rate for a self-storage unit. It was very expensive, but we decided to have Move Seniors Lovingly store our goods in order to ensure they were properly cared for and protected while we were waiting to move into our new home. But as it turns out, there was no Move Seniors Lovingly storage. It was just another deception, like having that other moving company show up to do the move when we knew nothing about them. Move Seniors Lovingly didn’t have its own storage. They used a self-storage facility, just like any ordinary consumer. Worse still, they put our furniture and possessions in storage under their name, giving them ultimate control over everything we had. They refused to allow us access to our goods, including computers, medical devices and business records. They repeately refused to tell us the location of the storage facility. Why do you think they did this? Read on…
How’s this for extortion?
Move Seniors Lovingly refused to give us access to our furniture and possessions in storage, including computers, business records and medical devices, which they had placed in a self-storage facility under Brian Salnek’s name. We didn’t owe them any money. We had paid their inflated bill for moving and storage. But they said unless we withdrew and abandoned all complaints against them, they would dispose of everything we had. For weeks, we couldn’t move into our new home because Move Seniors Lovingly refused to let us have access to our own goods. We had to live in a hotel at a cost of thousands more.
Move Seniors Lovingly had another gun to our heads, just as they did when they forced us to pay their moving bill that was thousands over the quoted price. We had to hire a lawyer for several thousand dollars just to find out where they had stored our goods, and eventually get access to them. What a nightmare! But as we discovered after we had another company move our goods out of storage, the nightmare didn’t end there.
The damage to our furniture was beyond description.
Just Who Is Move Seniors Lovingly?
Just who is Move Seniors Lovingly? After we hired them, another company called Niko Moving showed up. We didn’t know anything about them. They were rude, didn’t follow Covid-19 public health guidelines and were careless with our possessions. They ran out of room on the truck because they miscalculated our space requirements. People like to know just who is handling their important possessions. Why did Move Seniors Lovingly use these people? Why did they not tell us that they would be using another moving company before they arrived?
Where is Move Seniors Lovingly located? They claim their “head office” is 122 Kenwood Avenue in Toronto. Here’s a Google photo of that residential location. Is this a serious business, or just a way of ripping off seniors like us?
Franchise Prospects Alert!
Believe it or not, Move Seniors Lovingly claims on its website that franchises are available in various parts of Ontario. Are they serious? They can’t even handle a single move like this one with care and integrity. Who would want to be a part of a wrecking team like this?
More to Come
Can an ordinary citizen/customer make a difference? Are we heard by the regulators and gatekeepers who are suppposed to watch companies like this for improper business practices?
Keep watching this site for updates on our campaign and our formal complaints. And more about the staggering cost to have our things replaced and repaired.