Single mother moves to Montreal, forced to wait a month for her furniture

MONTREAL – A single mother’s decision to move from Winnipeg to Montreal turned to a nightmare. Chantel Henderson says she waited more than a month for her furniture and belongings to arrive, and when they did, she says the moving company tried to charge her more than double the estimated price.

“This is supposed to be the living room, as you can see, there’s nothing,” said Henderson when she spoke to Global News at her new NDG apartment on September 24.

Henderson and her daughter left Winnipeg, Manitoba on August 25 and say they never imagined they would have to wait for weeks to get their goods.

“What’s a home if you can’t fill it with anything?” said Henderson, who also worried about the the cold weather approaching while their winter clothes were still stuck in storage.

Henderson said the moving company made promises to deliver on several occasions, but never showed up. When the movers did finally come to her door for the first time, Henderson said the price more than doubled from the estimate.

“Basically this guy comes to me and he’s like, ‘No, no you’re bill’s gonna be $2,000.’ And I’m like that’s not what I agreed to,” said the 32-year-old single mother.

Henderson claims the movers also refused to give her proof that her belongings weighed twice the amount of the initial quote. When she told them she couldn’t pay, she says they simply left with her stuff.

“I’ve never heard of a moving company doing this to anybody, I personally never heard of anyone robbing people and stealing their stuff,” said Henderson.

Henderson booked her move online last May with First Class Van Lines. The Concordia graduate student said she chose that company because of the student discount and best rate.

“I feel like a fool because I feel like I’m smarter than this, but there was just so much going on in my life at that time, I was finishing my bachelor’s degree,” said Henderson, who hopes others learn from her mistake.

A lawyer who works for Montreal-based consumer group Option Consommateur believes this type of practice is common and illegal.

“No matter where you are in Canada, it’s for sure a right to have your contract respected,” said Élise Thériault.

She says moving companies may have the right to keep a customer’s belongings until they pay the bill, but they can’t and add unreasonable fees once the contract is signed.

“I think we can talk about extortion and calling the police is the thing to do,” said Thériault.

Henderson and her daughter tried to file a police report but they were told to pay first, then fight in small claims court.

After reaching the Toronto-based moving company over the phone, an employee from First Class Van Lines promised Global News to bring Henderson’s price down to the estimate since the bad publicity was hurting their company.

After the month-long moving saga, the Henderson family finally got their belongings back, at the estimated price.

“It’s a relief. Finally I don’t have to deal with them any more, this has made me physically sick,” said Henderson.

She hopes her horror story serves as a lesson for people to do their homework before booking a moving company.

“Really, if it looks too good to be true, it really is!”