Van Lines Direct – Toronto based moving company

If  you’re looking to crank your stressful moving experience up a  few thousand percent, contact these thieves. Our friend hired these shysters after sending his information into one of those sites that will throw your moving request out to a whole bunch of moving companies who basically contact the mover with promises they don’t keep. This is a cautionary tale about these companies. Our friend is kicking himself now!

RED FLAG!  They didn’t show up when they were supposed to. The definite “time” of arrival turned into a “window” the day before the pick up. The window was open pretty wide. He was actually starting to feel relieved that they hadn’t showed up so he could get a better company when they finally pulled up.

RED FLAG! The company has a Grasshopper 800 number, our friend later finds out. The requested time for drop off on the other end is ignored. They call from the road two weeks early to inform our friend that they need an address to deliver to which was already told to them on the original order. WTF?

RED FLAG! Here’s what you really need to know; this is when our friend finds out the company has doubled the moving cost estimate and is holding our friend’s contents hostage. This move has really turned into a sickening ride. As of the time of this post, he doesn’t know where his contents are and is pretty confident anything breakable is demolished or sold or….

RED FLAG! This is a bad company with a new name. So many new names! Our friend’s company contact says her name is Tuana Ozturk. She also goes by Tuana Turk. Tuana seems to be having problems with her company email right after he books with them. He keeps getting his emails bounced back. Then, the call with the “damage” due comes – the price has skyrocketed. Somehow they’ve ignored that he’s already given them his credit card information which is good. Fictitious new fees have been added to the bill. He told them he doesn’t have that kind of money. Now there are threats. Tuana likes to make threats – lots of threats. Our friend has contacted the police and the BBB – now he’s contacting a lawyer.

RED FLAG! When they’re trying to send new payment collection forms her email has changed from Tuana Ozturk (tuana@vanlinesdirect.com) to Tuana Ozturk (ulusoy.tugba@hotmail.com) because of “technical difficulties.” (We have to wonder if  this company is also behind some of the Nigerian barrister emails we all get spammed with!) Yes. Let’s all send personal credit information to this hotmail account. SKETCHY MUCH?

As of right now, our friend has no idea where his belongings are. He’s trying to go online to report these people but they’re so “new” that they don’t exist on any major site lists yet. They will shortly. We will help him warn people to avoid this crock of crooks like the plague!

Take our friend’s warning – do your research and avoid scam artists like Van Line(s) Direct. Spread the word about this bunch of scam artists. He took a picture of their truck when they showed up because he immediately knew hiring this company was the worst move he’s ever made – note that a completely different company name is on this old rust bucket.

Now lawyers are going to be involved. Was it worth it? No. Our friend’s advice? Don’t move. If you have to, talk to people, don’t trust companies on their contracted promises. His #1 advice?

Avoid Van Line(s) Direct with no head office when you ask for it, and tell anybody who is looking for a mover to run like hell from:

http://www.vanlinesdirect.com

Van Lines Direct: 1-888-387-7199

Van Lines Direct: 416-572-3922

Van Lines Direct Fax: 647-777-7776

Mobile Contact: 416-970-9614

Run. Like. Hell. from this company!

UPDATE:

Legal and Police help had to be called in. In the beginning of this abhorrent company’s fraudulent behaviour, police were contacted and declared this “a civil matter” until our friend found an officer who knew what he was talking about. In Canada, “Colour of Right“ determines ownership of property. This scenario from the get-go was “Theft by Conversion.” Van Line(s) Direct STOLE our friend’s property, ignored the legal authorities trying to mediate and eventually got their asses kicked by the police. Police tracked their information down to a VIRTUAL OFFICE.

WTF? A moving company that doesn’t have an office?

That’s because you, me or any yahoo can rent a trailer like the one above. They’re not a real moving company.

It seemed the storage facility  Van Line(s) Direct used to hide our friend’s belongings was looking forward to the fallout. Van Line(s) Direct refused to tell our friend where his contents were and deliberately let the storage payments lapse after the first month. When police contacted the storage facility they said they were going to auction off the contents. The police informed them that they were not entitled to auction off stolen goods so they’d better get on board. Right up to the very last minute police were involved in getting the storage company to turn the goods over to our friend and he’s eternally grateful to the officers who took the time to research statutes, make calls, check, check and double check our friend’s legal consumer rights.

Once the police had the storage company turn the units over to our friend, the storage company handed over a list of phone numbers that Tuana had given them as contact numbers for our friend. 444-5555 was one. Our friend’s cell number with one number wrong was another. There were four phone numbers, all deliberately wrong. The storage place said Tuana had instructed them to phone her if our friend showed up. Despite being given the ultimatum of releasing the goods to our friend directly to the storage company or being charged with multiple counts of theft and fraud, Tuana ignorantly believed she was above the Law.

Stolen property.

Extortion.

Fraud.

Make sure you remember those three words if you’re considering using Van Line(s) Direct.

If you’re going through this or any moving company, make sure the police know about

http://www.lawyers.ca/statutes/criminal_code_of_canada_theft.htm

http://yourlaws.ca/criminal-code-canada/322-theft

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/01/13/bc-moverextortion.html

Know your company, know your rights and know a good lawyer to sue for damages when crooks like these people (who apparently don’t know how to speak or write English) are trying to screw you over.

We know they’re one of many unscrupulous moving companies. It took over a dozen police officers and a dozen lawyers who didn’t know about consumer rights to find one who knew his stuff. Know your rights. Make sure the authorities you deal with know your rights, even if you have to show them where to look it up now that one smart cop stepped up to the plate.

Our friend was told by one officer, “You gave them your stuff.”

“Not so,” said our saviour cop, “It’s no different than asking someone to watch your house while you’re on vacation and coming home to an empty house. It’s theft.”

So, if you’re going through total bullshit with Van Line(s) Direct (the company name you make the cheque out to is different than the company name – we never know when to or not to use the “S”!), we hope you get some help here that you might not have been getting with the legal avenues who didn’t know or care.

Save your emails to and from them.

Save those texts.

Document all telephone conversations with them.

Take pictures of your goods and the truck and the people loading it; get the license plate numbers, check drivers’ licenses if you want – cover your bases.

Charge them.

Sue them.

For our Alberta readers, the police know about the Fair Trading Act – you can look it up on the Service Canada site. It’s a consumer protection act that prevents companies from charging over 10% of their original quote to you. One lawyer also advised, “If you pay them, be sure to write ‘Paid Under Protest’ so that a court will know it was your last resort.”

LOOKING FOR A RECOMMENDATION FOR MOVERS?

Our friend took a chance on Owner Operated and is thrilled to report honesty and integrity. They took pictures of damaged items. They wrapped things in blankets. They let our friend get other people to help unload and make the process quicker and easier. They were more than affordable. They do long and short hauls. They showed up on time. They covered the flooring with mats so as not to damage it. They spoke only English. They were polite. They didn’t take one break. They got the job done and done right. They even re-weighed our friend’s goods and lo ‘n behold – they did not weigh nearly as much as the scam artists at Van Line(s) Direct reported. Thousands of pounds less. Here’s what the Owner said:

“Companies will drive the truck nearly empty on gas and have all the guys jump out to weigh it. Then they’ll load the truck, fill the tank and have the guys jump back in for the weight they tell you you have. That’s one of the reasons I quit and started my own. I couldn’t stand what they were doing to people.”

Our friend is comparing the sticker-list the original company gave them with the things that were brought from storage and they’re missing a LOT. Exercise equipment is missing parts/damaged. Chairs to the dining set are irreparably broken. An antique fireplace mantel has gouges in the wood. Lamps busted. Paintings damaged. All this from the initial unpack – he’s so not looking forward to going through everything. Don’t forget how much he had to spend buying necessities while all of these tricks were going on – beds, dishes, clothes, towels, cutlery – thing of everything you pack expecting to have it handy when you arrive at your new home and then not being able to look after your family’s basic needs? EXPENSIVE!

This is just the beginning of an onslaught of complaints about this company. We like the class action lawsuit idea. If anybody out there is going through similar drop us a line in the comments.

3 for 1 Optical, Fanshawe Park Road, London, Ontario Canada

Got a thousand bucks to blow on a designer eyeglasses deal and get shtupped when they break? Shop at 3 for 1 Optical in London, Ontario – they’re there to take your money, treat you like dirt and provide no service whatsoever!

Walk into the shop where there is no one to help you because they’re too busy in the connected building beside the shop. Wait for awhile. Wait for a long time.  If you get tired of waiting, go next door and be verbally abused by the store owner; after all you’ve paid your money, she doesn’t want anything to do with you except for FREE she’ll berate you for having broken glasses and make up a price off the top of her head that will make you go somewhere else for service.

OR

If you choose to wait, you can be treated like crap from the bitch-from-hell service assistant who knows nothing about anything but can leave you standing for another half hour while she leaves to “check with” the female owner. Expect a fictitious, over-inflated quote to get your glasses fixed. The bitchy, pretentious attitude is free.

THEN

Go someplace like Gregory’s Optical where you will almost faint from the difference in quality of service. They will not only help you with excellent customer service, they’ll fix your glasses or tell you who can fix your brand.  After they fix them, they give you an actual receipt for the repairs AND they will accept your debit payment, unlike 3 for 1 Optical who tells you they will only accept cash (although they let you use the debit machine on their desk when you forked over the thousand bucks to pay for the glasses….)(in fact the 3 for 1 owner themselves will even direct you to the BMO 50 feet down the plaza and then you can watch as your cash goes straight into his pocket and no, you can’t have a receipt! Maybe some Revenue Canada auditors should shop here? )

Our advice: Buy online at ZenniOptical.com for your designer eyewear, or if you’ve got the cash the small independents like Gregory’s give you your money’s worth.

Consumer beware and contact the BBB about places when you’re being shtupped!

Puppy Mills ANYWHERE, but this one in particular today…

Stay away from PuppiesEverything.ca – the “Pet Store” in Stratford on Corcoran Street!

The owner will proudly take you on tours of their makeshift “pet store” telling the world “Yes, I am a puppy mill!”and their “quarantine” area.

They think they’re in the animal business, what they’re NOT is qualfied in any veterinary sense to be keeping the ill ones in their back room instead of sending them to an animal clinic.

They lie to their customers and let the dogs die from malnutrition/ being taken from their mothers too soon, and that’s only what happened to me after we put a downpayment on a dog and went back to get it.

The owner’s wife is aggressive and violent when questioned and says the Perth SPCA “Are her best friends” where complaints being filed are concerned. Don’t buy their animals and for God’s sake, breeders, sell them privately and humanely! They’re famous for taking your *downpayment* and then accepting higher prices from other buyers. Suddenly, your dog is “dead” when you go in to get it!
If you go into these places and the animals look unhealthy, SPCA says to call them, that they aren’t allowed to go in without *cause*. But if SPCA is the “best friend” of the perpetrators, then don’t expect anyone to look after the animals’ health and welfare!

Giftcardstore.ca VISA

Don’t do it.

It’s not worth the hassle.

When you need help, you call the number and are on hold with East India. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not racist in the least, but part of the customer service problem that makes people leave companies like Bell Telephone is that we’re siphoned over to another country where their English is not English, it’s a quickly spoken mishmash of whatever English they’ve been taught in school. It’s not English, it’s something that is understood wherever they’re from. how many times have you tried to understand an Aussie or a Scotsman? It’s English, but it’s from an area of the world where only people who grew up learning to speak that dialect understand each other. The same goes for these stupid North American companies outsourcing their “customer service”.  Unrecongizable English plus your basic unclear phone connection equals a really bad experience. I have a really hard time understanding when I get rerouted to Southern parts of the States as well.

Y’know, companies trying to save money outsourcing outside of their general area might want to wake the eff up and realise they’ll make more money by taking care of their customer base by providing customer service in their own back yard.

I’ve had to call Vanilla Mastercard, they’re fine – you get somebody right here in North America. That, by the way for anybody having problems with phone companies who redirect you to East India, is a key to getting somebody who you can understand to help you: you have the right to demand to speak to “Someone in North America” – that gets you rerouted to the homeland.

So I get this giftcard as a gift and I find out they “withold” money. I don’t know why, but they keep it for 8 days and release it. I could probably tell you why but when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I couldn’t understand him either.

I’ve never had this problem before with these Vanilla Master or Visa cards and let’s face it, they’re damn handy to use on the internet to buy stuff you don’t want to use your regular card for for fear of being a victim of identity theft or whatnot.

My thought for the day: boycott anyone who outsources their customer service overseas, like this GiftCardStore.com  and GiftCardStore.ca  bullcrap.

Country Club for Pets – London, Ontario Canada

This place is a mess, but this blog is about their phantom job hiring practices. I’m going to say that it’s to be expected when morons with no business sense start businesses and I’m going to add the usual “it’s a red flag” tag to it. If this is how they treat people, I doubt they can take care of your pet properly.

They put fake ads for kennel workers on free job boards. People apply – mostly teenagers because seriously, what dependable adult is going to want this job – and they’re offered interviews. This place is located 30 minutes from the centre of the city, so let’s keep logistics in mind. The interviews are scheduled a week or more in advance.

Half an hour before the scheduled interview, they call and cancel. The schpeel is “they’ve filled the position”. Without meeting all the great candidates whose time and hopes they’ve wasted? Yep.

Two days later their ad looking for more kennel workers is up again.

Their setting up and dumping interviews practice has been going on for YEARS. Numerous applicants are calling to find out why they were left a message cancelling the interview while they were en route. No one answers the phone, no messages are returned. Don’t bother emailing, the response is aboherrently rude and inappropriate for a “business”.

The lesson in it? They’re not really hiring, so don’t bother.