Complaint Review: Two Small Men With Big Hearts - Toronto Ontario

I received estimate from Two Small Men with Big Hearts (TSM) for amount of $1452.57 to move household goods from Toronto to Montreal in May 2013. TSM quoted me the price through a sales agent Debra 1-888-784-3278 ext 106.

The move date was July 1.

A sub-contractor from TSM, Mr. Sanjeev Sean Singh of Reliance Van Lines, 416 989 3775, came to our house and visually assessed the goods to be transported. He said the goods along with the truck is weighed to get an accurate weight of my household effects before final billing.

On the day of the move, July 2, after the truck was loaded, I received a text message advising me the estimated weight of 2600 lbs was incorrect and the new weight was 3640 lbs. Shortly thereafter I received another text message saying the weight was in reality 4640 lbs. On my asking if the truck with the goods had been weighed I was told it had not, but if I did not accept the new charges my goods would not be delivered and they would be held hostage until payment was received. Since I was already in Montreal I had no choice but to accept the incorrect charges of $2643.65.

I informed Sean, I wanted my goods with the truck weighed before delivery to Montreal at a weighing station.  I was assured by Sean this would be done and the driver had been instructed. But when the delivery was made in Montreal the goods were delivered to me without the truck with the goods being weighed.

On July 18, I sent Sean the following email:

On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 6:08 PM, Deepak S <[email protected]> wrote:

    Hi Sean,

    I thought I will let you know that the load was delivered unweighed to us despite your instructions to the movers and my clear requirement that the load be weighed. Furthermore, I had to guide the delivery persons using Google maps on how to get to our residence in Montreal.  I spent 45 minutes on the phone talking them through to our destination. That is absolutely unacceptable.  The truck should have been equipped with mapping equipment. If I was working, I am not sure how they would have found our place.

    In terms of customer satisfaction your service fell rather short of what was promised and what was finally delivered. Furthermore the change in price (a doubling) reeked of the old, "bait and switch routine."

    The delta between proposal and actual service provided was considerable and added up to an awful user experience. I shall be making a note of this on a number of online forum where services such as yours are up for discussion. Bad business practices result in loss of future business and in this connected & competitive world let us not forget the power of the consumer's voice.

    One saving grace in the service was that Steven was extremely courteous and a very hard worker.  Also our boxes arrived with no damages except for one chest of drawers that fell while unloading.

    Best,

    Deepak

I received this reply the next day:

Subject: Re: Revised charges

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Hi Deepak,

 

I don't understand why Steven did not re-weigh the load before delivering as this is news to me. The best I can do to facilitate some sort of satisfaction to you is offer you a $500 refund to compensate for any wrong doing on our part.

 

I hope this is satisfactory and I hope you can rest assured that your criticism is taken constructively and that I will make the necessary changes to accommodate any future problems we may have with other clients.

 

I sincerely apologise and hope that the compensation offered will be suffice.

 

Sincerely,

Sean

Since July 19, I have unsuccessfully tried to secure the promised compensation.

My allegations against Reliance Van Lines include renegotiating prices while in possession of customers' goods and exceeding estimates by more than the 10 per cent of the maximum increase allowed under provincial rules.

ADDENDUM: Sent Today, August 8...

Hi Sean,

I regret to inform you that I was compelled to escalate this matter involving Two small men with big hearts/Reliance Van Lines.  

I have petitioned BBB, with whom you are no doubt rather familiar, given they addressed 12 complaints against your company. I am in touch with CBC as well, a sequel to their story on Two small men story shall make good reading. Rippoff reports is a minor site that I will tackle next. Change.org, naturally.  But soon I will launch a blog/internet campaign. My objective is to make sure you do not scam others like you have done me.

Debra will be able to measure the effectiveness of my campaign by seeing a drop in the conversion ratio she has when she cold queries business opportunities. Reliance Van Lines, no doubt, will see a drop in customer orders over the next 12 months as my campaign gathers speed.  Given Reliance's objective to function at 60% net margins (not gross, mind you, but net), you can tally the total for every failed conversion at an average cost of $1000 per order.

My allegations against Reliance Van Lines include renegotiating prices while in possession of customers' goods and exceeding estimates by more than the 10 per cent of the maximum increase allowed under provincial rules.

Two things I failed to mention earlier. When I sent you the 'Fleeced by the Florist' article I had already got a fairly good read on you. Your actions thus far have proved me right.

The other thing is I am an expert at internet marketing. So settle down, fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride.   

Cheers,

Deepak

NOW THIS GUY IS GOOD:

I got an email response immediately from Sean saying he had already transferred the money via etransfer. Shortly thereafter a message followed with a screenshot of the transfer without the date (NATURALLY) and with a wrong email.

So i sent him my correct email and then pin-drop silence.

So we are in a Cat & Mouse chase. My question, why would somebody go through all this trouble to fleece a customer of $500?

Does Sanjeev Sean Singh have a pathological liars syndrome?