Video quote, beta
Firmio, the video quote from CNS Logistics (Logistiques CNS), a Montreal moving company, replaces the hourly estimate with a fixed price written into the contract: you film each room with your phone, an estimator checks the inventory, and for a move we pack, the price does not go up if the day runs longer than planned (clause 3). For damage reported in writing within 72 hours after delivery, you get a written decision within 48 hours of your complete claim, if it is less than $2,000 (clause 26.3); you also keep the 60 days the law gives you (clause 26.5).
It is also called an online video estimate or a virtual survey. For a move we pack, the price it leads to is a fixed price, sometimes called a flat rate or a guaranteed price, not an hourly rate (clauses 2 and 3).
Beta, limited places. Or by phone at 514-416-9610.
Kitchen
Your video, room by room
The inventory, checked by an estimator
The price, written in the contract
Your price
Set by a person. Never by software.
Enter your name, phone number and email. You then go straight to the filming page.
"A guaranteed move is offered for a move that CNS packs, that starts at an address in Quebec, for a customer who lives in Quebec when the contract is made. The move may end in Quebec or in Ontario."(clause 2) For other moves, the video quote leads to a quote at our hourly rates, without a fixed price.
An estimate tells you what your move should cost; a fixed price tells you what it will cost. With an estimate, you pay for the time actually worked: if the day runs longer, the bill goes up. With the Firmio fixed price, the price is written into the contract before the move, and the extra time is our risk, not yours.
Our online calculator builds an estimate from what you tell it: the size of the home, the floors, the elevator, the number of boxes, the addresses. It applies our published rates and our time rules, and it shows you a range. On the move day, we bill the real time. If everything is as declared, the bill lands in the range. If the day does not match the description, the hours go up, and so does the bill.
That is nobody's fault. People do not move often, so they do not know which details matter: the real number of boxes, what is in the basement, the sofa that will not turn the corner of the stairs, the packing that is not finished when the crew arrives. An estimate rests on a description, and a description always leaves something out.
With Firmio, we see everything before we write the price, and we do the packing. The contract says it this way:
"The price in the table is fixed. It covers the move as filmed and declared. Everything in a filmed space is covered, however many boxes it takes to pack it. The number of boxes is our estimate and our risk. We do not bill the move by the hour, and the price does not go up because the work took longer than planned."(clause 3)
What would push an estimate up becomes our problem:
"We absorb, at no cost to you:"(clause 5)
- a) more boxes than expected from what was filmed;
- b) furniture heavier or harder than it looked;
- c) packing, protecting the furniture, disassembly or reassembly that takes longer;
- d) traffic;
- e) weather;
- f) the speed of our crew;
- g) our truck and our equipment: a breakdown, a truck that is too small, a second trip.
Estimate (calculator)
Fixed price (Firmio) (clause 3)
| Estimate (calculator) | Fixed price (Firmio) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | An estimate, as a range, in 60 seconds | A price written into the contract, after your videos and the inventory check |
| How the price is set | Our published rates, applied to what you declare | A person sets the price from what the video shows (clause 3) |
| If the day runs longer | The real time is billed | "We do not bill the move by the hour, and the price does not go up because the work took longer than planned."(clause 3) |
| More boxes than expected | More time, so a higher bill | Ours to absorb, if they come from a filmed space (clauses 3 and 5) |
| Who packs | You, or our hourly packing service | We do; it is a condition of the fixed price (clause 2) |
| What can be added | The real time | The extras on the list in clause 8 at the rates in clause 9, storage (clauses 11.2 and 17.4) and the credit card fee on the balance (line 25 of the table); taxes are added (clause 6). |
| What it asks of you | A few answers | A detailed form and one short video per room |
Choose a fixed price when uncertainty is expensive: a large home, many boxes, stairs, a total that cannot run over. Choose an estimate when the move is small and simple, or when you want a number right away. A fixed price can be higher than the low end of an estimate's range, because it includes the packing and the risk of time; in return, it does not go up on the day.
An estimate shows a range. Its low end matches a day where everything goes as declared. The fixed price includes the full packing, the materials, and the risk that the day runs longer. So it can be higher than the low end of the range. What you are buying is certainty: the amount in the contract is what you pay for the move as filmed and declared, and the list of extras is closed (clause 8).
These examples use our calculator's time rules. They show what an estimate calculates, and what changes with a fixed price. The fixed price of a real move is set by a person after your videos; we do not invent one here.
A 1½ on the 3rd floor with no elevator, moving to a ground floor. The calculator counts 3 hours 15 minutes of work with 2 movers. Estimate: $700 to $820.
Here the possible gap is small. Few boxes, little furniture, a simple trip. An estimate does the job well, especially if you pack yourself.
A 4½ on the 3rd floor with no elevator, to a 1st floor with no elevator, with all four appliances and 50 to 75 boxes. The calculator counts 7 hours of work with 3 movers. Estimate: $1,470 to $1,700.
This is the typical case where an estimate can slide. If there are 90 boxes instead of 70, if the packing is not finished, if the sofa will not turn the corner of the stairs, the time goes up and so does the bill. With Firmio, we pack ourselves from what the video shows: the number of boxes, the packing time and the difficulty of the furniture become our risk (clauses 3 and 5).
A 5½ on the 2nd floor, to a 2nd floor, with 50 to 75 boxes. The calculator counts 9 hours of work with 3 movers. Estimate: $1,830 to $2,120.
The larger the home, the more the small surprises add up: one more closet, a forgotten storage space, a piece to take apart. This is the kind of move where a price known in advance protects your finances the most.
Estimates calculated with our published off-season rates, taxes included, for a local trip. Your own estimate depends on your addresses and your date. Get My Estimate
The two worries we hear most on the phone are simple: the final bill will be higher than the quote, and nobody will pay if a piece of furniture breaks. No survey ranks them; they are the ones we hear. Firmio answers both in writing.
Our answer: for a move we pack, a fixed price written into the contract before the move, based on what the video shows (clause 3).
27%
of the complaints received by Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur in its "moving, storage and delivery" category, from 2021 to 2025, carry the code "Pratiques interdites prix" (prohibited price practices). Across all sectors: 10%.
Source: the Office's public complaint file, Données Québec, version of October 7, 2026. 244 complaints out of 902. These are complaints received; the Office has not verified them.
+32%
On about 306 of our moves from April 2025 to June 2026, billed hours ran a median 32% above the hours in the quotes our team wrote from the customer's description.
We built this tool to close that gap.
Our answer: on the packing day, before touching anything, the crew lead films every piece of furniture with you present (clause 24.1). For a claim of less than $2,000 reported in writing within 72 hours after delivery, you get a written decision within 48 hours of your complete claim (clause 26.3).
No reliable figure exists on unpaid damage, and we will not invent one.
A video quote takes eight steps: you fill in the form, you film, an estimator checks, you confirm the list, we write the price, you hold your dates, we pack while filming your furniture, then we move you. The first four steps happen on your phone.
The rooms, the access and both addresses: the floor, the stairs, the elevator, where the truck can park. These answers prepare the quote and plan the crew.
One short video per room, in your phone's browser, with no app. The page tells you what to show, and tells you right away if the clip is clear enough. You also film the path to the truck and the building access.
Software drafts a first list from still images taken from the video. A person checks it, line by line.
What goes, what stays. If a line is wrong, you fix it before the price.
It is set by a CNS moving consultant, from your checked inventory. You get the offer by email, as a PDF, with the table filled in and your inventory list (clause 34).
Before touching anything, with you present. That is the proof of its condition (clause 24). Then the crew packs everything in the filmed spaces.
Loading, the drive, unloading, and each piece in the room you choose (clause 4). The balance of the fixed price is paid at the destination, before unloading (clause 17.1).
The fixed price includes the crew, the truck, travel, fuel, full packing, materials, disassembly and reassembly, loading, the drive and unloading. The contract lists it:
"The price includes:"(clause 4)
- a) the packers and movers shown in the table, and the truck;
- b) travel to your addresses, the truck's drive back to the place where it is kept (this is not a second delivery), and fuel;
- c) packing everything in the filmed spaces, and protecting the furniture;
- d) boxes, paper, tape, wardrobe boxes, blankets and stretch wrap;
- e) taking apart and putting back together the furniture that needs it;
- f) loading, the drive, unloading, and placing each piece in the room you choose. The drive and the unloading are included once, on the days in the table.
- g) unpacking boxes;
- h) connecting appliances to gas, water or electricity;
- i) taking down or putting up anything fixed to a wall or a ceiling;
- j) removing what you do not keep.
And there are no hidden fees: "Apart from extras (clauses 8 and 9), storage (clauses 11.2 and 17.4) and the credit card fee on the balance (line 25 of the table), there are no other fees: no fuel fee, no administration fee."
(clause 6)
This is not the fastest way to get a price. It is the way to get one that holds.
Why so much? A fixed price is honest when we have seen everything.
A detailed form, then one short video per room.
Every room, every closet, the basement, the shed, the path to the truck. What the video does not show is not in the price.
Every light on. Three seconds on each wall. If a clip is too dark, we ask you to film it again.
The elevator reserved and the parking planned, at both addresses.
The fixed price comes with our packing service (clause 2). The number of boxes then becomes our estimate and our risk, not yours (clause 3).
"The price in the table is fixed. It covers the move as filmed and declared."(clause 3)
"The number of boxes is our estimate and our risk."(clause 3)
"Only the items on this list are extras. Nothing else is."(clause 8) See the list (clause 8)
"A space that was never filmed. Fewer than 10 boxes from such a space: no charge."(clause 8.1)
"A piece of furniture that is not in the video. A piece over 50 pounds is an extra."(clause 8.2)
"The rate is 52 dollars per packer or mover per hour, before taxes, for the members of our crew on site."(clause 9.1)
"We bill only the real extra time, in 15-minute steps, rounded to the nearest step."(clause 9.2)
"Traffic and weather are never extras."(clause 8)
"A street closed by the authorities is never an extra."(clause 8)
"A breakdown of the elevator at one of your addresses, that is nobody's fault. The first 30 minutes are at our cost."(clause 8.10)
"It applies to claims of less than 2,000 dollars in total (clause 27 deals with larger claims), for damage you report in writing within 72 hours after delivery."(clause 26.3)
"Within 48 hours after we receive your complete claim, we write to tell you whether it is accepted, accepted in part or refused, and why."(clause 26.3)
"If you report the damage after 72 hours, or in the case of clause 24.9, you have lost no right."(clause 26.4)
"The law requires a written notice of claim to the carrier within 60 days after delivery, even for damage that could not be seen at delivery."(clause 26.5)
"But the 48-hour process (clause 26.3) no longer applies, because we no longer have the proof it depends on."(clause 24.9)
"If we are the ones who fail to make the video, the guarantee stays whole."(clause 24.10)
"That takes more than 48 hours, and we cannot promise you a time for its answer."(clause 27.3)
"The amount of 2,000 dollars is not a limit on what you can receive."(clause 27.4)
"There is no deductible and no fee to make a claim."(clause 23.3)
Your video prepares your quote and plans the crew, and it is evidence if there is a claim. Here is what the consent text you accept before filming says about it.
From Consent v1.1 (2026-10-09)
5. Where your information goes
Still images are analysed by Anthropic in the United States; before using this service, we assessed the risks as required by Quebec law and have a written agreement with Anthropic.
In the United States, these still images and room names are subject to the laws of that country and may be accessible to its law enforcement and national security authorities.
Everything this service stores is hosted by OVHcloud in Beauharnois, Quebec, including encrypted backups; under contract, OVHcloud affiliates outside the United States may access the information to keep the service available, secure and maintained.
2. How long we keep it
- If you do not book the move: deletion is due 30 days after the quote date.
- If you book the move: deletion is due 90 days after the move date.
- If there is a damage claim: the video used to decide the claim is kept at least one year after the decision, as the law requires. If you do not agree with our decision, we keep it for the three years the law gives you to go to court. It is kept longer if an appeal or another legal hold is still open.
- If the move is not booked and no quote date was entered: deletion is due 30 days after the first day of filming.
Firmio was designed and built in-house by CNS Logistics; it was not bought from a software vendor. David Ibanez Mora, president of CNS, designed the tool and directs its development. We use AI tools in our development work, and every change goes through automated tests before it goes live. The tool is tested in real homes and on real phones, the way a customer would use it. Every decision is CNS's.
Our moving consultants know the work on the ground. The tool asks for what our crews need to see: every room, every storage space, the path from the door to the truck and the building access. This one was built around our work rules.
Built by CNS:
the pages you use, the application that receives your videos, the check of each clip and the inventory review.
Rented:
the server, at OVHcloud in Beauharnois, Quebec, and the analysis of the still images, by Anthropic.
A clip too dark to read is caught within seconds, while you are still in the room, so you can film it again right away.
Still images are analysed, never the video, and your videos are stored in Quebec.
A person checks every line of the inventory, and a CNS moving consultant sets the price.
Each step is saved as a sealed record with a digital fingerprint that shows if anything was changed afterwards, and your consent is kept with the exact text you agreed to.
"Still images are analysed by Anthropic in the United States; before using this service, we assessed the risks as required by Quebec law and have a written agreement with Anthropic."(Consent, section five) Our Privacy Officer answers at info@cnslogistics.ca.
Our online calculator gives an estimate from our published rates and time rules, and the website's assistant answers questions about our services. Both run on cnslogistics.ca.
See CNS Technology"We do not bill the move by the hour, and the price does not go up because the work took longer than planned."(clause 3)
"Prices in the contract are before taxes. Taxes are added."
"Apart from extras (clauses 8 and 9), storage (clauses 11.2 and 17.4) and the credit card fee on the balance (line 25 of the table), there are no other fees: no fuel fee, no administration fee."(clause 6)
"Everything in a filmed space is covered, however many boxes it takes to pack it."(clause 3)
"Only those stills, never the video itself, go to Anthropic, a service in the United States, with the room names from your move form and fixed instructions: first, within seconds, to check that the room can be read so you can film again if needed, and later to draft an inventory list."(Consent v1.1, section 1) The full text is on the "How a video quote works" page.
"If you do not book the move: deletion is due 30 days after the quote date."
"If you book the move: deletion is due 90 days after the move date."If there is a claim, the video is kept longer, as the law requires (Consent v1.1, section 2).
"A guaranteed move is offered for a move that CNS packs, that starts at an address in Quebec, for a customer who lives in Quebec when the contract is made. The move may end in Quebec or in Ontario."(clause 2) If you would rather pack, our calculator gives you an estimate.
"Within 48 hours after we receive your complete claim, we write to tell you whether it is accepted, accepted in part or refused, and why."(clause 26.3, claims of less than $2,000 reported in writing within 72 hours after delivery)
"There is no deductible and no fee to make a claim."(clause 23.3)
"2,000 dollars or more: within 48 hours after we receive your complete claim, we send it to our insurer and we confirm this to you in writing."(clause 27.3)
"The amount of 2,000 dollars is not a limit on what you can receive."(clause 27.4)
"It is never more than 300 dollars."It is paid by credit card, within 72 hours after your written request to hold your dates, and it is taken off your price (clause 16).
"You may cancel at any time. Write to info@cnslogistics.ca."(clause 18.1)
"There is no fixed cancellation fee and no penalty."(clause 18.2)
"If you cancel before the packing day, we refund your deposit within 10 days. We keep back only the cost of the city permit, if we have already paid it for your move. We show you the receipt."(clause 18.3)
"If you cancel in the 48 hours before the packing day, or on that day before the crew has left for your home, we may also keep back from your deposit the amount of the loss we can prove. Example: the wages paid to a crew we could not place elsewhere. We show you the proof. This amount is never more than your deposit."(clause 18.4)
"This clause applies if you cancel after the crew has left for your home and before the work starts. It also applies if you are not there (clause 20.8). We may then keep back from your deposit, or claim from you, the loss we can prove. We show you the proof, including the time the crew left. Example: the wages the law requires us to pay a crew that reported for work and that we could not place elsewhere. The waiting time you already pay is not counted a second time in that loss. No amount is fixed in advance and there is no minimum charge. If the move does not go ahead, we refund the rest of your deposit within 10 days."(clause 18.5)
"If you cancel after the work has started, you pay for the hours worked at the rate on line 12 of the table, never more than the fixed price, and the cost of the permit. We refund the rest within 10 days."(clause 18.6)
"You may change them once at the same price if these three conditions are met:"
"a) you ask in writing at least 7 days before the packing day;"
"b) the new date falls in the same price period (the table gives its first and last day);"
"c) we are available on the new date."(clause 13)
"A guaranteed move is offered for a move that CNS packs, that starts at an address in Quebec, for a customer who lives in Quebec when the contract is made. The move may end in Quebec or in Ontario."(clause 2) So a move from Montreal to Toronto can have a fixed price. A move from Toronto to Montreal gets the video quote and a quote at our hourly rates, without a fixed price. For a guaranteed move that ends in Ontario:
"Taxes are added. For the move, they are those of the province where it ends: in Quebec, GST (5 percent) and QST (9.975 percent); in Ontario, for example, HST (13 percent)."(clause 6)
There was no single move that started it. It comes from years of seeing the gap between the job a customer describes and the job we find on the day. That is not the customer's fault. People do not move often, so they do not know which details matter to a mover.
When I ask customers why they chose us, they tell me our quotes are clear: well structured, every charge explained, and clear about our insurance.
This tool lets me go one step further: a guaranteed price. You film your home, and I see everything you are moving before I write the price. For a guaranteed move, we do the packing, so we know no boxes were added or removed between the video and the move. That protects both of us, and it is why I can give my word on a fixed price, with all the information in front of me.
David Ibanez Mora, President, CNS Logistics
You fill in the form, then film each room. Would you rather talk to someone? Call us at 514-416-9610.
Beta, limited places. Or by phone at 514-416-9610.
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