mashy

For anyone about to have the shippers/packers in, take note of the following.

We had John Mason - Liverpool round to pack our belongings. We had a safe which had a substantial amount of jewellery in it which had to be emptied before the packers arrived. Our plans, were to take the contents of the safe to my mum and dads house and put them in their safe. With one thing and another, much to our dismay, we never got round to it. Instead, we put it inside a wardrobe in the master bedroom. There was a gold locket on the vanity unit in the en-suite which I had taken off the previous night.
After the packers had been and gone, and we were sorting the rest of our stuff out, we noticed that there were several pieces of jewellery missing. We assumed/hoped that they had been packed in error and gave the packers the benefit of the doubt. When our good arrived in Australia, we checked every box and wrapper thoroughly and our missing jewellery was not amongst them. My daughter who slept in the attic bedroom had a shoe-shaped jewel box with a pair of diamond cross earings. They were attached to a small slot-in card which made up a compartment. The card along with the earings was missing. I also had a miniature glass/sterling silver perfume bottle with sterling silver funnel missing. This was kept in a crystal display cabinet which was on the window sill of the landing. This is 4 seperate locations on the upstairs floor where we have missing items.
I phoned John Masons to report the theft. The first question I was asked was "could it have been anyone else?" I explained that no-one else had been at the property in the days leading up to the shippers coming. The next question was "was it obvious that the cross earrings were real diamonds?" FFS! Did it REALLY matter? I was told that I must inform the police and if they decided to prosecute, then they would deal with it. I have done this and am STILL awaiting a police report. I have been given a crime ref no which is bloody useless as we can`t even claim on the insurance.
I e-mailed John Masons and asked what they were doing about it. I got a reply which stated that to steal whilst on the job would be plain stupid and that unless the police prosecuted then they had to believe that he was innocent as this was his livelihood that we were dealing with. I explained that I had no cctv in my house, and that on the contrary, he would be anything BUT stupid as I couldn`t prove that it was he who stole the missing items. His reply was, "we note your concerns and await instruction from the police". In other words, because I can`t prove that he stole the missing items, he has got away with it scott free with his employers blessing. I told him that if he could come up with an alternative reason why we had missing items from 4 seperate locations, on the upstairs floor where this man was working, then I would welcome his theory. I have received yet to receive a reply from John Mason.
However busy you may be, REMOVE valauable items from the house which you plan to take on your person, and trust NO-ONE. Instead of it costing us £4,000 to ship our goods it has cost us £8,000.
This has been a very expensive lesson for us and one which we wouldn`t want to happen to anyone else.
My daughter summed it up the other day when she read what is printed on the boxes from John Masons - "We`ll Move The World For You". She said "more like they`ll move your jewellery for you...........into their pockets"!

bridie

Oh dear, that's not good. Personally I would have reported they were missing at the time rather than give them the benefit of the doubt, would have been a lot easier to sort if you were still in the UK and maybe they could have searched the blokes and found the stuff. Hope you get it sorted and have a :hug: in the meantime.

We used John Masons and on the whole were happy with them BUT we had one bloke packing who was "not quite the full quid" (sorry, dont know how else to put it) I wasnt at the house but my husband was and he went upstairs to see him wearing a 60s wig of mine and using my hockey stick as a guitar. He quickly took it off when he saw my husband BUT I've never found the wig (probably just as well). It's not a huge problem as at the end of the day it was a silly item for fancy dress BUT I wasnt happy at the thought of what else he might have touched or tried on......

mashy

I wish we HADN`T given them the benefit of the doubt. We have lots of regrets. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The bloke your husband caught, did you get his name?

thebears

Sorry to hear this has also happened to you. We didn't get stung for to that value but still had some items go missing and the attitude was well they will be gone and wont be able to do anything from the other side of the world. Wrong Wrong Wrong calls to the major shareholder at 2am in the morning got some arses into gear - so did naming him as defendant

DunRoaminTheUK

We used John Mason and when our stuff arrived in Brisbane I noticed that a few items of relatively low value had disappeared. Noticeably, I seemed to be missing a micro-screwdriver kit, which could have very easily been slipped into a pocket. I have to assume that it was stolen as the house was 100% empty when we finally left it and I have unpacked all of the John Mason boxes at this end.

The actual service from John Mason was very good but the suspected thief (he was the guy packing in the room where the items went missing) did seem to whine and moan when he realised that they weren't going to get off at 2pm as John Masons only provided 2 people for a 3 person job. I could be wrong and perhaps nothing was stolen, as I cannot prove anything but I do have my suspicions.

However, you shouldn't really allow one bad apple to tarnish the reputation of an otherwise very good removal company.

mashy

Wonder if it was the same `bad apple`? Maybe they`ve got such a good reputation because people don`t get to hear about these `bad apples`.
I`m not slagging John Masons as such, just stating the facts. The guy who robbed me moaned a lot too.

sj oldfield

However, you shouldn't really allow one bad apple to tarnish the reputation of an otherwise very good removal company.[/QUOTE]


Sounds like there are a few bad apples!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nomore

Hmmm...sounds like there's theives amongst alot of these removal companies. We had a very bad experience with Crown (Leeds). One of there guys stole so much of our stuff it really was embarrassing for Crown in the end. He took 4 Fire Arms and 1 hunting knife, vacuum cleaner, many Snap-on tools,..he was caught on CCTV, although at first Crown denied he had anything to do with it, they admitted in the end. He was sacked and the CCTV was broadcast on TV in the UK. The fire-arms were a major fact and he is awaiting trial. We got none of our stuff back...nothing.
So i do feel for you, we have to let these people into our homes, knowing they could possibly take whatever they fancy.

bridie

I know, it's too easy to look back and think isnt it? Bugger... hope you get it sorted....

No, didnt get his name, we were in Kent, I did phone them and have a moan about it though so hopefully they had words.

It's not nice when your personal stuff is handled in such a way. When they'd finished packing up the bloke said "OK, that's us then". Husband replied "Erm, havent you forgotten something?". Bloke says "What?". Husband says "Listen" and the tossers had only left my little stereo out cos they'd been listening to the radio, it had a big box all to itself!!!!

You've gotta watch 'em

CadburysFingers

There are dishonest people in every walk of life, just as there are people you could trust with your life in every walk of life. The think is if temptation is left in some peoples way they are going to help themselves, better to be a bit more careful and conscientious when sorting through your stuff really.

bridie

Thing is, if there's only one of you and three blokes you can't be standing over all their shoulders at the same time.

We were lucky, only lost something trivial BUT if I had my time again I'd probably have made sure I was at the house too and been in the same room as them when they were packing up.

iPom

Theft is common in this industry as companies hire casual labour when their work force is low. I am reliably informed of this by a friend who's a director of one of these companies. Supposedly they are all security checked, but as we all know, people slip through the net as they've never been caught. Others are new to it.... and just get tempted.

Just be careful. Definitely insure your stuff. Pack your own valuables yourself and keep them separate before the packers arrive. If necessary, leave them with a neighbour until the packers have left or place them in your car boot and lock your car. Then take them with you on the plane.


Most of the packers are nice guys who do a good job, but don't leave it to chance.

CadburysFingers

I am not being funny but who leaves total strangers to pack all their personal stuff up for them, both myself and my wife took the day off, and helped as well as supervising all the packing. Incidentally we removed all items of jewelery, money wallets etc before they arrived and brought those over in our suitcase, I presumed everyone did this, why wouldnt you? Even if you did get your valuables here in one piece there is no saying they wouldnt be pilfered at customs, on arrival, or even that the container may fall off the boat, or the boat may sink.......it does happen, as evidenced last week with all that stuff landing on a UK beach.

JYKelly

You know it’s got to be said…

You employed Scouser’s as house movers, left jewelry in plain view, and are surprised that shit went missing?

It must be great to wake up as you every morning

mashy

Like I said in my opening thread - I wish we had done what you so kindly point out We were not in a position to have two people in the house whilst this thieving ba$tard was helping himself upstairs, and whilst I might be a woman, even WE can`t be in two places at once! And as you so rightly put it - you are NOT being funny!!