raven

easy to say when everything goes hunky dory for u but it does not happen for everyone imagine being in a house with no furniture knowing it is supposedly 10 minutes away to be told u have to wait another 11 days

raven

pollyana, i totally agree and that is why i have ben very careful not to name names and only write what has been the truth,
Keep up the goood work
Raven

Anastasia Beaverhausen

I used JM back in May last year. We used half a container. The packers were great, customer service lady was great and the final price came down from the original quote. Great.

What wasnt explained was that as we only used half a container, our stuff would be waiting for the rest of the container to get filled. It left the UK a month after we did, 5 weeks after being packed. OK, i thought, they have been great so far, so we will let this one slide. We did a big IKEA shop when we got here so had the necceseties.

10 weeks after we arrived, our stuff finally arrived in Sydney. It was offloaded the next day and taken to the bonded warehouse in Blacktown. Chess the company on this end were a bit crap, they didnt seem to know when the AQIS people were coming, one day I called and AQIS were due for another week, the next day my stuff had cleared customs and was being passed on for delivery.

2 weeks laster (13 week since packed) the stuff arrived on my doorstop. The guys that did the unpacking were great, in and out quickly, reasembled everything and left me to organise the rest. They were great.

I wrote them an email about the things I was unhappy with, such as not being told that my container would be in limbo till full, and I wasnt happy with Chess customer service folks. They thanked me for my comments and probably binned them afterwards, but at least I said my bit. What I am trying to say is, its swings and roundabouts. I would use JM again.

I can't believe that any removal company are faultless, your are paying them for a full service, but there are some things that are out of their control. They rent the containers, hire space on a ship and subcontract when it gets to this end.

If you are commited to emigrating though, it may be the only time you use them

cresta57

I would have thought that an 11 day wait was perfectly acceptable. Wridgeways are a large company with a large workload did you really expect them to just drop everything just because you wanted your stuff?
Should they have let other people down who were booked in before you?

Our stuff was delivered by Wridgeways this end and I found them excellent to deal with, professional, competent & courteous. Our house wasn't completed on time and we were still living on a yacht in the marina at Tin an Bay I rang them and politely explained the situation, the guy asked if we wanted it delivering to Tin Can Bay instead, no extra charge! he even gave us the name of a company who had storage facilities in the area so it could be stored safely.
These Qld people don't usually jump through hoops for the latest blow-in whinging poms you know so I was impressed

moneypenny20

Other side of the coin. John Mason were brilliant UK side and Wridgways were just as brilliant this side. I have and would again, recommend them without exception. Obviously every shipper gets it wrong sometimes and unfortunately you got the short straw this time and for that I sympathise.

For anyone using any shippers, it would be an idea to ensure that anything that is not to be shipped be put in one room and the door shut with a big sign on asking that they ignore the room. That way nothing should be taken or packed that shouldn't be and that includes all paperwork and personal possessions.

We did this and our guys didn't have to check us for anything because anything not in that room was sent.

Everything was packed superbly, nothing broken and delivered when asked on the 21st December. And just as importantly, there was no problem with them collecting the rubbish when we had finished unpacking.

No shipper is perfect. They ship way too much constantly for something not to go wrong at some point.

sg1964

we self shipped, and took all our valuables with us when we flew....


simon

DrWho

To be honest 11 days at this time of year is pretty well nothing... Our 40' container arrived 10th December and we had delivery 11th January... I guess having spent 25 years in the transport business gives me an idea of what might happen though...

ljk888

I thought John Mason were great until we received our belongings in Melbourne and there was hundreds of pounds worth of damage because of the stupidity of their packers.

pike

I also used john mason,s Liverpool my belongings have not arrived yet but i am not too happy with there estimator as he told us too leave the beds as australia has different ones that allow more air around them now ive got to buy new ones and the cost of mattresses expensive i guess iam stuped for listening
the two lads that came too pack are things packed my wifes suitcase with her clothes in it thats realy pissed the wife of
As for theft jokes about scouses all being theives pissess me off as you get good and bad in every city/ just being parranoid/ but a comment was made that my wife recons she heard one one of the packers saying he will have that ref to my daughters electrick guitar so i will have too see if it arrives safe and sound if it doesnt i now where they live ,and will be sending some one to deliver some thing from me,

Spikey

Yikes, we've used John Mason's too. No problems with them at the Liverpool end but I'm wondering about Wridgeways at this end. Ours arrived in Melbourne 12th January but we're still waiting to hear where it's up to (my OH is phoning them today).

11 days is a frustrating wait but at least you have a date I guess.

cresta57

Considering most of QLD shuts down for 6 weeks at this time of year you and the OP have been very fortunate not to have waited much longer. It's only last year that containers were delayed by weeks when customs found potentially harmful beetles in a container leading to the close inspection of every individual container for weeks.
You either learn to accept it in true Qld style or do the traditionally British thing and have a good whinge about it

Pollyana

Yep, my stuff got into the port on Xmas Eve, and was delivered mid February.

DrWho

We're in Sydney though - but I know Kent International were as busy as over the last few weeks...

raven

Would just like to say i am a lot happier now my stuff is herewith only 2 small vases broken. Iwas more frustrated at being given false hope and incorrect estimated dates for my consignment. If anything i would be happier if these removal companies if they were up front and honest from the start. By the way can anyone mend a Zannussi washing machine

ohippy

I have to say that I used JM and wouldn't recommend them. They were brilliant at first but, once you've paid your dosh, if anything happens their customer service is non existent.

We 'lost' our complete record collection. It was there to be packed - made it's way out of our door but never made the shipment. There is no ifs buts or maybes, I know it was stolen. Luckily I had insured with LP who were brilliant but, when I wrote to JM holding them responsible (condition of insurance claim) their reply was 'as you were not insured with us we aren't interested'. I would have thought that they might have been interested that they were employing thieves but obviously not !

Other stupid things happened like a battery wrapped in 4 pieces of wrapping paper but glass ornaments all shoved into one box. Metal curtain pole bent to fit in a box - FFS !!

My advice would be, if you've booked them, watch them like a hawk. I was downstairs with the two guys and they were excellent. The one upstairs who was on his own was the *****