Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Jun 6th 2006, 10:25 am
#16
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 256
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by movetoperth
Sorry you have had such a poor experience with your removal company. One thing which our removal company asked us to do which may prove useful to anyone who is waiting for their shipment was.......
when they turned up to deliver it they came in and gave me the manifest, they pulled out a picnic chair and sat it by the front door then told me to tick off the item number as they brought it through the door, that way i knew everything was there before i signed for it, they also suggested we open any of the boxes which contained valuable items to check all was well and also heck items which had been opened by customs to check it was all ok before they left, they removed the packaging from all items of furniture and asked which of the boxes we would like them to unpack.
They really could not have been better, nothing was damaged which i think is down to luck as well as good packaging. We used PSS who use Kents here in Perth. they were very efficient in every aspect of the move, mond you i didn't have any complaints so maybe their complaints department are not so good!
Lynn
when they turned up to deliver it they came in and gave me the manifest, they pulled out a picnic chair and sat it by the front door then told me to tick off the item number as they brought it through the door, that way i knew everything was there before i signed for it, they also suggested we open any of the boxes which contained valuable items to check all was well and also heck items which had been opened by customs to check it was all ok before they left, they removed the packaging from all items of furniture and asked which of the boxes we would like them to unpack.
They really could not have been better, nothing was damaged which i think is down to luck as well as good packaging. We used PSS who use Kents here in Perth. they were very efficient in every aspect of the move, mond you i didn't have any complaints so maybe their complaints department are not so good!
Lynn
Jun 6th 2006, 10:29 am
#17
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 10,158
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by DunRoaminTheUK
Hi.
Did DB expect payment 7 days before packing and collecting? They just told us that a few moments ago and we are confused as their rep told us that a part-container needs to be consolidated and only then can they determine the cost?
Did DB expect payment 7 days before packing and collecting? They just told us that a few moments ago and we are confused as their rep told us that a part-container needs to be consolidated and only then can they determine the cost?
No, we didn't pay DB until we were in Australia! It was about a week and a half and I rang their office to pay over the phone. They invoiced me first. They said card or cheque once we had received the invoice.
DB worked out the cost once the stuff was packed. I can't work out why they'd need to 'consolidate' the container. What's your stuff got to do with everyone elses?
Our only issue with a part container is that it had to be full before shipping. We'd been here for 5 weeks and we got an letter to say the ship had left port three days before! LOL - our stuff was sitting there for 5 weeks!
Anyway, it arrives on the 22 June and Grace are delivering it here.
I will let you know how it goes. It probably helps that the MD of Grace is a mate.
But I am told that we are getting 'the usual treatment'... 
Jun 6th 2006, 10:31 am
#18
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 10,158
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by TheAshleys
What a nightmare. Does anyone have any recommendations of people they used and found to be good ?
So far... Doree Bonner ...excellent. But I haven't got my stuff yet. I will let you know in a few weeks.
Jun 6th 2006, 10:40 am
#19
Oiiii.. You slaggg!
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbaneshire
Posts: 5,209
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by iPom
No, we didn't pay DB until we were in Australia! It was about a week and a half and I rang their office to pay over the phone. They invoiced me first. They said card or cheque once we had received the invoice.
DB worked out the cost once the stuff was packed. I can't work out why they'd need to 'consolidate' the container. What's your stuff got to do with everyone elses?
Our only issue with a part container is that it had to be full before shipping. We'd been here for 5 weeks and we got an letter to say the ship had left port three days before! LOL - our stuff was sitting there for 5 weeks!
Anyway, it arrives on the 22 June and Grace are delivering it here.
I will let you know how it goes. It probably helps that the MD of Grace is a mate. But I am told that we are getting 'the usual treatment'...
DB worked out the cost once the stuff was packed. I can't work out why they'd need to 'consolidate' the container. What's your stuff got to do with everyone elses?
Our only issue with a part container is that it had to be full before shipping. We'd been here for 5 weeks and we got an letter to say the ship had left port three days before! LOL - our stuff was sitting there for 5 weeks!
Anyway, it arrives on the 22 June and Grace are delivering it here.
I will let you know how it goes. It probably helps that the MD of Grace is a mate.
But I am told that we are getting 'the usual treatment'... If you book a 20ft container (sole use) then you pay for every inch of that container regardless of how well the space is used? If the option to ship a part-container is taken (i.e. sharing a container with another party) then they calculate how much (proportionally speaking) space you have used and charge you accordingly. Hence, if the latter option is chosen they cannot determine the cost until a part-container shipment is made available to your shipment and the container packed and space usage determined. This is why insisting that we pay 7 days in advance seemed very odd to me.
I've since phoned them back but they have slightly changed their tune and said that we need our solicitor to fax them a confirmation that the shipping payment will be made on the day of completion. This is again strange as the chances of the shipment being consolidated and priced on our completion day is also highly unlikely.
I think I will stick with John Mason as the other thread seems to have a lot of positive vibes running through it about peoples experiences with JM and they haven't nit-picked over payment. My only concern is pieces of our part-shipment going missing BUT as far as I am aware our "pieces" will be stored in a large crate until it is loaded and shipped...
Oh the worry......and this is just the start......
Jun 6th 2006, 10:40 am
#20
Breeding little aussies
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Perth WA
Posts: 963
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by rangersman
PSS will sub-ie out to whoever can do it and who is the cheapest I suppose as we had Chess, also I work in the game and I have heard Grace are the best to work for and the others are behind them and no I dont work for Grace unfortunately as they pay more, but thats life, Paul
Lynn
Jun 6th 2006, 11:02 am
#21
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 43
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by iPom
When I told JM that we were going with DB, they got quite offensive on the phone, warning me about DB and their 'sharp' practices. Totally unprofessional.
I was prob the warehouse people or packers... I can't think it could have gone at any other point.
How they can defend their staff after that I don't know.
I'm really sorry you've had a crappy time JAYMAC. Look on the bright side though ... reporting it here has probably blighted their business for a good while which is obviously no less than they deserve.
DB packed our stuff and it will be here in a few weeks. I'll report how it went.
I was prob the warehouse people or packers... I can't think it could have gone at any other point.
How they can defend their staff after that I don't know.I'm really sorry you've had a crappy time JAYMAC. Look on the bright side though ... reporting it here has probably blighted their business for a good while which is obviously no less than they deserve.
DB packed our stuff and it will be here in a few weeks. I'll report how it went.
Jun 6th 2006, 11:16 am
#22
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 10,158
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Dunroamin ... you should just forward this URL to the MD and ask him for his personal assurances that your things aren't going to be stolen. I think that should work.
Jun 6th 2006, 12:13 pm
#23
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2006
Location: Sydney
Posts: 34
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by LESLEY77
Just thought I would share my nightmare experience with you all. We chose Mason's after much researching and thought we had made a good choice. They were slightly dearer but had good write-ups. How wrong were we.
The first crew arrived on time and preceded to pack our belongings. They stayed till about three but still had a lot to do. The next day one less turned up and they started to pack again. About lunchtime the lorry driver arrived to collect the 20ft container. By now we knew they were not going to get it all packed on time so my husband lent a hand loading up the lorry. We noticed things were being rushed and noticed not so much attention was being paid to the packing. Eventually everything was packed the house was checked and NOTHING was left behind!
We were over a 20ft container so had to share a container for our excess. Our first container arrived on time. We had approximately 230 boxes delivered. There was no way we could un-pack and check all the contents upon delivery so we signed for them and waited for our next delivery. Unfortunately where they had been in a rush we found we had table tops but no legs. A couple of dinning chairs but no table. Everything had been mixed up so we waited patiently for the arrival of our next part container which turned up 12 weeks later.
Again, we signed for the goods and opened the boxes once the removal guys had left. My 17 year old had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of his brand nex x box 360 and my younger son was looking forward to playing his playstation 2 games. We unpacked and got right to the last box. I was laughing and said "might have guessed your stuff would be in the last box". Wrong. No X Box, No Playstation Games and also an Robotnix Robot at a cost of £300.00 had all gone "missing".
I immediately contacted Wridgeways (The Australian removal people) who said that all the boxes had been delivered. I then contacted Mason's, their attitude was that's impossible, you signed for the boxes, you must have them. We know the items were packed and stored in Mason's warehouse until they could fill another container so at some point our items have been stolen from the warehouse probably taken out of the boxes at the warehouse. We have been told we are lying, not to make accusations as it is their mens jobs on the line. Unfortunately at the time of shipping we never took out insurance as we figured we were using one of the best companies and we took the gamble as we were terribly short of money. That was a big mistake although I don't know if we would have been compensated for theft. Apart from the "missing items"! which amount to about £900.00, we also had the glass in two of our pictures broken, a leg was broken off a table, loads of glasses and kitchen stuff broken. Also we weren't warned about bringing over childrens Electric Scooters. We now have two of those stuck in customs.
All in all Mason's have proved to be a nightmare. I have just been out today to replace my sons Xbox 360 out of our own money. Mason's were so very friendly when we first started dealing with them but as soon as things went wrong they showed their true colours.
The first crew arrived on time and preceded to pack our belongings. They stayed till about three but still had a lot to do. The next day one less turned up and they started to pack again. About lunchtime the lorry driver arrived to collect the 20ft container. By now we knew they were not going to get it all packed on time so my husband lent a hand loading up the lorry. We noticed things were being rushed and noticed not so much attention was being paid to the packing. Eventually everything was packed the house was checked and NOTHING was left behind!
We were over a 20ft container so had to share a container for our excess. Our first container arrived on time. We had approximately 230 boxes delivered. There was no way we could un-pack and check all the contents upon delivery so we signed for them and waited for our next delivery. Unfortunately where they had been in a rush we found we had table tops but no legs. A couple of dinning chairs but no table. Everything had been mixed up so we waited patiently for the arrival of our next part container which turned up 12 weeks later.
Again, we signed for the goods and opened the boxes once the removal guys had left. My 17 year old had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of his brand nex x box 360 and my younger son was looking forward to playing his playstation 2 games. We unpacked and got right to the last box. I was laughing and said "might have guessed your stuff would be in the last box". Wrong. No X Box, No Playstation Games and also an Robotnix Robot at a cost of £300.00 had all gone "missing".
I immediately contacted Wridgeways (The Australian removal people) who said that all the boxes had been delivered. I then contacted Mason's, their attitude was that's impossible, you signed for the boxes, you must have them. We know the items were packed and stored in Mason's warehouse until they could fill another container so at some point our items have been stolen from the warehouse probably taken out of the boxes at the warehouse. We have been told we are lying, not to make accusations as it is their mens jobs on the line. Unfortunately at the time of shipping we never took out insurance as we figured we were using one of the best companies and we took the gamble as we were terribly short of money. That was a big mistake although I don't know if we would have been compensated for theft. Apart from the "missing items"! which amount to about £900.00, we also had the glass in two of our pictures broken, a leg was broken off a table, loads of glasses and kitchen stuff broken. Also we weren't warned about bringing over childrens Electric Scooters. We now have two of those stuck in customs.
All in all Mason's have proved to be a nightmare. I have just been out today to replace my sons Xbox 360 out of our own money. Mason's were so very friendly when we first started dealing with them but as soon as things went wrong they showed their true colours.
Jun 6th 2006, 12:24 pm
#24
Account Closed
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,997
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by LESLEY77
I immediately contacted Wridgeways (The Australian removal people) who said that all the boxes had been delivered.
We also had our things delivered by Wridgeways, 2 years ago, and also my sons PS2 and Xbox were stolen! [wonder how common it is for these things to go missing?
]Unfortunately, we didn't bother claiming as we couldn't be bothered after everything we'd been through. Wridgeways couldn't give a crap and I did complain at the time re their attitude. They said the items were "misplaced" and I reminded the manager it was our sole container, so it wasn't "misplaced" it was stolen
I got the feeling this may have been the norm. Sorry to hear your lads went thought the same as mine
..hope you get it sorted....
Jun 6th 2006, 12:35 pm
#25
Australia's Doorman
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by LESLEY77
Also we weren't warned about bringing over childrens Electric Scooters. We now have two of those stuck in customs.
Jun 6th 2006, 12:50 pm
#26
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 1,217
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Sorry to hear about whats happened with your stuff.
I'm keeping a keen interest on these kinds of threads as I have no idea who we will use when the time comes to pack and ship our stuff over.
I'm keeping a keen interest on these kinds of threads as I have no idea who we will use when the time comes to pack and ship our stuff over.
Jun 6th 2006, 1:01 pm
#27
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 10
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by Hutch
Sorry to hear about your problems. What is the issue with electric scooters? The missus just spent 15 minutes scrubbing our son's scooter with Jeyes! They an illegal import or something.
Jun 7th 2006, 2:22 am
#28
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 171
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Which JM depot did your packers come from? Ours were from Liverpool and were great. We had 86 boxes/packages totalling 680cm in a part container and received all of them. We took out insurance coz you never know!!
Wridgways were great with us. No complants at all.
Joanne
Wridgways were great with us. No complants at all.
Joanne
Jun 7th 2006, 2:55 am
#29
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2005
Location: Mornington
Posts: 1,650
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by TheAshleys
What a nightmare. Does anyone have any recommendations of people they used and found to be good ?
The packed us up on time and with great care and we were unpacked at this end equally as carefully.
We didn't have a single item broken and the only thing missing was a jacket of mine and that was in one of the few boxes opened by customs
I wouldn't mind but it wasn't even an expensive one just from Next, but a favourite of mine.John
Jun 7th 2006, 4:44 am
#30
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,347
Re: Mason's Removals Very Bad Experience
Originally Posted by TheAshleys
What a nightmare. Does anyone have any recommendations of people they used and found to be good ?
We had excellent experiences with both companies. Packing in UK was superior - we had four guys packing for us and we had precisely one broken glass. They'd even wrapped my daughter's paintings in tissue and packing paper, as well as some shell sculptures she'd donen at school. Nothing went missing, all was inventoried well and packaging materials were probably excessive rather than underdone. They were well organised, plenty of packing materials and boxes and tape, also gave us loads. They had to separate our freight into container and air freight, and did that efficiently too. They arrived Thursday morning, packed all day until about 6 p.m., back at 7 a.m. the next morning, had container filled and sealed and away by 2:30 p.m. - and we had an awful lot of stuff. Iirc, 271 boxes.
Kent's this end also did well. They didn't unpack for us at our request. They made two special trips back to collect packaging materials for disposal, and another trip to collect the stuff that Customs had asked for - some native american artefacts of dh's and our dog's brush and blanket! They also brought that back when customs had cleared it. They did rip the leathercloth of my treatment chair, but I claimed under the insurance, and the claim for a new cushion (£200 + carriage from the UK) was met in full by return of post.
Excellent service from both. And our freight only took 27 days + 8 days at customs from the time of collection to clearance. Shame we couldn't have it for nearly another two months, but it went to storage with Kent's and was well taken care of.
HTH.
Sue
Last edited by Bella Donna; Jun 7th 2006 at 4:51 am.