Save yourself the pain

Do NOT use them! This company will ***** from you and damage your belongings irreparably. I knew I would have to factor in the potential of some damages when moving from Gauteng to the Western Cape, but nothing could prepare me for the disaster experienced with 3SIX5 removals. I prepared as much as possible before the move, sourced solid same sized boxes, labelled everything clearly, noted fragile and heavy items, bubble wrapped everything, put everything on the inventory list, and reviewed my load with the administrator multiple times. I even had a video call with Linda (admin) to ensure that the truck catered for all my belongings and my large collection of plants. I was advised to pay additional fees so that she could supply me with a 12 ton truck and not a 10 truck, to ensure there would be more than enough space for all my stuff. Linda had verified the move plan with me over and over again because it was a shared load and I needed to ensure the process was seamless and I felt confident. I was so wrong!

The TEN TON (not the 12 ton as agreed on and paid for) truck arrived at my house on Friday, one hour early, and the shared load belongings had not been loaded prior to my collection, as agreed. I asked questions but the drivers seem to be uninformed. They loaded my items but didn't colour label my goods which I was told they would to distinguish between my load and the shared load. The original plan said they would leave my house and head directly to the Western Cape, but they went back to the 3SIX5 warehouse with my load. I took a 2 day drive, and they were meant to arrive with me at 3pm on the Saturday. At 7pm on Saturday they had only reached Beaufort West (4hours away) and had picked up another load along the way which included a car on a trailer - this was NEVER discussed with me. I called the driver and we agreed that offloading at midnight was not viable and agreed that they would arrive at 7am the next morning. We slept on the floor of our new house that night. They overslept and the truck only left Heidelberg at 7am. They were 3 hours away so we anticipated their arrival at 10am. They decided to take a short cut via some hectic dirt roads and the truck was driven into a muddy ****a and was stuck. Prior to the move and agreed 12 ton truck arrangements, I gave Linda advice about which route to take based on the flooding in the Western Cape and the known safe routes for large trucks. This was ignored. The truck finally arrived at 7pm on Sunday. They refused to even get out the car until the payment was verified by the company. I made the immediate payment and sent the POP to the managers (Chris) cell number, as requested. Chris then accused me of ***** saying I had paid the wrong account and was trying to de***** them. I spent an hour on the phone to the banks ***** line, only to be told that the number he was seeing as an account number, was actually a payment reference number. I made the immediate payment again and was still questioned and accused of *****. They told me that they would report this as ***** and I would be investigated. I was getting very upset, it is now almost 9pm and they are still waiting for the go ahead. The offload staff seem to be as messed around by the company as I was and were unclear of what was happening. Eventually they were told to offload. They needed to move the truck to offload and promptly reversed into my BRAND NEW car (2 days old) and tried to cover it up, there were too many witnesses and a dent (thankfully I have a bull bar). It was so late that I just started offloading with them which made tracking the inventory list impossible. My dresser was snapped in half, fragile boxes were squashed, wooden furniture was chipped and scratched, metal parts of my Smeg stove were broken off, most of my plants had been crammed into the car on the trailer as well as under the car and wedged into gaps in the trailer - thousands of Rands of plants were destroyed, needless to say the persons car was covered in sand. I also noticed that many items just didn't arrive. I asked the drivers and they said that they were told to offload items at the 3SIX5 warehouse in Joburg. I was never asked, advised or contacted about this at all, they just took my stuff without my knowledge and withheld them at their premises, this is theft. I managed to get hold of someone from the company who sent me a photo of SOME of the missing items confirming that they offloaded them, and I asked why they took it in the first place, no answer. They said I would be contacted to arrange delivery, no one answers me - it's been 3 weeks now. I have been asking for info on how to claim for my damaged goods from their GIT insurance that I was covered for, but I am yet to get a response. They each just say, someone will contact me but no one has. I now have to open a police case for theft and damages, and claim this from my own insurance. I need to pay the excess and suffer the premium increases linked to this claim. I have lost valuable one of a kind antiques, had irreparable damage done to expensive items, and just been messed around for 3 solid weeks trying to fix their mess. It's the worst experience I have ever had with a service provider. I really thought this would be smoot sailing, but the second you make payment, you wont hear from them again. Save yourself the pain and find another removal company.