1 reviews | Active since May 2024

19 May 2024, 13:48

Eezi Move: One of the worst experiences of my live. First Report

Item: Eezi Move
Rating: 1
Author: Ulrich O

I contracted Eezi Move to handle the move of my household from Pretoria, Gauteng, to Wakkerstroom, southern Mpumalanga. This resulted in one of the worst experiences of my life, an experience that is still ongoing. The outcomes, in summary: 1. Eezi Move treated me and is still treating me with complete and total disregard to my rights as a client. Their customer service has been and is still utterly appalling! 2. Will I ever make use of Eezi Move's services again?? Not in a thousand years!! 3. Will I ever recommend Eezi Move to a third party?? Never ever, NEVER EVER!! Never to even my worst enemy.

I forwarded Eezi Move a 5-page report on my experience with them. They dismissed this report summarily "as this information is required 24 hours after the removal"! Really??? This is an completely unfair policy as it is impossible to document such atrocious service and behavior by staff within 24 hours.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning. (As my initial report is rather lengthy, I will split it here in at least 5 separate reports, each highlighting at least one in a series of related incidents.) This first report deals with internal staff matters:

The original logistical arrangements went well, as did the visit by the pre-packing crew. Soon after the removal crew arrived on my former premises in Pretoria, things started going haywire.

Incident 1: One of the crew members, a tall gentleman, asked me what should be loaded. I asked him in return who oversaw the crew. He responded that it does not matter and that I should communicate with him. I, in return, indicated to avoid miscommunication, I would only coordinate with the person in charge of the crew. We discussed this for some time, until he eventually grudgingly admitted that this was the driver and not him. I have managerial experience of many years, working with staff on every level, from manual workers to those highly qualified. The way that he (the tall guy) communicated with me, was a clear attempt to undermine the crew leader's authority. This is not acceptable.

Incidents 2, 3 and 4: Soon after the above-mentioned conversation I realized that items were loaded which were not on the official inventory. When I pointed this out to the tall guy, who was at the truck at the time, he informed me that we should come to an agreement. He said to me that if I would pay him say R 500 to be distributed among the crew, they would load items that are not on the official inventory. When I indicated that I do not like that approach as it is against company policy as communicated to me, he said that company policy applies to the office environment, but it is not applicable on site. His approach during the conversation was arrogant and provocative.

He thus not only (incident 2) encouraged me to bribe him, but he also (Incident 3) dismissed company policy as irrelevant on site. Neither of these two incidents, nor his arrogant and provocative approach (Incident 4) are acceptable under any circumstances!!

Incident 5: The crew leader borrowed three padlocks from me to lock the truck and trailer. These he promised to hand in at the Pretoria offices.

I cannot comprehend that the driver of a furniture removal truck does not have locks for truck and trailer! How could this possibly be in line with how the company wants to position itself??

I will follow up on Incident 5 in a subsequent report.

Incident 6: Due to a vehicle accident I could not be present during the off-loading in Wakkerstroom, but asked my fiancé as well as the previous owner of the Wakkerstroom residence to keep and eye on things. Although the crew leader was friendly in his approach, it was clear that the crew wanted to offload as quickly as possible to reach their next destination. The two ladies' instructions and requests were blankly ignored, the tall guy mentioned above was blatantly arrogant in his dealings with both ladies. How on earth could this be deemed acceptable?

Incident 7: The handling of my belongings during the move was done sloppily. A number of my furniture was scratched, some was broken, and boxes were loaded upside down. Is this how items are usually handled by staff? The approach described above is characteristic of staff who care little for their clients or their belongings. This is completely unacceptable of a furniture removal firm!

Allow me to end my first report here. A follow-up to be submitted soon.

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Replies (3)

Eezi Move's replyOfficial

20 May 2024, 07:04

Dear Ulrich, we're terribly sorry to hear about your experience with us. We believe every move should be an EEZI MOVE, unfortunately it seems that yours wasn't. As communicated to you, we'll be in touch shortly.

Eezi Move's reply20 May 2024, 07:04

Official

Ulrich O's updateReviewer Update

21 May 2024, 14:10

Ulrich O replies:
Thank you so much for Eezi Move’s reply, which is in line with the standard reply that they provide to any complaint - other words 'meaningless'. In response to my 5-page letter of complaint, Eezi Move undertook on 16 April 2024 that their Customer Care unit would be in touch with me within 30 days. I gave them the courtesy of allowing those 30 days. I even reminded Eezi Move twice of their commitment. Did I receive any communication from them? NO, I did not!! No communication at all within those 30 days.

Only when I complained again (on day 31), did I receive another meaningless response, this time from a lawyer Eezi Move had appointed, a lawyer who until a few months ago was in the full-time employ of Eezi Move!!

It is interesting to note that:

1. Eezi Move allowed me 24 hours only to submit any complaint,

2. Eezi Move allocated themselves 30 days to respond to my complaint, but failed to do so.

3. When on day 31 I indicated that I would take further action, their response was virtually immediate – via the appointed lawyer,

4. Eezi move’s response to my review on hellopeter was also virtually immediate.

This makes you think, doesn’t it? I certainly demand an explanation from Eezi Move!!

My first report on hellopeter (19 May 2024) dealt mainly with internal staff matters, issues that should be handled by their HR department.

Herewith the remainder of my review:

Incidents 8 and 9:

As soon as I had established who was in charge, I pointed out to this crew leader which items were listed on the official inventory and which not. As the inventory is rather lengthy and it is difficult to reconcile wrapped/boxed items with what is listed, I agreed with him that he would label items in batches, meaning after one batch was done, I would then address items in another room with him.

As mentioned above, I soon realised that items were labelled and loaded that were not listed on the official inventory. When I checked with the crew leader, I noticed that he did not use the official inventory when labelling items, but hand-wrote his own inventory. I questioned him about this, but he rep**** that the hand-written inventory was in order (incident 8) and that it was no problem if there were additional items as company policy made provision for this. The latter statement was not in line with official communications I had received from Eezi Move (Incident 9). Before he departed that day, I asked him whether I should check and sign the inventory. His response was that this was not necessary as it would be controlled during off-loading. This did not happen – see Incident 10 below.

Why a hand-written inventory, when a printed inventory (signed by me) was available? How was I supposed to reconcile this hand-written inventory with the inventory I had signed? Why a verbal statement that was completely contradictory to the official communications received? Are Eezi Move staff not trained regarding their company’s policies and procedures?

Incident 10:

As mentioned above, I was delayed in my travels to Wakkerstroom due to a vehicle accident: my trailer broke down. By the time of my arrival in Wakkerstroom, the Eezi Move truck had already departed. This surprised me as I, the client, had expected a telephonic report from the crew leader regarding the offloading. When speaking to my fiancé, it soon became clear to me that no specific procedure was followed by the crew when offloading. No inventory, neither the official nor the handwritten one, was used to keep record of what was offloaded. No copy of the handwritten inventory was handed to either my fiancé or the previous owner of the residence. It is incomprehensible to me that staff of a company such as Eezi Move does not keep meticulous records of what is happening with their client’s property.

Incident 11:

Only when offloading was completed, did the crew leader give the handwritten inventory to my fiancé and insisted that she sign. How is this possible? As mentioned above, the crew leader did not phone me, the client, to inform me that offloading had been completed (according to him) and to ask me how to proceed. At no time did I directly or indirectly indicate to him that I authorised my fiancé to sign any document on my behalf. I do acknowledge that the breakdown of my trailer was an unexpected event. Is that an excuse for sloppy and unprofessional service?

Incident 12:

As a copy of the hand-written inventory was not left for me, I phoned the crew-leader in this regard. He had no explanation why this was not done but promised to WhatsApp me photographs thereof. The agreed-on deadline came and went. No feedback from the crew leader. I phoned him again. This time he said that the inventory could not be located as he had handed it to the contracted security staff. To this day I have not received any copy of the hand-written inventory for comparison to the official inventory I had signed. How can an official document just be handed to a contracted security guard and subsequently get lost?

Incident 13:

When unpacking and unwrapping items, my fiancé and I soon realised that certain items were missing. We established that five boxes with their content could not be found. I asked the crew leader (it was a long weekend) about this. No explanation at all! I addressed this issue in my report to Eezi Move, offering a possible explanation how this could have happened. Was this investigated? I do not know, as I received no response from Eezi Move. I, however, reserve my right to regard this as theft.

Incident 14:

A rim and a used tyre were located in my Pretoria residence’s front garden. After the Eezi Move truck had departed, these were nowhere to be found. As the truck blocked any entry or exit into my yard, I find no other explanation that they were packed into the truck. Off-loaded in Wakkerstroom, however, they were not! I reserve my right to regard this as theft!

Incident 15:

On my insistence, the 3 locks borrowed by the crew leader have since been returned to me via a courier service. Did I receive any communication from Eezi Move in this regard? No thank you for making these locks available! No informing me that the locks would be couriered. No follow-up to establish whether I had received them in good order! Nothing! Not a word!

Incident 16:

The estate agent who facilitated the purchase of my property in Wakkerstroom, sent an email to Eezi Move regarding my experience. It went unanswered! Nothing! Not a word!

Incident 17:

A main reason for relocating from Pretoria to Wakkerstroom was to provide a more tranquil environment for my fiancé who suffers from depression. In preparation she bought numerous items in Pretoria to personalise the Wakkerstroom residence. The trauma associated with the unprofessionally handles move and the loss of numerous of her belongings packed in the five missing boxes, sparked another bout of serious depression. Judging from previous experiences, she will not recover from this for years to come, essentially nullifying the reason that we moved to Wakkerstroom for. As I wrote my report to Eezi Move on 15 April 2024, at that moment she was lying on a bench in the lounge, contemplating suicide!! Any response from Eezi Move? Nothing at all!

What is there for me to do? We gave up our lives in Pretoria, exchanging it for a more crime-free environment. What happened? The inefficiency, unprofessionalism and arrogance of Eezi Move shattered our dreams and ambitions! We are now worse off than we were before moving here!

In conclusion:

What happened during my move could under no circumstances described as best practice, as a matter of fact, I would describe this as atrocious – absolutely and utterly ATROCIOUS!!

Ulrich O's update21 May 2024, 14:10

Reviewer Update