Emigration customer journey needs attention

Initial contact was Bruce, who was helpful and friendly and patient with us in understanding this intense process. However then you deal with admin and it feels like they don't talk to each other and then you get handed to Shipping and they weren't in the conversation with Bruce so not always understanding us as the customer. I really recommend one contact person and the company deals with rest on their side. Although paying for our own container they didn't pack into a container and the truck they brought did not fit everything so they had to come back even though they could see on day 1 how much was required, not great planning for a stressful process. At the end of the day its a huge expense and unfami**** to most people. It would be great if there is someone walking you through it all and at the end touching base with you. Huge value to the customer to feel cared for in such a big transition. The shipping ended up being the half time planned for which meant paying 2 weeks of storage in pounds - not happy with that, although they think it's great we asked for delays in SA if that would be the case so not to incur the hefty exchange rate. On top of that when we arrived our belongings could not be delivered due to the company not having availability. Then the delivery company outsourced the work and they were 4 hours late and I had to contact them and got an attitude about it and then we had to unpack in the rain. They didn't lay carpets down to protect the floors, as requested and made a mess of walls and floors after I had cleaned it. The gentlemen were on the most part friendly except one and they made me do inventory and give feedback on their phone to the company that had given them the work - so you couldn't give honest feedback. The one gentlemen was very good, other was new to the work but fun and helpful and the main guy was a grump. We had about 8 items broken. Three had to be thrown away and because of the fee that you have to pay to claim for a replacement, it wasn't worth making a fuss for those items even though you pay for the insurance. I think they could have wrapped some items much better. I was just grateful my most prized possessions made it without being damaged. I was also very happy that they unpacked all the boxes and removed it all from the property.

My suggestion is for one contact person and that Execu-Move could have done a courtesy call during the process or at least emails as the initial provider so that you feel your belongings are taken care of and it won't leave you wondering how things are going with your belongings. I hope to not emigrate again, but if I do I would like the company that handles my life's belongings in a way I feel taken care of. I think its just an element of customer service that was missing from the customer journey. You expect the company to understand what it means to the customer to have all their things packed and shipped for a long period of time to somewhere foreign and the trust required for the process let alone the cost.

For those on the journey of packing up - suggest: -Pack clothes into bags -Do as much of packing into original appliance boxes you can -Check sizing of things like beds/ linen in new country (sometimes best to sell and buy again or look at Freecycle for things) -Organize your house so things are in boxes together except maybe linen and blankets or stuffy toys that can be fillers -Be clear on what is valuable to you (to the packers) -If contemplating what to sell/ take - take things that matter to you that bring joy and get rid of the rest (don't listen to others it's too confusing)