Worst experience ever! Loads of stuff damaged and overcharged for nothing.

Our shipment from JHB South Africa arrived with us in the UK last week Monday and after spending the last few days unpacking, we are really disappointed and angry with the condition of our goods and how they were all packed and shipped.

Firstly, I would understand one or two items being broken, but a lot of our stuff was broken. 20 items to be exact. Apart from the fact that most of the items damaged are sentimental and are not replaceable, if they had actually been packed properly and carefully they wouldn’t have been broken.

Our fragile items were wrapped very poorly, with only one or two sheets of paper wrapped around them and then piled into boxes in such a way that it was evident that it was going to break once the box was moved and stacked away. And by the look of the condition of the boxes that we received (some looked completely shredded) obviously the Pickfords packers should be aware of the rough manner in which the boxes are handled.

Now the thing that probably infuriates us the most is that our original quotation increased substantially once our goods had been packed up and taken away in SA. We were warned that the price could change if the size of the shipment had increased. That’s understandable. We got our final quotation 6 weeks AFTER Pickfords had packed up and taken all our stuff, and this came after countless emails from us asking for it. The new quotation was nearly R20k more than what we were originally quoted. When you’re moving countries you don’t just have an extra R20k lying around. We did however managed to pay the amount and put it down to us maybe adding too much final bits and pieces at the end, like clothes. It hurt our pocket but we thought it was our own fault so licked our wounds and carried on. BUT, when we started unpacking the goods delivered to us in the UK, we realized it wasn’t us. Basically huge amounts of empty space was shipped to us. Inside most boxes were wads and wads of packing paper used to wrap items and fill up of space, supposedly to keep items from breaking. But, that wasn’t the logic here. One or two layers of paper were being used to wrap a fragile item in a full box and then wads of paper were being used to wrap a non-fragile item such as stationary, steel kitchen utensils, CD’s in their protective cases and of course my all time favourite being a POLYSTYRENE BALL that I found wrapped up in layers of paper which took up a substantial amount of space inside the box it was in. So basically our stuff was spread out into many boxes to make the shipment space bigger.

On top of that, we were shocked to see the condition of the boxes that arrived to us in the UK, especially when there are “Fragile” stickers all over the boxes and also the fragile content of the box clearly written on the box exterior. For example, our large mirror which arrived shattered had “MIRROR” written on it in clear view yet the box it was in looked as though it has been pushed into something and bent in the middle. A box labelled “Fragile” with “Photo Frames” arrived crushed after evidently being stacked underneath a heavy load. And steel tool box trunks, which were brand spanking new, look as though they have been dropped from ten storeys, not to mention that one of the boxes must have fallen and opened up and all the contents which had been neatly packed inside, was just thrown back in. It was a complete mash up.

After emailing every contact I had with Al**** Pickfords, Pickfords South Africa rep**** to say they had requested an outturn document from the UK and also sent me the insurance claim form. This is where the fun begins. Reading through the insurance claim form, it’s written twice, once in bold even, to say -and I quote- “we must bring to your attention the fact that this insurance cover ceases to exist once we have delivered your effects to you. This means that any insurance, which you have arranged through us, will no longer apply to the contents of the cartons etc. which remain packed and which you wish us to leave with you without us having unpacked them.”

This is the first I have heard of this by the way. It was not written clearly on the original insurance form we signed (I checked), nor was it written on the Delivery Instruction Form where I had to choose if I wanted my goods unpacked or left in the boxes (I double checked that too). I was apparently suppose to list all of the damaged goods on the outturn document before Pickfords left our house after the delivery. Only two items that were evidently broken were recorded on the outturn document once the delivery was complete BUT the guys delivering my stuff verbally assured me that I had 14 days to claim any additional damages. It took us 10 days to unpack 161 boxes, carefully inspecting each item to see if it had been broken. The Insurance Claim Form says I have 7days to confirm only the damages that were already reported on the outturn. So basically we can claim for 2 of the 20 items.

I don’t think Pickfords even acknowledged my point about the disgusting condition of the boxes delivered to us even after sending them photos, or the fact that their pathetic packaging enabled them to charge us so much more for our goods to be shipped. All we can do is spread the word so no one else gets burnt. Don’t use Pickfords.