Comedy of Errors

On 29 Aug UniShaun moved our goods and furniture from Montrose to Swee****ers, Pietermaritzburg. In our correspondence the company described itself as a “high quality removal service” and “specialists in the removal / relocation business.” I have relocated several times in my life, nationally and internationally. I regret to say this experience is without question the very worst.

First trip: • removal truck and trailer arrived late and consequently left late • truck woefully under-powered, took an hour to cover 15 km from Montrose to Swee****ers. I know this because I had to physically guide them to correct address (their cellphone battery was flat, hence no GPS), travelling between 20 and 40 km p/hr • in our correspondence we clearly stated as follows: “again I would re-iterate that the off-load house has a narrow steep driveway (about 30m) and the actual road is also narrow.” The truck did not have the ability to climb our drive and the rear-end of the trailer jammed onto the road. Damage to said truck, and left-hand masonry on our driveway. Scratches on roadway. • we had to carry the articles from the bottom to the top of the driveway • team need to use my personal car-jack to lift the trailer off the road to release the trailer doors. One would assume this is standard equipment on removal vans • on departure the truck needed to be push-started due to flat battery

Second trip: • slow turn-around time meant we arrived back at destination address after 6 pm, it was dark. I had to supply lighting via my cell-phone for them to see what they were doing • team insisted driver could make it up the driveway this time. He accelerated up the drive with exactly the same result, trailer jamming on the road. More scratches on roadway • trailer was manually disengaged. The truck moved slightly forward and left its engine idling to keep charging the battery, diesel noise and smoke doubtless annoying our new neighbours • the trailer hitch dropped down, freeing the jam but then ran backwards - wheels hitting the road edge and EJECTING THE CONTENTS obstructing the roadway • trailer ended up sitting on our double bed-base set. Our dining room table and new ceramic glass-top oven smashed. Damage to other furniture • my wife was horrified and immediately called the company. Shaun called back and said he would call ‘tomorrow’ - no such call ever received • at this point I asked the staff to leave since they had a long trip back to Durban

To date no call or apology received from the company.