Choosing a moving company

[sforsyth]

I recently returned to Canada, making it 3 times in my life that I've moved to or from South Africa. Immigrating is never a fun exercise and you expect a few problems. But this time round was by far the worst. My best suggestion to everyone is to avoid Biddulphs at all costs. They broke and damaged furniture, stole heirlooms, were a month late and lied about how their services operate. When I complained, they held an internal inquiry, in such a way that the SA Police told me that they had been shut out of making any further investigations. I've had a few conversations and emails with company management and they are fully intent on evading responsibility. Their operations manager wanted to know why I had packed things in a particular way, hoping to transfer blame to me. Too bad that the branch manager had previously told me to pack things that way. The upshot is they're going to have another enquiry, contact the police, etc. I don't expect anything to come of it. Stay clear of them.

[adrianh]

I recently returned to Canada, making it 3 times in my life that I've moved to or from South Africa. Immigrating is never a fun exercise and you expect a few problems. But this time round was by far the worst. My best suggestion to everyone is to avoid Biddulphs at all costs. They broke and damaged furniture, stole heirlooms, were a month late and lied about how their services operate. When I complained, they held an internal inquiry, in such a way that the SA Police told me that they had been shut out of making any further investigations. I've had a few conversations and emails with company management and they are fully intent on evading responsibility. Their operations manager wanted to know why I had packed things in a particular way, hoping to transfer blame to me. Too bad that the branch manager had previously told me to pack things that way. The upshot is they're going to have another enquiry, contact the police, etc. I don't expect anything to come of it. Stay clear of them.

Sandy?

That is horrible - that is surely the last thing you need in your life!

[sforsyth]

Immigrating is always bad, but this one was really awful

[adrianh]

People we know immigrated to New Zealand (or rather, are trying to) They packed everything into a container and put the container on a ship. The husband flew to New Zealand alone......and then the covid-19 lockdowns hit. The wife n kids are still in South Africa, the container is missing and the husband is on his own in New Zealand.

The story has an interesting twist though - we know the husband's sister very well. She said that their parents were very strict and that the husband had to do whatever their mother said (terribly henpecked all the time). She said that is wife was also very controlling but he was so used to it he just didn't know any better. After 6 month of being on his own in New Zealand he kinda became is own man and decided to devorce the wife still stuck in South Africa. I don't know what ever came of the story - but I can understand how distance from one another allows people more space and time to delve into their own characters.

[horacewelch]

This is such a horrible experience. I really feel sorry for you.