Trustpilot deleted my review for Australian Grace which is:Awful end result and the most hard-bitten and unethical management of claim for damaged household items. This may be common business practice among removal companies. I will tell you what happened and at the end give some advice to protect your interests. A word about Google reviews which are misleading. The clear majority of reviews in the last year or two are negative. Two years ago and earlier they received good reviews. Google re-print the two-year-old reviews on the page people read. Grace are lovely at first and the Canberra senior salesman is charming.The end result is:• My solid oak extendable dining table was packed on end in the container. It arrived with the corner smashed. A couple of chairs now have loose joins. A $20,000 dining suite is now rubbish.• A leather cushion from the lounge suite is missing. Impossible to replace. Lounge is no longer made. Now the whole lounge suite has no value.• Boxes were broken and the items re-packed in those blue and red striped packing bags. Items are missing, and two very nice small items.• 3 boxes are missing and not ticked off on the inventory. Lots of our kitchen items and stereo are gone.• Paid extra for large and fragile artworks to be packed in wooden crates. Did not notice not written in contract. Also not done.• Paid $000’s to send over car and have registered. No item written on the inventory/contract. We did not notice. There is a general clause in the Terms and Conditions. Arrived here to find out Grace do not have a service to register cars. • In reply to the emails with pictures of the damage there has been silence. More emails and no reply. • They have a double-act going with their insurance company. Insurance responded that as we do not have a policy with them the claim is rejected. o This is wrong of them. The liability is with Grace and if they choose to insure or bear the cost is up to Grace. In my opinion and my experience:• Grace will not support you getting all aspects of the job written down.• They will rely on only complying with the written words in the inventory and contract regardless of the discussions and general expectations of the service.• They will not acknowledge the claim, not give a reference number, and not address the likely causes of the damage. • Grace will delay discussion and avoid the claim in the knowledge most people will give up.• Their customer service reps respond to Google reviews so they look good on the WEB. There is no acknowledgement or ownership of the problem by the office. They just keep me busy with irrelevant requests.• In my opinion Grace has a far too close relationship with their insurer to look after the consumer. For such an expensive purchase, 25% of the move.In my opinion some actions to reduce your risks can include:• Write down dot point notes as you discuss your job. Photocopy and staple to the contract and write on contract “attachment included.” I doubt you will have time for neatly type-written and printed notes.• Use two people with different ways of thinking in collaboration when discussing the job. One person with the objective and sounding out the company representative and another with an eye for logic and detail are good. If you married to one or the other you are in luck.• I think men can find this just as stressful as women but respond in a different way.• Shop around for insurance for the ship transport and port. In my opinion Grace has a far too close relationship with their insurer to look after the consumer. For such an expensive purchase, 25% of the move, you might have luck and find a different attitude from a different company.• Industry-wide practices of close insurance relationships, and dodging claims is for our political leaders to become involved with.
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