Wentzel D

How the mighty have fallen

Its once again time for my family and I to move. As a medical professional I know this dreaded feeling all too well, as I have done so many time in the last few years. Packing, traveling, unpacking is always stressful and that's why you should choose a removal company that you can trust and can give you some comfort during your move. And this should not be JH Retief any longer. I have had good travels with JH Retief before, but unfortunately not on our latest trip. I will share my latest experience with JH Retief. In January 2022, during a very stressful time in our lives, we moved from Cape Town to Nelspruit with JH Retief. As my wife was pregnant at the time and I already being stationed in Nelspruit, I requested that they do packing for us. Estelle ensured us everything would go well. It did not go well: 1) The packers did not complete the job and my pregnant wife had to pack a few boxes on the day the truck arrived. 2) Our TV was not packed properly. The feet were left attached to the TV and that caused a sheer through the bottom of the TV. The TV had to be replaced 3) Our antique cream couch was stained and ripped. It had to be reupholstered. 4) My fishing rod was missing. 5) My golfbag and clubs were missing 6) A box with liquor was missing 7) A few other miscellaneous items broken. The most concerning thing were the missing items. My golfbag did not appear on the inventory list and the box of liquor that went missing had its inventory sticker number ripped from the original box and placed on another box with a different number already on it. The way the inventory list was filled in was also strange ( missing descriptions, item 72 did not exist, two numbers written under one line item. It tells me this may have not been their first time doing "this". At my house in Cape Town I have a camera system that caught the whole day on file. The camera system showed JH Retief staff loading my golfbag and fishing rod onto their truck and loading the box with the liquor. Interestingly, the camera showed some potentially incriminating evidence at the entrance of the truck that I informed JH Retief of. They told me they were aware of it. I wrote an extensive report to JH Retief ( with photo evidence) and implored Estelle to escalate this due to possible criminal element. JH Retief has not followed up with me at all. They did not share in the loss or damage of my property. I am still awaiting a proper response from their management team many months later. After a few weeks I managed to get only my golfbag back ( although partially unwrapped and after much struggle). Luckily I had my own insurance with total costs amounting to close to R30000 of repairs/replacements. This move with JH Retief caused much anxiety and I do not wish anyone to go through this. JH Retief, I once reputable company, must clean up their act and show their future customers that their property will be safe in transit. Until then, mover beware.