Hopefully this letter is self-explanatory.  The cost of the move was close to £4000.

We had no acknowledgement of the letter and no reply to it. 

Update- see bottom of this page for details. 

 

 

 

Chapman of Cardiff

Rhymney River Bridge Road

Newport Road

Cardiff

CF23 9AF

 

Dear Sir,

 

I enclose completed "Customer Service Report".  However, there are several points I wish to make.

 

Perhaps our experience is best summed up by our response to the last question - "Would you recommend us to others?"  Because our answer is - only with  reservations.  This letter is to explain why this is the case.

 

Our overall feeling was that the move was conducted in a way that was clumsy and rushed.  The reasons we feel this are:

 

• Clothes that were hung in a wardrobe in the attic in A**** were bundled into a box -not a hanging/wardrobe box but an ordinary one.  This resulted in a car jacket being ripped and made useless as it is no longer waterproof; two men's Marks and Spencer suits requiring dry-cleaning and pressing; and a sports jacket the same.

 

• Glass in three pictures was broken, and one frame was broken too.  The pictures were not wrapped in paper or bubble-wrap, so knocked against one another.  The box containing some of  them was also placed upside down when left here.  (As were other boxes).

 

• The back of a chest of drawers was missing.  Admittedly it was only hardboard, but it had prevented contents from spilling.  When asked where it was we were told, "Oh, it'll probably be in a box somewhere."

 

• Several boxes were mislabelled with regard to their contents.

 

• Boxes we had pre-packed were placed sideways and upside down in your boxes -thus spilling and damaging contents.

 

• Books were not packed correctly - paperback books had pages splayed and damaged where they had been packed on top of one another incorrectly.

 

• The van arrived on site in S**** 24 hours early, although we did say we would try to accommodate this. We had arranged to phone the driver, at his suggestion, at 1 p.m. if we had re-negotiated entry time.  He arrived at 11 a.m., before we even had had a chance to contact the owners of the rental property.  They were not happy to see a huge lorry drive up a day early with no warning.  Fortunately they were understanding, but it caused embarrassment with the potential for some difficulty.

 

• The computers were not packed with care but survived the journey in spite of rattling around in boxes.

 

• On a positive note - the kitchenware was packed with care and no glasses or other similar fragile goods were damaged or broken.

 

• Your staff were friendly, courteous and hard-working.

 Yours sincerely,

July 2008

 

The above letter was written two years ago.  A couple of months ago I had an email from a manager at Chapmans to say they never received that letter. After several email exchanges we received- and accepted- an apology.  We also negotiated a financial settlement and have just lodged a cheque from Chapmans in full and final settlement.

We are grateful that, even after all these months, customer service seems important to them; while it was disappointing at the time we are delighted that there has been a genuine and amicable attempt to resolve the situation.  Chapmans’ approach and response is a refreshing example.  Maybe Bizzenergy could take note!