Cape Town - A Johannesburg couple, who moved to Langebaan to open a guest house, have had the worst possible start to their new life and new business.
Ingrid and Trimaine Petersen found One Stop Movers, in Boksburg, Johannesburg, on the internet and were initially impressed with the promises the company made, but then it all turned sour.
According to the Petersens, they first made contact with One Stop Movers on November 27 and arranged for their goods to be collected on December 14.
A deposit of R3400 was paid and the goods were duly collected with a promise that the load would be delivered at the family’s holiday home in Langebaan on December 19.
The Petersens also paid the balance of R3 400 on December 14, the day the goods were collected from their home in Johannesburg.
The couple decided they would turn their family holiday home in Langebaan into a guest house, and included in the load to be brought to the Western Cape was furniture, bedding, towels and other items to kit out the new guest house.
“They promised us that our goods would be delivered on December1 9 at 3pm. This suited us as we were expecting our first guests two days later and we would have enough time to set up,” said Ingrid.
On the day of the promised delivery, the Petersens said they called One Stop Movers several times and were assured that the truck was on its way.
“We spoke to so many people. We have been sworn at, we have been lied to. I just don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” she said.
But that was not the case. While Trimaine was on the phone with One Stop Movers, Ingrid was rushing to their local Sheet Street to purchase bedding as it became clear that the truck was not going to arrive, but their guests were.
Several phone calls later, Trimaine was informed by one of the “managers”, Gerhard Jacobs, that there was a problem with the truck and that it was stuck at the “border” of the Eastern Cape. That story soon changed to a delay in Beaufort West.
“The Eastern Cape has no border. These guys have been messing us around. We just want our furniture,” said a frustrated Trimaine.
The Petersens, in desperation, sent their son to the address of One Stop Movers at 301 Commissioner Street, Boksburg, to see if their goods were still at the company’s yard.
According to the couple’s son, the address did not exist and there was certainly no One Stop Movers at those premises.
Then Ingrid remembered that she had been given the phone number of the driver of the truck who would be delivering their goods.
When she contacted the driver, known only as David, she was informed that their goods had not left Johannesburg and were, in fact, held at a storage facility at 111 Modderfontein Road, Midrand.
According to the Petersens, their goods are worth R80000, but the load also contains Ingrid’s clothing and sentimental furniture and personal items.
When Weekend Argus contacted One Stop Movers, we were told by Gerhard Jacobs that he had never promised the Petersens a delivery date of December 19.
He said he had promised the couple a 10% discount for all their troubles.
Weekend Argus also asked him about the non-existent address, to which he replied: “We had just moved to new offices.”
The one thing that the Petersens and Weekend Argus were told that was the same was that the truck was now in Stellenbosch and that the driver would only make the delivery between January 7 and 10.
According to Jacobs, One Stop Movers contracted an independent truck and driver to transport the Petersens’ goods as their own truck had broken down.
The couple have laid a charge with the Langebaan police, and Trimaine flew to Johannesburg on Thursday morning to lay a charge against One Stop Movers at the Boksburg police station.
The couple also took to the website hellopeter.com to vent their frustrations. A visit to the site by Weekend Argus revealed a string of complaints of the same nature against One Stop Movers.
We spoke to a director called Christo and a manager called Gerhard, but we now suspect that they may be the same person.
Jacobs also told Weekend Argus that they had four trucks but that their own drivers were on leave for the festive season and that this was the cause of the delay.
At the time of publication, the Petersens had not yet received their goods.