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Monday, April 5, 2021

Robert Menzies by Scott Prasser


Between the Line, ABC Radio interview: Scott Prasser on Menzies





Monday, April 4, 2016

We are now in Brisbane - and we do not recommend the removalist we used

We are now in Brisbane, but moving was an ordeal!

We had to move the house we live in and the business house in Ballarat to Brisbane. So we had a lot of goods to move.

We got one quote for the moving of our goods to Brisbane (that was our first mistake).

The removalist who came was from Central Budget Removalists. He came along and quoted the job. Walked throughout the house, told us that it would cost between $3500 to $4000.

The rest is a nightmare:

The price came is as $4200 (second warning sign)

When I questioned the price I got the following answer:

"*** here I worked your quote by $120 per cubic metre if I can get another load coming back I could take a little bit off your price to make it a little bit cheaper for you but I had to charge you the full amount at this present time. If you'd like to book in I would require a $500 deposit to secure your booking can do this either over the phone or bank deposit."

Anyhow, I accepted his quote in good faith.

He came with a 6 tonne truck on the day. He turned up, that was a good sign.

And so 2 hours into the moving, he told us that the truck wasnt big enough to fit us and another load.

Ok, does that mean we get a discount, as quoted by his email above, as if he could fit in another load? No the price never came down.

As the day went on, they accused us of adding several cubic metres of goods after the day he quoted us.

The fact was, that since his visit, we had given a truck load of furniture to Salvos, another a whole 2 rooms of furniture to a daughter who had settled into her new place and got rid of 7 bookcases on Ballarat Buy Swap and Sell on Facebook. So in fact, we had got rid of at least 10 cubic metres of stuff after the quote.

Things got heated, and they left at 8pm, promising that they would picked up the remaining 10 cubic metres at Easter. So, our hopes of signing out of Ballarat and returning the keys to the Real Estate Agent had to wait.

We paid half the amount, in good faith, and we reminded him that we needed the stuff on the Monday, the day we arrived in Brisbane. Of course, as was always the case, he assured us that he would.

We left, for Brisbane, 4 hours later than we planned. Come Monday afternoon at 4pm, we have a Mexican stand off. They call and tell us that they cannot  come today.  Tomorrow morning we are told. Hang on, I tell them, we have no beds, 3 kids under the age of 5 and unfortunate as it is, I got annoyed and let out some private school boy swear words.

We were then held  to ransom. I can come tonight, but we would not unload, you can unload yourself, they told us. We had no choice but to obey the removalist.

Furthermore, they wouldn't unload the following day until we paid the full amount first.

Wow, talk about friendly customer service.

So we held our nerve. They came, we paid and they unloaded and left. Not sure what  ASIC thinks about such work practices.

As for picking up the rest of our stuff, well, we are still waiting.

We chased them up in for their Easter trip as they promised -- but we got another answer, like they might be able to fit us in a fortnight.  Not sure if they realised that we cannot return the keys of the Ballarat home until the stuff goes.

So enough of the games, we called another removalist.

No dramas. They did the job, quickly, fairly and on time. And it was 6.5 cubic metres not 10 cubic metres as estimated by Central Budget Removalists. They came on time, unloaded and we paid them after the job was done. They were Brendan Hare Removalist. Please use them for Ballarat and avoid Central Budgets Removals at all costs!


Thumbs Up: Brendan Hare Removals 

Not recommended: Central Budget Removals