Chess Moving NSW, Sydney

Chess Moving provided excellent service throughout the entire process, from pre-packing advice before shipment from Hong Kong, regular communication and updates during the Australian Customs/Biosecurity clearance process, and an excellent operations team on the day the shipment was delivered to our new home. The delivery team were efficient, friendly, courteous and extremely understanding and helpful.

Recently my property that was in the Chess facility at Blacktown following an International move from the USA was taken to Brookvale. I had plenty of storage space booked. Firstly Chess had a week to prepare, instead of sending four persons there… Read more

were 2 and they were two hours late. I had a smashed glass frame and a dining room suite I need left out. I. The last hr of the day 2 more staff arrived and behind my back filled up a third unit I had rented for one week and took off as fast as they could. I moved to save money and be closer to where I will be living. The smashed glass frame is nowhere to be found. I have 2 bikes and a king mattress that I can’t move on my own. The service in short was rotten. I expect that the right thing to do would be to fix the problem free of charge. They are very eager to take your money but not do the job. One of the movers said the units weren’t packed properly and I’m paying for their mistake.

Interstate – We used Chess removals to relocate interstate. It was our first move in over fifty years. I can highly recommend Chess removalist to anyone thinking of relocating. To all the staff thank you for a job well done. Show reply

Professional and great communication – Chess Moving Sydney assisted us with our move from a 2 bedroom apartment in Sydney, Australia to Hamilton, New Zealand. Highly recommend Cameron at Chess Moving Sydney, as he was great with communication throughout the entire process, nothing was too much trouble for him and he replies almost immediately with honesty and transparency. The price… Read more

was reasonable. The moving team came on time and they were quick and efficient, but were also careful with our items. We have been very pleased with the service Chess Moving Sydney has provided us.

Great job, very professional – Large 4 bed house with international removals to delivery and overseas storage. Really helpful and proactive throughout the planning. Pre-pack team were excellent; punctual, incredibly hard-working and careful. They checked in with us for anything they were uncertain about, were polite and courteous throughout and did a great job.

From Sublime to Ridiculous – After much careful deliberation we chose Chess to move our belongings. Initial communications were fine and the team who packed and removed our boxes were excellent. The quoted time frame for arrival at the final destination was 8-15 weeks with the proviso that there was always the possibility it may be extended owing to unforeseen circumstances.… Read more

After more than four months our shipping finally left Sydney! During that time, we emailed or phoned periodically to get updates on the ETD. It was extremely disappointing that the company never initiated any of these exchanges, leaving us to suspect they had forgotten about or misplaced our shipment, hence the excessive delay. We were never given any explanation for the lengthy delay. Once on the water, the company that was responsible for getting our goods to the final destination was great, keeping us informed throughout the following 6-7 weeks. In the end it took just over six months for a 3cub m shipment to travel from Sydney to our address in NZ. Under any circumstances that is simply ridiculous!

Move from Sydney to Indonesia. Very regrettable... use another company! – Moving 10m3, was quoted $6,985 with a secure container door to door. Signed and accepted, gave all customs forms, but due to Covid was expected to deliver to the depot instead (its cost me about $300 to buy packing materials, hire van etc). Dropped off items and left the country a week later. Waited for 2 months and they said they had now decided… Read more

to ship via a different port (not due to covid, just convenience for them) and demanded a further $500... What has this got to do with me? We've signed a contract and it seemed like extortion as I could not retrieve items and use an alternative company.

Items arrived loose on a flat bed truck (not in a secure container), and luggage was missing. The value of these was about $700+ plus all my certificates and photographs (which do not have a "value").

Was offered refund of $165 refund for not completing the contract, and $180 for insurance

Don't bother contacting AFRA.com.au they just agree with them on everything or ignore complaint

Really... I cannot stress this enough. A company should be judged on how they act when things go wrong, and with this, just walk away from Chess.... use someone else. Moving is stressful enough. Highly regrettable employing them, they don't even follow their own contract

Chess let us down badly – We contracted Chess Moving Sydney to relocate our household contents from Australia to Canada. They let us down badly in five ways – completeness of inventory, customs clearance, price, packing and timing. Completeness of inventory: we had to leave Australia before our goods. We left detailed instructions with Chess for what was to come to… Read more

Canada and what was to be left behind. We arranged for a family member to give Chess access to the property for packing with the instruction “You don’t need to worry about anything – Chess knows what to pack”. When our goods arrived in Canada a large steel workbench, a set of antique plan drawers and a chaise lounge were missing. These were all clearly included in the email to Chess explaining what was to come to Canada. They did a poor job packing the container, ran out of space and simply left them behind. We have no recourse because the family member that gave them access to the property also signed off on the loaded inventory – without our knowledge or consent. We considered taking legal action and were advised that we had a good case but that the costs involved would mean that even if we won, we would lose.

Customs Clearance: the Chess contract includes “Normal customs clearance”. We took this to mean that Chess was handling all required customs activities, and nothing was required from us. This understanding was confirmed by the Chess representative. This is not the case and it caused us problems because we did not declare that we had a container of household goods to follow when we entered Canada. Canada (and I suspect most other) Customs require customs clearance to be handled by the importer, and not the mover. We had to later attend a Canada Customs office and complete declarations etc. to enable our goods to be cleared. What Chess mean by “Normal customs clearance” is that they will make your goods available at a customs facility for you to complete customs clearance. To make matters worse, the facility they arranged for our goods to be available at was four and a half hours from our home. There is a Canada Customs facility, that provides the required service, just under an hour from our home – we had things happening and could not make the long trip, with likely overnight stay, and it cost us an extra $588.75 to have our goods presented at the closer facility – an extra 64km driving for the movers!

Price: we accepted a quote for $18,250. When we went to pay, we were told that the shipping costs had gone up and the price was now $22,750. Yes, their quote noted that it was subject to variation due to shipping costs, but this was extreme and with no transparency (we have no way of knowing what they actually paid for shipping) it just felt like we were being screwed as we were too far into the process to change, or back out.

Packing: the quality of the packing of our goods was mixed. Some was packed very well but a lot was packed very poorly. It looks like the packing team were told to use plenty of paper when packing our boxes because many boxes we opened had big bundles of 15-20 sheets of paper thrown in the bottom of the box and then none wrapped around individual items. There was a stone lamp base thrown in with a box of clothes – which would have been fine if it was in the clothes for protection, but it was on the edge of the box and was broken. Garden ornaments in a box with no protection and broken. Clothes in the same box as shoes with nothing protecting the clothes from the dirty shoe soles. Clothes in the same box as a dirty floor rug with no protection. A garbage bin carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and then crushed.

Timing: when we booked we were assured that the normal estimate of 7-9 weeks was still a reasonable expectation despite the pandemic. We received our goods after 25 weeks! We understand that pandemic shipping conditions are out of your control - but you are industry experts and should have warned us that there would likely be a significant delay.

International Move from Toronto, Canada to Sydney NSW. 102 boxes of personal possessions and household stuff! Chess moving took the stress out of a big international relocation by doing all the things that a customer would appreciate. Communication was excellent, the timeline was kept updated at all times and the best part...when they say they… Read more

will do something or tell you something will happen.....they do and it does. Delivery was efficient with friendly and humorous agents (who understand how keen a family is to reunite with their goods). Nothing had been damaged, and every box was accounted for. I can't say enough good stuff about Chess! You can read some horror stories online about moving. This company and the agents who helped me (thankyou Dianne) were not part of any of those. Id recommend wholeheartedly.

Great customer service! Fast. Friendly. Professional! – Chess helped me out with a move from Sydney to the US. Cameron was super helpful and knowledgeable, and you knew he was really working for you. The movers were fast & efficient; they showed up on time and checked with you when they had any questions. I am very pleased with the service.

Buyer beware – The company without consent picked up my goods from a storage unit and refuses to give it back. Move was to take place internationally. No authority was given in writing or verbally. The quotes were provided and documents for release sent but never signed or sent to the company. They went ahead anyway and took my items from another storage unit… Read more

and for over a year refuse to give it back without paying a 2.5k exit fee. The director and his staff know very well they are in the wrong but have taken advantage of my situation. This has been going on for over a year with no resolution

Excellent Customer Service – I have recently received a shipment packed and shipped expertly by Chess from Sydney to London. I would like to thank Cameron for arranging everything for me and Heath for his expert packing! The shipment included many precious breakable items and everything arrived in perfect condition. I was kept informed all the way, firstly from the Sydney… Read more

office and then from Jessica in London. Once the shipment cleared customs here in the UK it was quickly delivered. The delivery team were also friendly and very helpful.

The service was simply excellent and exceeded my expectations. Thank you very much. Lesley Hawes

Quick, friendly and easy – We moved a 3 bedroom townhouse back to Perth. We have Chess 1 weeks notice and they were excellent! Our stuff arrived ahead of schedule and in great confirmation. Guys at both ends were very professional & friendly. Show 2 replies

Outstanding service – Moving our belongings of a 2 bedroom app from Sydney to Switzerland. We were very impressed with the service of Chess Moving, everything was done to our satisfaction and the crews at both ends (AU and Swi) worked impeccably, were friendly and on time. We would especially like to mention the outstanding communication! Thank you for making this move so easy for us, it was a pleasure!

very helpful and nice guys – Moving from Hong Kong to Sydney! I am very satisfied with both the staffs in Hong Kong and Sydney! They packed and unpacked our stuffs in a very good condition. Thank you so much guys!

Satisfied customer! – I engaged Chess Moving to ship my personal effects from self-storage in Sydney to Brisbane, whilst I'm not physically present in Australia. The Chess team handled my inquiry very professionally from the start. They were very prompt in giving me quotes, answering all my questions, handling the pick-up from my storage and delivering to Brisbane.… Read more

They know what they are doing and made me at ease with everything. Thanks Chess Moving team for your professionalism. Recommended removalist!

Removals service – We had a 2 bed town house near Queanbeyan NSW and moved to 3 bed house in rural NSW, about an hour away. The service and information we received was really good. The communication was really professional. The pick up time and delivery of our items was perfect, and the guys on the 2 trucks were brilliant, completing the move in record time safely and very helpful. Recommended company to use.

Bad experience! – I engaged Chess Moving to ship my personal effects for my recent relocation back to Singapore from Australia. That was my 5th relocation internationally in the past 12 years and unfortunately; I must share that I did not have a positive experience with their services overall. What I wasn’t pleased is their modus of operandi in doing business. … Read more

Their service and communications were tip-top during initial quotation till collection of my consignment. However, once my consignment was collected, that when their unprofessionalism manifested. In summary, the finalized volume of my consignment was way off from the estimated volume at collection, quoted 6.5 cubic meters vs the estimated volume of 4.5 cubic meters by their very experienced packer. Fine, I do acknowledge that there will be differences but what I wasn’t pleased was their attitude in their communications, “kind of take it or leave it” attitude when I questioned via email. At no time did they proactively provided me with supporting documents or pictures to assure me that the finalized volume is accurate.

Next is the way they arrived at the additional charges for the additional volume of 2.0 cubic meters. My fault here as I didn’t asked for their quotation in detail during the initial communications. My big oversight here as I thought I was dealing with a truly professional company here.

After a few rounds of email communications trying to reason with them on these 2 unreasonable and questionable doubts while already backed in Singapore, I relented and accepted their final invoice after a small “goodwill” discount from them. I just want to move on and get back my consignment. Somehow, I felt like I was being held for “ransom” as my consignment is stuck with them in Sydney.

Communications from them thereafter continued to be 180 as compared to their prompt initial communications for quotation. There was no news of when my consignment would be shipped off from Sydney for a couple of weeks and I had to email them to chase them for info. Overall, I would rate their service post consignment collection is less than lukewarm.

So one big lesson for me on this experience with Chess Moving. Do your due diligence and homework before engaging their services. On hindsight, I realized that their initial quotation wasn’t comprehensive and forthcoming. They quoted based on the estimated volume and stops there. Nothing mentioned about charges for additional volume as I didn’t asked for it initially. And when I asked for quotation for additional 1 cubic meter volume subsequently, I was quoted just for that 1 additional volume and nothing more. Another example is about the insurance costs, they wouldn’t provide voluntarily if I didn't asked.

My recommendation on this shipper is that they would be satisfactorily for you if you are not too concerned with "hidden" costs, for example, your company is footing the bill. As for me, the amount of the additional cost invoiced wasn’t much of any issue with me. I just don't like it when they are not transparent, and more importantly the change in their service attitude post consignment collection.

Relocation is already one of the top stresses in life and having a distaste experience with the shipper is definitely the last thing I would wish for.

Terrible – Moving household goods overseas for the first time, we were very anxious and needed advice. We called Chess Moving Sydney and they sounded like they knew what they were doing over the phone. Their International manager told me he would come to our house assess the goods and advice us on the size of the container we need to fit all our goods. He… Read more

promptly came assessed the goods, put the list down and sent us the list later with a number of alternatives. He said we could fit all our goods in a 20ft container at about $6000 or if we have other extras apart from what he had seen and listed down and probably know of a friend who also wants to ship their stuff, we can share a 40ft at about $8000. All through our conversation, he clearly stated that 40ft was too large for the goods we wanted to ship. We didn’t have anything extra to ship except what the manager had seen and listed and didn’t need to share a container so we chose the so called 20ft ( we have never shipped and don’t know what it looks like or could not estimate what it could hold). To cut the story short, when the container arrived, we realised that not even half of our goods could fit in. When we called the manager, he came to our house and completely denied having advised us to use the 20ft container stating that his “duty is NOT to advice customers” but to give them choices. We wondered why he came to our residence to access what we wanted to ship and why he wrote it down if his duty is not to advice customers! We ended up paying about $3600 extra so that the remaining goods could be picked ( and even after that about 3 chairs were left behind)!. Throughout this bad experience, the managers were rude and one of them even went ahead to tell us we can take them to court if we wanted and we will end up paying a lawyer lots of money to win the case in court! I will never recommend this company to anyone.

Outstanding Service and Care – We moved our 5 bedroom 2 bathroom house and shed using Chess Moving. Chess packed up our house as well as doing the move. We had 4 people, John and his team who did an amazing job packing up our home and moving us. They took so much care packing our things and ensuring everything was packed carefully and made it safely to the new house in the… Read more

same condition. They were at all times polite, friendly and professional. They all left such a great impression I'll certainly recommend Chess to friends, and for any of our future moves. I cannot recommend Chess highly enough. Thank you for your outstanding service - we were very impressed.

Amazing Interstate move with Chess! – We recently moved interstate from Sydney to Hobart and although nervous as we had not made such a huge move before I were very impressed with Chess Moving. A representative came out to our property in Sydney a day after I enquired for a free consultation and did a walk through so I could get a very accurate quote regarding what I was moving and he… Read more

was so professional and thorough (maybe John?). Quite quickly afterwards my communication with Brett Askew commenced and he too was very quick to respond and professional arranging the move. A container arrive right on time with access being quite tight and living up a few flights of stairs it all still went very smoothly and all the delivery guys were well presented and careful with our goods. We were moving a 2 bedroom house. The container traveled by truck from our property to the Chess Sydney depot, was then transported by rail to Melbourne and onto the boat across the Tasman Sea to Devenport then back on a truck and arrived exactly on time at our new house in Hobart. I could not believe this! Amazing!! The delivery guys on this end in Hobart were also very professional (even funny) with helping me reset our new home. They even put bed frames together and took the time to ask questions about where the best place for each item was so we didn't have to double handle a lot of our items as they were very large and heavy.

I had allowed for 'worst case scenario' with this move and as I said I could not believe that everything went as smoothly and organised as it did with not one of our items being damaged. I cannot fault Chess Moving at all and will definitely be using them again in the future. THANK YOU CHESS! You were wonderful.

Smooth move within Sydney! Thanks to Chess – I whole-heartedly recommend Chess Moving for local moves within Sydney. Chess packed up our household (4-bedroom house), stored everything for 3 weeks, and not only delivered it all to us but also helped unpack and setup key rooms (bedrooms and kitchen. We had not expected help with the unpacking and setup! Not a thing in our two… Read more

containers was broken or damaged, including fragile glassware. The packing/removal and delivery/unpacking crews were courteous, thoughtful, and very professional. The office staff were also exceptionally helpful and very flexible around our move-in date, which shifted repeatedly.

International Move for Cameron family – Our move was international, from Australia to the east coast of the US. This was a house move; however, due to differences in electrical items, we minimized what we took with us. The move started on time, and we were advised in advance that promising any completion date is totally dependent on US Customs. It worked to our advantage that start… Read more ·  1

to finish was 3 months rather than 2. Had it been a month sooner, Chess' affiliate in the US would have stored our shipment for a minimal period of time. The people who wrapped and packed us up (2) did an awesome job! We have some delicate glassware, some of it antique, and not one item was broken. Nothing else was affected in the shipment either. On the receiving end in the US, while not Chubb, 3 people unloaded the shipment for me, taking most cartons up to a second story in the house. No complaints, no faces, no comments (they spoke Russian, hardly any English except for the spokeman). Nothing was too much to ask. At the end, they only wanted to wash their hands and get to work on the next delivery. Well coordinated.

Great service and less stress – My husband and I have moved many times locally within the state. This time we had a bigger move - from NSW to Tasmania. Moving is always a stressful time. We chose to use Chess Moving for this move due to the service we received prior and because they visited us in person and quoted on our move ...and the price seemed fair. Chess Moving answered… Read more ·  1

our questions prior to the move in a timely manner and arrived on time on the move day. They were professional, efficient and very helpful. I dropped and broke something I was packing and one of the guys zoomed in a swept is up for me. It was a very nice gesture during a challenging time. Our belongings arrived in Tasmania in a timely manner and again were delivered on time on the day stated and again the guys moving us in were professional and helpful. And nothing was broken or damaged. Based on our experience I can highly recommend Chess Removals.

The best! – 1 bedroom move from Sydney to Singapore done seamless. Team of hard working, punctual, polite and lovely to deal with professionals. Took great care of all my belongings and did the work with no hassle, very effectively. Very pleased with the experience. Also to highlight the interaction with Chess moving from day 1 was great, from the time I… Read more ·  1

requested quotes to a few companies, Chess moving were the only ones who followed up the email quote via a sms. This is very practical for someone extremely busy like myself who is always on the road, discussing the operation via sms was very effective for me - great work!

Very Professional and Efficient – Chess did an excellent job in facilitating my move from London back to Sydney. They're partners in the UK were professional and very efficient (packed up our 2 bed flat in a few hours) so everything arrived in Australia safe and sound, and in a reasonable timeframe. After arriving, Chess got it all processed through customs surprisingly quickly… Read more ·  1

and we took delivery very soon after. Overall, the professionalism of Chess gave me peace of mind during an emotional relocation with my young family and I can gladly recommend them to anyone.

Fantastic, reliable service – They were able to arrange relocation from Sydney to Launceston on short notice. Office contact was helpful and pleasant. Their guys were punctual at both ends and extremely hard workers. Nothing was too much trouble for them. I would recommend Chess Moving wholeheartedly, and if I ever were to move again, they would be the only ones to call!  Show details

Do Not Use Chess Moving - 6 months late with shipment! – If moving international do not use Chess Moving! I was quoted 6 weeks to move my shipment from Newcastle Australia to Norway, shipment was collected 31 June 2017, arrived in Norway 5th December 2017. To be quoted 6 weeks and it took 6 months is ridiculous. The one star I gave them is for at least replying to my constant email about where is my… Read more

shipment, they were very good at saying it was late. They also charged me an additional fee to get the shipment through customs after I was told the cost is all-inclusive. 6 months late, hidden additional charges, you make up your own mind but I won't be using them again.

Sydney to Christchurch No Problem – We moved all our household furniture, belongings and car from Sydney to Christchurch New Zealand. Almost 200 items in total. Everything went as planned from the time of pick up in Sydney to drop off in Christchurch. Chess Moving staff in Sydney were very professional and efficient. As we lived on a Highway the removal boys really had to work hard… Read more

and fast to load container, everything went without a hitch. We were contacted when ship left Sydney and it's expected time of arrival in NZ. Once container arrived in NZ we were phoned/emailed by Transworld staff and kept in contact the whole time. I was given contacts for getting car to workshop and for getting compliance passed and warranted. Move in was stress free and efficient. Thanks to both Sydney and Christchurch staff for making our move to Christchurch so easy. We would recommend Chess Moving to anyone that needs a professional and efficient team to work with.