Dawsons Moving & Storage

Used Dawsons to move my small unit to warehouse storage for several months. Quote and communications were really thorough thanks to Alex in the office. Guys on move day were friendly and on the ball, however turned up with a massive container truck that couldn't be parked easily at the entrance to my building. Basically they sent the wrong truck… Read more

for the job, which made loading that much harder and took over 2 hours. Multiple moves in the past have taken 45mins to an hour for packing. While the storage price was economical, one or more boxes were lost in storage and a nice dining room table was marked and scratched when redelivered out of storage. Again guys that did second delivery to a new apartment were on the ball & this move took less than an hour to get everything in. No issues there. Overall, 3 is fair but due to the issues not sure I'd use them again.

Many items damaged in transit – Had loose items which we thought would be packed but instead were just thrown into the container with no wrapping or protection and suffered damage. Was not professional packing.

If I could give them zero stars I would – I used Dawson to store my household possessions whilst I was overseas for at least 1 year, which due to COVID turned out to be just over 2.5 years. The removal process itself went very well, with the guys noting down my valuable and delicate antiques which they assured me would be handled as fragile items. I do not know where the problems and… Read more

breakages occurred, but antique pieces were pulled apart and damaged significantly (and will never be the same, no matter what repairs are undertaken), other undamaged furniture was significantly damaged, they stored a heavy antique mirror on top of my TV so that the screen was broken, the list goes on. Clearly many boxes were simply just thrown around, even when marked fragile and in two boxes, every single glass and plate were smashed. I have moved many times and NEVER have I had this amount of damage incurred to my possessions. I was also informed (and was one of the factors that i chose Dawson's) that, apart from my sofas and armchairs, everything else would be stored in the container and left undisturbed till I received my possessions back. This clearly was not the case, as when they were unloading my goods, these items were close to the back of the container, although they were loaded from my house last. The actual removalists themselves were helpful and apologetic, but there is clearly a big problem within this company. I was informed, when I made inquiries about an insurance claim, that there had been gaps in communication within the company - not that that is of any consolation to me, but it is clearly true. Still trying to get my insurance claim approved. Steer clear of Dawson if you value your possessions.

A Team Removals Dawsons – Dawsons moved me from Bayswater into storage. I have to say the ATeam of Tom and Matthew were just sensational. I cannot recommend these guys highly enough. 11/10. Thank you

Damaged most of the stuff we didn't pack ourselves – My partner and I used Dawson's to move within Canberra, including a period of storage for three months. We went with Dawson's as my partner had used them before and found them to be good. They certainly weren't the cheapest (probably upper-middle) quote we received, but decided to go with them based on past experience. We also got the optional… Read more

insurance in case our stuff was damaged. On delivery, several items of furniture were severely damaged and most of our wooden furniture had scratches and marks on them. When we tried to claim the insurance, we didn't even get enough to cover repairs and were told that scratches and marks weren't covered. I would never used them again and strongly recommend others stay away.

Disappointing & negligent - lack of care – I recently used Dawson Moving and Storage P/L to move our household furniture and belongings from Glen Iris, Vic to Broadbeach Waters, Qld. While the staff who packed and loaded the truck in Glen Iris were very courteous and helpful, I was extremely disappointed to learn that when the items were delivered to our Broadbeach Waters house, the… Read more

dining table had sustained damage to the leg of the table. In my opinion, the damage was due to negligence...the guys who loaded the table onto the truck stacked boxes on top of that bottom leg. However due to the fact that there was insufficient support under the bottom leg to support the weight of the boxes that were loaded on top of that leg, the screws holding the bottom leg in place pulled out due to the stress of movement and load being placed on that leg. This damage is clearly due to a lack of support underneath the bottom leg. When I contacted used Dawson Moving and Storage P/L to lodge a claim for the table, the company stated that because I didn’t take their insurance, they were not liable for any loss or damage to my furniture...even though I believe the damage to my dining table was due to negligence as a result of poor loading skills. I find it quite extraordinary that the company has the audacity to not accept any liability whatsoever for the damage to my property that is a direct result of negligence by its employees when loading my property onto their container. The fact that I didn’t take any insurance, is in my opinion, irrelevant in this particular case. This matter is about negligence by the company’s employees. The employees loaded my property onto the container with our any due careno support was placed under the chair leg and the employees loaded heavy boxes on an unsupported leg. In this instance, the damage to my table is a direct result of shear negligence by the employees. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this company nor would not use them when they do not care for your property while it is in their care. Like the old saying...’caveat emptor’ or "let the buyer beware".

Don't waste your time – I'd rather not spend any more time thinking about/writing about this company as I have already spent an inordinate amount of time: *looking for a replacement oven knob after one of the movers broke it forcing a box through an area where it obviously would not fit *waiting for (and never receiving) a reply to an email regarding the… Read more

unprofessional behavior and language of said mover

*reorganizing and logically placing the boxes in our new house which were haphazardly placed all over

*trying to decipher the illegible handwriting written on the clear packing tape which was obviously going to fade after a year in storage

*researching glass and mosaic tile repairers for our one of a kind tables that were damaged in transit

*looking (for weeks) for the hardware/legs of our bed, dining table and sofa

*going back and forth over email multiple times to specify the number and size of bolts/screws needed to repair said bed and sofa, only to receive the wrong ones

*waiting (do you sense a theme?) for someone to return with the right hardware, only to find that it had been placed in a bottom dresser drawer, "which is what the guys typically do"

*shaking my head at the illogicality of that

*throwing away the energy drink can left behind by one of the movers, which I knew with near certainty he would leave behind the moment he stepped in the door

*waiting for (again, constant theme) and never receiving (again, a theme!) the additional hardware and boxes requested over multiple email followups

But at least by wasting so much of my time, hopefully I can save you some of yours.

Lost boxes and no help or compensation – We used Dawsons to move from Melbourne to Adelaide in January 2019 (4 bedroom plus study house). The people who turned up were helpful and we thought all would be fine. We had one and a half containers and were not told that the half container would be repacked and shared with 2 other clients. They had stuck labels on everything but it was so… Read more

chaotic on the day that I was just signed all the pages to say it had been loaded. (Nothing left in the house so all good). Unloading at the other end appeared to be fine as well but then I was presented with the list again to say all the boxes had been delivered. There was no way I could actually say that they had (1 1/2 containers stuffed with boxes etc unloaded all over the place) but wasn't given a chance to check anything anyway, so signed assuming all was ok. A few days later I was looking for something specific and realised a box was missing. We contacted and both Melbourne and Adelaide were basically blaming each other (and we found out about the 1/2 load being unloaded and repacked etc. We just kept asking them to check with the other people who shared the container. The box had to be somewhere. A box was found that they (and we) assumed was ours and was delivered. It wasn't.... so we aren't the only ones to have had problems. After a couple of months of no help they sent a form for an insurance claim. We filled it in with what we knew must have been in the box. This was then rejected because I had signed for the boxes at this end! There was no way I could've checked and certainly felt under pressure to sign under the circumstances. We have since discovered that there must have been 2 boxes go missing (at least!) because a whole pile of my son's books etc hasn't turned up. The after sales service was appalling and I wouldn't recommend Dawsons to anyone. I am used to boxes and furniture being loaded on a truck at one end and being unloaded at the other. The use of containers on a train was a new experience so we weren't expecting it to be unloaded and repacked with 2 others. If we had been told about that I would've told them to wait while I checked everything. You can imagine how happy they would've been to do that - it would've been a few hours work and half their tiny labels had peeled off anyway! I have certainly been appalled at how they handled it afterwards with no recognition of responsibility or any compensation whatsoever - we weren't even trying to claim very much! Avoid Dawsons.

Best Move Ever – Moved Locally with Dawson Moving & Storage, absolutely brilliant. Not the cheapest but by far the best. They came out to give me quote when others would only quote over the phone. Travis and Lee were fantastic. Best Move Ever, cant recommend them highly enough

most regretful decision – Bad experience with cheap moving companies prompt us to go to Dawson to move 2 bedroom items to their store. Even when the charges were at least twice as much the market price, we hoped we will get what we paid for. So we ignored early alarm bells, thinking there must be reason to sustain business for so long. This would be the most regretful… Read more

decision.

1. Website has a chat facility but it was never attended.

2. No response when I wrote to customer service email on their website.

3. Following site quotation, could not find an email to send the quote to and so went through the general customer service email address. No response again. Called to check and asked for confirmation via email and it was just “your email has been received”.

4. Move booked at 1230pm did not happen until 430pm and only after we insisted they send someone when they didn’t turn up. This was confirmed by the movers who later arrived, as they said they were told to come at the last minute.

5. Due to the delay, we were told our items could only be left in the truck and moved into storage early next morning. We visited the storage facility in the afternoon to find our items scattered along corridors of the storage facility without anyone on site. The storage facility was not guarded. Asked them if there was security camera and they said no. We also found our paperwork with sensitive information lying in the open.

6. The storage facility has no light, is filthy and old.

A company without process, didn't even get an inventory. of course I could have asked for it but i wouldn't have to if the company has a strong process. Fortunately it is a local move. Can’t imagine trusting this business for interstate or overseas move. Don’t pay to buy a ton load of frustration. You would be buying an aged product/service. Not only would we be warning the locals, we would be passing the word to overseas friends to warn them about ensuring their receiving agent is not Dawson.

These guys are great - very professional – Moved from a 2 bedroom apartment to a house with a few weeks in between. We ended up getting them to do the initial pickup from our apartment, store our goods for a few weeks and then deliver them on move in day. Everything was delivered in perfect order, guys were friendly and overall a simple process that wasn't stressful at all.

Do Not Use These Guys – I hired dawsons to move my stuff from Melbourne to Sydney, with 4-5 weeks storage in between. Cost was almost $2,000, I didn't even have that much stuff, as I am a single girl living on her own, when I booked I was assured most prize possession my tv unit would be wrapped and protected, it turned up in NSW damaged, cracks, chips and looked like it… Read more

had been dropped on its side. Microwave was dented, I could handle the microwave, but not the tv unit which I had bought in Melbourne, These guys are the worse!! would never recommend them to anyone in a million years. I have emailed asking for compensation and I get no reply, I have called both Canberra and Melbourne and no reply... doubt I will see anything from these guys again. USE ANYONE ELSE BUT DAWSONS

I would not use them ever again and would recommend "Look elsewhere" – In summary: If things don't go to plan this operator won't look after the interest of their clients, show little interest in communicating with the customer to resolve any unfortunate issues but instead will run for cover. We have entrusted all our possessions to Dawson Moving & Storage to relocate from Melbourne to Queensland. We have agreed… Read more

to pay close to $10k with the expectation that our property will be handled with professional care to avoid any breakages and damages along the way. Whilst much of the operation was handled well it is the few moments in time where attention to detail causes damages and therefore grief. It is not so much the accidental damages that annoy most but the lack of responsibility and accountability shown to satisfactorily rectify any problems caused. In our case the reason for all of the damages was a lack of wrapping or strapping and no or little use of protective packaging. It was not hard to see how neglectfully that operator has looked after our belongings. I have contacted Dawson by email to claim for some compensation but did not even get a reply. When dealing with the company by phone little or no interest was displayed to show any form of customer care. In our case our home contents insurance would have paid for damages caused as a result of fire, theft or even an accident whilst on the road. Naturally the insurer would not cover for damages caused by the removalist's handling of the items. It seems, there is an expectation by removalists that clients pay extensively for the service they receive as well as for any damages caused by a lack of professional service received.

Completely damaged our pieces – We engaged Dawson to move and store our furniture while we were building, and then to move our goods out of storage into our new home. During the first meeting, I was assured that our goods would be carefully looked after. However, when our furniture was delivered, apart from standard breakages and scratches, one of our main pieces - a… Read more

custom-built 2pac TV unit was badly damaged - it looked as though the piece had been thrown from a truck dragged across a gravel road. There were pieces of gravel in the deep scratches. When I emailed photos showing damage - Dawson accepted full responsibility and arranged to have the piece picked up. For weeks I called and emailed wondering what they were doing with the unit. I kept being told that they were "waiting for a quote". In the meantime, I arranged a quote and sent it to them. After weeks of chasing, the owner finally told me that he didn't think my piece of furniture was worth what it would cost to fix and just sent it back. The matter ended when I was told that if I wanted to have my unit repaired - which they admit they completely ruined - I would have to go to VCAT. Their manner was aggressive, rude and threatening.

Further, I question their validity as removalists - one of the "removalists" had an injured arm - therefore he could only use one arm - and spent more time standing around than moving things in. I commented that a one armed removalists wasn't exactly efficient - he was quick to correct me that he wasn't a removalist - he was only "doing this stupid job because he had a bunged arm from a drink driving accident".

Needless to say I was shocked that I was paying for this kind of service and calibre of person to enter my home.

Aggressive and threatening manner - delivered goods completely damaged and/or broken.

Unpleasant experience – The driver was rude and belligerent, his assistant was quite friendly They arrived a hour earlier than expected whilst I was out, the attitude of the driver made a stressful experience even more stressful. We chose a 'name' company believing they would behave in a professional manner. Would not recommend.