Mr. Cheap Transport
reviews and complaints

After reporting the initial issue which was a delay with delivery, we then had an issue of broken furniture! We’ve been trying to get this issue resolved for the past 4 months to no avail!

So our furniture did finally arrive, but it had been loaded onto a trailer, all the way from Gauteng to Eastern Cape in rainy weather… Our leather reclining couches as well as our fabric sectional couch were soaked through so bad that they were dripping water, our treadmill as well as our stationary bike were broken, our TV stand has very bad scratches, our half moon table has deep scratches, our coffee table had been dismantled and arrived scratched and had only three legs 🤷🏽‍♀️ Our mirror that has a background light was broken on the trip…

I contacted reps and it’s been four months with no satisfactory response, they didn’t even reply to the email that I sent today. I’m really at my whits end, I don’t know what to do

Extremely poor service. I requested a quote and received one. I then found out it was a shared load so requested a dedicated truck. I received a quote almost twice the amount but agreed to it because I was the one requesting a dedicated load. Needless to say it was not. I was robbed. They took my load and someone elses. It wasn't even their truck. They out sourced to another company. Broke some of my items in the move from Durban to cape Town. Arrangements were confirmed for a specific day to pick but they phoned and informed to pick up a day earlier inconveniencing me to find accommodation. In my relocation they also quoted on vehicles moving from Durban to cape Town. I was guaranteed that my vehicle would arrive in cape-town the same day I did. It only arrived a week later. Inconvenienced me and I had to hire car and Uber. Extra costs. When you call offices to speak to Shirley or Lizette or even Mariska they don't take your calls or lie to you about etas. Extremely poor service. I had paid for extra insurance, i sent through items that were damaged but to date still no payout.

"Traumatic" and "a circus" are how we would sum up our experience with Mr Cheap Transport. If we had spent the time finding their Facebook page we might have been luckier: https://www.facebook.com/MrCheapTransport01/reviews

I'd like to break down what the problems we experienced were in moving from Benoni to Douglasdale, JHB.

Issue #1: Poor, dishonest communication

Our consultant, Rusty Allan, while smooth talking on the phone before taking our deposit, quickly fell off the radar after taking payment. No responses to emails for days, we had to keep calling to get hold of him.
After numerous phone calls on moving day, we were straight up told the movers were just about to arrive. This was a blank-faced lie as we found out after talking to the actual movers: 4 hours later and they were still not there. Of course by that time, Rusty was unavailable for contact as he had gone home. No check up, confirmation that the guys had arrived, or attempt to help fix the situation. It's weekend, baby!

Issue #2: Wrong inventory list, wrong address

We filed for a quote (valid for 15 days) with an inventory list. When we finally decided to go with Mr Cheap Transport, we did a whole new quote. The previous quote had already expired and despite us ALSO calling to explain that we had filled a new quote with a new inventory list and new address, the agent insisted on using the old details. This was passed on to the company they subcontracted to. This, Rusty blamed on it being busy at the end of the month. (I don't understand this actually, considering end of the month is the time 90% of people move, so it should be nothing new)

Issue #3: 6 Hours late

We very explicitly, on numerous occasions, both over the phone and in writing, said that we had to have the movers arrive by 14h30 so that we could move in before 18h00. The estate into which we moved had a strict rule of no workers or moving in or out of the estate after 18h00. Emergency and late moves incur a R500 fine. The truck arrived at ours in Benoni at 18h20.
We secured special permission after explaining the situation to the estate manager, who arranged with the trustees for us to complete moving in by 20h30. We only just made that extended deadline.

To give the subcontracted movers credit, they had to do 2 extra loads for their previous 2 clients that day because they were given the WRONG INVENTORY (see Issue #1).

Issue #4: We had to carry our own stuff
If it weren't for issue 3, this would not exist. The movers were so late that my wife and I had to carry all of our items we wanted moved downstairs from the 1st floor, in order to make the moving on time. We also had to help load into and offload from the truck (in the rain). In fact, we also had to drive ahead to direct the truck as they didn't seem to know where the destination was.

Issue #5: Damaged goods, no blanket wrapping
Our couch left Benoni with 3 legs and arrived with 2. Our round table has a nice ground-up scuffed edge from being dragged against the wall when being carried up the stairs (the guys were not super careful).

Overall, horrible service, feels very scam-like. DO NOT USE.

We opted to use the services of Mr Cheap Transport to move some personal items from Hartebeespoort to Cape Town. At first all appeared to be going well, but then the problems started. They brought in a third party to actually collect and deliver our property. I dealt with a lady, Mariska Naidoo, who came across friendly and professional at first, but she soon showed her true colours when we had issues with them adjusting collection and delivery dates at a whym although these had been already scheduled. She did not ensure that the 3rd party company had the correct inventory list and in the end we were charged an extra R250. After many emails which proved she was at fault the amount was refunded. I decided it in everyones best interest that this truly poor service becomes known to anyone who is considering the services of a removal company. Although I was re-imbursed I received no apology for the whole dilemma and her abrupt and unprofessional manner in which she handled it was totally unacceptable. To add to this the Operations manager, Michael Meyer, who was supposed to call me also just distanced himself from the problem and Mr Arvi Naidoo, the company owner is either totally unaware of the poor service and conduct of his emplyees or simply does not care. In short...steer clear of Mr Cheap Transport as the level of service is truly "Cheap and nasty".