The trip was to deliver belongings from my parents' house to my house in Portugal.
I paid for a full truck (even though I had less stuff) in order to have a guaranteed collection date when I could be there to help, and avoid stressing my elderly parents. The driver arrived one day BEFORE the agreed date and entered my parents back garden directly, without permission, in a van that barely passed the gateposts. My parents panicked. I was not yet in the country but I phoned my husband and he left work to help. In the meantime I tried phoning the helpline and couldn't get through. My parents were doing the same and eventually managed to get through. The feedback was to ignore the driver and let him "sleep in the garden!!!"
My husband arrived and tried to communicate with the driver to come back the next day, as the packing wasn't finished, but he didn't speak English. He was also wearing slippers, which was an interesting choice for such a long drive.
Eventually my husband decided it was easier to try to get rid of him by letting him load the van. Cue rushed packing, my elderly father helping lift boxes etc.
The van then tried to leave through the narrow gates and misjudged the manoeuvre. The driver knocked down one wall, then reversed back into the gatepost, then wedged the van between the gates. It took three people and a crowbar to free the van. Rebuilding the wall, rebuilding the gate post and replacing wrought-iron gates equated to thousands of pounds in damages.
I sent photo and video evidence to the office asking for an investigation and compensation. After initially getting a response from the owner, who promised to "look into it" she has been ignoring me for the last 4 months, despite multiple follow-ups, so I have raised the case with Consumer protection and filed a police report for damage to property.
The cherry on the cake was the supposed GPS tracking. My driver had left his GPS attached to a car in Portugal, so I was only able to track its trips to the supermarket and back.
The goods arrived 5 days later with the driver still wearing slippers. After unloading, the van didn't start so he freewheeled it down a hill.
In summary. Dangerous driving / working conditions for drivers, who are subcontracted from Eastern Europe. No respect for property. No respect for contractual obligations. Customer service seems to be to ignore problems and hope they go away.
