Great start, terrible finish.
I moved with Monarch Movers in April 2026. Initially, the experience was very positive. Julie was excellent during the quotation and booking process — communication was regular, professional, and reassuring. However, once full payment was made, communication noticeably cooled down, and after reporting problems, communication stopped altogether.
My move from North West to Cape Town cost R94,000. In addition, I spent almost R5,000 on gratuities, lunches, and drinks for the crew, and later suffered losses and damages estimated at approximately R48,000. This brought the total cost of the move to roughly R147,000. In hindsight, I may have been better off using more established companies like Pickfords or Elliot. Their quotations initially seemed expensive, but ultimately would likely have cost less overall.
The move was booked and charged as a two-day “pack and load” plus one-day “delivery” service. Monarch arrived with a very dirty and grubby truck and trailer — nothing like the clean white vehicles shown in their advertising and social media. I had organised everything well in advance, and the packing and loading were completed in less than one day. The crew also made it clear they had another move scheduled the following day, so my entire household had to be completed in one day regardless.
Delivery day was chaotic, with movers and various service providers constantly moving in and out of the house. It was impossible to properly monitor every item being delivered. At the end of the day, I signed for delivery because I had built a good relationship with the Monarch team — unfortunately, that trust turned out to be misplaced.
I immediately noticed that several items had been soaked due to water leaking into the truck. Fortunately, most of my belongings had been packed in waterproof plastic crates. However, an antique Queen Anne-style canteen and a Polish goose down duvet were damaged. I reported this to Julie immediately, and the driver also took photographs. I advised her that I would continue checking for additional water damage while unpacking.
I later discovered that approximately five crates were missing. These included:
• A full crate of men’s clothing
• Part of a fine bone china dinner service
• A personal crate containing two new bottles of aftershave worth approximately R7,000
I understood that by signing for delivery I may have weakened any legal claim, but I still felt it important to notify Monarch immediately. Julie advised that they would investigate and later asked whether I had checked all storerooms and unpacked everything thoroughly. I confirmed that I had, and that the missing items were definitely not delivered.
Importantly, I repeatedly explained that my main concern was not even the missing items, but rather resolving the water damage to the antique canteen and duvet. The restoration and professional cleaning costs together would likely have been under R10,000.
On 15 May, I contacted Julie again for feedback. She asked whether anyone had contacted me regarding the investigation. I said no. She advised she would follow up and get back to me. Since then, despite numerous calls and messages to both Julie and Anton, the owner of Monarch Movers, I have received no response whatsoever.
I paid for three days of service and effectively received two. I suffered damages and losses estimated at around R48,000, yet all I sought was assistance with two damaged items at a relatively modest cost.
Today is 21 May, and there has been complete silence from Monarch Movers.
The experience started well, was acceptable in the middle, but ended extremely poorly. Problems can happen in any business — what matters is how those problems are handled. Good problem resolution builds trust and customer loyalty. In my experience, Monarch Movers failed in this regard completely.
Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Monarch Movers, and I believe potential customers should be fully aware of how post-move problems and customer complaints are handled before choosing this company
