When my mother passed away, John Mason was entrusted with shipping a carefully selected group of her belongings from the UK to Australia — the pieces I had chosen to keep, sentimental items that mattered. They knew this from the outset.
They failed at almost every level.

The damage was staggering:
- 4 of 7 furniture pieces (nearly 60%) arrived with substantial damage
- 23 of 36 framed pictures (64%) were damaged
- 20 of 25 boxes (80%) arrived with significant damage and multiple broken items inside
This wasn't bad luck. A clothes horse was wrapped with zero structural support — predictably crushed. A butler's tray was physically forced into a box 20cm too small, splitting the wood and breaking the hinges. There is no way the packers could have failed to hear the wood cracking as they forced it into a box that was plainly too small. Framed pictures were packed together with ornaments and no padding between them. Glassware was wrapped inconsistently — wrap one, leave one — even in boxes marked fragile. Even John Mason's own Australian partners were visibly shocked at the state of it.

The complaint handling was worse than the damage.
- The International Sales Consultant, who sold the service with great promises, vanished the moment the contract was signed — not a word.
- The International Move Manager's response to a detailed damage report was to forward an insurance form and — I kid you not — follow up asking me to complete a feedback survey. Operations fobbed me off. When I finally escalated, their "investigation" consisted of asking the packing crew whether they'd packed well. Unsurprisingly, the crew said yes. That was it. That was the investigation.
- I sent a detailed rebuttal with documented evidence, photographs, measurements. The response? Silence for over a month. When the Group Export Manager eventually replied, she simply restated that the crew were "experienced professionals" and they stood by their work. No engagement with the evidence whatsoever.
- The CEO then stepped in to say he was satisfied the complaint had been handled "appropriately and professionally" — and helpfully suggested I contact the British Association of Removers Consumer Affairs team. What didn't he mention? He sits on their board. Draw your own conclusions about the impartiality on offer there.

The unexpected costs were a particular sting.
I understood I'd paid for a door-to-door service (£1,956.30 to John Mason, plus an advised ~$650 to their Australian partners). Instead, I received not one but THREE additional invoices from the Australian partner — totalling considerably more than advised, including a charge for a "long tramp" for less than 25 metres from truck to door. They refused to deliver until every invoice was paid and threatened storage charges if I disputed. My late mother's belongings were effectively held to ransom.

A warning on insurance — please read this carefully.
I asked John Mason directly whether I should list every individual item or group them. I was explicitly advised to group them, particularly for categories like kitchenware. With hindsight, this was disastrous advice. The insurer calculates payouts based on the number of items listed against total declared value. If you under-list, you under-recover. List every single item — every bowl, every glass, every utensil — with an individual value. It feels pedantic. Do it anyway. John Mason's guidance cost me significantly in the claims process.

The pattern here isn't a run of bad luck. It's systemic.
Feedback is collected at the point of uplift — before your goods arrive and before you have any idea what condition they'll be in.
Complaints are deflected to the packers themselves.
The CEO rubber-stamps the process.
And the suggested independent body isn't independent at all.
I paid for expertise, care, and support. I got none of the three.

If you are moving sentimental items, irreplaceable belongings, or anything that matters — please look elsewhere. (Can provided photos and email with redacted names to readers if it helps in your assessment. These are the same as shared with company during my complaint communication with them, that were disregarded)

Good communication. Very helpful.

Everything was fantastic for my big move from start to finish. James ( at John Mason Liverpool ) gave brilliant 'telephone customer service'... with great communication and always cheerful, helpful, polite and patient. (My property sale 'dragged on + on' and he was SO patient and nice.!.🌟 )
The 2 guys who did the packing, were simply amazing! they've been a 'team' together on the job for 25+ years and are total professionals... very fast and careful packers.. and EVERYTHING arrived intact! ✔✔
From being packed, to arrival took approx. 19 weeks (as I had a 'shared container ' because of only having 20 boxes.) so it's dependant on that being filled.. and then the wait for the customs clearance...
All communication was great when I arrived in OZ, and was regularly kept up to date by Email.
So it was *ALL GOOD* 💯% and I absolutely recommend 'John Mason International.Movers' 💟
A big THANK YOU to everyone involved. 🌞

very efficient crew, delivery and unpacking job done very quickly and courteously.

Highly recommended

Provided regular updates. Quick to respond. Delivered on time. Helpful communication with a person.
What more could one ask for ?

Amazing - Extremely professional

Where do I start….. WOW!!!! That’s a good place.

We decided on John Mason over other companies as we read their reviews and thought they were able to deliver what we wanted. They did that and so much more.

Michelle was so friendly, no questions were too much and she was really responsive. Then once we booked John Mason, Chris took over the booking, to finalise paperwork etc, again, nothing was too much trouble and everything was explained perfectly. Then when you think the Masons staff can’t get any better the collection Crew arrive. Alan, Paul and Steve were all top lads. So friendly, so funny. The way they wrapped and packed, they’d give santas elves a run for their money. Seriously, these lads are top drawer.

John Mason have been incredible.

If you’re reading this review and thinking should we go with Masons, do it. We read the reviews and they really do speak for themselves.

Well done team 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I've done a review already I believe. The guys were courteous, cleaned up and laid any fears to rest. If the delivery is anything near to the packing then we are in excellent hands. So far 5 star!

Mary was excellent in communication, organisation and setting up payment options when we could not afford immediate payment. We meant to mive to Australia forever but returned withing 6 months when shipping just arrived and we had to repack back to UK.

The lady in your office, Toni, was exceptional. Very friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble.

The driver and his assistant were also exceptional. They delivered my packages with a smile and helpful attitude. They also made me feel as if nothing was any trouble.

They were friendly, helpful and very efficient. They helped make a stressful move go smoothl, from the office contacts to the removal crew.

all the way through, communication was exceptional. Craig was very accommodating with all of my changes and queries, Michelle and Gill were great with advice and timeframes

Very reliable, world-class service, with friendly staff and excellent communication re delivery and timeframes. Everything arrived safely and I would definitely recommend the company.

Great communication. Always kept updating on what was happening.

I hired John Mason to move boxes of personal belongings from the UK to Portland, Oregon. They were excellent in every way.

Particularly, they were responsive and polite communicators. I was always able to contact them via email or phone. Jade was patient and helpful with my initial inquiries. Michelle provided a detailed final quote. Chris coordinated the pickup, airfreight, customs forms and delivery with only one glitch. The glitch was efficiently corrected and Chris was appropriately flexible about adjusting the delivery date according to my wishes.

The sub-contractors John Mason hired here in the US were also communicative and efficient. The delivery time from the UK warehouse to my door took just one week! My belongings were well crated and arrived exactly as I boxed them. I have unboxed my belongings and there was no damage whatsoever.

I can’t recommend John Mason more highly.

Moved household goods from Australia to UK, and John Mason handled delivery to within UK.
I can highly recommend them for their communication of the process of my goods on arriving in UK and keeping me informed regularly with updates on delivery to me.
My contact Toni, was so wonderful.

Would highly recommend John Mason removers. We moved from London, UK to Australia in August 2025. Our household things were delivered to our new house in January 2026, as advised via a shared container. The cost was somewhere in the middle from all the various quotes I received.

Communication, packing, unpacking was all seamless both ends. Everything was labelled clearly and packed securely. Thank you for helping make our move a little easier.

I found dealing with this company to move from Canada to the United Kingdom painless. The communications and personal touch was very reassuring and relieved me of a great deal of Stress!!
My point of contact was a lady called Mary, who helped me through any issues with customs and final delivery of my household goods.
I will certainly recommend them.

We moved back to the UK from Australia. Needless to say we had a lot of stuff - half a 40ft container. John Mason International Movers made the unloading of the container at our premises easy. The 2 guys that did the job were hard working, courteous and took care not to scuff walls etc when fetching boxes in. I highly recommend John Mason International Movers to help with your move.

Great communication from the get go. Even though it was a small amount of items they still gave us the full attention