Jo Valentine Removals

peri · Post by **peri** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 9:35 am

Had an e-mail today from friends who have returned to U.K. Had household goods sent via Jo Valentine removals only to find after chasing up for delivery details that they had ceased trading.They then checked with Euro Med who informed them that not only would they have to pay again for transport (as they hadn't been paid by Jo Valentine) but that their goods had been delivered to U.K on 1st July & they would have to pay the storage charges !!
Hopefully not many other people have been caught out.

Lor51 · Post by **Lor51** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 11:11 am

Thanks for the heads up. After friends had some of their contents damaged and Jo refused to compensate them, that put me off using her.

Whatarotty · Post by **Whatarotty** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 11:27 am

I'm sorry they hadn't read my post in February when my mums container was ceased due to valentines debts. We were lucky but I got shot down in flames on a forum when I warned others stating I had written evidence..I am so very sorry for your friends if they paid via a credit card tell them to go to company and they should reimbursed but it will be a long process and doesn't help them immediately.....sorry

Lor51 · Post by **Lor51** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 12:10 pm

Whatarotty, I also missed your post in February, I wonder why they are still advertising on one of the kibcom pages.

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 12:15 pm

I am sure Soner will deal with this. He has been informed. so very sad. I know who the couple are, and it is a big headache moving anywhere, and to have this makes it worse. Mind you I know of others hwo have had problems too with other ocmpanies. It seems to be agents along the way that are determined to make an extra ocuple of bob, even though most shipments are paid for 'door to door'

as I say, I am sure soner will deal with this.

belle · Post by **belle** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 2:31 pm

I also warned people not to use her, most of my stuff got damaged and a lot was missing, she never replied to emails, I got slagged off for criticising her and many defended her and her rogue company, bloody crook.

Marion what can Soner do?

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Sun 21 Jul 2013 4:30 pm

Soner has been paid for the advert that is on the forum, and obviously he cannot remove it on hearsay. As someone said the ad is still there, THAT is what he will be dealing with. Sorry for any confusion.

Amorgos · Post by **Amorgos** » Mon 22 Jul 2013 6:14 am

I had a bit of an experience with Valentine removals this time last year...

We had quite a number of boxes and other items to ship and they were all packed and ready and we lived in a 2nd floor apartment. The guy from the company came with his van and he was in his late sixties. Thing is, he had back pain (I mean SEVERE back pain) he managed to shift about 2 small boxes and spent the rest of the time in the van wincing, so I had to move pretty much every single item myself. I was extremely pissed off with the company as not only did I pay to have someone do this job for me, they refused to give me a reimbursement for this and also did not apologise for it or own up to effectively abusing their employees.

To be fair everything made it, some of the boxes were soaking wet but that wasn't their fault as the workers in Famagusta left some of them out in the rain apparently.

jerryj · Post by **jerryj** » Tue 23 Jul 2013 10:49 pm

As one of the persons who fell foul of Valentınes I feel I can make these comments;

JO VALENTINES REMOVALS HAS CEASED TRADING.

They have known that they were ın fınancıal trouble for months, and yet they have stıll been takıng peoples money for removals, but NOT payıng theır bılls to the shıppıng company, (ın our case Euromed).

In our case we paıd up front for removals - had to make many phone calls to fınd out where the contaıner was - Eventually got an
emaıl from Valentınes statıng "That they had ceased tradıng and had not paıd Euromed and ıf we wanted our contaıner delıvered we had to pay Euromed ourselves" - Thıs we had to do, resultıng ın us payıng TWICE for a sıngle service. I must say Euromed were extremely helpful and sympathetıc.

To those of you who have sımılar experıences, and have paıd by Debıt / Credıt card, go to your banks. All banks have a Debıt/credıt card dısputes department. And thıs partıcular dıspute seems to come under 'Debıt/Credıt card fraud' and/or 'Vısa card fraud ınsurance'.

We followed thıs bank route (at the banks suggestıon) and have successfully been re-ımbursed.

belle · Post by **belle** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 7:31 am

Where are those posters that defended this crook and her company, strange how they go very quiet when the truth emerges.

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 8:02 am

Could it not be that Valentines were hoping that they could solve their problems and get back into the black annd keep going? Many businesses don't like to reveal their problems until it is too late, and just sometmes they do overcome and no one is any the wiser. Having run a very small bhusiness myself in the past, I can quite understand how devastated Valentines must feel and if they are decent folk (which I believe they are) they must be doubly devastated. But having said that I was not one of their unfortunate customers. But I know they did help a llot of peopple and were efficient and so on. Just such a shame that things went the way they did.

Post by **Soner** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 8:41 am

What I have noticed very recently is that Valentine Removals have had a new website developed, now if a company knew they were going to fold they would not have forked out on a new website. Not sure how they operated but could be that third party removal companies had let them down causing them to eventually cease trading. I am still awaiting confirmation from them, and I am sure there is a logical answer to what has been happening. Remember, there is a recession on and I see companies folding left, right and centre in the UK at the moment.... it really is not easy being in business in this current climate. I do feel sorry for those that get caught up in these instances, but that is life and it can happen to anyone, hopefully insurances will sort out any mess.

carolhm · Post by **carolhm** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 10:09 am

Message 10

We were very pleased with the job they done for us . Moved our stuff from the UK to North Cyprus , everything arrived and nothing broken . A great job well done by them .

Harold2555 · Post by **Harold2555** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 10:46 am

Message 10

Twice now you have used the word crook. What proof do you have of any criminality?

barrysnakes · Post by **barrysnakes** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 11:59 am

Wonder if Al August used them to leave the island ? just an ironic thought. regards Barry

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 12:17 pm

Sorry Barry. No Al didn't.

Brend · Post by **Brend** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 12:27 pm

We were very pleased when we had a part delivery last August, everything arrived when promised and nothing missing or broken but I do feel sorry for people who have lost money.

Brend

belle · Post by **belle** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 12:35 pm

If Jo Valentine was genuine, why doesn't she come on here or any other forum for that matter and explain or apologise to those who have paid her money in good faith and probably lost it. She was quick enough to tout for business when posters were asking for a recommended shipping agent, her silence speaks volumes.

Amorgos · Post by **Amorgos** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 2:57 pm

@belle

Clearly the company had it's flaws and from my experience with them they suffered from staffing issues, poor management and decision making. So the company wasn't run perfectly, and far from it. But to be honest there are a lot of companies that mess up and annoy their customers in the process... But implying that they intended to deceive by calling them crooks or claiming that it's a rogue business is is just ranting blls**t.

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 4:07 pm

i would not have thought there was any need for Valentine's to co me onto a public forum and air their dirty linen. I believe she has already spoken to those who have suffered loss at their hands. There is an article in Cyprus Today in which there is a statement from Jo. Surely that is the correct way to deal with this, and it would seem they ARE dealing with it.

Jonnie · Post by **Jonnie** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 4:22 pm

Amorgos and Marions I am with you both on this.

belle · Post by **belle** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 6:46 pm

Then why did they carry on taking money for shipping when they knew they could not meet their commitments. That is theft in any language and that is a criminal offence.

Jonnie · Post by **Jonnie** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 6:55 pm

Many businesses that go to the wall continue trading up till the last minute, often it is a very fine balance which could go one way or the other, often the last straw is when one of the companies debtors defaults. We do not know the circumstance in this case so it would be wrong to speculate.

I know of a couple of businesses which may go to the wall if a debtor does not pay up, in one case most would consider the debtor to be iron clad or guilt edged, in both cases they would effectively cease trading if they stopped taking money from customers, that would be corporate suicide.

teg17 · Post by **teg17** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 8:44 pm

Could institute a legal case again against the defaulters for reckless trading, but the cost would be prohibitive. As an individual they would be far down the pecking order on the list of creditors, traders know this and hence continue to take on new business either living in hope they may turn the corner if they are honest or raking in the dosh and making a run for it.

Whatarotty · Post by **Whatarotty** » Wed 24 Jul 2013 9:51 pm

As I said before my Mum was caught up in this in February this year, I have emails going back and forward from valentines and shipping companies regarding payments outstanding for a year and the shipping company refused to release our container until the debt was cleared in full....I couldn't blame them they had to take action some way but Jo emailed me and told me to take the shipping company to court!!! Why would I when I paid her for a service which was not fulfilled? And, 2 days before they were due to come and pack Jo told me I had to pay another £2000 and that she had her figures wrong originally, not a lot else we could do as we had to vacate the property and it was too late to go elsewhere. In my opinion and experience the comments above are correct! I have to sing the praises of Euromed though, they were fantastic!

belle · Post by **belle** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 6:16 am

Those being understanding are not the ones that have been taken for thousands of pounds, it is easy to be magnanimous when you are not the receiving end.

Post by **Soner** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 8:05 am

Businesses can go bust, FACT. It is part of life. I have been owed over £1200 by Cyprus Turkish Airlines who went bust a few years back now. I know I will not get my money back and even can not claim through insurance - but I get on with life as there is no point in dwindling on the past and thinking how I could have done things differently.

I have a web business and have had quite a few clients go bust in the last few years. I could hassle them to get money owed to me, but I don't, I simply write them off as
a bad debt, as I see no point in making their lives more miserable when they no longer have a business, out of work and struggling to make ends meet.

If you are in business, your business is your "baby", when things go wrong it is hard to let go and you try to hang on in there in hope that you will see light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes you do not see that light and you just have to let go. Been there, done that!

I totally agree with Jonnie's reasoning and also believe it is wrong to speculate.

belle, you make me laugh.

wibow · Post by **wibow** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 8:15 am

Well said Soner

chelwood · Post by **chelwood** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 2:01 pm

Soner what a perfect world you must live in , letting people off who have come across hard times .

I live in the real world and I take it very personal if someone owes me or one of my companies money , its far to easy for people to not pay bills the uk and is now a culture where if you don't pay there is very little that can be done , limited cos go bust one day restart the next , indivduals know every trick in the book and dogooders like you don't help the situation .

my tenants in England know the consequences of not paying or bad communications and its amazing how quickly people come up with funds if you don't mamby pamby about .

there is always the odd very genuine case but the majority I find are people trying it on .

as for valentines , crap company didn't reply to an email so would never have dealt with them , euro med , brilliant , on the ball would never go anywhere else .

belle · Post by **belle** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 2:22 pm

Chelwood, well said.

Owl Lady · Post by **Owl Lady** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 2:31 pm

Belle and Soner,Seconds out,round 1 DING DING

belle · Post by **belle** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 3:08 pm

I had a bad experience with her company and have nothing good to say about her or her team, the overweight, heavily tatooed husband and wife team that came to our house along with her were appalling, she actually damaged one of my tables just moving it. How anyone can defend her is laughable to me, half my stuff was damaged and quite a lot was missing.

Euromed were great I have to say. I feel dreadfully sorry for anyone who has lost money with her, she should never have been allowed a licence to operate. I wonder how many others in the rest of the world have been conned.

Whatarotty · Post by **Whatarotty** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 6:14 pm

Chelwood and belle I agree!! It is only the people who have actually been affected by loss of funds, items, time and heartache that can actually comment on what has happened, everything else is "speculation" what we have provided have been facts and our actual experiences of this company and I think it gives us every right to share this with others to stop it happening again......FACT!

Post by **Soner** » Thu 25 Jul 2013 6:22 pm

Chelwood, when you have clients that have been using your services for many years you tend know those are genuine and those that are not. It's the genuine ones that I will not hound. Besides, in my line of business it is very easy to retrieve late payments, just need to be on the ball and not let things get out of hand.
By the way our World is not perfect, neither are us humans, and things don't always go as planned.

As you say "there is always the odd very genuine case but the majority I find are people trying it on."
You know this through communicating, through fact finding and not through speculating. The difficult thing is when someone is under the pressure of closing down a business, or if out of work and can not pay their bills, you find that most will go into a depressive state and not want to talk to anybody, unfortunately, this is when most problems begin to escalate. I give people time to recover by contacting them intermittently over a few months, before taking any action, whether be it the hard or soft approach.

I do not think any company will have a 100% perfect record. Especially in this line of business, things are more prone to go wrong.

BTW, this is the last I will comment on this thread until I get the facts from Valentines.

PoshinDevon · Post by **PoshinDevon** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 10:01 am

Not had any experience of Valentines or Euromed so cannot comment on the level of service or otherwise.

However;I have had a lot of business and commercial experience working for two large corporate organisations. Running a business of any kind is very hard and the smaller the business the harder it is. In my younger days I would say I did subscribe to the thought that if bills were not paid etc then the person/company was "trying it on". However; age matures you and I now do appreciate the bigger picture and before putting the majority into the "trying it on" pile I look to do some investigation and understand what lies behind the non payments. Sometimes; but not always, they are "trying it on" - but there are times especially over the last few years when the economy has down turned that there are many good reasons for people/companies struggling to pay the bills. If you have had long term dealings with a company/person who have previously been very reliable it is worthwhile trying to keep contact and work with them thro the difficult times. Not all companies/people are perfect far from it but putting everyone in the "trying it on" pile is not for me - I prefer to look at each case on an individual basis and weigh up the best way of approaching the problem.

Have to agree that people/companies often will close down the communication purely because they feel embarrassed - they often cannot or dont want to see the difficulties heading their way - if they started a service from scratch its very difficult to let go and admit things are coming to an end. Often people will have put a good deal of honest time, money and effort into trying to make things work. Hounding them will not make any difference, working with them may just help.

I will weigh up all the information and options and then decide what action to take - either working with the person/company, deciding to let it go as it really is not worth chasing or if necessary begin legal action.

chelwood · Post by **chelwood** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 10:10 am

posh in devon , reading your post is like reading the mumblings of someone with to much time on your hands .

PoshinDevon · Post by **PoshinDevon** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 10:36 am

Chelwood - Today is my day off so yes I suppose you could say I have some time on my hands. Does not often happen that I am able to spend time to post on the forum.

Reading your posts it has occurred to me that you tend to be the type of person who believes that the majority who fall on hard times are in your words "trying it on" - that is fine as we are all entitled to our opinions. I happen to have a different view of life to yourself - each to their own.

belle · Post by **belle** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 2:38 pm

PiD, if as you say you had no dealings with Valentines then I do not think you are in a position to comment, she wasn't a massive conglomerate, she was a small operator who knew she was taking money from innocent people who could ill afford to lose their money, those who used her are entitled to make comment.

PoshinDevon · Post by **PoshinDevon** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 3:02 pm

Belle - If you read my original posting I stated I was not making any comment re Valentines or the service they provided - as I said I have not used them.

People who have used them have some strong opinions on the service provided - in the main the majority are stating that in their opinion Valentines offered a poor service and were crooks for continuing to trade. A small minority have expressed some satisfaction with the service provided. I can fully understand the frustration and anger especially from those who have lost money or been directly affected and yes Valentines may well have traded longer than they should have.

We are all entitled to contribute to the discussion providing we stay within the rules of the forum, there are others who have commented who I believe have also not used Valentines. My contribution was more along the lines that not every company who ceases trading or a person who cannot pay a bill is "trying it on" or is a crook - there are often a lot of circumstances which come together which places them in this situation. From my experience it is sometimes worthwhile trying to understand the reasons why.

I am just trying to present a different angle to the discussion. Some are quick to judge without knowing all the facts, that is all.

Have a nice day.

chelwood · Post by **chelwood** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 7:10 pm

posh in devon , quote from your post , from my experience it is sometimes worthwhile trying to understand the reasons why .

from my experience of over 40 years in business the answer is very plain to see .

1. a company usually knows within six months of going bust .

2. this company took money from clients right up to the wire .

3. the above if can be proven in my opinion amounts to fraud which they will get away with due to the system .

4. I assume joe valantine reads this forum especially as she advertised on here , has she taken the time to defend herself or worse still has she apolagized for taking money knowing she was going bust ? I repeat a company doesn't go bust overnight they have seen the writing on the wall for a long time .

5. reguarding praise for this company from posters who said they got it right and then the majority who were not happy with the service , its all a question of expectation at a fairly stressful time which moving generally is , personally if a company delivers what you have ordered that's normal , ie just for everything to arrive unbroken is more luck than anything else , but bad communication , lack of care is totally unacceptable and in my view should , not be tollerated , and if you read between the lines this happened far to often .

forgive my spelling crap education hated school.

Jonnie · Post by **Jonnie** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 9:49 pm

Reality check:-

1. a company usually knows within six months of going bust . Who says, most companies fight right down to the wire, especially small companies where it is the proprietor's own livelihood.

2. this company took money from clients right up to the wire . You would of course expect them to say "actually times are hard, we are struggling a bit and it may be touch and go if we can trade out of this so you would be best to go elsewhere" You claim 40 years in business?

3. the above if can be proven in my opinion amounts to fraud which they will get away with due to the system . proven would mean in a court of law, not a forum and of course according to the law of the country or countries.

4. I assume joe valantine reads this forum especially as she advertised on here , has she taken the time to defend herself or worse still has she apolagized for taking money knowing she was going bust ? I repeat a company doesn't go bust overnight they have seen the writing on the wall for a long time . Who says? Often it is the failure of a company debtor that pushes a company over the edge or the closure of a line of credit, these things can be very quick.

PoshinDevon · Post by **PoshinDevon** » Fri 26 Jul 2013 11:11 pm

Chelwood - You have miss- understood my postings. I am not defending Valentines just putting a different slant on the discussion. Very often it is not black and white as to the reasons why a company or individual falls on hard times.

Jonnie - Perfect summary. Thanks for explaining things a lot clearer than I have.

I am sure if it was your own company/business which you had built up over a period of years that may well be about to fail, a survival instinct would set in and despite the writing on the wall your judgement may well be clouded and to give it all up I would suggest would not be very easy.

belle · Post by **belle** » Sat 27 Jul 2013 4:22 am

Oh well, that sums it up then, all of you in TRNC that have lost your money to CROOKED builders and developers have to understand that these CROOKS were trying to keep their businesses afloat , they couldn't help it, so stop whingeing and get on with it, it can happen anyone. THAT'S LIFE. JUST MOVE ON

Jonnie · Post by **Jonnie** » Sat 27 Jul 2013 5:44 am

PID Know a Cypriot firm been providing services to another Cypriot firm all year, yet to be paid as firm 2 is waiting payments from the government. Both firms are struggling but surviving.

Belle you sound like you think it only happens here, you should see UK TV. Scam this scam that, dodgy builders, watchdog, your cash their tricks the TV is practically wall to wall scams and rip offs.

belle · Post by **belle** » Sat 27 Jul 2013 5:55 am

Jonnie I know that, but there are 70 million in UK, it happens everywhere but per ratio this island, North and South, is a haven for rip off CROOKS.

Just to add, Valentines operate out of UK to worldwide destinations, I wonder how many others have fallen foul of her company.

chelwood · Post by **chelwood** » Sat 27 Jul 2013 7:40 am

jonnie , pray tell what is your point , I am not a mind reader , or do you not have an original thought only to cut and paste , (how sad)

Post by **Soner** » Sat 27 Jul 2013 10:40 am

This isn't going anywhere, any comments made is just throwing fuel to fire.

CLOSED

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