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Removal companies, advice and recommendations needed!

23 replies

MurderOfProse · 07/10/2012 21:57

We're moving house at the end of the month (going to rent in Hemel, so we can tidy up and sell our current house in SE London whilst its empty) and this is the first time I've ever had to move a sizeable amount of stuff any sort of reasonable distance. It's between 35 to 45 miles depending on route.

In the past, pre-children, we've got away with man + van, but we now have an absolutely rammed two-bed terrace place plus the contents of a 25sqft storage unit to shift. With three small children circling, the chances of us realistically managing to pack everything are close to zero, so I love the idea of the packing option.

Unfortunately I have no idea where to start as there are seemingly hundreds of companies out there, who all want enormously long forms filled in before they'll even consider giving a quotation, and some of those seem to want to come round and visit too. It's going to take forever to get even a handful of quotes and I feel bad that they'll go to all that effort and then we'll have to turn most of those quotes down.

So with that in mind:

  1. Any recommendations for decent removal firms in either area? I am hating the idea of basically plucking one out of thin air for something as important as moving our personal possessions.

  2. What sort of price are we likely to be looking at paying, anyone know? That way maybe if I rang the places I could ask if they're likely to come in anywhere close to that and save everyone's time if they're not as I'm aware some places seem to randomly charge the earth.

  3. All removal tips welcome!!

    PS: I recently used one of those "quote me" sites to get some stuff moved from storage up to the in-laws and had a decent price quoted and a very helpful man with hundreds of glowing reviews got the job. All seemed great until the job itself. Endless screw-ups both with collection and delivery and a somewhat unprofessional job all round. Makes me think the site is one of those that doesn't publish the negative reviews. It didn't help it doesn't list the name of the company until you pay a deposit and agree to go with them, so you can't independently google them beforehand. So I'm a little wary of sites like that now.

    Thank you very much!!
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FishfingersAreOK · 07/10/2012 22:18

You could ask for recommendations from your estate agents. That is what I did....and if you say you got that recommendation they maybe more willing to come for a quote.
Also you may have more luck from Hemel removal companies...or surrounding areas as then once they have unpacked you they are "home":
Are you putting anything into storage whilst renting...there are companies that do both which may help narrow search. And maybe post in the local Hemel section too?
Good luck.

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FishfingersAreOK · 07/10/2012 22:18

You could ask for recommendations from your estate agents. That is what I did....and if you say you got that recommendation they maybe more willing to come for a quote.
Also you may have more luck from Hemel removal companies...or surrounding areas as then once they have unpacked you they are "home":
Are you putting anything into storage whilst renting...there are companies that do both which may help narrow search. And maybe post in the local Hemel section too?
Good luck.

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FishfingersAreOK · 07/10/2012 22:21

Sorry for double post!

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MurderOfProse · 07/10/2012 22:50

Thanks! Nope, we shouldn't need any storage when we move, the opposite in fact as we're moving to a 4 bed place with a huge storage facility double garage which is one of the main reasons we picked the place!

Good idea as regards the agent, for some reason that hadn't even occurred to me. And a very good point as regards the ones local to Hemel being more willing because it's near their home, hadn't thought of that either.

Great advice, thank you!

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SunnyUpNorth · 07/10/2012 23:12

Hi,
As you're in SE London see my previous post on this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1505584-URGENT-removals-recommendations-wanted

We paid £800 for the move and £200 for the full packing service. It was amazing, so stress free. I literally didn't pack a thing except an overnight bag.

They will need to come and see your place to assess the cost, everyone we got a quite from did, but I didn't fill out any of the forms I just rang up and booked them in to pop around and then they made their own inventory list to do the quote.

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MurderOfProse · 07/10/2012 23:45

Oooh, fab, thank you! What a useful thread as well. I love how the packing service isn't ever that much more on top. When I think of all the hours and stress we'd spend doing it ourselves (badly in my case as I fail at spacial awareness!) £200 is an absolute bargain!

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Rhubarbgarden · 07/10/2012 23:50

We used Roberts and Denny's who are based in Peckham. They did the full packing service and were very good, and significantly cheaper than other companies we got quotes from.

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SunnyUpNorth · 08/10/2012 09:01

I know murder, when I heard of people having a packing service I assumed it would be really expensive and an unjustifiable extravagance. Couldn't believe how reasonable it was and in retrospect I would paid more as it was so helpful.

I've heard of the firm Rhubarb suggested too, just never got around to getting a quote from them.

We also had a quote from Bridges who came in marginally more expensive than Smile Moves. We also had another quote who came in around £2.5k I think! They were v professional and had lots of branded stuff like key rings etc but were just so expensive. Helpfully I can't remember what they were called. I could not fault Smile though, they were amazing.

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MurderOfProse · 08/10/2012 21:48

Excellent, thank you very much! Thanks

Wow at the £2.5K quote - what on earth were they doing, wrapping the stuff in gold leaf?? It always amazes me that there can be such a difference in price for something that is difficult to have vastly different levels of service for. They all have to get stuff from A to B without breaking it, what more could they offer I wonder?

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Rhubarbgarden · 08/10/2012 22:48

One tip, whoever you choose - make sure you point out any antiques/fragile/valuable items and don't assume it will be obvious. Things I specifically mentioned were very carefully wrapped to withstand a nuclear armageddon but things that I thought were obviously in need of careful handling did not receive any special care. They did individually wrap a pile of loo rolls though... Hmm

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MurderOfProse · 09/10/2012 00:34

Ha ha, excellent point! Yes, I can imagine that happening actually..

I think DH wants to do a bit of the packing himself (important and/or quite personal items) but I'm quite happy to let them do everything really. Will have to have a think about what might be fragile or valuable besides the really obvious stuff like the telly!

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slater101 · 16/10/2012 11:09

We used Britannia for a move in Liverpool and they were really good. It may be worth checking their site as they have companies all over England I think.

www.britannia-movers.co.uk/

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minipie · 16/10/2012 11:34

We used the Moving House Company about 3 years ago to move from N london to S london (but they do nationwide & even international moves too I think). They were great - we used their packing service too, all v efficient, friendly and not a thing broken or marked. Packing was about 25% of the total cost I think.

One tip - movers will often offer you insurance, however check your own contents insurance first as we found ours already covered any breakages during moving, as long as the items had been professionally packed.

Another tip - if you are using the packing service, try to make sure everything is in the right room before they start, makes it a lot easier the other end. Also make sure you keep anything you don't want packed separate and clearly marked "not to be packed" as they will pack everything they see!

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kavanaghdj · 24/10/2012 12:37

After being let down by a removal company from another source, I completed the quote form on //www.theroadahead.co.uk website and found a removal company within 2 days. Great idea and I had a professional service from my chosen company

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soundevenfruity · 27/10/2012 00:19

We used Britannia for packing, storage and moving. And they were great: really good at communicating, appeared on time, were very careful and dealt with tricky points quite efficiently. We used another company after that and the contrast was amazing. I would ask a couple of companies around and compare their quotes but would go with your gut feeling.

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MurderOfProse · 27/10/2012 01:23

Thank you very much everybody! We're in the process of ringing round places right now Smile

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TheCokeMachine · 27/10/2012 22:03

We used these people www.londonsmoving.com/index.html they were half the price of Pickfords.

We moved on a Monday and they packed for us on a Sunday at no extra cost. They were great, they turned up on time and did everything. I just sat there on the sofa until they loaded it into the truck.

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AnotherCerealNameChanger · 27/10/2012 22:10

used pickfords first move, good but not great and abels second move who were utterly brilliant, helpful, polite, fast and most importantly very very careful.

Money wise neither was cheap.

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AnotherCerealNameChanger · 27/10/2012 22:13

Also if you pack yourselves be ruthless about decluttering, I'm quote emarassard about how much junk we paid to move!

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AnnabelleMarshall1986 · 05/02/2016 23:33

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TeeAinsworth · 09/04/2016 08:39

I moved with Elephant Removals and applaud then for their services, they have been brilliant and will recommend to anyone.
Professional and friendly team and to class service. Very good at price rates. Could not ask for a better removal firm.

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bluebirdcargo · 20/06/2016 11:35

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