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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!!