Anyone here used Pickfords Removals??? or can recommend a company??

[Becaroooo]

We are hoping to move in 9 weeks-ish and I need a reliable, efficient removals service....

We are only moving to the next village - its 5 miles away - and pickfords is coming out at £800 plus VAT.

That seems a lot to me......thoughts???

[mummytime]

Are you moving at a weekend or Friday? Can you change it to mid-week? Pickford have been good for me, but I only choose them when they gave a reasonable quote. Quotes vary depending on how busy they think they are going to be. I would look for a BAR company. Are you getting them to pack for you? (Actually £800 doesn't sound that much for me, and last time we moved about 400 meters.)
might help too

[Becaroooo]

Not really sure mummy Think dh will want to pack himself tbh....sigh.

We would like to move on a friday - which I am guessing is why its more expensive??

[Fimbo]

I think that sounds quite reasonable. We used Pickfords for our move from Scotland to England 11 years ago. They were very good and quick.

[Becaroooo]

Thanks fimbo

[DamselInDisguise]

We used pickfords and they were really excellent. The lorry broke down on the way up here, so they arrived late with our stuff at the new house but they arrived with double the people so they finished at the same time anyway.

[QuintessentialOldMoo]

We used Picfords to move within London 10 years ago. A two bedroom flat, with the packing service, for £750. Which was reasonable considering we did not pack a thing ourselves.

[Becaroooo]

Thanks for the input ladies...can I ask what their packing service entails exactly???

Have never used a removal company before as when we moved in here (12 years ago) we had just got married at had;
our clothes,
a bed,
a cd player and a hair dryer

[Marrow]

I can tell you who NOT to use! Whereabouts (roughly) are you?

[DamselInDisguise]

The pickfords packing service is great. They turn up with everything the need and do it all for you. The did our 3 bedroom house (full of junk) in a morning. They wrap all the kitchen stuff up and pack it properly too, so it doesn't break.

It made moving so much less stressful. You can pay them to unpack too, but that costs loads. I presume it only works if your house was organised to start with and not full of unclassifiable crap.

[QuintessentialOldMoo]

Beckaroo, their packing service entails them coming in with boxes and packing it all. You can go to work in the morning, and return to your new house....
You will need to unpack the boxes though, but furniture will be IN.

However, make sure you throw away your toiletbrush before the packers arrive, as the packing in each room can be a little haphazard. Like, Make up, towels, toiletbrush....... eeeuuuughhH!
Aside from that, it was GREAT!

[bamboobutton]

i can really recommend Armishaws, they were cheaper than pickfords and are bar registered.

deffo use the packing service, it's worth its weight in gold!

[beanandspud]

We had quotes from Pickfords and they were very expensive. Have now used Britannia Removals a couple of times (including packing service and storage) and have found them to be excellent.

[CroissantNeuf]

Don't discount local, long-established companies.

We used one who quoted nearly half the price of Pickfords and they were fabulous.

Where are you roughly and maybe someone can recommend a company local to you?

[Becaroooo]

marrow Derbyshire - just off junc 25 of the M1

quinn eewwwww!

Think I am too anal to let anyone else pack for me Need to find somewhere for packing materials!!!

[Marrow]

That's ok then - you're not in danger of using the cowboys that we used! It really is worth using their packing service though. Just pack your underwear or anything personal that you don't want them to see and let them do the rest. It is amazing how quick they are.

[Becaroooo]

hmmm....how much more, on average does the packing service add to the price????

[Marrow]

We had a few quotes and it added between £200-£250 for the packing service. This means that you are then fully covered if they break anything they have packed and you also then don't have to buy packing materials. We have had a packing service for our last three moves and I will never do it myself again - it really reduces the stress of moving!

I would also add to Quintessential's tip about the toilet brush and say empty your bins too. The first time we had packers our rubbish was moved 250 miles with us!

[Honneybunny]

we used pickfords with packing last time we moved (7 years ago), and they wrapped all the fruit in the fruitbowl, seperately... .

[RubberDuck]

We used Pickfords the last two moves and they have been awesome. Really great crew the last move - couldn't have been more pleasant or helpful.

Definitely worth the cost to get them to pack. Made it a lot less stressful.

[stikmatix]

My ILs used them last year in July. They were going to use Clockwork who let them down at the last minute literally a week beforehand or something stupid like that, and at 4pm on a Friday just to add insult to injury.

Pickfords were excellent, sent someone really quickly to quote (I think the cost was the same as Clockwork), they were very efficient with all the procedures.

We were just leaving their house to go back home on the day the men came in to pack. We saw them start packing, took really good care of everything, v friendly and didn't hesitate to ask rather than make a mistake.

My ILs move was complicated - downsizing from a huge Edinburgh terrace to a flat, with some things going to the flat and others going into storage for my SIL and her family to use when they bought their own place a few months later. Conclusion: everything went to the right place and nothing was damaged or lost.

[SnailWhaleTail]

Whites were fab for all our moves and were very quick and efficient with the packing too.

[pinksancerre]

Have used removal companies 3 times, pickfords was one move and tbh they were to most expensive and the worst. Went for the cheapest quote last time and they were fabulous.
We were moving bristol to Kent and we were suppose to get our move the same day but because of the way they work for long distance moves, it got messed up and we didn't get our stuff back for 24hours!

[GraceK]

We used Bishop's Move in Oct-08 and used their complete packing service - it came to just under £1,000 but was worth every penny. Three men took almost three days to pack our 3-bedroom (& one v. full loft) house (into two huge lorries - how did we get some much in,) starting at 8am & finishing at 5-ish. I hate to think how long it would have taken my husband & I considering we had a 3-year old who would have spent most of the time 'helping' by unpacking as we packed. Plus they bring their own boxes, packing materials, etc so that's included in the quote. We only had 2 breakages (a plate & a glass table top) from that & with photographic evidence they paid up for the items with no problems.

Things to note - check your home insurance - you probably don't need to take out for extra removals insurance (as 'offered' by most companies) so long as you get the removals company to pack your 'breakables' (you can do the rest) since the move will be covered by your home insurance (plus up to 7 days in storage).

Some companies will bring down & pack your loft for you so long as you have a fixed ladder, boarded loft & lighting.

Remember the packers do this for a living - they are probably a lot quicker & better at it than you.

They will pack EVERYTHING - empty bins, put your over night bag, your child's precious toy & any paperwork you need for your move in your car & lock it before they arrive or it could end up in the van before you know it! They packed our DD's Catty Cat Cat, which had to be unpacked and my husband's newspaper for the day!

When they arrive at the other end, they won't unpack but they will assemble large items of furniture for you such as beds & wardrobes. Write / print off labels for your room (eg 'Bedroom 1', 'Dining Room', 'Living Room', etc) and stick to the doors with blue tack as one empty room looks very much like another. That way you can tell them 'Bedroom 1' for that box without having to stand on the landing & pointing all time, meaning you can get on.

Good luck.

[UniS]

for such a short move a local firm may work out cheaper. If they are BAR members they have same insurances etc as big boys like pickfords.
Packing sevice is fab, expensive but worth it.

[ResurrectionByChocolate]

Pickfords have improved, then. When I used them, years ago from Edinburgh to Yorkshire, I had to go to the warehouse to find out what had happened to my furniture. Found the guy sitting on one of my chairs! And he didn't apologise.