Moving house packing service - wobbling - help!

[Ratched]

Ahgghh.
We move on Friday. We paid a considerable amount for a full packing service and they are coming in to start packing tomorrow.
BUT I am second guessing myself all the time. I have packed a case with knickers etc., know all about wardrobes, freezers, the big stuff.
but do I really just let them pack everything?
Tins and jars in the larder? utensils in kitchen drawers - tin foil, crap like that?????

I am itching to do it all now:(

Have you done it recently? What is the form? And tipping?? Did you tip? How much?
I am more stressed about the removal company than I was about selling and buying

Heeeeeeelp

Yup,they do it all. They even packed my ashtray complete with cigarette ends when I wasn’t looking, wrapped it in bubble wrap,

Just let them get on with it and no I didn’t tip.

Really, they just do it.

Have a declutter if it helps.

Tip them £20 each and a crate of beer or pop if they’re decent - it’s a hard manual job and at Covid Christmas totally worth your while.

(Well jel, there was talk of us completing on 18th but we’re still not even exchanged and no word from solicitor. Totally utterly fed up of limbo now so enjoy your lovely new house!)

I had it done, went out for the day came back it was all done. 4 bed two reception house. Best money I ever spent.

Do you use a local firm or a national one? If national do you have recommendations? just something i want a note of for when i next move!
If it' not too cheeky can you also give me a rough cost so i can factor that in too
Thank you :-)
All the best with your move OP

Yep, they pack the lot. I just put together a box with kettle, mugs, teaspoons, chargers etc etc which I kept with me to take, together with the valuables (looks at DS’s Pokemon cards and blankie...)

Yup. And keep your cleaning stuff till the end, tell them what you want done last Ie beds etc if they are coming the day before. Then just let them get on with it,

Yes they pack everything. They do not sort stuff though. Try to pack your important documents, the essentials (kettle and teabags etc), bed linen and pyjamas for the first night yourself. I usually tip £10 each but that's just for moving not packing

Thank you so much!
It is just shocking how much stuff we have, and we have madly decluttered

@timeforawine we struggled really badly to find a removal company, they are manic at the moment.
We are going from sprawling 4 bed to smaller 4 bed. About 15 miles in distance.
£3.5k
I was quoted £1600 plus vat at the beginning of the process, but, to be honest, we would have paid anything just to get moved.
We are in the north east, using a northern company. If that is if interest, u will pm the name and what they were like once we've moved.
And breathe.......

Thanks all 💞

Thanks @Ratched, I'm in York so that would be helpful. No move yet but i am watching a nearby village!

@timeforawine pretty sure they have a branch in York!
Promise to report to you next week

Super, thank you. And all the best with the new house

Ahh enjoy! It was the best money I have ever spent!
I have heard stories of them packing a full rubbish bin,etc. But ours were lovely.
We walked through the house with them, pointed out anything extra important, or shouldn’t be packed. Made them a cup of tea, left them some biscuits and went out for a couple of hours to run some errands. Coming back to a packed house was amazing!!

@timeforawine I used Hughes removals in York four years ago to move to Lancashire - they were brilliant! They packed everything including the loft and two sheds, it took two vans over two days (I have a lot of stuff including thousands of books) - they packed on the first day, stores the vans safely overnight and delivered it the next day, and it cost less than £2k!

Brilliant thank you @minniemoll I'll keep a note of them too as i know they don't all do lofts and sheds!
I can't stand the thought of packing

Do not stress!! This service is amazing! They do indeed pack everything, including drawers and the contents of cupboards. You can also expect them to look a bit haphazard for a while as, apart from the kitchen, they don’t usually pack one room before moving onto the next room and instead half fill a box in one room and then find things to fit alongside those from another room.
My top tips are:
Dedicate either a car boot or a work surface somewhere that is not to be packed and have all your keys, phones, cleaning things and anything else you don’t want on the lorry on there.
Empty bins as they have packed ours full of rubbish before!
Keep the kettle, some mugs, spoons and milk very handy at both ends
Think of what you might need for the first couple of days and pack a little bag of those things that you can transport yourself to save having to search for that particular box. You might need, some cooking items, toilet paper, tea towels, fairy, washcloths, hand soaps etc
But most of all just keep the kettle on and Hoover around behind them.
Good luck

They are indiscriminate too - they will literally pack up your garbage! They come in and just swoop all the stuff up. It's great but they do not unpack at the other end! However be sure someone if not you is at the other end so they can place your furniture where you want and reassemble things like beds.

Honestly I did this and it was the best money we have ever spent. Just pack precious items, private stuff and things you need straight away and take those yourself. Only thing that went wrong was they packed the bath plug

Get rid or hide (in the car?) anything you don’t want packed - full nappy bins, teabags, cat...
Put everything in it’s right place so when you unpack a box labelled ‘bedroom’ it isn’t kitchen stuff.
Pack your own box of stuff you’ll need as soon as you arrive in your new home and label it as such. Eg kettle, gin, quick food, teabags, cutlery.
If you have teeny Knick-knacks, it’s quicker to pack then yourself into a shoe box or something. Pack your own jewellery.
Keep paracetamol to hand if you’re staying in the house while they pack. They are amazing, but it’s stressful.
Good luck!

Packing is the best thing ever. They just do everything, but make sure you have a couple of changes of clothes, shoes, and things to eat from stashed in the car.

Stick a post it note on each room with a label of 'bedroom 1' etc, and then do the same in the new house so that the contents of bedroom 1 go in bedroom 1 at the new house.

Last time I hid in the garden till they'd emptied one room , then went in there to hoover/dust and followed them out

@Bluntness100

Yup,they do it all. They even packed my ashtray complete with cigarette ends when I wasn’t looking, wrapped it in bubble wrap,

Just let them get on with it and no I didn’t tip.

I am actually shocked you're a smoker @Bluntness100!! I don't know why but I just wouldn't have said you were a smoker haha

I'd always find the money for this.

Moved last year for only the second time / last time was nearly 25 years earlier .... used a local firm who were 1/3 of the price quoted by a big national company.

Packed over 1.5 days then moved us 45 miles away on the afternoon of the 2nd day.

Talked to them about what to leave till last, moved essentials and some stuff they wouldn't move ourselves (fish tank, cats, gas bottles etc)

DH took the cats and was at new house to meet them whilst I stayed on to close up the old house.

Luckily we got keys to new house the Friday before and moved Tuesday so I moved fish tank and tropical fish over the weekend.

Previous move was a relocation over 200 miles away... they packed us one day and delivered to new house the next ... again so easy... the night before we left, I was drinking G&t with friends .

Both times the new house was unpacked and sorted fairly quickly as we hadn't had the effort of packing ... unlike some neighbours (all new builds) who were still sorting boxes months later...

Sounds money well spent!

We moved ourselves, with no packing service, last weekend. In now, but never again!
Our sellers had to move themselves because the company they'd booked flaked out on them at the last minute... 😱

Thanks everyone!
Feeling a lot less stressed about it now.
We have a bathroom that is being used as an 'out of bounds'. The cat will be in there, along with cat basket, litter, food, toys etc.,
I have put an overnight bag with clean clothes in for us, as well as a pack with teabags, coffee, gin and wine😁
I will add to the haul tomorrow as things unfurl. On Friday DH is going to new place and I am staying here to finish off.
I might just take my time....... 😁

Feeling okay about it again now, so huge thank you!

@DinosApple we feared we were facing hiring vans and doing it ourselves - nightmare!

J6jst thought! Need to add that we have more than one bathroom, so wont be using this one😂

Weirdly op I have just filled out my movers request and had specified I would like then to pack so I'm interested to see the quote and have found this thread helpful. I do think it will be a handy thing if you can afford it.

Good luck with your move!