To say no to the removal company?

[Doubtfuldaphne]

I moved house after agreeing a price with the company. It's per hour and the two guys moving my stuff took ages - chatting on their phones, cigarette breaks, popping to the shop etc. they were however helpful and friendly.
When they finished they charged us the amount and we paid cash
I now have an email saying they charged us incorrectly and they want another £90!
Can a company do that? Surely it's their mistake and they have to deal with it?

Do you have a written confirmation of the original quote?

no, the transaction is done and dusted. Hopefully you have a receipt?

I had this exact issue when I moved last sept!

The removal men were polite and friendly but took loads of cigarette breaks and generally took far too long to move stuff. They arrived at 8am and didn't get everything moved out of a tiny 2 up 2 down until 5pm! The house was quite minimalist so not cluttered with stuff.

The next day the guy e mailed me and said I owed him another £200 as it had taken so long (I'd paid in advance). I phoned him immediately and told him there was no way on earth I was giving him more money and he could sue me if he thought he was entitled to it. I never heard from him again.

If I were you I'd pay for the hours legitimately used.

Nine hours mrsbungle! What a rip off! Ours emptied a packed two up two down in 1.5 hours. Now I understand what they meant when they said they were fast!

OP, don't pay them, its done and dusted and their mistake. Especially if they dragged the hours out. I'd be tempted to tell them it would balance out the many many cigarette breaks and shop trips.

I am reading with interest as we are thinking of moving in the next year or two. The previous moves we have done we did it ourselves with friends & family. We have now got 2 dc & a mountain more stuff to move than last time so may need to use a removal company. I see its advisable to get a written quote and what do you do if they stretch out the hours? Do you politely ask them to get a move on? Also if they are slow on one end will they be equally slow at the new house?

16 months ago we hired a removal company.

They sent two very interesting candidates to help us. The first mover was the most obese man I had ever seen in my life, he couldn't fit through our double doorway and had to take a break every five minutes (not kidding) and his partner was close to 95 years old. They were both friendly...but myself and DH ended up helping out more than we had expected....we did ask for more 'abled' people the next day since our move was only supposed to take one day. The next day they sent a lovely fit and friendly younger man (early 60s) and his partner was a lovely and chatty 30 year old lady who was in a wheelchair.

I gave up and cried at the sight because I couldn't well complain about her being disabled...I have a son with a disability and I would be upset if someone told him he wasn't capable of doing something, but I was paying by the hour and SHE COULDN'T go down stairs or even up any stairs.

I think my live in the UK is just doomed.

I do have it in wriig how much it should be. There were two rates and I went for the higher rate thinking it would be quicker with two vans (assuming it would be four men ) it was just two men - equally slow and they charged me for the lower rate.
I think I might have to put a proper letter together.

Wriing = writing - sorry!

We moved with White & co this year and they were fabulous. Just two guys. They did a part load day 1; took about 5 hrs, no breaks. Then maybe 1.5 hrs next morning.
Then about 4.5 hrs to unload next day.

That's a big 3-bed house, plus shed, incl 2 pianos and dismantling/assembling beds.

They did comment though that we were super-organised and had everything packed well and all ready to go.

The moral of the story (and our experience too) is to never get removal men who work by the hour!

When we moved from Hertfordshire to Yorkshire we ended up with a split chain so we had two moves:-

Move 1:- House in Hertfordshire to storage in Yorkshire (180 miles apart.)
Move 2:- storage in Yorkshire to house in Yorkshire (2 miles apart)

The firstmove was a fixed cost while the second move was by the hour.

Move 1 was quicker!

Ours was fixed cost too! That'll be why they go fast. Less money in going slow!

Never by the hour. They can visit or you send them a list and they give you a definite quote for the job.

This I did. The only thing was I moved on a Friday and they were booked and did not do weekends, so had to wait until Monday.

Last time I moved I had six men two plus lorriesthey did all my packing, and did that the two days before and loaded , moved and unloaded vans in 6 hrs. fixed price!!

Always get a fixed price. When my late MIL moved, my DH had to go out and tell the removal men to stop standing chatting to their mates (they'd been there for over 30 mins!). They charged us for all the time that they'd been with us - PLUS the travelling time to and from their depot 15 miles away...!!!

When we moved, we got a fixed price....!

Would anyone mind sharing prices? I've booked two men and a van for next weekend at a fixed price of £100. Does this sound about right? I am moving 15 miles and it will be a max of two journeys to move all my stuff. Thanks!

I echo those who question why you chose a quote that was 'pay by the hour'. You should have a fixed price for the amount of belongings you have.

Getstuffezd, mine was a big move (200 miles), with a removal van, three men and all the gear. They did a stop off to pick up more stuff from another house too. It cost £650 and they were really good!

£100 sounds good to me. Don't think you would get it cheaper.

This thread was just de-zombified, so we're going to close it now. Do feel free to start a new thread if you need help with removal company etiquette.