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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think paying for packing service when moving is ok

136 replies

Funnyhoney · 10/09/2018 15:01

I am moving soon so getting quotes for removals. I asked for quotes and the packing service is around £200 extra (and an extra half day). Thinking this is the way forward I told DH who thought it s waste of money.
He asked his mum and brother who we saw on Saturday. They recoiled in horror, his mum open mouthed that we would even think of having this service. I couldn't quite believe this as I thought it was a no brainer and so much easier than doing it ourselves. DH even suggested moving furniture himself to which I replied I wouldn't help him and he'd have to ask his family to help him if that's what he wanted to do.
AIBU to think paying for packing is a great idea? Thoughts please as I am just shocked at negative reaction to what I thought was a very reasonable idea.

OP posts:

sugarbum · 10/09/2018 17:02

Worth. Every. Penny. I paid £500 for the removals company to pack for us. 4 Bed house plus garage. They swept through it like a whirlwind in less than half a day. It would have taken me months.

At the other end, they put all the boxes in (almost) the correct rooms, and the furniture where I wanted it. They loaded up the vans in the morning, unloaded in the afternoon, and were gone by 3pm.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

PrincessScarlett · 10/09/2018 17:04

Packers are definitely the way to go. Money well spent. Extra bonus is that if anything gets broken in the move you are compensated but if you pack yourself you are liable for breakages.

longwayoff · 10/09/2018 17:07

Yes yes yes yes yes. Pay the packers, you'll never move house without them again.

DozyDoates · 10/09/2018 17:08

Past two moves we had the kitchen packed - best money spent and if we move again I'd have the same!

SkippingPages · 10/09/2018 17:18

I agree with Rebecca. How long since your MIL moved OP?

Packers all the way

And don't worry about them packing the kettle by mistake. That wont happen. IME their number one rule is kettle packed last and first thing off at your new place.....

Always did our own moves pre-dc. Only time we didn't have packers since dc was soooo stressful, even though they were older and helped. Some packers have been less careful about a labelling system, so I supervise that a bit at the beginning of the job. I do want some idea what's in the box. And some boxes might be going to a different room at the destination and I'll ask that to be marked on box too. Other than that let them get on with it and as ppps have said, they work so fast.

TurquoiseDress · 10/09/2018 17:23

YANBU

Totally ok in my opinion!

TheDuckSaysMoo · 10/09/2018 17:25

I'll never forget sitting in my old place the night before the packers arrived. It was so weird to have the house functioning as normal - magazines on the coffee table, food in the fridge etc. They were amazingly fast and brilliant value. I think we were about £200 too.

We got a quote to unpack but that was about £1000. We didn't pay for that!

EggysMom · 10/09/2018 17:36

Our packers packed the rubbish from the windowsills despite being told not to bother - that was a fun box to unpack! Definitely the best money I've spent. They came one day and packed whilst DS was at school, so DS wasn't rooting through the boxes or upset by what was happening. They put on their van at the end of the day, we survived on minimal stuff that night (takeaway and a suitcase of clothes). Next day after DS went to school, they loaded up the furniture, moved us to our new house and unloaded everything into the rooms we defined. We made it easier by having all downstairs boxes in one room, all upstairs boxes in the spare bedroom. I then picked up DS from school and brought him home to the new house

Original poster

Funnyhoney · 10/09/2018 17:43

Yes Rebecca36 and SkippingPages it must be 40 years since MIL moved. She probably can't remember what it was like!
DH shouldn't have told his mum as we should chose to spend our money how we like. She should have not been so forceful with her opinion either.

OP posts:

WhatWouldTheDoctorDo · 10/09/2018 17:50

Packing service is amazing! They're so quick and it means you don't spend days or weeks surrounded by boxes. When we moved, I went to work and came home to find my entire house packed up ready to move the next day (save the bedding on the beds and essential crockery/toiletries to see us through till morning). My only advice would be to have a really good clearout before they start!

ThreeAnkleBiters · 10/09/2018 17:50

I had a packing service and never regretted it for a second. Everything was packed the afternoon before we moved meaning we didn't have weeks of stuff in boxes. They packed better than I would have so nothing got lost and it would have taken me at least 20 hours to do it myself - so if I value my time at more than £10 an hour it was a great deal!

Luisa77 · 10/09/2018 17:52

Best money I have ever spent in my life! This is not an exaggeration

Deadheadstickeronacadillac · 10/09/2018 17:55

Pay for the packing, you will never ever regret it!

hannnnnnnxo · 10/09/2018 17:56

Depends how much stuff you have I suppose - it’s always more than you think. If you can afford them, packers absolutely make a move easier

PrivateDoor · 10/09/2018 18:00

Wow £200 is nothing I reckon. We started packing literally as soon as we decided to move as we thought decluttering before showing the house was the way forward. Basically we ended up packing gradually over two months, it was ridiculous! Our garage was jammed full of boxes and even on moving day we managed to find stuff that we had missed packing!!

MrsFezziwig · 10/09/2018 18:08

If you’re living in a studio flat, you can pack yourself. Anything bigger, definitely have packers. They move like whirlwinds. I was able to just follow behind them cleaning rooms (has your DH taken that into account as well?). If you agree it beforehand, they will also dismantle & reassemble stuff.

The only slight downside, as a PP has mentioned, is that the descriptions on the boxes can be a bit sketchy - although this has only really caused me a problem because I haven’t been a position to unpack all my boxes straight away, so have slightly lost track of some stuff (nothing critical though). If I had been able to unpack straight away it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Giraffe888 · 10/09/2018 18:12

We’ve just moved house and I didn’t even consider paying someone to do it. It was so easy to do ourselves with prep starting a week before we moved. Would do it ourselves if we ever moved again too

Mammalamb · 10/09/2018 18:12

We did it. It cost £1000 (4 bed house and massive attic). Worth every penny

HMBB · 10/09/2018 18:15

It is worth every penny!

SouthernComforts · 10/09/2018 18:21

Random but what happens to the food in the fridge/freezer? I've moved house 6 times in the last 10 years (without packers!) and my mind has gone totally blank.

DiveBombingSeagull · 10/09/2018 18:21

Unanimous - do it. It would cost you more to buy the materials and in breakages and loss of sanity.

As PP said they are like locusts.

They take furniture apart where needed and put it back together in the new house.

You can even pay them to unpack. If I had the money I would pay for that too but it was quite a bit more.

PedroLostHisGlasses · 10/09/2018 18:33

100% the best money I've ever spent. We did have a 4mo and a nearly-2yo but even though they are a bit older now I'd still pay for the packing service every time. In fact we went a bit further and did unpacking too. There was the top top level "gold" service where they would literally unpack everything and clean and tidy etc, we didn't do that (because £££) but went for the next level down where they set up the beds, put all the clothes into the drawers, put together the sofa and dining table/chairs, and left the boxes in the right rooms rather than all just downstairs. So worth it.

TeaByTheSeaside · 10/09/2018 18:34

Worth every penny.

Soontobe60 · 10/09/2018 18:45

When we moved we used a small man and van outfit. He told us to leave all the clothes etc in drawers as they take the whole lot together. As for wardrobes, I did those myself as it was a great opportunity to have a good clearout. I had all the suitcases opened and some bin bags. Clothes for keeping stayed on hangars straight into suitcases, clothes for binning straight into bin bags. Shoes into boxes, or straight into bin bags. Same with everybody else's clothes. Then a quick charity shop / tip run before anyone had the chance to stop me 😂
2 years on, no one has asked me about their rarely worn favourite t shirt or disgusting dog chewed shoes.
However, had a couple of bedroom carpets fitted and paid extra to have the old Ines removed plus fitters moving then returning all the furniture in each room. Went out for the day once they arrived and returned several hours later with bedrooms in pristine condition. Well worth the money.

mostlysinging · 10/09/2018 18:47

It was the best thing to spend on when moving - I would never move without paying for this service having done it before.

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