To think my sellers are utter wankers

[TossACoinToYourWitcher]

We are supposed to be moving today. In a chain of four. We exchanged a few weeks ago and completed at lunchtime. Handed our keys over to the buyer of our house and our removers drove to the new property whilst we headed into town to wait for our sellers to drop off the keys.

Got a call from the removers. The fecking sellers have only just started moving out. They are doing it themselves with one van and apparently waited until they got their keys before beginning to load the van up. Muppets.

So now our removers are complaining about potential overtime and suggesting if there is too much of a delay they will need to go home and come back tomorrow, leaving us with the possibility of trying to find a hotel during a flipping pandemic.

They have caused no end of problems since we started this process, including causing a three month delay.

AIBU in thinking that they are utter wankers. DH is currently having to help them load up their van.

Such helpful advice there Book.

Might I suggest you go back in time to tell that to the op in the past when she might have planned this.

Tell them you need to start unloading so they will need to focus on fully emptying one room so you can start filling it.

This happened to a friend of mine. They got the solicitors involved immediately and then ended up getting some compensation but the sellers were on a go slow for some strange reason

What baffles me is how to people that daft manage to hold down a job that pays a mortgage . Moving day routine is pretty straightforward.

The house is legally yours. They need to get everything out NOW. If they have to put it on the front garden and it gets stolen then so be it.

@Bookoffacts a house move is a major financial transaction though - it's not like OP decided to move house TODAY, it will have been months in the planning. It's not ideal but I don't see how moving house is anywhere near as risky as, oooh, going to the supermarket.

And OP exchanged a few weeks ago when life was a lot more normal.

My sellers did this. They did it themselves but with one lorry which wasn't big enough. They loaded it, drove to their new house, unloaded and came back and started over again. We moved in the dark when they eventually finished. luckily we had our own vans so didn't have the removal company issues.

It is now your home.

Charge them for all the added time the movers charge you and any other expenses. solicitors should be on it.

@Bookoffacts I hope you were being sarcastic. Otherwise give your head a wobble fgs. Hardly like the op organised this last night.

I'd call the locksmith over to change the locks while the sellers are still there. It may hit home with them that they need to be gone by sundown.

Oh for goodness sake @Bookoffacts the OP hardly decided this on a whim yesterday afternoon

Second everyone who says get their stuff out. Are they elderly or infirm?!

This happened with my auntie, in the end we told them to get all of their crap out of the living room so we could get her stuff in. We threatened to add costs if they stayed any longer than we felt necessary. Eventually she got in after 10pm.

Cheeky bastards.

This kind of thing is my absolute nightmare at the best of times, nevermind at the moment.

When we bought this house it was already empty and it did at to my piece of mind on moving day

Change the locks, put their stuff in the garden, unload your van. Their stuff if it gets ruined not your fault as they trans passing. Hope move goes abit better x

This is obviously quite common! Happened to my MIL a few years ago - when we arrived with the van it hadn't even occurred to the movers that they should have packed! We ended up unpacking boxes so that we could pack their stuff, luckily they didn't have much.

Good idea to get locksmith today if possible OP that should hurry them along!

I'm in Scotland and I was told that after the exchange of keys that the sellers had no right to be in the property. I was told that they had to be out by the time of handover. Hope it gets sorted soon for you.

Everything of theirs on the lawn and you move your stuff in! You kept your side of the contract, they didn't.

And definitely 100% locksmith.

I had this with a previous property. Seller was 80+. Her son turned up about 12ish with a corsa van. I was furious but fortunately we weren't moving in that day. House was left in a right state too.

I wouldn’t have my DH handling their stuff in the current situation OP. You know this virus stays on plastic, cardboard, metal etc? Why let him put himself at risk?

Give the ignorant twats 30 minutes to clear the house onto the street. Takes longer to pack everything into a van. They forfeited that time. Tell them you’ll be taking them to court for extra expenses incurred by you for your removals firm. It’s your house, they are trespassing now!

It takes a special kind of dick to do this to someone in the middle of a pandemic. I really really hope this is cleared up for you soon!

Is it an hour delay or is it more like all day?
Tell your DH to stop now he is not helping the situation.

How about this - Ask them to leave the house as it is now your property, change the locks. Tell them that you if they can employ a removals company to clear the stuff out you will give them access, otherwise you will ask a house clearance firm to attend? Give them 24 hours

With a likelihood of a lockdown coming very soon you need to be in your house that you own.

Similar thing happened to us difference was someone in the chain didn't get their deposit money to their solicitor in time. In addition to this another had decided to take out a bridging loan, so they had two properties for a few days. They were divorcing, but the others in the chain weren't made aware.

Any way upshot was our removers had to take away all our possessions for the weekend whilst we de-camped to the solicitors on the Monday morning to find out what the hell was happening. We sued our buyers who then sued their buyers, whose fault it was, for extra costs for our removal company and hotel costs for the 3 nights. Our solicitor dealt with it all and they had to pick up everyone's additional costs, ours was about £900. A total pain especially when you have kids.

I feel for you OP as it was so stressful - I don't plan on moving again!

And to agree with a PP, they should only be concentrating on emptying the house not packing the van.

I'd agree with the locksmith. The sellers of our last house had kept a set of keys, they gave them to friends to collect items they left in the loft. They just walked in and seemed surprised when we weren't happy and initially refused to allow them access to the loft.

Get them to empty the house into the garden! And tell them they will have to pay costs for the delay. And take photos of any stuff they leave .... rubbish etc.