£1200 quote for removal men...help!

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We are moving from a 2 bedroom flat 4 miles down the road. We don't have lots of furniture but do have an upright piano. Anyway, I have been quoted £1200... that seems like a LOT of money. Is it worth my shopping around or is that what I should expect? eeeekkkk had to have a sit down after getting the quote!

Def shop around. 14 or so years ago, we moved from a two bedroomed cottage to a five bed town house so on three floors. Initially we were quoted a ridiculous price. By ringing around we got it down to around £300.

Does it include boxes? Are they packing for you? We moved 60 miles away, 4 bed house, including boxes and tape, couple of wardrobe boxes (fantastic! would well recommend them) for £500. That was the best quote we had, average quote was about £800 so yours does seem steep. There are a few removals comparison websites where you can get multiple quotes by just one search, the company we found were a smaller independent company that I probably would have dismissed had I not known they were significantly cheaper. Good luck with your move.

Definitely shop around as that does sound quite a lot - we paid 1500 for a 3 bed semi to be packed and shipped 80 miles to a larger house about 4 years ago. £1200 sounds steep!

Shop around - we paid similar to that last year to move 160 miles (5 bed town house) and a 2 day move.

We found our company from a comparison site and i wouldn't have known about them otherwise.

thanks everyone. Scooby - please could you send me the name of the company you used?

I just wanted to say be careful who you use and make sure they are established, reliable and that you can get a recommendation if possible.

We moved from the north west to London a few years ago and wanted to move on a specific weekend just after new year, so we couldn't get in touch with many of the big firms as they were closed for Christmas (and we were very last minute about it ). We booked a firm who had a website and seemed okay, they quoted £700 for a 2 day move and we got all packed up.

Now, it could have been worse - they could have driven off with all our stuff never to be seen again I suppose - but they damaged a lot of our furniture (our dining room table had been assembled in one room in our old house and stood there for 2 years before we moved so was immaculate, but on delivery to the new place it looked like it had been hacked at with a hammer, it was just awful). When we contacted them to complain they threatened us, basically saying don't complain again or else, remember we know where you live!!!

It was all very stressful, so do take care who you book.

On another note, we used Pickfords when we relocated back to the north west and they were really good, only cost about £100 more than using the dodgy company and they supplied all the boxes and packing paper and tape etc. They will give you a silly quote and then encourage you to haggle (which is bizarre) then knock a load off for you.

It does seem steep. We just paid exactly the same but a) London b) 4 bed to 4 bed c) took 3 days - they packed everything, then we moved, then there was a day putting stuff into storage from the old house.

Expect to pay a premium for the piano (they'll need to insure it) but not that much!

Have a look at www.reallymoving.com You can get price comparisons on there and there are also reviews.

You can then have a look at the companies website and ask around to see if anyone has used them.

Pickfords price can depend on what day you need it for. As stinkingbishop mentioned you will pay a little extra for the piano.

They may not want the hassle of moving the piano.

Could you get a separate quote from a specialist company to move the piano? Then get at least 3 quotes for remainder of your stuff?

We've just moved from 2 bed to 2 bed, 10 mile distance. did the packing ourselves. Our movers supplied all packaging, tape etc. Cost £550. They were an independent, family run business.
We had cheaper quotes, but on looking at their t&cs they would charge extra for every hour they worked after 5pm. We didn't want to risk the money not transferring til very late.
And we also checked their level of insurance.
We were very happy with the service we got.

What floor is your flat on, and is there parking for the van right outside? That will make a bit difference!
I'd get other quotes though and look into getting specialists to do the piano. Ask how many men will be needed for how long.

We paid £900 for a similar move a few years ago but that was a jam-packed 1+2nd floor maisonette with loft and no adjacent parking, 5 guys turned up at 7am, then 4 of them went to the new house and unpacked until after 8pm. We did most of the packing but they supplied boxes and checked up on us every couple of days, and there was a fishtank and water which had to go on last.
(Six Keys, around London/SE, fantastic!)

when we moved from England to Scotland dh hired a big van and we packed and moved the stuff ourselves

Yes that sounds steep - especially if it doesn't include packing! We paid about £750 for packing and moving a 2 bed flat, about 5 miles. This was in London too.

We used the Moving Home Company who I would definitely recommend - quick and efficient and nothing damaged at all.

No piano though, and they are notoriously a pain to move. I agree with Chippy it might be worth investigating moving that separately. A friend looked into piano movers recently, I think he got a quote of about £200 for moving a baby grand.

We are about to move from London to Manchester. I got three quotes from local,reputable firms that came recommended and had full insurance etc.

Moving from 3 bed split level apartment on 2nd and 3rd floor (no lift).

Most expensive was £2500, they seemed amazing and v professional but too expensive. Other two both came in around £1k including all materials and packing.

The firm we have gone with are charging £200 for packing the entire flat and re-assembling all beds and furniture at the other end, and £800 for the move itself.

So I definitely think you are being overcharged, try to get some more quotes and then try haggling a bit.

Lurking as we are hoping to mpve soon and I' mgetting nervous about doing itvall ourselvee.

use pers removals in finchley, they are specialised in moving pianos and move houses too. the quote was very reasonable and they did a good job.. www.persremovals.co.uk

If you're in London, I'd recommend Green Man and Van. We've had to move several times over the last couple of years and they are really efficient and careful with furniture.