Best removals companies?

[meatester]

Assuming Britannia, Pickfords are good?

Where are you? People may have local recommendations (or ones to avoid!).

It seems the best removals are the one you can actually get! A local firm might be more flexible so give an area.

Where are you?

SW London

I'm in SE London. I used GM4 Express twice and was delighted with the service. They are small outfit but super reliable and professional. I'll definitely use them again.

• a small outfit

Why would you assume that Brittannia and Pickfords are good?

@Bluesheep8

Why would you assume that Brittannia and Pickfords are good?

Because they're successful companies.....?

Personally I would look at local removal companies.

I used Pickford and they stored my stuff for 8 months, and definitely no complaints, removal team were excellent, packed and wrapped all large items, and untapped and assembled on return, we had zero damage, they were just as competitive on price as local firm of which some could not store for that length of time

James are fantastic.

I would look at ones that have availability. We are moving ourselves into a temporary storage locker as you can’t get anyone till August at the very earliest. Most it is October at the earliest

If you are moving house in the next month then it will be DiY.

One of my neighbours who has a huge house that went for nearly £2,000,000 managed to get her bulky items moved last week by a man with a van into a storage locker 45 minutes away. (Again storage lockers are full). Our storage locker is the only one available that we could find is again 45 minutes drive away)The man could only do 1 trip as she could only get him for 2 hours.
They are doing car trips with friends and family as they can’t even hire a van.

I am lucky in that I have my own van

Hopefully you have bought because there are no rental properties. Especially if you have pets and or you don’t have a regular income but a bundle of money from the sale of your house and even then the prices are extortionate. For our budget, when our buyer agreed the price we were looking at detached houses with big double garages. Now we are looking at not enough bedrooms and no garage for the same amount

Hopefully you are talking about a move that is months away. Otherwise 🤣🤣🤣 Good Luck

Burke and Wills seem popular in SW London

We used a more local firm - Southpark removals and they were fantastic - couldn’t fault
We had a quote from Pickfords which was double what we ended up paying for the same service (we went for packing)
At the moment firms are massively booked so you may need to phone a few

My last move was with Britannia. They were dreadful, overpriced and quite a lot of damage to my furniture (soft dents, marks etc.)

Would never use them again.

If you are in the London / East Anglia area Abels are fantastic. Not cheap, but really good, especially if you need to go into storage.

Just spoke to 4 removals companies and they apparently all have availability for moving day which is in 4-6 weeks

So end July/August
We couldn’t wait that long.
We are nearer North London.

You'd need to give them a specific date to know if they've got availability.
Also, I would recommend using a company who ask for full payment in advance to secure the booking.

We have moved countless times and as a general rule we ALWAYS book the removal firm from the place we ARE MOVING TO.

Not sure if this works for London or big cities, as we move from villages to small towns and back to villages etc. Generally the removal firm nearest the house we have bought might actually know the house, have good info on the area and the most important reason, they take their time onloading at your new house as they haven't got a big journey home ahead of them. Plus you can hire their boxes and drop them off again locally when you're unpacked and get the deposit back.

@Bythemillpond

So end July/August We couldn’t wait that long. We are nearer North London.

That wasn't dictated to by them, we don't need to move until then

*unloading

@Bluesheep8

You'd need to give them a specific date to know if they've got availability. Also, I would recommend using a company who ask for full payment in advance to secure the booking.

Not what they said, but ok

@BigusBumus

We have moved countless times and as a general rule we ALWAYS book the removal firm from the place we ARE MOVING TO.

Not sure if this works for London or big cities, as we move from villages to small towns and back to villages etc. Generally the removal firm nearest the house we have bought might actually know the house, have good info on the area and the most important reason, they take their time onloading at your new house as they haven't got a big journey home ahead of them. Plus you can hire their boxes and drop them off again locally when you're unpacked and get the deposit back.

Very good advice...

I've heard many a horror story about Pickfords particularly, so don't always assume they're good just because they're big. It probably varies from area to area, depending on the local management.

Always go with word of mouth recommendations, whether it's from someone you know, or other locals. Post on your local facebook page if you have one. It comes up as a question regularly on our local page (not SW London I'm afraid) and the same names are mentioned time and time again, as are the ones to avoid.

Ensure whoever you use is BAR registered.

This is a useful article - hoa.org.uk/how-to-find-the-right-removals-company/

*Bluesheep8

You'd need to give them a specific date to know if they've got availability.
Also, I would recommend using a company who ask for full payment in advance to secure the booking.

Not what they said, but ok*

They've got availability for 2 weeks? In July/August?
Apologies if my questions sound blunt op, I'm honestly trying to assist