Why do I want the removers to do the packing?

[biser]

Not me, I need advice to give to DC.
What is the benefit in getting the removers to do the packing? If all they do is wrap drawers, complete with contents, in clingfilm then what are you paying for? What else do they do?

Please tell me you are not going to try to pack on the day ?
It all needs to be done the days and weeks before apart from the very essentials (kettle, bed).

Don't be one of those people that delay a whole chain or have vans of people waiting to move in parked up outside and clocking up overtime.......

I never did it as I liked to have a clear out as I packed and I was never in a huge rush. I considered it when we moved when I was pregnant as I wasn’t much use (had multiple losses and intense morning sickness so I was mostly horizontal and anxious)

It is like any number of luxury choices - if you have the money and don’t have the time you can do it. If you’d rather do something else do that. Not complicated.

kind of like a takeaway versus cooking! Always worth it to me, probably a silly thing to spend money on for some people.

Yes this happened to us. Kept us waiting until 6pm to get into our house that we had owned since 12pm! They left the place filthy as well. Bastards.

all breakables are wrapped and all your stuff is insured in transit

Everything was packed in boxes when our removers did it. Apart from hanging clothes, they had hanging boxes so everything stayed hanging. And drawers that were able to be taken as drawers. They just took out the drawers, moved the unit, put back in this drawers in the van and then stabilised it. They also dismantled and reassembled beds for us.
it was 100% worth the money. Because all we had to do was bring stuff down from the loft and be there while they did all this. They did it the day before and the day of the move. So everything was very easy to handle, I am a childminder working from Home and was able to work until the day before the move because we were packing ourselves. Nothing was upside down for days/weeks on end. Previous moves packing has taken weeks pretty much and the entire house has been all over the place for ages. This was brilliant.

It was money worth spending as far I am concerned. I hate every single thing about moving. I went out for the morning, came back and everything was gone. Taken to a store, stored and then delivered to my new home 3 months later. They had a deal with cleaners who came in straight way. Everything done without any work from me. Worth every penny.

Everything is, everything. All of your belonging in the entire house will be packed
however they need to be packed for them to transport it by someone else. Put in a van, by someone else, leaving the house completely empty of everything you own. At the other end they remove everything from the van and put it in the room it needs to be in, assembling furniture they had to dismantle.
we didn’t pay for an unpacking service, but you can also get them to unpack everything, meaning every single thing you own so there are no boxes left to unpack and everything you own is out and usable.

When I saw rhe speed the move stuff I wished I had paid extra for packing...

I will never again move without professional packing. Reasons:
Speed. It all happens in one day. No need to live with boxes for days and my God are they fast.
Efficiency. They come with all the materials and pack and mark every box and keep a list of said boxes and you can direct each box to it's new room.
Skill. These guys do it day in day out. They know how to pack fragile items/dismantle furniture etc
Stress. Massive reduction in stress. You can manage the move instead of doing it. You won't be exhausted at the end of the day.
Relationships. You will still be talking to your friends and family and not blocking Mary Jane because she dropped that heirloom.

Clothes in suitcases - amateurish and your clothes will be creased at the other end - and you need to find somewhere to put your hangers. They have wardrobe boxes so the clothes stay hung up and then are put back into the wardrobe at the other end.

Also, insurance. If they’re pack and something gets broken, they pay. If you pack, they only pay if the damage was obviously their fault eg they actually dropped it.

There are usually time constraints on moving days - one of the most worrying being "we have to be out of here by x time". If the movers are packing they will know when to turn up to start packing to be finished in time.

Of the whole process of moving house including getting a lovely new house, the best value for money is having the removal firm pack too!

They won't look at it, ooh and ask do you remember when or remember why you wanted it six months ago or try and find the matching pair. They see, wrap and box. In my life, paying wrappers is in top 5 best uses of money of all time.

They pack it in the best way to get it to fit in the van. Our packers packed our whole home incredibly efficiently into the van and because they’d chosen the packaging it was down to their expertise that we got it all in. They packed every item from my kitchen individually in paper for one… every cup and saucer etc.

Also buying the materials is expensive and packing is LONG.

@biser you still haven't told us if you think the 5 adults will be packing everything on the day itself, and what time they need to be out?
Or whether you've asked the movers if they will take full drawers or need them emptied.
Or whether every single item of clothing fits in suitcases (and if so, what are they wearing now?)

If they're young and fit, just let them crack on. I don't remember finding moving too hideous when I was in my twenties, and I did it myself with friends. Often didn't even have movers for the furniture. Having a mate with a van is a very useful life skill! But I've just moved again in my mid-40s, and it is NOT the same. I didn't use packers and absolutely kicked myself, even though I did have professional movers for everything other than packing. There is absolutely zero chance I am ever going to be dislodged from my current abode unless I can pay someone to do the whole thing for me.

What kind of cost is this service? Moving locally, 4 bed house.
Maybe i could stomach moving as you all.make it sound easy.

I think the other consideration is whether you are in a chain or n a situation where you can move over a certain length of time so not so time pressured

Well then leave them to it..I would do it myself because I don't have a spare £500. My older parents with health issues- it saved them a lot of hard work, was super fast and made the last 48 hrs pre move much easier.

I have moved several times over the last 2.5 years. Each time I got them to pack up everything and it all went smoothly from one country to another until the last move. Ceiling shades were damaged as rammed into boxes as an example so something to watch out for. Whilst the UK side was great, the other country was not coming back and, it was the same company. That said, the fact the problem was caused by their people meant the insurance claim went through smoothly. The stress involved and tedious hours spent wrapping things up with stuff bought from Amazon means it is a no brainer to pay a few hundred pounds for the removal company to do it given the speed they do it at. Packing boxes, cling film, tape and bubble wrap are very very expensive when trying to do it yourself. No company puts things back in place at the other end, they only put legs on sofas, erect beds not physically putting back knives and forks for example in drawers. Hope this helps with the decision.

They will take apart and reassemble your flat pack furniture. Them moving the heavy things means not risking your own back. People always underestimate how long it will take them, the packers are fast. Often the cost of the packing is quite low compared to the moving costs - my last move was £5,000 but the packing was only £800. It saves falling out with loved ones over it all taking too long and someone not pulling their weight. Depending on ages and numbers of children being wrangled, it leaves more adults free to manage that, rather than 2 of the 4 adults having to focus on that whilst the other 4 try to do everything else. It means no one
loses their temper and has a screaming meltdown because one normally rational and lovely human being becomes
an insufferable bossy prick mid-move (I’m not telling you which side of that equation I fell on!). It means you arrive at the new house refreshed and full of energy rather than knackered and fed up, and have the first few hours to get things like beds and basics in the kitchen sorted out, which will make the first night and morning a LOT more pleasant, which will make the next few weeks of unpacking less stressful too.

Just to add - first house move didn’t use packers, second and all following moves have used packers!

Give me strength with the Op. much like any other service you pay for…it saves you time but costs you money. You decide which is most valuable to you! I have done it both ways but as long as I have adequate money, I will always use packers. Last time I moved from a four bedrooms house to a five bed, with three kids. Packers came the day before we moved, packed everything. Disassembled every bit of furniture. Literally everything. At the other end, they put everything in the correct rooms. Reassembled all furniture. I didn’t lift a single item. I was completely unpacked and sorted at the end of moving day. It cost £600. It remains the best money I’ve ever spent!

Following this with interest.

We are currently in the process of hopefully moving (if the Solicitors can get their acts together)

We will be using a removal company and have resisted not trying to hire a van and do it ourselves. Something we have done in the past but when we were much younger 😂After reading this thread though I am so tempted just to chuck money at the issue and get packers. Its not something I have ever considered before as it always felt a bit weird having strangers touching and packing your stuff. But we have had so much stress in this sale that I think we have earned the right to have our stuff packed for us!

This will be money well spent by the sounds of it.