Removal co's - Pickfords, Multimovers, Smooth Move, Gentleman and a Van - recommendations

[Pennythecat]

Have you used any of these and would you recommend or not. We are in London and prefer to move with a recommendation.

Have you got a company called Fox's? We used them (they'd bought our local company), and couldn't have been happier. Nothing broken, everything well packed, and they helped clear out some rubbish left by previous owner of house we moved to - from attic down to outside. They were not too pricey either.

Had a very bad experience with pickfords. They took our furniture into storage and stored chairs on top of a (wedding present) dining table and marked it badly. Took ages to get any compensation! Avoid them - great before they get hold of your stuff then all care disappears!

We used Reliable Removals to go from Wapping to Wandsworth and they were great. Bushells were recommended but only do South West London.

I also would NOT recommend Pickfords. Apparently they don't have alot of permanent staff anymore and get people in for jobs who aren't necessarily very professional. Steer well clear.

Not used any of those but have used Bishop's Move and Robinson's in the past with no problems.

I used Maitland Bell for my last move (about 9 years ago) and they were very impressive. I paid extra for them to pack, it wasn't that much more and it was well worth it. They arrived at about 9am, packed up a 3-bed Victorian terrace, moved us from SW London to East London and were all done by 4pm.

I've had nightmares with both Robinsons and Pickfords. Maybe it's just me ?

The best removals firms I've used have been small local firms.

Go with local firm, we liked our East London one because they could handle antiques and were cheaper. I used them three times and I'm tempted to ring them again, although we are not in London anymore (they said they'd come when they moved us from London to Rugby).

We used Smooth Move last year (I presume you mean the Berkshire based company?). They packed for us (1 year old toddler and busy job just meant it was worth it) and then moved us the next day. Very good service, no complaints at all. They were recommended to us by friends. IIRC they were ever so slightly more expensive than Pickfords but I prefered the local boys.

One thing I have just remembered is that having a company that has a depot nearby where you are moving to means you get loads of extra people turning up to unload the lorry (to help their fellow workers finish early meaning the new house is set up REALLY fast! Both our recent moves were within a mile of the movers depots - I have never seen a lorry unpacked so fast in my life...and we have a LOT of stuff!

It's Smooth Move in London not the Berks one. Think we'll give Pickfords a wide berth after those comments!

Also had a bad experience with Pickfords.
Thew wrapped a futon cover with brown tape and marked it, damaged a coffee table and dented our wardrobe doors.
We only had 14 days to claim and were a few days late and they were not prepared to settle the claim.
Very poor IMO.
I think local independents tend to be better, they are more concerned with their reputation so you get better service.

I've used doree bonner twice now (one a relocation from London to Scotland) and was very happy with the service on both occasions.

We had Bishops and they were extremely nice.

p.s for antiques, we used a local company, Aldhouse and Smith - they were more expensive than Bishops which is why we didn't get them to do the main move as well.