Terrible
So disappointing!! I had already moved from australia to uk witha 40 ft container and found that i was not allowed to get involved with removal team..so when we got to uk I found rubbish bins still with rubbish in it, nicely wrapped in bubble wrap...and at the other end a different company than one in Australia came to deliver. Only 2 men came as one was sick, and i found myself having to carry things (heavy boxes) otherwise they wouldn't have finished in time and we could be charged further...I pre warned Pickford's rep about this experience and asked that i would be consulted and not dismissed on removal day...she promised me .." don't worry Min, we'll look after you"....couldn't have been further from the truth...firstly I decided that it wasn't cost effective to bring back a 40ft container since a lot of the space is not filled and removalists pack very loosely in order to use up space quickly, so they can charge you further...i was adamant that i wanted a firm price for 20ft container ( a lot of things were not able to to return to Australia due to super strick customs and possible high quarantine charges and delays). But to downsize a 4x2 house (40 ft container) to half is really difficult to do since who knows how much can fit on the day (it's all dependent on how good the packing team is, which you won't find out until the day and if you're not happy, there's nothing you can do because if they have to re-arrange another packing day, you get slugged with a bigger bill). The rep only does initial quote and look around and you never see them again....then moving team is a completely different set of people, who generally don't care much about your opinions, directing you back to main office if you have any issues....My team on the first day was ok, because the guy in charge was a good packer and was friendly. On the second day however, the main guy was terrible, rude, and really didn't want to speak to me, not that i said much other than pop my head in every hour or so to see if they were ok and wanted another cuppa...the youngest member of team, though pleasant, was horrific at packing...a 10yr old can pack better than him...he was left alone in a room to pack a few boxes of kitchen stuff (which i had already put in plastic containers with some paper wrapping, since they refused to provide me with their own boxes prior to day. I had to do that to separate what i definitely wanted to go from what was staying behind). On this day everything went horribly...they took an outside sliding glass door from it's tracks whilst forcing a wardrobe thru it , which should have gone from the house via a longer but much wider route...didn't tell me anything..i only realised when going to close it ( it was blowing a gale, very wet windy day) and the door fell on my head. Luckily i was holding tight on handle and only had a bit of a knock...had it fallen the other way it would have smashed in bits and it's a major door to house which would have left us open to outside until someone could have come out to fix (and very expensive to fix)...i mentioned it to man in charge, who thankfully was able to lift it back to tracks (which were now a bit bent)..later when signing of the form he pointed to sign where i was happy that property was as found i nicely said " i realise things happen, but i should have been told immediately when door was damaged"..he raised his voice immediately said they hadn't done it, that it was my fault that the tracks were dirty (it was a very windy wet day and they had been using that exit all day!!), and he knew nothing about it, it must have been me who did it...i was now afraid of him, but tried to say that i know the wardrobes were too big for that exit despite it being the quickest exiy from where they were, that they should have taken the longest route...
A few more things happened on the day, like loading from house into van and then from van into container which arrived later( double handling everything!!!!), the container had a leaking crack and so they had to unload again back onto van..meanwhile all the stuff i had cleaned (bikes, etc) in order to meet Australian quarantine standards of no dirt..were getting plenty of dirt back on...At this stage, because we had a pile of 'maybe items' that i wanted packed last if there was room, were shoved in van unwrapped, i had to go and do a school run, and when got back van was locked, so i could see if they had packed properly or indeed what was taken...So they then had to take the van to main warehouse in Exeter, unload onto one of their wooden containers to free-up van and wait for afew days for next container...our stuff was now going to take an extra 2 weeks!!. And the same team was going to unload the stuff, after that man had been so aggressive!!.
So after 2 1/2 months, we got our stuff...so far nothing missing, but boxes were squashed, damaged, broken crockery that still had the flimsy paper wrapping i had used to wrapped it in plastic box, had been put like that in their boxes, with books, marked as garage stuff!!!!...kids fluffy toys that i had put in vac bags were scattered loosely in really big boxes with other items...vac bags with my clothing were ripped and hadn't been wrapped with bubble wrap, had been flung at top of furniture, books had been put in boxes, not lying down as they should but standing up, so their backs are bent, or put in with their backs to bottom of box, so they have been squashed and the list goes on... I will add now that the team and service from the Pickford's here Perth Australia, was great...we had 3 guys, very polite, very hardworking who were shocked at the state of the boxes on arrival...couldn't fault them.
I apologise now for the long description, but i felt a more detailed description was warranted in order to warn anybody moving continents...it is a very costly and stressful exercise and quite frankly it should be avoided if you can...furniture in Uk is good and cheap ( second hand) charity shops are very well stocked and widely available, online freecycle and community selling of private goods are good quality and mostly safe and cheap, so leave your sentimental stuff in a self lock up, family or friend's attic, pack your 30kgs airline allowance, and use the £5000 to £7000 you've saved on removals to re-start your life there...If you must use removalists, believe very little of what the rep says...read the quote throughly, demand for boxes before your move, so you can pack your own books, private stuff, make sure you ask whether it's the same company at other end, ask how many removalists at both ends, they tend to charge extra for undoing furniture ( beds etc) and on the packing day...don't allow them to be left alone to pack...check very regularly how things are being packed, supervise the moving of furniture out of house...
Hope this is helpful!!
