Removal companies

[Fungus]

Pickfords are expensive, and quote for "optional extras" that will double the price of a reputable local company. They all do long-distance moves.

I'm glad we paid the removals men to box everything up in advance - would have taken us forever. I think we paid £1500 all-in for Leicester to Truro.

If you really want to pack yourself, plenty of people offer used boxes on Freecycle (that's how we got rid of ours).

I hope you're already getting rid of any stuff you don't need...

 

[Fungus]

3 Be ruthless, chuck out all your crap, before you move.

4 Repeat step 3

Absolutely. We spent months getting rid of a huge amount to various charity shops, schools, etc. before the move, and we're still getting rid of stuff now that doesn't fit in. It's quite liberating!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

We used Pickfords when we emigrated - their packing service was first class! Everything arrived, nothing broken. Highly recommended, but probably pricey.

I have used them twice and they are fantastic.....especially if you have no interest in doing ANY packing yourself. Everything is fully insured as well.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

As for paying them to pack - hell yes. Previously I'd done the packing and it takes ages - they're like a plague of locusts. Turn your back for a few minutes and a room is empty.

This.

 

[robinsonsgrin]

Yes. Yes.

Don't know, even though it might only be a few weeks away.

HURRAH! you SHALL go to the sponsor's ball this year sir bozza..

 

[ozseagull]

Doesn't tony Towner have a removal company still? He moved us about 7 years ago.
Surely you need to use him?

 

[ROSM]

Yes. Yes.

Don't know, even though it might only be a few weeks away.

My liver wasn't worth much anyway!

Oh well at least another vegetarian in the realm of Sussex

 

[pasty]

Moved house 4 months ago, albeit only about half a mile, but we used Chess Moves. Out of all the firms we contacted, they were the only one that actually bothered to come round to our old house to give us a proper quote. Cost us about £200 more for their packing service, which I wouldn't ever move without using, and found them to be absolutely splendid. Turned up on time, no breakages at all, and happily lugged every single box to whatever room we asked - bearing in mind we'd moved into a 3 level house.

 

[Diego Napier]

1 Getting quotations - http://www.reallymoving.com/ Will prompt you for as much or as little knowledge as you have and then give you multiple quotes. I went through this and ended up using http://www.beemovedremovals.com/, who were excellent. The initial website quotation was £600 actual cost was £446. Please bear in mind this was 2 years ago, we packed ourselves and the distance was less than one mile.

2 Packing Materials - If you can, pack it yourselves. It saves money, but more importantly it saves time unpacking. We stuck sticky room labels on everything, so that boxes ended up in the right rooms and 2 days later we were left with maybe half a dozen boxes still packed. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerms/HOUSE+MOVING+BOXES.htm plus some bubble wrap and tape, should get you going. Some removals companies will supply these, but getting your own, means you can start packing as soon as possible. The wardrobe boxes are highly recommended.

3 Be ruthless, chuck out all your crap, before you move.

4 Repeat step 3

We did the same as you about a year ago although we moved 30 miles - used Really Moving and then went with Bee Moved Removals , the best Removals company we've used (and there have been a few!).

 

[sully]

Doesn't tony Towner have a removal company still? He moved us about 7 years ago.
Surely you need to use him?

He does. TJ Removals. We used him to move from Brighton to Hurstpierpoint, then 2 years later down to Cornwall.

However, I don't think I'd get him to collect remotely, as even with half our stuff in the van, he assured me that it would all fit and it didn't! He had to go and get a bigger van and start again!!

When we moved back, we used Bruce at Sussex Removals. Despite his protestations, we paid a few quid extra for him to bring a bigger van just in case - even though we'd got rid of a load of stuff whilst in Cornwall. We also stored our stuff with him for a few weeks as we couldn't move straight into our house and that was part of the reason for using him. Excellent service, throughout.

I do agree with others, though, that it's usually better to use someone local to the pickup, as it's far easier to sort out any issues and they can have a proper look at what they're moving. We were just experts on the volume of our clutter when we moved back, as we moved twice in Cornwall, too.

I've always packed my own stuff and got boxes from eBay or freecycle. Pictures are always the awkward thing to pack, but it doesn't take too long if you do a bit each day over a couple of weeks.

 

[sully]

Forgot to say. We paid about a grand for the return from Truro. More going down (but that was all the way to the Lizard.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Get the BIGGER van - otherwise it won't fit.

 

[Gordon Bennett]

Yes, definitely pay for them to pack - its a lot less stressful, much quicker than doing it yourself and comparatively not that expensive. It also takes away any arguments if anything gets damaged en route.

Have used GB Liners a couple of times for long distance moves and they were excellent the first time which is why we used them the second time despite not being the cheapest but they weren't as good the second time - they managed to damage an expensive piece of wooden furniture and generally had a bit of a can't be bothered attitude which really surprised me. Having said that the 'management' were very good at dealing with the complaint - we got a few hundred pounds off the bill and they got a local firm that they used to sort out the repair, which I guess is an advantage of using a reasonably large company as they will have the wherewithal to sort out a problem like that.

 

[HovaGirl]

It would be less 'exciting', if:

a) I had a job.
b) I knew where we were moving to.

Well, good luck with all that. But will you still be able to maintain NSC while in transit?