Packing Service?

Pepperoni

I've had a removal quote and an additional quote for a 'packing' service. I'd never heard of it but a Google search shows many forum threads reccommending it! Just wondered what those on MSE thought? Worth the money?

It's an additional £400. They come the day before and pack everything - not sure about unpacking, just clarifying this with the company.

For what it's worth I don't think I'd normally consider it but we have a 1y and 3y old

elonii

I used a packing service during an international house move I only had 15 days to organise. Similar aged children in tow!

It was worth every single penny, I just stood in the middle of it all and told them how it should be done. An added benefit was that we had zero breakages during the move. It was packed so much better than I would have done!

hazyjo

IT. IS. WORTH. EVERY. PENNY.


I really can't spell it out enough. Some others will obviously disagree.


Have you ever packed up an entire house (flat/whatever you're in) before?


They don't unpack for you. (Some may offer that service, but it's certainly not standard.)


I will NEVER again try to wrap the entire contents of my house. Even just my kitchen would be hell.


Jx

davidmcn

Pepperoni wrote: »

we have a 1y and 3y old

Well, they'll be rubbish at helping you to pack - I recommend you get the professionals to do it instead.

trailingspouse

£400?? Just do it - as other posters have said, it is worth every penny. Also, if they pack for you, and something gets broken, they will pay up without hassle. If you pack, and something gets broken, you have to prove that they were negligent - which isn't always easy.

Picture the scene - moving from a large four-bed house to another large four-bed house. Double garage full of stuff. Loft full of stuff. 5 guys rocked up on Day 1, and set about packing everything - all I packed was a suitcase of 'ahem' personal items. They had it done in half a day. I'll say that again - they had it done in half a day. They left some things out - plates etc so we could eat that evening and the next morning, kettle, loo roll, hoover and a couple of other 'last minute' things. And then they turned up the next morning and put it all into the van, drove to where we were moving to and took it all out again. Everything was labelled according to where they'd taken it from - so they put all the 'kitchen' boxes in the kitchen, all the 'bathroom' boxes in the bathroom etc. Simplicity itself.

Do you have someone you can leave the children with on moving day?? You really don't need them under your feet (and neither do the removal men).

And last but not least, when you get to the new house, make setting up the beds your number one priority (even if it's just a mattress on the floor for the first night) - pillows, sheets, duvets, jim jams for the whole family (and favourite cuddlies as appropriate). The last thing you need after a hard day's moving is to go upstairs to bed and then realise you don't have a bed to sleep in. (How do I know this? don't ask...)

gld73

Definitely worth £400! I moved 3 or 4 times in a previous job, and as they were moves to different company locations, the company paid removal expenses - so I used the packing service and it was a godsend. Although they don't unpack at the other end, they do put the marked boxes in the right rooms so you've got a head start.

I now work for the NHS, don't get a penny in relocation expenses, so with my last house move I went for the low cost option wherever I could - so definitely no packing service. I discovered just what a phaff it is to wrap every plate, every glass, every mug etc etc .... definitely better to leave it to the professionals who do it much faster and much better!

freeisgood

After almost killing myself packing and moving last year,(with only 8 weeks notice due to landlord wanted to move back in)with a 2r old and two older ones....

.....I 100% will be paying a for packing service when we move next year, even if I have to sell my soul (you get the drift).....never doing it myself again ever.

Pepperoni

Thanks all! I'm sold on the full packing service

Pepperoni

trailingspouse wrote: »

Do you have someone you can leave the children with on moving day?? You really don't need them under your feet (and neither do the removal men).

Yes, will definitely sort something out for them, thank you for the heads up

Upsidedown_Bear

Do it - it made our lives so much easier

I did pack some personal stuff myself as I felt better doing it but the packing guys said a lot of people do that.

Don't worry, it's not quite like this :cool:

StumpyPumpy

As everyone else (so far) has said, absolutely get them to do it for you.

Having relatively recently completed a 300+ mile move on short notice it is worth every penny. It was the first time we'd used a packing service and we will never go back to packing ourselves.

Ask them for some boxes to do the things you really want to do yourself then let them get on with the rest. I wouldn't advise you packing your own fragile stuff though because their insurance won't cover breakages if you do and they will do a better job than you anyway (and I say this having been taught to pack fragile stuff by my antique dealer mother from a very early age!) After we had unpacked there was only one thing that got broken - and it was something we had packed ourselves.

Because of the distance we were traveling, they came in like a plague of locusts two days before and boxed lots of things up, finished up next day and moved it all into the pantechnicon - leaving us with just a bed and overnight bags for the last night.

We labelled things clearly with "Please do not pack" if we wanted it to stay or were transporting it ourselves - otherwise they took everything not nailed down. It is not their job to decide what to take so if you have a waste paper basket full of rubbish and don't tell them any different they will pack it up including contents - which some people think is funny, but in reality it is exactly what you want.

People will tell you to make sure you know where your kettle, etc... is when you are moving, which is a good idea - but our movers knew exactly where it was at all times anyway and had it on the boil as soon as they got into our new place (I think they subsist on a sugary tea and biscuit diet :rotfl:)

SP