Removal Companies - Packing Service

ClaireHead

Ok so this may be the dumbest question ever......but......

We have booked our removal company, together with their packing service. They come on Friday to pack and we move on Saturday.

Am I meant to be doing anything?? Preparing?? We're all doing our own underwear, clothes and toiletries for the day we move in a suitcase/overnight bag but it all feels surreal because the house is just kind of normal!!! I keep feeling like I should be doing something to get ready, even though I know I'm paying them to do it for me!!!

davidmcn

I would suggest you phone the removal company and ask them?

pinkteapot

We've used the packing service for the last four moves.

Check with your removal company but we:

1. Emptied the loft (piled the stuff up in a spare corner). Ours have never wanted to do that, though they probably would if you needed them to.

2. Tidied up - made sure 'stuff' was in the right place (e.g. DVDs not scattered around the house) so like stuff would all get packed together.

3. As you've done - anything we didn't want the removers packing packed ourselves. We put it in the car boots when they came in to pack so they knew they could just pack everything else.

4. If there's anything that needs to stay - e.g. paint you're leaving for the new owner for touch-ups, instruction manuals for anything in the house - put it all together in one cupboard or somewhere, with a note on it saying not to pack it.

5. Decided what we wanted left in the house between day 1 and day 2 (sometimes they pack and load the truck on day 1) - mattress, sofa, TV and microwave basically! - and put notes on those asking for them to be left behind overnight.

6. Bought a big box of biscuits for the team.

That's it! It's lovely - as you're finding, you can live fairly normally till the day before. On the day the very best thing you can do is stay out of their way. We usually just have one of us home for the day as you just end up sitting on said mattress watching films on your laptop while they do all the work. And remember to make them tea periodically.

hazyjo

Not really - apart from clear the loft - it's like the magical fairies come in and do it all for you with smiles on their faces.

Honestly, it's the one thing that is worth EVERY.SINGLE.PENNY when moving. It's stressful enough!

They even dismantle and reassemble beds if necessary.

Beware - they will pack LITERALLY everything. Hide the important things (my cat carriers got packed :eek: - thankfully I managed to find them in the first box I looked in inside one of my old garages! And car keys have been packed before (despite saying they never packed keys - if they're in a bowl somewhere, they'll just wrap the dish without looking inside everything).

Mutton_Geoff

Put the stuff you want in the respective new house rooms in the relevant rooms now, then label your room doors so they put everything from existing bedroom 1 into bedroom 1 in the new place. They don't unpack for you, so it's handy if everything is in the right place in your new home.


And pack what you need for first few days yourself. The removers can pack at high speed because they are experts and don't reminisce about anything as it gets wrapped. Unpacking takes weeks.

Soot2006

Ours were like locusts. I hadn't prepped anything other than my personals and was starting to get nervous we'd run out of time. Then three guys arrived and within hours all our wordly possessions were boxed and labelled and most of the furniture was dismantled. It was very impressive!

ClaireHead

Soot2006 wrote: »

Ours were like locusts. I hadn't prepped anything other than my personals and was starting to get nervous we'd run out of time. Then three guys arrived and within hours all our wordly possessions were boxed and labelled and most of the furniture was dismantled. It was very impressive!

:rotfl:
Ok I'm glad I won't be at home - my husband is having kittens about them handling his trainers but I keep telling him they have years of experience and will be fine.

I just all feels so weird - but thank you everyone I can go home to my relatively normal home for another night of peace :T

Blondetotty

Oh my word. I'm having palpitations at the thought of what they'd have to pack in my place! My period pants, or the Saturday night undies . My uh, um, toys. Shoot. I'd give me more stress trying to figure out what to clear out of the house before someone else packed than it would if I just packed myself.


Off to make myself a coffee before my imaginary packers and myself have a nervous breakdown.


Good luck with your move though and I'm sure your hubbies trainers will cope just fine.

Soot2006

ClaireHead wrote: »

:rotfl:
Ok I'm glad I won't be at home - my husband is having kittens about them handling his trainers but I keep telling him they have years of experience and will be fine.

I just all feels so weird - but thank you everyone I can go home to my relatively normal home for another night of peace :T

It was the best money I ever spent.

Took the stress of away pretty much away and made it exciting rather than time-pressurey-stressy ... It then took me 3 months to unpack the boxes :rotfl:When I called them to finally collect the empty boxes, they told me that was quite normal. 2 days to pack, months or years to unpack ...

PasturesNew

You do nothing. Nominate one room where you put things they must not touch. e.g. plonk all the stuff you're taking in the bath and put a big sign on the door "TAKE NOTHING FROM HERE". You might find odds and sods you decide to keep with you at the last minute and it's important you know your stuff is safe and doesn't get packed.

You do nothing on the day except answer the occasional question "this?" "this?" - they will simply pick up, wrap, box, pick up, wrap, box.... relentlessly.

They will stretch the work out to last the day, as they see fit. They know what they have to do when they leave yours and don't want to rush then end up losing 2 hours of pay on their clock.

When my sibling moved, we stood around for awhile answering the basic questions.... then went off for a stroll round the local shops, picked up a hot snack to eat, then wandered back to the house.

hazyjo

Oh, and don't overestimate how much room you have in the car for all those odds and sods/essentials :rotfl: My poor OH had to be wedged into the car, literally with things squeezed in round him (including the cat litter trays, the cats in carriers, a hoover, and a few boxes of last min bits we'd taken with us after the removal bods had gone).


I'm surprised he could breathe!