Full packing service?

hazyjo

John_the_Boy said:

The vendors of the house we were buying used Pickfords packing service. It was a nightmare from our perspective. By the time they had finished packing it was 4PM and our removals had to draft extra help in. If we had gone past 6pm there would have been an overtime charge which I would have had to try and pass on to the vendors due to their delays. Monies had exchanged by 13:00 but Pickfords were only 50% by then.

That's why it's done the day (or more) before. Let me guess, it was a case of exchange and completion on the same day?

It's certainly not usual to pack the morning of the move! Especially a company like Pickfords!

hazyjo

fiwen30 said:

The first of 3 companies I contacted got back to me this morning with a quote - the day before, 2 crew would come and pack @ £55/hour +packing material costs. On the day, another 2 crew will load and transport @ £75/hour.

At a guess, it’ll take about 5(?) hours to pack, and 4(?) to transport (distance is 3.5 miles, about 15 minutes). Does this sound about right for a 3 bed house? This would total £575.

I would never pay removals by the hour! You may be waiting until the afternoon for keys/ completion.

Choose one with a fixed price.

hb2

We moved here 3 years ago and, IIRC, paid an extra £300 for the removal company to do the packing. We lived in a 3 bed house, had decluttered and emptied loft/shed. The wardrobes in the old place were built in, so all drawers and wardrobes had to be emptied by the removal guys. 

On the morning of the move, the men arrived just after 9am and I went off with OH to visit my Mum. At mid-day we got a call to say that we had completed. By that time, the removal men had everything packed up in the lorry and were waiting to go*.

The new place didn't have much storage, so we couldn't unpack until cupboards and wardrobes were built, the removal company left the boxes with us for as  long as we needed them. 

One thing we were glad of was that we paid a bit extra as 'insurance' in case things took longer than expected. In the event, we couldn't get into the new place as the EA couldn't find their set of keys and vendors had disappeared with theirs (and weren't answering their phones), so we were delayed by about 4 hours. The removal men remained cheerful and professional throughout.

We hope that we will stay here until taken out in our respective boxes. However, if we ever do have to move again, I wouldn't hesitate to get the removal company to pack for us - and probably unpack too.

*We had packed a few personal things, kettle etc, sheets and towels - but forget pillows and duvet, hence were visiting the local Tesco at 9pm. Please don't make the same mistake!

stormCat99

We've previously always done our own packing, but this time around I just couldn't face the weeks beforehand spending every evening and weekend packing, and living in a mountain of boxes!

So we've paid for a full packing service. As much as I'm a fully dedicated MSEr, some things are really worth paying for. Our removals team will arrive the day prior, pack most things, and return on moving day to finish off in the morning. Costs breakdown as follows:

Standard removals charge (without full packing): £1980
Full packing service fee : £650
Furniture disassembly and reassembly : £150.

This is for a 4 bed house, and will required 3 trucks - and 18 tonne, 7.5 tonne and 3.5 tonne, and will use 7 

men. 

When I think of the alternative, weeks of self-packing and mess, I'll happily pay the £650 :-)

iwb100

Obviously varies by location but I'd say full packed move (day before packing, day of move full service) - will be around £1000 for local moves rising upwards to higher amounts when distance/extra vans etc are involved.
My experience is when you can use a local removals firm - someone who specialises in house moves - not a 'man and van' type service because the proper removals (with the 18 tonne trucks) are the ones doing this all the time and know what they need to do. The man and van's with a few Luton's are doing all sorts of general moving/storage and less house chain style moves - so whilst you might be ok - they also will probably not be as good or efficient. Proper house movers who are local are IMHO the way to go. 

badger09

badger09 said:

Thanks to OP and everyone who has responded.

I'm in the process of getting quotes for a fairly local removal from a 4 bed with 20+ years of assorted 'stuff'. Steadily decluttering and was thinking of packing everything ourselves (myself!) but having read this, we'll definitely pay for full packing.

To confirm 'they pack everything';  when we moved here 20 years ago, with full packing service, they packed my stepson's school shoes in the empty kitchen bin. Result - he couldn't go to school. Crafty little.....

I'll update when I get the quotes.

Quotes from 2 local firms for which I've had personal recommendations. Both will come the day before to pack and load as much as possible, returning on morning of move. Both need to use smaller vehicles due to access issues (steep curving drive with stone wall at one side). All prices include VAT.

1) Removal only £1170. With full packing £1620
2) Removal only £960. With full packing £1272

periwinkleperkins

Just had a quote for packing up our 2 bed flat (19th floor) and moving 3 miles across city centre to a 3 storey townhouse... £480 for 2 men and a Luton van all done in 1 day. 
(They estimated 20 medium boxes, 9 garment boxes, 2 desks, tv and cabinet, plus a bookcase). 

periwinkleperkins

Hmm, our 2nd quote was over £1000... now I’m wondering if the first quote is far too cheap? Any ideas? 

badger09

That's a huge difference. To be honest, I'd be a bit dubious about the 1st being too cheap and the 2nd on the high side.

Is there anything obviously different included in the quotes?
Have they both been to have a look?
Do they both know you're on the 19th floor
Are they both members of a recognised trade body - or is the 1st just 2 men & a van?

periwinkleperkins

badger09 said:

That's a huge difference. To be honest, I'd be a bit dubious about the 1st being too cheap and the 2nd on the high side.

Is there anything obviously different included in the quotes?
Have they both been to have a look?
Do they both know you're on the 19th floor
Are they both members of a recognised trade body - or is the 1st just 2 men & a van?

Thanks @badger09, I probably agree - one is a national firm and the other a local firm and both have BAR accreditation (one did a survey from a video call and the other from photos of everything we want to move). 

The only difference is that one firm use 2 men and the other firm use a 3rd man to stay with the van during loading (whilst the other 2 are at the top and bottom of the lift) but can’t see that doubling the cost 🤷‍♂️

I’ve requested a quote from a 3rd company who are visiting in person on Thursday so hopefully I’ll get more insight.