Van wouldn't hold all my stuff, buyers getting angry... help!

youth_leader

I was interested to see people who had the removal men pack their van the night before, I wasn't offered this.

I also had a full van because the removal people had underestimated and had a frantic rush to the bungalow to unpack it, and then go back for the rest. Luckily tenants weren't moving in for a few days.

Good luck with your two hour window today.

diego_94

I doubt the OP will be back now haha

CKhalvashi

youth_leader said:

I was interested to see people who had the removal men pack their van the night before, I wasn't offered this.

I also had a full van because the removal people had underestimated and had a frantic rush to the bungalow to unpack it, and then go back for the rest. Luckily tenants weren't moving in for a few days.

Good luck with your two hour window today.

It cost us around an extra £150 with a local firm, with a lot of 'unnecessary' things being moved by us in a van/our cars over the week. Well worth the expense if you ask me.

TheJP

youth_leader said:

I was interested to see people who had the removal men pack their van the night before, I wasn't offered this.

I also had a full van because the removal people had underestimated and had a frantic rush to the bungalow to unpack it, and then go back for the rest. Luckily tenants weren't moving in for a few days.

Good luck with your two hour window today.

I don't think many offer this service at all unless you are moving a long distance, its just extra cost and liability for the removals.

When i moved last year my sons playhouse wasn't going to fit (it was in the garden), i contacted the buyer before completion and asked if it was ok to leave it in the garden and i would collect the next day once i had emptied the car. They were ok with it (i felt bad but was glad they were ok), came round as soon as the buyer was ok for me to do so and got rid. I offered to mow the lawn in return as she was a single divorcee who had mentioned she didn't have any garden stuff.

I think in this instance it depends on how much stuff, if the OP needs a van to remove what's left i would not be happy.

onylon

You would think the OP took a dump on the drive from the harsh responses here.

OP: I hope you collected your stuff OK and gave the new owners a nice bottle and an apology. Just remember to breathe and I'm sure you will get your new home sorted out.

Mark_Michalowski

Thank you, all of you, for your comments, even if they're a bit hard to hear.

I know I'm completely in the wrong, but this whole moving business has completely overwhelmed me. I've posted other threads here about parts of the process and will be doing a "What have I learned?" thread when it's all behind me.

The removal firm never mentioned anything about packing the van the day before. An assessor came out a few weeks ago, when almost all my stuff (barring essential and my office stuff) was already packed up, went round the house and garden and estimated the volume of it all and I just assumed that with four movers and a mahoosive van that it would all fit. Somewhere along the line, it all went wrong, didn't it?

I'm a single man, 60 years old, with a chest infection and a tiny car, doing it all on my own. Tiny violin time, yes - LOL. I spose I was thinking that if I'd been in their position, I'd have understood that sometimes things don't go to plan. And I'd have been happy to put their stuff in the garage for them to collect when they got the chance over the next couple of weeks. AFAIUI, they're not actually moving into the house until they've had some work done anyway.

But yes, this is my problem to sort out, and I have every intention of doing it. I spose I just wish they'd been a bit more understanding as I'd like to think I would have been. But it is what it is, and I'm trying to get it sorted as quickly as possible

Again, thanks for all the comments - I'll let you know how it all turns out so that the thread gets some completion

cheers everyone

Mxx

Norman_Castle

Mark_Michalowski said:

 I spose I just wish they'd been a bit more understanding as I'd like to think I would have been.

Phone them and talk to them. If you need to leave stuff there it needs to be done by agreement. If I was the buyer I'd be suspecting you'd dumped the stuff with false claims you would return for it.

If the van had been loaded properly would these items have fitted? If there was space in the van when they left I'd contact the company to ask why and to highlight the apparent indifference of the two employees who'd rather play with their phones. If possible leave a suitable and honest review of their service.

TBagpuss

It sounds as though it was a combination of you and the movers - I think if their appraiser got it wrong then it would have been reasonable for you to have speaking to the removal company straight away. However if it was due to poor packing then they may argue that it was your fault not theirs.

I agree with the majority that you should have done a lot more to get it out of the house - whether that was hiring a van yourself , or a 'man with van' 

If that was truly impossible then contacting them to apologise then, to explain the issue and the steps you were taking to fix it might have helped. 

I think the fact that they were planning to get work done makes it harder from their perspective, they were probably counting into he property being empty so much easier to do any work .
When you go today, apologise profusely and take them wine/ chocolates / flowers to apologise .

Regarding packing the van the night before - my removal co. did this last time I moved house. I was paying for them to do the packing (which made life *so* much easier, and I would strongly recommend for anyone moving, if you can possibly afford it!) 
They were pretty quick and I don't think there would have been any difficulty for them in getting it all done on moving day, but it did take a lot of the stress out, and as my house was empty for the last night except for my bed, one chair and a small box of kitchen essentials I was able to finish cleaning the house properly.
As far as I recall, the removal company quoted and agreed a price then nearer the time discussed when they were doing the packing/loafing, so it didn't cost any extra. Mine was a short distance move. I assumed that it was just easier for them to do it that way! 

pinkteapot

Even if you can’t hire a van and fetch the stuff yourself, you shouldn’t wait till your removal company is next free. Ring round every man-with-van you can find until you find someone available. 

Section62

TheJP said:

I don't think many offer this service at all unless you are moving a long distance, its just extra cost and liability for the removals.

The last three (local) moves I've helped people with the removers (different companies) all wanted to start the packing the day before and take a load away with them overnight.

They said it works out more efficient for them as they don't have vans sitting round doing nothing for such long periods of time during the day and drivers can be used more efficiently.  The loaded van was kept in a locked depot overnight, and they preferred not to take anything which was particularly valuable in that load (e.g. no electronics).