Has anyone used/have experience of Age UK and British Heart Foundation house clearance service?

katejo

oldernonethewiser said:

swingaloo said:

My brother in laws mother died late October and he has to clear her house ready for selling.  BHF came to look at it and reused everything in the house  apart from one chair. They said everything was either 'a bit worn' or it was 'too old fashioned' and no use to them. 
He got a local man and van to take everything away apart from clothes which went to a charity shop.

Is that meant to be refused?  Makes the next sentence make sense it if is.

Over the past couple of years I have been really disappointed with BHF's attitude to furniture donations to the extent that I won't put anything in their direction now.

BHF are particularly fussy! I offered them good condition pine bedroom furniture but they said they could only take flat pack. 

soolin

Coming to this a bit late but I had the same experience as many above.

Took photos in to the shop while I was trying to clear my mothers property. They said no to most even though my mother bought higher end furniture regularly (she was always re doing up her place) but yes to a bed frame (not the mattress) that was almost new.

On the first date they didn't turn up, on the 2nd they arrived 3 hours early and I wasn't there (I lived 45 minutes away) made a 3rd booking and waited in, they arrived 2 hours late and declined to take the bed frame. Strangely though they had a walk round and decided they would take all the wood cabinets that had previously been turned down and they also took a sofa and chair that had previously been declined (that still had all the swing tags on it. They then walked back in and had a look at the fridge and said if I had the manual for it (which I did) they would take that too.

Luckily my mother lived in a retirement place and someone then knocked to ask about the bed as they had seen it delivered only a few weeks before my mother died. Her son and my nephew then managed to dismantle the bed and carry it to the new apartment and set it up again, that lady even took the mattress. 

ss2020jd

Oh dear this does seem to be a common theme. It’s the unreliability in this situation when you don’t live nearby that’s the issue. It’s good your mother’s items found some good homes in the end. 

In the end for me a local AGE UK shop were fantastic. They made multiple visits and took pretty much everything they could. Then a couple of other charities took some larger items. Then we paid a clearance for the rest. The garage and the loft were the worst and we couldn’t take a chance with people not turning up so we went with a company that had a good reputation.

theoretica

The charity furniture warehouse near me occasionally advertises generally that it takes donations (furniture in good condition, with fire labels) and occasionally specifically for sofas.  I have only once noticed it particularly request any other category of furniture.  Which must reflect what people buy there.