Blimey..pickfords Removal Costs?

[ganesh]

Moving house soon from a smallish 4 bdrm house not very far and the quote is £1750 !!!!! Is that right??

[MadMen]

Wowzers! With Pickfords, probably yes.

How many quotes did you get? I would get another two.

You'd be better off going for a much smaller, local removal company, as they'll probably be more 'desperate' for the job - and the price will reflect that.

Just make sure they have all the relevant insurance to cover your furniture! :-)

[SlackAlice]

Depends on how much your shifting, but Pickfords have never really been cheap. I'd try and get a good local firm to quote.

[horseshoes]

Hire a large van and round your mates up. That's what we've always done. Pack all your stuff into boxes and write on the box wheic room they're to go in - Bed 1, Bed 2, Kitchen, etc etc. make sure you pin signs on the doors of new house. Bed 1 bed 2 etc. Then you treat everyone to a slap up meal and a few drinks. Then when they're moving you reciprocate the favour.

[MadMen]

"Then you treat everyone to a slap up meal and a few drinks."

Isn't it fish and chips, sat on cardboard boxes, and mugs of champagne? :-)

[ganesh]

Done a couple of online quotes and they have been around the 1000 mark. Wonder why pickford is so expensive. They ARE local,just 2 miles away, and we have some pretty heavy stuff and I suppose a fair bit that probably needs one of those massive lorries,but still.We have moved before but I just don't remember it being that much!

[MadMen]

They may have a local office, but they are also a huge national/international firm.

If you've been quoted £750 cheaper by another firm, then why are you still going with Pickfords, just out of interest?

Another bit of advice, with regards to those online quotes, make sure you get someone round to do a full inspection and give you a written quote.
Online quotes have a habit of 'changing', when they turn up on the day and say it's a bigger job than what you said it was 'online'.

[starone]

Thank goodness my son-in-law has a large van, so I got mine moved for nothing. I did get a couple of quotes from local blokes though and it was much less than pickfords.

[Mass_Hysteria]

I've moved twice in the last 4 years and used a local "man with a van".
He charged £20 per hour (probably £25 now). I've never paid him more than £100.

[ganesh]

LOL- After I questioned it the pickfords guy has said there was an error in the online quotation and that they were quoting for a sunday, not a monday !! Ha, he said it would be more 'in-line' with my other quotes.

[buildersmate]

Think about it. The major cost driver in their business (and hence the one they that is reflecting in their prices) are the cost of labour (the humpers), the running cost of the huge vans, and significant overheads with running a large international company.

If all you want is to shift stuff from A to B where the distance between A to B is small, you are really only utilising a small proportion of their capability, but the element that they don't have to spend is just the travel mileage in shifting the stuff.

If A to B was, say, 500 miles, the cost probably wouldn't be too much higher - most of the time element is spent packing up and packing the van.

I agree with the others - employ a smaller company who can use a smaller van and do multiple journeys during that day, because the distance is modest.

[ganesh]

Yes you are right about the distance,it is pretty irrelevant, it just SEEMS a lot of money when you are only moving 10 miles.I don't really trust anyone, thats my problem, and so I probably chose well-established large firms for safety,even though it's illogical!

[MadMen]

As long as they have all the relevant insurance, you shouldn't have a problem.
Has anyone you know recently moved, could they recommend a firm? Word of mouth and recommendations are usually a good option.
Also check if they are a member of BAR (British Association Of Removals).

[chas2008]

ouch !!!
it can make a difference if you are in London, ie emision charges

[woofgang]

Madmen makes an excellent point about insurance. if they aren't prepared to cover your furniture while they handle and move it then walk away, we have had a bad experience with furniture being damaged, if the movers hadn't coughed up we would have been seriously out of pocket.

[chickx]

Most "Pickfords" which aren't in or near cities are franchises run by loal removal companies, if you can find out who the franchisee is get a quote from them and you'll see that your paying extra for the privelige of the Pickford name