Did anyone use one of those removal companies that pack your things into boxes for you for moving houses? How was your experience and a rough £ estimate?

11 comments

1. I’ve worked in removals numerous times and it depends on the company.

   Most will charge an hourly rate per worker, others charge as a ‘package’. Depending on the size of the house and the square meter of what is being moved but usually prices will be based on how much of the vehicle will be filled, how many workers are needed and the milage you will be going.

   A price for a 3 bed filling 600m*3* going 1 mile will be much cheaper than a 3 bed @1000m*3* going 50 miles.

   Chose your company by word of mouth as well as reviews. Half the companies I worked at were genuine and didn’t mess around with belongings and that. One company in particular though was really dodgy… 1 employee would wear customers bras while packing, another would rifle through their bits (this is why I left that place).

   My advice is to try and save yourself hassel and money by packing yourself. Boxes are normally £1-3 each for a good size and and a couple of rolls of bubble wrap shouldn’t cost more than £15. Just pack properly so big boxes aren’t full of books and small ones are full of pillows… Make sure you do the opposite to avoid complaining and injury.

   If you still need someone to do it, advice is to pack valuables yourself and let them do the rest. Also, DO NOT PACK THE KETTLE! This is advised to keep workers (and you) happy.

   If you need any more info DM me 🙂

   Good luck.

   Edit: Bedfordshire based.

2. We were quoted an additional £600 for people to pack boxes, part of the agreement was that I would dismantle wardrobes and beds etc.

3. We didn’t last time but we did go with movers who would dismantle and reassemble furniture on the day and holy shit, would recommend. It was the most expensive quote we got but not by loads – the top end of reasonable but the only one offering that service. I’d pay for that over packing some boxes every day of the week.

4. Five years ago moving from a large 5 bed semi, a few miles to our new house. £2000 total including all the packing.

5. Total price for moving a two bed house including packing was a bit under £1000 two years ago:

   > For your pack:

   > £299.00 – Packing Service. This includes 3 men for 4 hours packing the contents of your home and includes all boxes and packing materials. If we were to exceed this allocated time, there will be an additional fee of £65 per hour.

   > For your move to your new property on completion day:

   > £549.00 – Removal of your goods to your new property on completion day. This includes 2 men with 2 x 3.5 ton Luton vans loading the contents of your home, fuel charges, travel times and unloading into your new property. This is based on 8 hours

   > £35.00 – For the dismantle & reassemble of the double bed

   Best money we’ve ever spent, they were amazing.

6. Worked out great for me. Costs a bit more but takes such a weight off the mind as it’s a really big job you don’t need to think about anymore. If anything the contents were over-protected. It was well worth the money.

   https://www.da-removals.co.uk/

7. A friend of mine just did this. 3 bedroom house, packing everything including taking down beds/wardrobes, move across the same city, everything unpacked and set back up. £2k in total. She literally did nothing apart from sort out her kid’s toys a few days before. They even did the loft and garden shed. West Midlands.

8. My parents did last time they moved and they loved it (had been in the house 25 years so there was a lot.)

   The company boxed everything up first day leaving just the stuff they needed for the night then moved them second day.

   It wasn’t cheap but it would have taken them a week to do it all themselves, they had to to prep a lot but I think nothing was broken or damaged and it meant they didn’t arrive at the new house with enough energy to unpack. Afraid I’m not sure on the cost, but two days work from multiple workers and lorry hire wouldn’t be.

9. We used a movers that packed everything, they did a great job, would do it again. Great bunch of people, really polite, helpful and hardworking. You pay for it but if you have the cash its worth it.

10. We used a company that packed the last two times we moved. I’d thoroughly recommend it. I honestly can’t remember how much it cost and it would be irrelevant now as we’re talking 8.5 and 17 years ago, but in the grand scheme of moving house it wasn’t a big amount. Worth every penny for the time and stress it saved us.

11. Move 1:

    I used a comparison website thing to find a removal company when we moved about 10 years ago (London to London). Went with the cheapest but one quote. Family run company. They underestimated how much stuff we had and needed to get a bigger lorry on the day (their cost not mine). The service felt a bit crap overall but I wasn’t expecting anything crazy as we went for almost the cheapest option.

    They packed but we unpacked and dismantled furniture ready to go and reassembled it at the other side. Some flat pack cupboards were a little damaged but nothing major. I moved our expensive stuff (computers, tv) in the car.

    Move 2:

    About 6 years ago, we moved again (London to London) and again, used a site to compare prices and get quotes from different companies. This time, we went for the middle-road price option. They were really highly rated on Which and talked about this in their bio. They packed everything but underestimated how much stuff we had and needed to get an extra lorry on the day (their cost not mine).

    They packed, dismantled and re-assembled furniture at the other end but we unpacked all the boxes. I again moved our expensive stuff in our car myself. When they finished unloading, they pressured me into filling out a Which review form in front of them, which they were going to send off themselves. I was tired and stressed after a long day of moving, completing house sales etc, and I just wanted them gone at that point so I just quickly ticked all the ‘very good’ points as they were asking but it pissed me off. I did later write up a more detailed review on Which but it would have been swamped by the countless positive reviews.

    Some of our furniture had clearly been roughly handled during assembly/disassembly, badly wrapped things like picture frames so quite a few were smashed but nothing *too* bad, I guess. However, they forgot a few things – notably a huge wall mounted mirror that they were meant to take off the wall at the previous house, our microwave, all our baking trays and another kitchen appliance that wasn’t particularly expensive but hard to get in the UK so was annoying to use (a meat slicer, they’re commonplace in Europe but basically don’t exist here). I couldn’t do a last round check of the previous house before leaving because they had to wait for the extra lorry to get there and I needed to make my way across London to pick up the keys for our new place.

    Next time, we’re likely going to ask neighbours or find a local company with good reviews. If we do end up using a price comparison website, we’ll be looking at the higher cost options. Not going to skimp in any way next time. But what we can now afford is a fair bit higher than the previous two times.