Removal companies

[lees]

Hello

Can anyone recomend a good removal company, we are due to move from yorkshire to the deux-sevres in the next 4-6weeks. Any advice is very much appriciated.

[mint]

Good luck with your move.  I can advise on which company to AVOID but it is unlikely that you will be using them as they are mainly based in the south west.

Read the terms & conditions extra carefully.....just in case they are crafty b*****s like ours!

[suein56]

[quote user="lees"]

Can anyone recomend a good removal company ...[/quote]

I've sent you an email regarding a company we used.

Sue

[rosebud]

[quote user="lees"]

Hello

I am new to this site and would be grateful if anyone can anyone recomend a good and reasonably priced removal company. We are due to move from Amersham in Bucks to the Lot and Garonne area early next year.  We have had a quote from Sterling and they seem to be terribly expensive.[/quote]

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

Anyone living in the Montpezat d'agenais area?????

 

Foxy Lady

[Quillan]

Because of the limited time you have to instigate a claim should something get damaged we used a company that offered 'marine' insurance. This gave us 8 weeks from the arrival date to make a claim. It was a few hundred quid more but it meant we could unpack at a leisurely pace.

To be honest if I ever did it again I would flog everything and only bring personal stuff because by the time we paid for the removals (we are right down south, about 12 hours drive from Calais) it would have been cheaper.

[PETER HELOIR]

Hi there.

My first post but this is a topic that really gets me going, though it may be too late for you!

We moved down over two years and for the first part I hired a van.........never again!

Last year when we finally moved out (Just South of Agen) we got a whole range of quotes and just could not believe the diference sin price!

Some companies wanted a fortune. Eventually we asked around like you (we did not know about forums then!) and were told of a company called ET.  They are not removers but brokers and they found us a really nice French chap who was operating from the UK. Sure we had to pay but it actually worked out cheaper than the year before when I had moved the first half of our load down!!

The problem seems to be that all the removal companies tell lies just to get your business and as you never see them again they get away with it. We found that this company were good because they had so many companies on the books that they knew the real story!!

Mind you i still think that they all charge too much for waht should be a cheap exercise but I suppose the ferries and fuel charges (not to mention wages and VAT ect) all do add up!!

All the best

Peter

[pimpernel]

I bought my own 26 foot box van. Loaded it carefully at my leisure. Surprising what you can fit into a 26'x8'x8' space with a bit of creative packing. Sent everything I couldn't fit in or didn't want to the local auction house. And transported myself. I was able to unpack at my leisure and when totally finished drove the van back to the UK and sold it. This is where I get smug. I sold it for a lot more than I paid for it and it covered the ferry and insurance costs too. I was able to fit almost the entire contents of a three bedroom house in ,not counting the kitchen.But even if I had had to make two trips it would still have been cheaper than removal companies.Heck, even if I'd scrapped the van in France it would probably still have been cheaper[:D]

I realise that this is not an option for everyone but providing you're reasonably strong it is an option worth considering

[mint]

[quote user="PETER HELOIR"]

Hi there.

My first post but this is a topic that really gets me going, though it may be too late for you!

We moved down over two years and for the first part I hired a van.........never again!

Last year when we finally moved out (Just South of Agen) we got a whole range of quotes and just could not believe the diference sin price!

Some companies wanted a fortune. Eventually we asked around like you (we did not know about forums then!) and were told of a company called ET.  They are not removers but brokers and they found us a really nice French chap who was operating from the UK. Sure we had to pay but it actually worked out cheaper than the year before when I had moved the first half of our load down!!

The problem seems to be that all the removal companies tell lies just to get your business and as you never see them again they get away with it. We found that this company were good because they had so many companies on the books that they knew the real story!!

Mind you i still think that they all charge too much for waht should be a cheap exercise but I suppose the ferries and fuel charges (not to mention wages and VAT ect) all do add up!!

All the best

Peter

[/quote]

Peter

We also used ET Brokers after reading about them in the Sunday Times and after someone posted on this very forum about how good they were.

The Brokers were great, it was the removal company that was a disaster.  We chose the cheap option whereby they'd deliver when they were near our area.  That was OK as we had bought our French house and we wanted to decorate and it wasn't that important to have our furniture immediately.

The removals people DIDN'T come on the day they said they would (and we were sitting outside on our forecourt in Wales with loads of stuff we had moved outside in order to help them).  They came the following day with only ONE man because the other one was taken ill.  I had to call the company HQ for them to find another person.

Then, when it was time to deliver to us in France, they said they couldn't do it for 6 weeks from our request. OK, we didn't pay full tariff and we expected to be out by perhaps 10 days to a fortnight, but SIX weeks?  Even then, we thought, OK, we'll finish the decorating and live rough for a few more weeks.  But then, THEY WANTED TO CHARGE US STORAGE FOR THE SIX WEEKS THAT THEY COULDN'T DELIVER!  In other words, not only were we inconvenienced, but we had to pay for the privilege.

We had no phone in France and we used our UK mobiles to ring the company, ET brokers, etc. (I won't even go into how much money we spent just ringing round).  I can only assume that the Brokers contacted the company in the end because our furniture did get delivered "only" a fortnight late and no more mention was made of paying for extra storage.

So, what I'm saying is, the Brokers did their job and earned their modest fee but the Removal Company should be stopped by somebody from trading IMHO.

If anybody out there wants to know WHICH removal company it was, please email or pm and I shall be more than willing to supply you with their name!

[PETER HELOIR]

Hi Sweet

As I said this is one of my pet hates!!!

The reason we moved ourselves (the first half) was just because I wanted to avoid the sort of problem you encountered.

In the end when we used ET we were happy with the small company they found us and also somewhat relieved that they were there to assist us as well. From what you say it seems that ET actually rescued the situation for you. What would have happened if you had contracted the same company directly. Here I am not asking for the name of the company because I believe that given half a chance they will all behave in a similar fashion.

First they hook you with promises then let you down and there is nothing you can do about it!!

The companies know you will not use them again (highly unlikely if you are in France) and so the phrase "Customer Service" vanishes from the lexicon!!

In our case ET found us a very small french family firm (I think theyt only have one lorry !) Remi and  the guys were great and everythging went exactly to plan. I think that the smaller the firm the better the service, which is exactly what the Broker told us. ( A very nice lady as I recall!!). Yes we did have a glass top of a coffee table broken, but aside from that it was a great experience! Perhaps the bigger companies should remember their roots!!!!

The do it yourself option is always available but after my last time (and with advancing years) I will leave that to my children!

Best regards

 

ps I just found the faces!!!!!

 

[mint]

To Garden Girl who pm'd me about this.  I have sent you a pm back which I hope you have received.  Not really sure whether these pm's get to their destination as I get confused by the number of times the messages are read.

All the best

[PETER HELOIR]

Hi again

A general question from me!

I received in my inbox at home a message from Colin on this site. He wanted to know the name of the company we used to move down.

I was about to reply to him (presumably on his home email) but the link was dead.

Is this a security thing or is it to prevent the publication of names of companies?

If it is the latter I can understand to some extent but if there are good companies out there why cant we say so! (I can appreciate the potential legal issues if a site is used to openly rubbish someone!!).

Dont mean to be awkward, I just want to know so as not to get moderated!! (Happend to me first time I used the BBC food boards and took ages to get back on!!!!)

 

 

[mint]

Peter, you could try emailing him though there's not generally a problem if you are recommending a business with which you have no connection.  The problem only arises if you are posting something negative in case of legal action from the company that's being named and shamed.

[Quillan]

Hi Peter,

To be able to help and advice you can you tell me how you received the message from Collin, was it a 'notification' email that you had a PM or was it via a personal email. If it was a PM you should be able to go to the home page of the forum and select the 'Private Messages' link at the near top of the page. You will then be able to find it and reply via the PM system.

If you are trying to reply to a notification (which will contain the contents of the PM) via email the email will be rejected because if you look at where you will be sending it in the 'To' box you will see you are trying to send an email to the automated system that sends PM (and other) notifications.

If, on the other hand, you have received an email with Colin's private/personal email address in the 'from' box then he has a problem with his email system if your response is rejected.

The moderators (and other forum members) cannot see the contents of private messages so we would not have moderated the one you received.

As we are a commercial site we can't allow 'naming and shaming' but it is quite acceptable for you to pass that sort of information by PM or email to another member if they ask. Likewise is somebody asks something like "Does anyone have a car for sale" and you do you should again use the PM or email system.

Hope that explains it for you and if you have any further questions please feel free to either PM a moderator or post in to the Forum Technical Support section.

 

[PETER HELOIR]

Thank you Quillan andSweet.

I received the following in my gmail: (This is the whole thing)

fromFrance Forum - Automated Email <[email protected]>

topeterheloir@xxxxx   Email address edited by a moderator

dateNov 15, 2007 6:58 PM

subject(France Forum) Private Message: Moving

mailed-bycompletefrance.com

hide details 6:58 PM (16 hours ago) Reply

You have received a new Private Message from ColinE

Subject: Moving

Hi Peter

Read your post, can you tell me who they were, we are hoping the move to France early next year, we are trying to get as much info as possible, I have had one quote of £3900.

Regards  Colin

Click on the link below to reply to the private message.

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1081798/ShowPost.aspx

I tried the link but Zip!!

I also tried replying to the email but it sent me to a dead end.

 

No matter I still prefer the Quill and Parchment!!

[PETER HELOIR]

OOOOOOOOOOOOpppps

I just tried the link and NOW it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks anyway all

[Quillan]

Sometimes, if there is a long link, the link 'wrapes' round on the page in your email and the last bit seems to get split from the link so when you click on the link it does not work. Still anyway it's working for you now.

[dianne]

[quote user="lees"]

Hello

Can anyone recomend a good removal company, we are due to move from yorkshire to the deux-sevres in the next 4-6weeks. Any advice is very much appriciated.

[/quote] Hi could you tell me who you used as we are moving in 3 weeks. from yorkshire to the vendee where  are you? many thanks

[rosebud]

Hi there

We are probably going to use Hunts as they have been recommended to us
by 3 different people.  Not had a quote yet though but again our contacts
tell us that they are very competitive. We are moving to the Lot et Garonne and
apparently they know this area very well.  Give them a call. I did just
that and they seem to be very on the ball and they offer maritime insurance
which is something I don't think many of the others offer - ie. if the ferry
sinks, (God forbid) your goods are still insured!

Good luck and perhaps let me know how you get on.

Foxy

[dianne]

Thank you for that.will try them

[Athene]

Hunts provided a nightmare quote for us - £7300! for a bed house! We are using a Leeds company who are charging considerably less than that! If you would like their web address please email me.

Contact details removed by a mod. To contact the poster, please use the PM or Email button on THIS post.

[Llwyncelyn]

However with Hunts be careful on access situations and if furniture has to be taken apart.

We had problems with access and they said they would park elsewhere and we would have to 'ferry' the goods from our house to the waiting van.  Again they would not touch an expensive and old armoire.

However we were moving from Normandie to the Vendee and used someone in St Lo.  First class.

Point of this is to watch access both ends in the UK not likely to be a problem but in France possible?

[lamaisondubluesnumerique]

Hi,
I am a new joiner and found this thread most interesting. We are moving to the haute Vienne in June and attended the French Exhibition in London in January where we spoke with four removal companies, all of whom we asked to contact us to arrange a survy & estimate. Of the four (all well-known names) three contacted us to arrange to visit, although one subsequently cancelled due to a dental problem and said he would call last week to rearrange his appointment. we have yet to hear from him! One has still not contacted us. We also decided to contact two other companies which are reasonably local to us but are still specialists to France. Both have arranged appointments and one has visited and given us a quote. One visits next week.

We have so far received three prices the cheapest of which is almost 50% of the most expensive which is the company mentioned in this and several other posts. We are likely to go with the cheapest simply because their attention to detail has, so far, been first class and their representative who visited (the managing director) was very pleasant, listened and made usefull suggestions.

Our move is complicated by the fact we are moving some 300 potted plants (both indoor & outdoor) and the company who is favourite took this in their stride without breaking step.

Of course, only time will tell whetehr we make the right decision and we will not really know until we are unloaded at our new French home in the second week in June. Hopefully then I will be able to post to advise what a good company xxxxxxxxx are!  

[Athene]

Well you can never tell with these companies! Our company let us down on Thursday night and we are due to travel out on Tuesday. It would have been a real nightmare had not the original company who we first contacted to price the job were not able to shuffle round their work and take out stuff!

[Belle]

we used hunts, wouldnt recommend them, our furniture left our house in the uk all crated up, however when it arrived here it had been removed from the grates and put in the lorry with another customers, we lost two curtain poles, and a box of kitchen stuff, when we tried to make a claim, which was within three hours of the drivers leaving, it took 5 months to get any money, they argued the toss continualy, and left us to deal with the insurance company directly, who could never find anyone at hunts to discuss the claim

[cooperlola]

I thought you couldn't import plants into France.  Am I wrong?