AnyVan

Charged me almost £500 for 2 incredibly rude men who catcalled me, then said they cannot lift the small things that it takes one person to lift and sat in the van for 1.5 hours in front of the house, then drove off. They claimed because in front of the house was a yellow line they weren’t allowed to park/load there, and made NO effort to move to the white parking available on the street and this was their reason for not doing the service OR giving me a refund! Basically this is a con website that steals your money!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: £500

Be careful before choosing AnyVan - their cheap quotes may end up costing you more than you think!

I used AnyVan for a home removal and was enticed by the low rates, however it ended up costing more than I expected and was a terrible experience. Here are points you should consider before using AnyVan:

- Unknown quality of service provided:

They are connecting you with service providers that already exist and are not providing the service directly. What this means is you have no idea on the quality or professionalism of whoever turns up on the day. If these providers are vetted (unlikely) it is not a rigorous vetting process. The providers that showed up on the day for me were NOT professional and one of the removal men said he had been doing this for 2 weeks. The team they sent me were rude and smoked in my flat when I had stepped outside for a few minutes.

- Basically a call centre and cannot help you with issues:

AnyVan hide behind their website policies and are NOT able to help you out on the day if there are any issues. In my case the removal men had not brought enough packaging products and there was nothing AnyVan was able or willing to do on the day to help. You will end up get connected to the AnyVan call-centre if you have any issues. The team you speak to on the call-centre range from being aggressive and rude to incapable and apathetic. If there is a problem on the day, you are pretty much on your own and there is no accountability from AnyVan. If you are moving home, it needs to be done on the day and if there is a problem you will be in big trouble.

- Hidden costs:

The itemisation process for home removals means you have to accurately itemise every single item, including the exact number of boxes needed to move. Like most normal people, I don't know the exact square footage of van space all my belongings will fit into, or the exact number of boxes to fit my plates, clothes, electronics and small items into. Well guess what that means? It means the van drive won't touch anything else unless you pay extra on the day, essentially holding you hostage. Even if you have the best intentions and simply get this wrong, tough luck. You can pretty much guarantee that you will end up paying more than you expected.

-Bad practices

I was told on the day that I had to sign waivers for certain items, such as my television, because I did not have the original box to transport it in. Who keeps the original box!? Despite providing an insurance policy to cover this, they put pressure on you on the spot to sign this waiver for damage without explaining this before you use their services. When I asked AnyVan to explain what this was, they said some movers require this. I think that it is completely unfair and inappropriate to demand someone sign a waiver for damage to their belongings, on the day whilst in the middle of the move, threatening not to move an item unless you sign a waiver.

After the terrible and overpriced moving experience I would never go near AnyVan again, even if it was free. When I spoke to AnyVan afterwards to explain the issues I faced and for them to explain why the removal company they provided were so poor they simply closed my case and told me to go away.

Listen to the reviews out there - there's a reason why there are so many bad ones.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £916

The reality is that AnyVan don't actually have any removal staff - they use the gig economy to outsource jobs to van drivers, which may also add extra jobs to the van. How good is the driver you're getting? Roll the dice, see what you get. I've had good, excellent and terrible across three jobs. And terrible is really abysmal. Things get broken, the job takes much longer than it should, and the driver tries contacting you to argue over any damage, which is a significant breach of privacy laws. Their website is a complete lie - they do not have any staff wearing uniforms etc as they don't actually have any removal people on the payroll.

Avoid and either go for a cheaper option, dealing with a man and a van directly, or pay more and go for a professional company. AnyVan is neither professional, nor cheap, so no point in using them.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Flat Service cost: £650

CAUTION! Be careful when you book with Anyvan and SebyUK. Whilst they were carrying the boxes in the living room and I was running after my toddler, I left my bag open with Airpods inside on the counter. I checked my bag in the car going to our new flat as I use my Airpods daily and well they were not in my bag anymore. Anyvan did not help at all even though they have the “we are waiting to help you" slogan. Be careful with you valuables. You let strangers into your house, don’t forget that.

Other than that, they did a OK job. We had many more items than what we quoted initially and so we got them to requote and agreed to pay a good amount more. Due to concern of fitting everything we asked them to take the larger and heavier items first so that we can take the remaining in the car. They did not listen to this and having to tell them 3 times they still didn't. One person could speak broken English, the other guy did not speak English at all. This meant that we had to spend all Sunday moving really big boxes in the car which could have been avoided if they had listened. They were a bit rough in handling items but OK for most part. Overall, I would NEVER use Anyvan or SebyUK again. Customer care is definitely not their priority, essentially: you get what you pay for.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £300

You will end up paying for moving your own items

I arranged my items to be moved to 10th floor by lift, and their mover refused to move them anywhere above the ground floor.

When I complained about it, they didn't even offer me the price difference I paid. I received a warning from council and risk my tenancy agreement because of their failure in service.

I only get a little increased amount of refund offer after I contacted their CEO and I was already exhausted dealing with such a small issue so I accepted it but it felt nowhere near justifying the damage and distress they caused.

I have been using their service since 2014 but that's it! Never again! You just end up moving your own stuff when you work with them.

They also have 0 respect for their customers.

Move size: 1 Bedroom Flat Service cost: £181

These guys are crooks. They outsource to local guy with a van, taking zero responsibility. My job finished at 11.30pm, waking neighbours and my sleeping kids. Why? Because they used the van for other jobs and despite my stuff (not a lot) being picked up at 9am (one hour late) they did not do final drop off until last. Forget anyVan customer service - they are slimey, dodgy ‘nothing we can do mate’ crooks. Angus Elphinstone, the founder and aristo spiv behind this den of thieves, you should be ashamed of yourself

Move size: 1 Bedroom Flat Service cost: £600

Reply from AnyVan

Updated 2 hours ago

Good Morning John,

We are sorry to hear you are unhappy with your AnyVan booking.

AnyVan's prices do work on an inventory basis, therefore, should there be additional items, we do need to charge for these to be taken. Should the funds not be able to be paid, we cannot guarantee that they would be transported with the remainder of your load.

"This is not made clear when making your list, which I thought was just a quote for your quote?"

It should be made clear so that people like myself with mental health issues can understand what it is for.

Upon review, we can see that the move was initially rescheduled free of charge as our team understood your personal issues and this would normally be a chargeable rescheduling.

"untrue the first reschedule was charged at 50% of the original quote because the removal men wouldn't take my stuff because it was improperly packed. The second reschedule was not charged because I was not able to move due to the stress of the first visit and I was due to move Wednesday 26/05 /2021, and I rang to rearrange the date on Sunday 23/05 /2021, which was over 48 hrs that was required to not incur additional costs "

Upon further review, we can see that you requested to cancel the move when the drivers arrived for the second time as you were unwilling to pay for any additional items to be taken. Unfortunately, if you do cancel your move on the day the job is commencing, you would not be entitled to any refund.

"Had I understood about the list being used as the inventory then I would not have accepted your quote and I would have gone to a proper company who visit your home to give a no quibble price. Which is what I am having to do now?"

We do apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

" It has not only been an inconvenience but a detrimental factor to my health, both mentally and physically.

You pride yourself being associated with a mental health charity? Don't you think that it is time to recognise the problems that people like me face and have to handle themselves, without penalising them for doing their best to understand and try to do themselves because there is no one there to help or explain things?

Not so kind regards, £610 less from my savings, anxiety and stress levels at an all time high and utterly disgusted with help and consideration given to a person who suffers with a debilitating mental and physical health condition.

John Charles.

Ps you should be ashamed of yourself especially when you are supposed to to support the SANE charity?

Kind Regards,

Charlotte

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £610

Moving house is stressful enough without the stress of an incompetent service!

Damage to the washing machine and wallpaper in the home. Piping was not removed from the wall and would have been left if not seen by ourselves. Removals team informed us they would be picking a sandwich up on route to the new house, 1.5 hours later they arrived (7 mile trip). Called anyvan to query where the team was as we were stood at the new property with nowhere to sit, tired and hungry as belongings were on the van. They told us there was a problem qoth tracking and that the van woukd not be stationary as suggested. Items were pushed across a brand new wooden floor rather than being lifted. Unexpected change occurred with items being taken, anyvan informed us that the additional charge would be £75.00 and would be taken from our bank account. £125.00 was taken! I was informed this was a service charge, explained that I was not told there would be a service charge, this was looked into and then the decided it was a fault on the system. All round stressful service, would not recommend!

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: £700