Bishops Move

A very stressful business from start to finish with Bishops.

I was given bad advice regarding the completion of the Tor, resulting in the failure to secure the necessary paperwork from Customs and Excise twice.

Bishops allowed two days to load 33m2. In actual fact the crew of three loaded all my goods (I had not opted for their packing service) in just 3.5 hours.

Whereas I was led to believe I had a direct move from A to B, my goods were unloaded twice, once in Holland and the second time in the UK, before being delivered to me.

When I checked the labels on my goods after delivery, the destination was Woudenburg, Holland - not my home in Oxfordshire.

From there my goods were shipped to the UK.

My move had been subcontracted to Easy Shipping and also Schmidt.

The crews that both collected and delivered my goods were excellent, I should have gone to Easy Shipping or Schmidt in the first place and probably saved a fortune.

I was told by Bishops my shipment was delayed due to the van having broken down in Holland, whereas Holland was the destination on the paperwork.

When I contacted Grant Bishop, allowing him time to explain why I had been so badly misled, before I posted a review, he became quite defensive and responded by saying ‘Sharon, (my contact at Bishops) has been doing the job for over 25 years and is incredibly experienced. He failed to adequately explain why I had been misinformed or apologise for the unnecessary stress I had been put under.

All in all this was the worst move I've had in 30 years of expat life in Eastern Europe.

This should have been the most straightforward of all my moves but sadly it wasn't.

I most definitely wouldn't recommend Bishops for an international move.

Carol Crowther

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £15921

Awful experience : additional costs and 600£ coffee machine broken

I had the worst experience we could imagine. First the added additional costs because they planned to bring a 15 meters long truck to do a removals inside Paris ! Any professional company in the removals business should check before bringing such a big truck inside a big city. So they couldn't take in my furnitures because they couldn't park and I had to pay some extra fees so another van could come (I gave them the address and some google view pictures of the place). He came with just one man to remove a bed among other things, so my brother in law had to help him ! Moreover it added a 10 days delay even if it was taken the same day.
It is not yet finished, during the removals there was some shock so my coffee machine ( a Jura ) costing £600 was broken. The removals guys told me I could check and signal if anything is broken in the 7 following days. But in fact I had to signal that some packs were open and some others deformed because of some shocks.
When I asked to be reimbursed , even partially, they told me I had no insurance since they didn't packed it by themselves and because I didn't signal that some packs were damaged. They proposed me £40 as a "gesture of good will"
A nightmare ..
My advice : choose an other company, ask them to pack your stuff and check your packages when they bring it to your home and signal any little damage in the boxes !

Service cost: £1390

Staff left my living room items on the pavement while they sat in the van to have their lunch. Needless to say, some of my things went missing. I wish I'd mentioned it at the time, but assumed they were keeping a regular check on the items. My complaint fell on deaf ears, and I was told that, since I hadn't taken out an insurance policy there was no compensation. My feeling was that this was a training issue, not an accident. (There were also breakages.) Communications were either curt and abrupt or my calls were ignored entirely. Very reluctantly, weeks later, £20 was coughed up.
DO NOT USE THIS FIRM.

Service cost: £700

We used this company to relocate our belongings from storage in Liverpool to storage in Exeter. There were a number of communication issues leading to us having to utilise more storage space than was necessary. We were completely unaware that the storage would not be available at weekends or bank holidays until we tried to access our belongings. Despite giving the pre-requisite notice on our first visit we had to stand around waiting for the containers to be made available.

When we finally decided to end our storage we were presented with a final invoice which, on the day of emptying, was paid by direct bank transfer. On arrival we were presented with a second invoice (not mentioned in the 'final' invoice) and then told that, whilst they could see the funds I had transferred, I would need to pay again and they would refund. As I had no choice, I did this and then had to navigate a badly parked lorry to enter the storage. As we were unpacking we were told that, at some point, our container would be moved as they had another customer wanting to unpack which happened during our first run. We finally emptied our storage and went home. As of this morning I still don't have the promised refund and have had to chase a number of times to even get a response and a confirmation that it will be paid. Basically expensive, unhelpful and inaccessible storage.

Service cost: £800

We obtained several quotes for our move with Bishops being very competitive. Their experience in international moves was proven when they were the only company to advise that we needed an EU declaration form.

On the administration side, Sharon was exceptionally helpful and recommended then coordinated with a clearing agent in Greece.

We filled a half container with the estimator who visited the house getting the volumetric spot on.

Packing took two days with the team, led by Graham, working efficiently and expertly.

During the move and up to delivery at destination, Sharon kept us fully informed of progress.

All of our furniture and personal effects arrived safely and undamaged.

We were really pleased to have found Bishops Move and thoroughly recommend them.

Service cost: £4000

My firm asked me to get three quotes , Bishops was by far the cheapest.
Barry the Guildford rep, turned up on time, he was dressed smartly and was extremely knowledgeable. (One of the other firms did a video survey and one just asked what size the other firms said). By actually sending a rep, he could advise us better than the other two firms.
John and his crew from Guildford turned up on time and immediately started packing our stuff, I'm convinced that our container could have been thrown of a cliff and our furniture would have survived it was so well protected. They all work really hard to get the job done.
Sharon at the head office was one of the most helpful people I've ever had the pleasure of working with, I was constantly updated on all matters. She also had the brilliant idea of sending our furniture by sea container, (Immingham to Brevic) rather than doing a road move all through Europe, this meant we got our furniture 7 days faster than the other two quotes had predicted. Thanks to her, we had a lot less stress.
A first class service through out and I would thoroughly recommend them/.

Service cost: £7899

We used Bishop's move in a tricky move from two houses into one, in which they needed to work with another removal firm. They arrived exactly on time but actually stayed much later than they had expected due to timing issues with our other removal firm. They were cheerful and thoughtful throughout and simply didn't stop all day. It was interesting to compare them to the other firm we used - the care they took with our possessions, their overall level of courtesy and patience and the technique they used to plan the removal made me realise the difference between longstanding professionals and jobbing amateurs. I think they have a tough job - given they are helping people do the third most stressful thing they will do in their lives - and they did it brilliantly! Highly recommended.

Service cost: £2000

We used Bishop’s to move some antique furniture (Piano, stool and desk). They gave us the best quote. Their managers were really helpful when working out dates and times of moves. When it came to moving day they turned up on time (not my experience of every removal firm!). They carefully extracted the items and upon delivery were equally professional. Friendly fellas in the team - I’d definitely use Bishops again. (Also quite nice knowing you are using a long a establish family company. I know it shouldn’t actually make a difference to how a desk is lifted but, you know..!).

Service cost: £200

Our first contact requesting a quote was 5/1/2016. I explained we were moving to Spain and our furniture would need to be in store for many months, possibly up to a year. The assessor, Stuart Jacobs said we'd need six containers - one day to load. He had access to the loft/garage. He estimated the storage space we needed - 1500cuft.
Full written quote was in 3 parts: removal into storage - £714; weekly storage charge - £57.50; moving from storage to Spain - £5400.
There were delays in finalising the sale; we were at one end of a long chain, but I kept in contact re cost updates because meanwhile I was selling many items including TWO large dressers/very large antique bedroom suite/large antique wooden lockers. Plus about 500 books.
Eventually we completed on the house sale mid-October 2016. I asked Stuart Jacobs for an updated quote. He visited to assess 3/11/2016 and quoted IN WRITING the same as before. Having sold so much I had thought it would be less!!
December 2016 our belongings were moved into storage taking NOT one day but a day and a half. NINE containers were needed. The removals men said this underestimating was typical. They seemed angry. This represents an underestimation of 50%. So the storage costs which I had calculated were FAR more than we'd budgeted for. In the end we paid £5097.60 for a year's storage.
December 2017, finally I was able to request removal to Spain. I was then sent, to my shock, an invoice for £10,020 - almost DOUBLE the written quote which they refused to honour. At no point was I told that this could happen. Stuart had repeatedly assured me that the cost would remain the same as his original quote, and as his revised quote. I had to get another removal company to step in and move my belongings from storage with Bishops Move to my new home in Spain. In my opinion this job was knowingly underestimated, and once they had all my possessions in storage thought they could 'hold me to ransom' and increase the price. It was a horrible stressful experience. Be warned. (Not included below is the £1020.60 which Bishops Move demanded for the final leg of the move) The final heartbreak was when I eventually got my beloved grand piano back it needed repair work because the Bishops Move removal men had failed to secure the keyboard, despite Stuart Jacob's assurances that they were experts in moving and caring for grand pianos. No, they weren't.

Service cost: £5811

I used Bishops when emigrating to Florida in 2004 when they moved my whole house contents with no hassle. This year, I asked them to move a marble statue from my late parents home to me in Sarasota, Florida. Bishops service was outstanding once again. They came to my Dad’s house in Essex, photographed, packed and crates the statue. I was kept informed every step of the way, including the agent that Bishops’ use in Florida contacting me to keep me informed about US Customs and finally, delivery.
I have no hesitation in most highly recommending Bishops. The service standards I experienced, with 13 years in between jobs, are commendable and most professional. Thank you.

Service cost: £900

Abysmal service and communication. Never got a full list of items collected from my house, the packing inside the containers was very very bad, they broke several items and then then they lost one of the containers. It took weeks to find it. Then they presented me with a huge outstanding bill, they wanted me to pay for the time they searched for my staff.
I am still waiting to collect my last items, they keep referring to different people.
I strongly advise NOT to use them.

Service cost: £20000

Bishop's transported some of our belongings from Germany to Scotland, at fairly short notice, and all went well. Everything was as we had packed it, no breakages or damaged items, and the crew were great. The two gents had had a very long day already by the time they came to drop off our stuff but remained polite and efficient and didn't complain at all when they found out that the heaviest items had to go up two flights of stairs. It turned out that a small metal hook that held up the bed frame had escaped but Sharon asked the crew to have a look and when the hook duly turned up in the van it was sent on to us very quickly. This is excellent customer service in my book. Many thanks to all involved - a good job very well done! Yes, I would definitely recommend Bishop's Move.

Service cost: £1850

Bishop's Move provided an excellent service for my recent move from Brussels back to Scotland. The dialogue throughout the process was helpful and professional, they fixed the exact date I needed for the move, contacting me regularly during the process. On the day itself the 2 removal men were fast and friendly, not to mention constructive, given that there was an early glitch with the parking arrangements. The removal was in 2 parts: some for the house; some for storage and this was handled very well.
It was the same 2 men who delivered the goods 5 days later in Scotland and, again, this was done quickly and with the minimum of fuss. In sum it all went very well. Thank you very much.

Service cost: £3500

We could not be more pleased with the efficient manner in which Bishops handled the transport of our belongings from Norway to Holland. Our queries were promptly and accurately responded to, and the move itself was done on time, on budget and with great care by very professional and polite staff. Although there were several fragile items being transported, it all arrived in perfect condition. The movers cheerfully assisted with the unwrapping and took the used wrapping with them. Thank you!

Service cost: £2700

Removal men arrived at collection house with insufficient clothes hanger boxes for our wardrobe clothes. Consequently, the crew stuffed many of our clothes into a large cardboard box for transit and my wife and I were required to take many clothes in our own car. The crew also stated upon arrival that as they did not have a power screwdriver they would be unable to dismantle our 3 beds within the booked timeframe. As a consequence my wife and I were required to dismantle 2 beds ourselves. The worst act was that the crew decided to remove our fridge freezer doors to allow easier transfer to the truck, despite our informing them that the unit had been delivered and installed without needing to remove the doors. As a consequence the door hinges were damaged and the unit is unusable. Bishop’s move have refused to compensate us for the damage, which was not accidental as the damage was caused by their own employees actions in attempting to remove the fridge freezer doors unnecessarily. We have been told to claim on or own insurance policy, which we feel is completely unreasonable.

Service cost: £2950

We were persuaded by a friend to change from Pickfords to Bishops 12 years ago. The treatment has rankled ever since.

Many items such as child's bicycle, garden equipment never arrived, They were never found.

The first step in the move was an estimator who gave us a quote which we accepted.

We were then caught by a well known scam.

Only part of our belongings arrived including our bed WITHOUT ITS LEGS. We were told the estimator had got the container space wrong and if we wanted the rest it would cost another 20% for a further shared container.

Over a barrel we had to pay.

Deal with this company with care to avoid our experience.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: £15000

We used Bishops Move, we were moving from UK to Spain. What a complete living nightmare from start to finish. We was told it would be no longer than 3 weeks door to door. However weeks later we were still waiting, the office in Crawley failed to respond to any of our emails and phone calls. Finally it arrived so many items damaged, it looked like everything had been thrown into their lorries, when we contacted them to try to claim on insurance and after countless emails and phone calls we got nowhere!!

Please do not use this company!! moving house is stressful! But moving countries is even more so especially with this bunch of cowboys.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: £16000