Pickfords

I asked about details fro removal earlier this year and submitted a full list of my requirements. I then asked in August could we move. Had to submit the details again, then again then again it seemed every email was a test to see if I could repeat myself. Then they come back with a quote of £1500 - to move no more than a small van's worth of stuff, no furniture. They wasted my time over a period of a month with the pointless questions then came back with a quote which was too late for my desired move date.

Service cost: £1500

We moved house last Thursday/Friday 6th 7th September. The crew on the first day initially appeared friendly and willing however as the day went on that changed. The language of one of the crew was appalling and I heard derogatory remarks being made about our home contents. I was perturbed by their packing skills, clothes were thrown into boxes, pictures were stacked without any protective covering in boxes. Day two was to finish packing and remove items less than 5 miles away. On inspection of the vacated property several items had been left behind, including a Chinese rug, several items of valuable china,golf clubs to mention but some. I have pictures. In the end my husband had to hire another van at very short notice to remove what they had left behind. Our hired van was full. A telephone call was made to our local office before 5pm on Friday to report dissatisfaction but to date no follow up has been received. We feel very let down by their service. Recommend to others not a chance.

Service cost: £1600

I have moved twice in the past 3 months- from Nottingham to Salisbury, where my things went into storage,s and then again just recently from storage into a rental property. I have used Pickfords twice. I cannot thank Chantelle Choudray and Rachel Walsh sufficiently for their help and attention. Chantelle even answered the phone one evening at 6.45pm on a Friday! Both times the removals team were polite, efficient, and cheery at what was potentially a very stressful time. Nothing was damaged or broken, either of my belonging or the property I moved out of or the one I moved into. They even spent 45 minutes trying to get my washing machine, which I had plumbed in, into a small "made to fit cupboard" and didn't complain about moving a bookcase which I had sent upstairs then changed my mind, or when I sent them up to the balcony to get the sofa in and it would not fit through the door so they had to carry it back down again. The service was worth every penny and when I move again I will definitely be using Pickfords.

Service cost: £2500

We used Pickfords for a pack-and-move of a four-bed house, and found them very helpful beforehand. We needed to move at short notice and the move manager used their wider network to find us availability at the last minute.
The movers themselves were brilliant - professional, friendly, and highly efficient - despite having travelled 2+ hours each way due to being out-of-area.
On the other hand, our experience after the move has been atrocious. Our fridge was damaged in the move (these things happen I guess) but despite immediately reporting it and sending photos of the damage, we were offered firstly 10% of the value, and then a final offer of 50% of the value "because the damage could have happened for other reasons". Impossible to think how we could have done things differently such that we could prove it to their satisfaction, short of photographing everything in our house!
This left a really nasty taste in our mouths after what was otherwise an excellent service. Thank goodness is was only a fridge and not something even more valuable.

Service cost: £2900

Move manager - Charles Graham

Sadly, our experience with Pickfords has been sub standard. This was our first time moving house, we contacted several companies, got quotes and decided to go with Pickfords. They were the most expensive, but we were confident in their abilities.
We paid for extra insurance to cover our belongings in transit and requested the Pickfords ‘concierge’ service to save time on setting up bills etc at the other end.

The day of the move was fine, problems arose when we started to unpack our belongings. In total Pickfords caused £1000 worth of damage. Several picture frames chipped, snapped and damaged, broken crystal, a wet box with everything in the bottom damaged, a statue smashed into 3 pieces, furniture chipped, antique writing box chipped.

We contacted Charles Graham and informed him of some damaged items and he told us we were outside the 7 day period in which we could claim (please note this isn’t working days, which we believed) But he told us we could claim anyway, he asked us to send a list of the damaged items, when we sent a full list, with photos, and receipts, we were told that the extra items would not be accepted, only the items in the first email could we claim for. In total we have been offered £125 compensation. The insurance premium was £300.

Sadly, in the end, Pickfords turned out to be cowboys for us, at first they are all smiles and charm, but when something actually goes wrong, they don’t answer calls, take up to 10 days to respond and everything else you could expect. We never received any of the complimentary concierge service, when asking for the invoice they send it to the wrong people. All in all a total shambles.
And Charles Graham our move manger was nothing but ineffective and inept.

Please use another company, one that’s half the price and will do a better job, like Britannia.

Service cost: £2600

Have only just taken shipment out of storage.six months after delivery.
Found excessive paper wrapping on stupid items ie one small steel egg cup two sheets, even found a small bulldog clip actually wrapped in one whole sheet.
A family heirloom of near 100 years in porcelain and inscribed and non replaceable, had just one sheet of paper, it was a large urn with handles, was packed in a box of kitchen stuff, and when unpacked found the top rim broken,
The consignment was badly identifiable , and all rooms where muddled, lots of boxes marked books, and contained more of other stuff.
Packed my husbands ashes for a service we were going to have when family together, which we had to postpone as we didn't know which box they were in, and had to wait till now as only just found them.
Boxes in some cases were underpacked, with a large item , but light and could have had other items packed around them.
Some boxes were only half full and packed out with paper.
The bed legs were not packed within the bed, and again these have only just been found.
Overall it was a haphazard pack, a lot of space was wasted, and think overall I could have saved at least seven boxes, which as was on a budgets would have helped ,instead had to get rid of stuff that could have come over,as the space was there, just badly used .
Seemed more interested in charging me more at the end of the pack, which now I know was totally unessassary .
I do intend to write to head office. It was from Truro but not on list.

Service cost: £3300

The whole process was a good experience. The crew of three who carried out the removal were swift and efficient in packing, loading and unloading. They were friendly and helpful as they went about their task, and also went out of their way to smooth our moving in, volunteering to take away various unwanted items. The move manager was very responsive to any demands we made, when her patience must have been tested several times by our suggesting wrongly as it turned out that an item had been lost.

Service cost: £2000

I have only ever used Pickfords (or Allied for my international moves) when moving house. I have always found them good in that they do what they say they will do when they say they'll do it and for the price agreed - usually several weeks/months before the move actually happens.

With advancing age and ever increasing demands on my time by work, I don't have the energy any more to do certain things and I have reached the point in life where if I can pay someone to do stuff for me instead of having to do it myself then happy days. This time, therefore, I went for the full packing/dismantling service. Plus I opted for the moving dates and late completion waiver insurances. Good job I did.

Our chain wasn't a long one - 4 parties involved in all. But even so, the dates were going backwards and forwards - the final change being on the day I'd already made payment to Pickfords. Initially, when I asked my move coordinator to change the dates she said "sorry, we can't do that date - we've no crews available" (or moving out day was 29th May - the day after the Spring Bank Holiday. I didn't actually beg her - more pleaded - to do her best to find a crew for me. If she couldn't do so, I'd have been forced to change the dates again and from previous to'ing and fro'ing, I knew that would push us back at least 3 weeks and we were desperate to make the move happen. This whole move had been on and off for about 8 months and I was rapidly reaching my own snapping point and liable to just throw in the towel.

Anyway, bless her socks (I am not sure I can name names in here so I won't but if she reads this, the lady up in Newcastle knows I am talking about her now) - she managed to get us a crew.

On completion day, the solicitors of our new home's owners, took an age to clear the payments. Completion happened 5 hours later than my two solicitors expected/hoped. Anything over 4 hours' delay in completion attracts a premium but the late completion waiver insurance took care of that.

Ours was a 2 day move. Empty the house in Sheffield on day 1 and deliver and unload all the stuff to the new house in Manny Wood on day 2.

The guys - a gang of three - emptied our house (packing and dismantling as they went along) within 8 hours.

They unloaded and re-assembled the dismantled furniture in about 3 hours.

They were courteous, respectful, careful and very professional.

I am currently about half way through the unpacking and so far (touch wood) not one missing or damaged item. I have that covered by the insurance anyway.

This - from a removals perspective (and not necessarily from a legal one!) - has been by far the most pleasing move I have ever made - and I have made several. In the past, there had always been niggling issues - minor but, nevertheless, still issues. This time, no such issues have arisen which is why I've rated this move as excellent.

I am sure that there will be people who have had quite the opposite experience to my own. That is not the point. I have nothing but good words to say about the service Pickfords offer. In this particular move's case, it was flawless - hence the excellent rating given this time.

Mark ex Sheffield; latterly Mansfield Woodhouse.

Service cost: £1700

The initial contact with Pickfords' representative was professional with the competency expected. A full review of the items to be packed and moved was made and information on the details and terms and conditioned fully explained.
A detailed quote was then supplied and comparable in price to others I had received but the service offered was greater.
Cartons, packing protection and tape were provided timely for items I had decided to self pack, The person delivering the cartons gave advice on best packing practises.
The removal took place on the 18th May from a detached house, the van and 3 men arrived on time and very quickly set up their ramps for easy access to the van. They worked quickly and carefully and appreciated the tea, coffee and biscuits provided. The dismantling of beds and wall units and loading of all cartons and loose furniture was completed in in less than two hours and the house checked to ensure everything had been removed.
The 60 miles road journey was completed without incident and once again they positioned the van and ramps to give best access to the new premises, a first floor apartment. The unloading re-assembly and positioning took slightly longer probably due to the distance from the van to the apartment and the additional stairs. On completion the van was confirmed empty apart from the bags being donated to charity, a very good service offered by Pickfords.
Throughout the move the 3 men were polite and courteous at all times.

Service cost: £1250