Pickfords

So never use this company. If you do as I did then it will doubtless be a disaster so here are some tips to deal with them. I successfully got stuff repaired under insurance and then got compensation even thought they said they didn't provide it and played hard to get. So do the following:
1. Insure all your goods
2. When they get packed make sure you photograph all items (the before photos you are bound to need)
3. When the belongings are delivered have your camera available again and photo all packing and photo when they boxes are opened. Digital pics are cheap to take and you will need them
4. If anything is damaged do not sign the delivery note. Write that you refuse to sign and the items are damaged and that you want the items repaired through the insurance and also compensation - the point here is it is then on their official paperwork
5. Immediately contact pickfords and send before and after photos showing the damage and if necessary scanning their paperwork where you have not signed
6. Then follow up time and time again
7. Then argue on compensation. They have clear standards they are required to meet as being a member of BAR so hold them to it
8. Keep a record of every email and use this against them. Again and again. Mention legal action and they will have to refer to their legal advisors so you get their attention
9. Then when they pay they will not notify you so regularly check your bank account. Their payments are under the acronym PMM so look out for that
10. They have now finally paid both insurance and also compensation and amusingly they refuse to tell me they have paid

So the moral of this story. If you want to avoid all these steps. Don't use them. I've dealt with politicians for most of my life so hopefully this may help those that have used pickfords and are in a mess. It is possible to beat them but you have to make it a major exercise! Good luck.

Service cost: £30000

Used Allied Pickfords because they had such a good reputation, but were quite disappointed. They insisted on repacking our items for insurance purposes, but our original packing was actually better and many items arrived damaged or completely broken. 'Their' insurance company is actually separate from Allied, and when we tried to make a claim they just masterfully bounced us back and forth between each other. Every claim seemed to be related to moisture damage somehow, which was a convenient exclusion from the policy. Wouldn't use again in a hurry!

Service cost: £1200

I engaged Allied Pickford to move from Singapore to Australia and it is the worst experience ever. Firstly they offered competitive quotation. Unbelievably the actual price is more than 50% than the quotation. They held back my belongings and refused to ship it until I paid them the extra charges on the purported extras I had. I escalated the matter but their senior management just not keen to entertain me. They sent a team lead, who was argumentative rather than providing solutions to my issue. They also delayed my shipment by 7 days from the agreed delivery date. Their customer service has since disappeared when I asked them for compensation. Very regret to appoint Allied Pickford. The worst decision ever. NEVER USE ALLIED PICKFORD.

Service cost: £7000

I would really not recommend Allied Pickfords Australia or UK.
All our furniture was packed very badly and with no care at all. Allied Pickfords in Australia were understaffed and inexperienced. They had packed bedding in with shoes and computers that weren't packed with any protective packaging whatsoever. The packers in the UK were shocked upon opening all the boxes and couldn't believe it themselves.
We are still waiting for the insurance company to sort out their reports and are not willing to replace our bed and mattress but have it repaired instead which the bed manufacturing company have said is impossible to do!
I have communicated all of this to to the managers of both countries and have been offered a mere $AU150 compensation for our troubles which is just a joke frankly! By offering this compensation, they are basically admitting they are at fault but not willing to pay for all the real and stress this has caused my family!
They have not replied to my last 5 emails after this and have chosen to ignore my concerns.
We only chose them because they had offices in both countries but this has proven no help whatsoever as they keep blaming the other one and will not take responsibility for their very poor service.
The only person who could do their job properly was the salesperson who came round initially and sold us an amazing package which of course they didn't live up to from the minute we signed the contract. This has caused us incredible stress and worry and would definitely NOT RECOMMEND Allied to anyone who is moving internationally.

Service cost: £14500

I am going to echo all negative points of other reviews left by customers of Pickfords. For my move from Boston to Barcelona, Pickfords at first seemed like they were professional and trustworthy, but this is a testament to their sales team.
I paid over 2500 British pounds for a 1-bedroom + small amount of antique pieces move. It was overpriced in my opinion, but I was starting a new job quickly and needed to pack my things quickly. Lesson learned. Never rush this or you could get stuck with a company like Pickfords.
My belongings arrived 18 weeks (a full 6 months) after they were picked up. While the local movers both in Boston and Barcelona were a joy to welcome and took care of my things, Pickfords did not. I had to chase up my agent every week for an update, she never initiated the conversation. Also, I was told by them repeatedly that it was the the delay was the fault of their US carrier for placing my belongings on a container set for the UK when I was moving to Barcelona. They never took ownership for this error that caused the delay. I flew to Barcelona and waited a full 6 weeks without my belongings.

The customer "manager" also had the audacity to say she did not think my opinion and complaint were sincere. When, in fact, all my complaints were objective (email trails, and delay as a result of their business partner).

Contacts at Pickfords I worked with:
Ashley Tegerdine - agent who did not keep track of my belongings
Alexandru Andronic - Took weeks to transfer my complaint to the customer service department
Samantha McKeon - the customer service "manager" who accused me of being insincere with my complaint

My hope is that either there is an entire change in personnel or that enough of these bad reviews surface on the internet so no one uses Pickfords and the company is forced to either improve or shut down.

Service cost: £2600

I had to loose both my relocation baggage,because Pickfords.

I choose pickfords for my cargo partner.

I spoke to executive and choose door to door pickup and drop (United kingdom to India, Bangalore).

I paid approximately 330 pounds for two boxes for transfers and I had clearly mentioned it as relocation to India and I am entitled to take 1000 pounds worth personal used items.

After few days I get a call from Pickford saying that I need to pay Indian customs in Delhi which is 250 pounds. then when I checked the reason these Pickford guys has sent the items as Courier not as Relocation baggage.

Because of these paper work mistake pickford screwed my baggage, and now I have two options to pay the 250 pounds and take baggage or say I don't need it.

I had to say I don't need it. because everything were used clothes and books.

So now I had pay Pickfords 320 pounds for no work and loose my belongings. If consulted no proper response and says as per the Indian customs I need to pay it.

Not a right company to choose . And on top of that they will be having tie with up other vendors to deliver baggage . You will ending up in talking multiple vendors without any solution.

Finally I have to sacrifice my baggage and money.

I think I lost approximately 600 pounds ,because of lack of knowledge with these employees.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: £320

Quite inadequate. No telephone number or address given to contact insurance company. The contact is via a handling agent only with an e-mail address and a foreign base. One is better off buying and insurance from a separate agent. Pickford's don't take any responsibility for loss or damage but pass you off to the e-mail address of the handling agent. Proof of value for goods damaged or lost rest solely with the customer. If you are 'looking for something extra' as advertised don't go to Pickford's.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: £2747

I was always dubious about Pickfords, I had been told that they were expensive. But I thought I would give them a chance. I could then compare them with the other company we had a quote from. My initial concerns were justified. Their representative turned up to give our quote, we told him what we needed and showed him around the house. We have a large house but the majority of our furniture had been sold. We are moving into a 4 bed house, the furniture we have left was equivalent to this. The rep was adamant his quote would be better than the one we already had. So we are moving from North Wales to South Wales with furniture for a 4 bed house. The quote arrived over £6500. We nearly dropped through the floor. We left a review on trust pilot, obviously not happy. Pickfords responded, rang me, and tried to justify their quote. They couldn’t answer me when I pointed out that the other quote we had was £3900 less than their quote for exactly the same job.. Their price was totally over inflated.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: £6548

OK nice guys came and worked hard and packed up my property. Nice guys came and worked hard and unpacked it at my new property.

But for 6 weeks in between Pickfords were meant to store my property for me. Somewhere in that chain, I've lost at least one box.

I can identify many kitchen items that I no longer have valued at at least £400.

This is after paying them over £2000 for removals and storage.

Pickfords investigated, couldn't find it and cited a clause in my insurance saying those items weren't covered.

I packed this box and didn't take a photo so there's really nothing I can do about it.

Pickfords, upon citing the clause said 'I know this may be disappointing, but sorry'.

I replied saying I'm not disappointed I'm angry. I'm happy for Insurance to cover accidents but not their incompetence.

Anyone, including companies, can make mistakes, but it's how they remedy them show's if they're worth dealing with.

I will never deal with Pickfords again and suggest anyone else be cautious.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £2500

Worse Removal Company Ever

If I could rate lower than one star I would. The removal took place over 3 days at the end of April/start of May 2021 in Peterborough. I want to state first of all that Pickfords do not employ their own staff. They subcontract this out to other removals companies. Therefore on our removal day we got three staff from 3 different removal companies with 3 different ways of doing things. All in their 20s and no life experience with no care or attention. All of the clothes where thrown into the boxes from room regardless of what was in the room with no care. The removals manager was non existent throughout the whole process constantly passing the buck onto the removal team staff on the day. Damage was done to our American style fridge and kitchen sideboard unit which together is worth £2000. All we have been offered is £400 compensation from spending nearly £4000 on the removal itself over 3 days due to it being a large removal of a family of 7. The whole point of of removal was to help us and relieve any stress but instead Pickfords caused more stress and has been one of the worse experiences I have ever been through with any company. The stuff in my garage was thrown with no organisation, attention or care taken. Senior management do not want to no and in the end stop communicating with you. 4 Staff where disciplined but for what went wrong for us especially I had a severe back disability and I was expecting 5 star luxury service to help me and my family move. Very upsetting and Pickfords are a disgrace of a company.

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: £4000

I used Pickfords to move from Manchester to Lincolnshire and paid for one of their top packages and insurance to ensure all went smoothly. Unfortunately while the team doing the move were pleasant and the day itself went fine, everything after that was a disaster. Some items were broken - now noting i had taken out the insurance i wasnt concerned until i had to deal with the office team. Barrier after barrier was put up - 3 months later they still hadnt paid out a less than £200 claim (noting i had paid thousands for the move) and every person blamed someone else. Cut to 4 months later, they are STILL ignoring me, not returning calls and emails - including management. Eventually after a lot of running and chasing on my side i finally get the money from the claim. At this point, i raise a complaint but senior management decide (5 months later, after more ignoring emails and calls) that as they did eventually pay the claim, the matter is closed and they didnt feel a gesture of good will was due - well i disagree. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS FIRM, IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG THEY DONT WANT TO DEAL WITH IT AND WILL DO EVERYTHING NOT TO PAY OUT AND WILL TRY TO WEAR YOU DOWN. There are plenty of other companies out there, use someone else.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: £2726

Moved from UK to USA. UK pickup was efficient, and admin was fine (although there is a lot of paperwork). Goods took a long time in transit, mainly due to container shortages and delays for US customs inspection. However Pickfords US partner, Global Logistics, took a long time to ship goods from New York to Austin Texas after they had cleared customs, and they also gave wrong delivery address to delivery company despite our advising them 3 times that our US address had changed. Local delivery agents (Austin Firefighters) were excellent.

UK pickup 26 January, goods finally delivered to our new home in Austin 5 June.

The major downside for us was Pickfords' insurance. We paid a lot of money (£1019) for cover. We had a few breakages, but when we submitted a claim 10 days after delivery, having taken a few days to unpack everything and not having access to a computer, we were told that our claim was rejected as it was not made within 7 days! Pickfords referred me to the small print in the insurance document. It seems unreasonable to me to expect anyone to remember the terms of a document they signed 5 months previously amid the upheaval of a removal. The very least Pickfords could have done would have been to remind us around the time of delivery that we had only 7 days to submit a claim. This has soured what would otherwise have been a fairly satisfactory removal, and smacks of sharp practice. I would advise anyone to read the small print carefully and I suspect better and cheaper insurance cover is available elsewhere.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: £4344

Allied Pickfords gave us a quote for moving from New Zealand to Japan.. they did not communicate properly and came back to us after pick up saying we had to pay for extra.. and now in Japan they are telling us that they forgot to tell us that part of the delivery (the piano) was not included.. useless people.. and I am paying almost 10 grands for that poor service (and I am polite).. stay away from them.

(Please note that the delivery and pickup locations proposed on this website do not allow New Zealand and Japan).

Service cost: $10000

We did our third overseas move, this time we chose Pickfords. What a bad decision - only their front-line representatives were nice. the packers obviously did not know what they were doing.they did not pack according to what is required for overseas packing. so much was broken - irreplaceable goods. Finally, they acted against the law when packing liquid chemicals where the bottles' seals were already broken. It had leaked and items were soiled, or otherwise destroyed.
When completing the insurance documents we did not get any help which resulted in us getting only a few broken items replaced.

Service cost: £8500

This is how pickfords removals operate I asked for a quote, i'm single and moving to a 1 bed flat 2 miles away, I said all my stuff is packed stacked and ready to go with easy access at both ends, total move time I estimate 1 and half hours max. I got quoted £800
so lets look at this - that's £400 a mile, I could buy a van and insure and pay 2 people £50ph and still have change. pickfords? pick-pockets more discriptive.
then I questioned this thieving amount and they tried to convince me that it was a bargain. they then said its peak season. i'm sorry but I didn't know we had seasonal removals, they are talking like i'm booking a holiday.  then there is VAT, which I am very aware of and it can't be used as an excuse. then you pay their insurance?? I meen how useless are they and how much damage do they do if they force you to pay insurance, if the have builders erect a scaffold around your house you don't pay their insurance for them, they do
but the real sadness is what if its an old lady who doesn't know better, or some-one with mental issues they can't deal with people properly and agrees to this. PICKFORDS - no morals - no ethics - shamefull.

Service cost: £800

This is how pickfords removals operate I asked for a quote, i'm single and moving to a 1 bed flat 2 miles away, I said all my stuff  is packed stacked and ready to go with easy access at both ends, total move time i  estimate 1 and half hours max. I got quoted £800

so lets look at this - that's £400 a mile, I could buy a van and insure and pay 2 people  £50ph and still have change. pickfords? pick-pockets more discriptive.

then I questioned this thieving amount and they tried to convince me that it was a bargain. they then said its peak season. i'm sorry but I didn't know we had seasonal removals,  they are talking like i'm booking a holiday.  then there is VAT, which I am very aware of  and it can't be used as an excuse. then you pay their insurance?? I mean how useless are  they and how much damage do they do if they force you to pay insurance, if you have  builders erect a scaffold around your house you don't pay their insurance for them,  they do.

but the real sadness is what if its an old lady who doesn't know better, or some-one with  mental issues and they can't deal with people properly and agrees to this. Pickfords - no morals - no ethics - shamefull.

Service cost: £800