Ramshaw Transport

Do not use Ramshaw removals.Unprofessional in the extreme.
I pre-ordered boxes: wrong sizes delivered, too big for books and not exchanged, so I had to make do. I ordered mattress & sofa covers: none provided. Ordered 'help dismantling beds': they didn't even bring any tools. I provided tools, one lad didn't even know how to use a screwdriver. I ordered wardrobe boxes: so filthy inside I couldn't use them, then they tried to charge me even so. I had been told a cheque was OK, but on arrival the lads said it was cash or they would go away. I had to drive into town to find an ATM.I complained about the rough handling of my boxes, and one lad said a well-packed box meant he could "throw it down the stairs and the contents would be OK". During move, the filthy van meant black marks put on my carpets when they brought furniture in - they refused to admit it was their fault. They damaged my new bed frame with lots of chips to the metal paint, and took a chunk off the oak foot of my new sofa.

- I asked to speak to someone before they left. She, Shaunna, told me to email.
- I complained by email in full to the company.
- I received no apology and no compensation.
- I checked the affiliated quality companies on their boxes: they hadn't been members of Checkatrade for over 2yrs, and were not members of British Association of removers or of Approved Code TSI - all of which they said they were, as the logos for these companies were on their own Ramshaw-printed boxes.

I notified all all of these companies that not only were they claiming to be affiliated when they weren't, but they had not complied with the rules/codes of conduct of these companies (eg, they were not allowed to be paid in cash, yet they had). Unfortunately, I did not hear back from any of them, so I do not know if it was pursued. I also contacted Trading Standards, who were very interested, and asked for the photos I'd taken, but I never heard back from them, either. I sent a full complaint and photos to the Director of Ramshaws, but it was returned to me with "refused to accept it" box ticked. His details: Andrew Smith, Director, 47 Swan St, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham DL14 9RN.

There should be a means for such companies to be prosecuted and to be forced to stop trading.

Service cost: £350

I thought this company were great honestly I really did cost was a lot but by gosh did they make me laugh totally good crack worked way over what was required and never stopped
The job was totally perfect from the outset
Don't know what else to say good all round
Nice looking trucks good paperwork and understanding
Blah blah blah 400 characters to review a company is silly in my opinion all we want to know is the any bloody good or not.

Service cost: £5600

We used Ramshaw for a small short move us to our new home because they were members of BAR (British Association of Removers). The two guys who did the move were unprofessional and there were four items damaged during the move. We claimed on our insurance (over £2000) and tried to claim our excess back and also a sum for stress from Ramshaw. They offered us a derisory amount and the attitude was 'take it or leave it'. We took it to the ombudsman who awarded us our excess money and a sum for stress and inconvenience. They didn't pay up and when BAR tried to go through their disciplinary procedure, they withdrew from BAR. This encapsulates Ramshaw and didn't surprise us as they are an unprofessional outfit and are no way a removals company. DO NOT USE.

Service cost: £200

Stay away, absolute bandits..

They arrived on time and one of the men was old, tired out from another move and useless. I had to do all the heavy lifting with him and constantly stop him causing damage. The second helper was excellent and a good chap but that's 50% of what we paid for.

Best of all the useless one delayed us so much they wanted an extra hours cash and I was so busy doing his jobs missed all the damage.

New real wood floor not a week old.. Now has deep scratches, walls..dented and paint chipped.

We had to eventually pay half the extra fee despite its lack of justification and the mangers reaction to the damage was " these things happen".

Absolute cowboys please stay away and do not put money in this companies pocket.

Service cost: £200

Test of good or bad, is would I use them again or recommend them. The answer to this is no. It was not an easy move but the van was not packed well and some items were damaged. I had not taken their insurance. The second day come lunchtime they said they had another job, they ended up leaving our living room full of boxes. Many had been left the day before, we had a verbal promise that those for upstairs would be taken up. We are not young and both have back problems, reason for removal firm and not doing it ourselves. We wish now that we had done it ourselves with a friend. It should have been 2 vehicles 18 ton and Luton. Only one 18 ton sent. The lads themselves were friendly and helpful.
We have done several moves in the past over the years, more than 20, this was the removal firm if listed compared to previous experience would come last.

Service cost: £1843

Like most of the reviews for this Company we to have been subjected to their disgraceful and criminal behaviour. I was initially quoted £1,600 to move abroad. However, I was concerned that nobody had visited my property to assess the cost. I therefore contacted Ramshaws with my itinerary again to double check that the price was correct and that they would be arriving with the correct size vehicle. On doing this we had a response to say the price had doubled to £3,000 as this was 2 days before our move so we had little choice but to accept. On the day of the move we were told that we had used up our cubic feet on the vehicle and if we wanted to take the rest of our belongings it would cost us a further £800.00 They went on to say that if we leave our garden furniture behind that would reduce the cost to £600.00. My son was luckily helping us to move and he took the garden items to his house so we could save £200.00. This was an hour before we had to be out of the property so we had no choice but to pay the extra £600.00. The removal men left an item of furniture behind when they drove off which fortunately my son was able to take to his house. I contacted them about this and was told that they would arrange to collectt the furniture from my son's property and deliver it with the rest of our belongings (this did not happen). We opted to put our belongings in storage as we were moving to a smaller property and wanted to organise things before delivery. We were told that storage would be in a secure warehouse in Paris until we were ready for delivery. When this time came we could not get a delivery date from them despite numerous phone calls and emails. After 2 weeks of trying to arrange for our belongings to be delivered we had a very rude email from Andrew Smith which we received at 5.00 p.m. and having been out for the day we did not check the email until 6.00 p.m. and was shocked that the email read that they had tried to contact us to deliver our goods the following day and if we did not respond to his email by 7.00 p.m. that evening he would return our belongings to the UK and charge us double what we had already paid him £3,600 to have our goods redelivered. When our belongings eventually arrived 2 days later we were shocked to see our lovely antique furniture covered in mould and when questioning the removal men as to why and where had the furniture been were told it had been 'somewhere in Spain'. Hence not in the secure Warehouse in France we were told it would be! Unfortunately the mould was not the only problem we had damage to our items and sentimental items were broken, and most upsetting was the disappearance of some of our belongings which to us is no different than theft. Unfortunately for others we also received items that were not ours. We had packed a very expensive Wedgewood Dinner Service very carefully and written Fragile on the box which amazingly was not broken but we found it in an old open cardboard box with a dirty rag wrapped around it. This appeared to us to show that our belongings had been rifled through wherever they had stored our items. We too like others took out insurance and despite requesting a claim form was never sent one. Our phone calls or emails were not answered. We wrote a letter of complaint to Andrew Smith requesting some compensation and of no surprise we did not get a response. Moving is a stressful time for most people and being treated like this is despicable and upsetting and has made what should have been a positive move abroad into a nightmare. The worst thing is that Andrew Smith and Ramshaw Transport Limited are still operating and getting away with ruining people's personal and sentimental goods and at an extortionate cost. Our antiques are worth next to nothing now so not only have we lost a part of our lives building up some nice things but we have also lost nearly £4,000. We may as well sold everything we had and moved without any belongings as we have nothing now anyway.
Finally Ramshaw Transport Limited told us they were members of BAR but unfortunately this is just another dishonest thing they tell their potential customers. This company draw you in with a cheap quote but from experience the cost will more than double by or on the day of removal. STEER CLEAR.

Service cost: £3660

I personally would not trust this company with any type of removal. We moved to Spain and used this company to deliver our goods from the UK.
We where initially told it would take 1 week but had to wait 7 weeks for our goods to be delivered. As in a previous review we were also told a truck had broken down and was awaiting repair.

On arrival one of the boxes was broken and goods were missing from it. We paid for this company extra to pack our new TV which was also damaged and beyond repair. I was told that since we paid for insurance this would be replaced. Weeks later we have not heard anything from them. I have sent several emails to Andrew Smith but have not received a reply. I have also asked for a copy of the insurance policy but guess what? not a word. I wonder if the money I paid was used for insurance.
I am contacting a solicitor in the UK to sue this company and to find out if indeed insurance was taken out.
Andrew Smith does not even have the decency to reply to my emails.
I personally would not touch this company with a 10 foot barge pole!

Service cost: £650

My husband started off impressed because we had a visit to assess what needed moving and as we had a lot of stuff to move from our 4 bed home where our 3 children grew up and still live, we had a lot to move. We were initially quoted £500-£700 by phone but after the survey were told this would be £1000 - for a 3 mile move!! We thought it was a bit steep (the company who were going to move us the week before quoted £600 but when the move was postponed a week they could no longer do the move) however as we were trying to sort something last minute - agreed. We were also advised to take our late key insurance at £108 because if the guys had to work beyond 2pm we'd be charged hourly on top of the £1000!! The news got even better the afternoon before the move when we were told it would take 1.5-2 days to move our stuff!?? When the survey was done we explained that we had to leave our house on the day because new people were moving in. They said the only way it could happen in a day was for them to send another 2 men - additional £400!! I was furious and so was my husband. We were downsizing for financial reasons and now we were being ripped off by this company who knew we couldn't back out as we'd already had to pay the £1108 upfront to secure the booking. 2 of the 4 guys who came were a disgrace to the company! They called my son a lazy b** and also complained about all our stuff. They just piled all our stuff in the new lounge, dining room and garage - the garage was so packed that we couldn't close the door & spent hours that night making space to close door. They put my best dinner service at the back of the garage under a load of other boxes. They damaged several pieces of furniture and broke a console table & a china mug they were using for coffee. They left cigarette butts all over the driveway - swore loads and didn't take any notice of the names of rooms I'd written on the boxes ( so stuff labelled 'lounge' in the garage,etc). When I signed the paperwork so they could go - the guy said 'next time you move don't bother ringing us!' They must have the worst customer service I have ever experienced!! My husband and I have worked hard to buy nice furniture and home things and this company managed to wreck most of it!!

Service cost: £1500

We paid over£100 an hour for a six hour job involving 2 men and a sprinter van. Furniture was not wrapped and on arrival at our destination a further £150 cash was demanded for ''waiting charges'', or the movers would take our belongings to county durham and charge for storage. They were not in uniform and the company we'd booked was North Yorkshire Removals and Storage. It was only when they arrived in a van with Ramshaws livery that we found out they are one and the same company. A stressfull day made so much the worse. When we called to complain the phone was put down on us and writing in gained an apology and offer of £75 refund. On demanding the full amount that was extorted from us using blackmail, we have had no response. A very unpleasant company, we do not recommend for anything. .

Service cost: £835

We had a fantastic service from this company. Kevin & Dave were professional, reassuring & patient on what was a difficult day, moving my elderly parents from their comfort zone to a totally new City.
They arrived on time. All furniture/ beds were wrapped before been loaded and we had no damages at the other end. They listed every box and item that was loaded on a check off sheet.

Sarah who works in the office and takes the bookings was also very helpful and nothing was too much trouble.

Service cost: £650

I moved home recently and my friend recommended I use Ramshaw Removals. I'm so glad I let them move me because they were professional, polite and made my move so stress free. The office staff were very helpful from start to finish and the crew who moved me knew what they were doing and I was so impressed I will recommend them to anybody. I will be recommending them to a friend who is buying a house in Spain because the crew mentioned they do a lot of runs to Spain and France etc .

Service cost: £750

I had a complaint with my removals on the day to which I unfortunately had the pleasure of being referred to Ramshaws Managing Direct Andrew Smith. He informed me I could suck his sausage (he actually said far worse than this but can't swear on here) rather than accept my complaint of trying to over charge me on the day over what had already been agreed. The sheer rudeness of this firm when there are problems is shocking. Honestly don't bother!

Moving house is stressful enough, but being shouted at down the phone and continually being sworn at as you had a straight forward complaint just tops it off.

I wish I had used a replicable company.. I really really wish I had!

Service cost: £700

Very disappointing. Not offered carpet protection of any description. Removal men trampled mud through carpets. Didn't seem to care when I complained. Ramshaws refused to pay 20 for carpet cleaning stuff for me to clean it. Said it was tough and I should have taken out 'carpet protection' which I wasn't offered. This ruined my day.

Then an antique chair was broken. Pictures and signed docs from ramshaw staff.. Now they don't answer my calls and have not replied to emails.

Do not use.

Service cost: £1400

This company start out as very professional and courteous when they first provide you with a quote. Once they have your business their communication is poor. They turned up late on 3 days, demanded payment in full 24 hours in advance and then charged extra as the job took longer than they quoted for. Items that were very sentimental to me got broken and they refused to pay for them saying that we were not insured.
They refused to unload our goods from the removals can until additional money was paid. Please do not be duped by this company, you will regret using them.

Service cost: £1200

A friend recommended Ramshaw Removals to me after using them herself she said they were very good. They were very good, the girls in the office were very friendly and just as helpful. They supplied me with packing boxes to pack my valuable items and brought large bags for packing our larger items.
Everything went smoothly and on time and all our belongings were picked up on time and arrived on time. The removals men very very efficient and friendly and none of our items suffered any damage.
My friend recommended them to me and I would also recommend them to my friends - and anyone else.

Service cost: £450

I initially obtained a quote for £450 plus vat for my move from newcastle to norfolk. I asked if I could add on a fridge freezer and a couple of other little bits and was told because the weight had changed that it would now be £900 plus vat. I said that I could buy a new fridge freezer for the difference in price so just take it off so the weight could go down. They then said regardless whether I took the fridge freezer off or not they would still only quote me £900 plus vat because that was the vehicle they had allocated me for the day I wanted to move - which was fair enough.

So I then asked if I put a quote in for the original things (not including the items that id wanted add on after) but to be delivered a different day, would I get the original quote and then she told me no, it would still be £900 plus vat because of the distance. Yet they knew the distance when they first quoted me £450 plus vat.

I feel like they were trying to bully me into paying the higher amount because of how close I was to my moving day.

Thankfully I found another company, Two Men and a Truck which managed to sort me out a great deal, moving everything for a lot cheaper!!

I would never approach ramshaws again, their customer service is shocking!

Service cost: £1080

We didn't have the best experience with Ramshaws.

Initially, the evaluation they carried out was good. After booking we tried to contact them a few times and it was difficult to get hold of someone.
On the day of the move, the vans they brought were too small and the two guys who packed us up would never have finished the job in one day if it wasn't for help they received from us and our family.
They get one star as one of the guys worked his socks off to get us moved, the other guy didn't seem to want to be there, I counted at least 5 cigarette breaks in the first 3 hours. He also kept smoking in the van next to our stuff despite being asked not to.

Wouldn't use them again.

P.S. Don't bother with the carpet protection option. It's useless and a trip hazard.

Service cost: £850

This was the worse experience I have ever had with any company in my life. The stress they caused, the disregard for the inconvenience they caused, the lack of care, the total disrespect, the lack of customer service, how they sleep at night is beyond me. They packed their truck with all our belongings on Thursday to deliver the next day in Surrey. An hour later received a phone call advising that their truck broke down on the A1 right next to their storage units. We were told we wouldn’t receive our goods till Tuesday. We didn’t, it took them 18 days to deliver, we spent all that time without our belongings. When we asked for the goods to be delivered on the Saturday they wanted to charge 50% extra. They said I was fortunate as I had free storage. Truly unbelievable. These people are crooks that have no shame. Please read the other reviews I have since discovered. I hope they read this, they should be ashamed. Do not use them, Our belongings are damaged, we spent a fortune on replacements for 18 days, they offered nothing.

Service cost: £1500

I used Ramshaw removals to move my furniture to Malaga as me and my family were relocating to Spain.
Andrew and the team were fantastic from start to finish from Andrew coming out to do the survey to organising the move with the girls in the office to the excellent team of lads that carried out the move they all delivered a first class professional service.
I would highly recommend Ramshaw removals and transport to everyone thanks again guys and keep up the good work.

Service cost: £1950