Route Removals

[NAME EDIT] appeared to represent a professional and experienced removal company, but we found this could not have been further from the truth.
She ordered a truck that was no where near large enough. This resulted in our belongings being scattered outside and in the stairwell of the apartment block on moving day, causing inconvenience to our neighbours who at times could not even pass to get to their homes. The second truck did not turn up until around 3pm. We were meant to have vacated the property by 2pm.
The removal men spent the whole day arguing and could not work as a team. One of them had never done a move before and he was the better one of the two! They dropped my fridge down the central stairwell causing major damage. No compensation has been received despite documentation stating our belongings were insured during the move and an inventory list accurately completed. During the initial assessment we were informed a clothes rail would be used, however our clothes were first of all laid on the floor of the truck and then hung against the dirty walls of the second truck. I had to phone [NAME EDIT] repeatedly before a clothes rail was found a put to use.
I have moved house many times in my life including moving country twice and have never experienced such a stressful day as this.

Service cost: £960

Brilliant service and brilliant price! I was sceptical based on the reviews but they turned up on time, worked so hard in the cold/snow and did an amazing job. I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. I had bought a few extra items after they provided a quote, this was no issue as they still moved them with a small charge which was very fair. I came to Route Removals at short notice and they still managed to book me in on the day requested.They couldn’t of provided a better service. Moving has usually been so stressful but they took this stress away. I highly recommend them and would use them again. Extremely efficient, helpful and professional and nothing was too much trouble. Such a shame that only people review companies when they have a complaint, far too much negativity. Thanks again, Mary.

Service cost: £750

We hired this company on the 13th of November for a house move between Bromley to Orpington .

Avi & Jay are the people I was in touch with Jay being the person who did the Inventory Visit.

In order to be fair I would like to write the positives of the company first (won’t take long ) This was pointed out to me by Avi in one of our many heated telephone conversations through the afternoon that reviewers are biased in their comments and never highlight the great & the good of a company .

The pro IS - delivery of box’s & bubble wrap about 10 days before the move with them being the first company to return our call and doing the inventory ( which unfortunately led to issues later ) .The end.

The cons ARE
1/ delayed start - agreed verbally over the telephone with Jay the previous day for a 9:00 clock start . The time on the agreement was 10:00 but arrived 11:15. This was disputed later .
2/Wreckless handling of the goods - our sofa bed was supposed to be dismantled instead it was broken . They had the guile to argue afterwards that we had been informed that the sofa arm had to come “off “. They did not apologise for the broken arm . We declined their offer to reassemble it as it would not be useable anyway but they then wanted confirmation from us later on that we wouldn’t chase them for repairs for insurance purposes. We were so fed up & did not look forward to dealing with them further ,we just let it go .
3/ on arrival at the property the drivers told us (as seems to be the running theme in their dealings from previous reviewers) that we had included “additional” furniture that was not part of the inventory and to pay upfront 120£ over the 300£ that was agreed in order to release our items.
We refused to pay up & there was a stand-off for almost 2 hours with their van on our driveway . All this while multiple angry telephone conversations with Avi & Jay ensued.
We were told they would start charging us for holding up their van with our goods for which we replied they could take our stuff but we would involve the police .
In the end they relented and our things were released with us not having to pay the additional sum but the original sum of 300£.
4/ Jay & Avi need to work on their customer service skills - it was like speaking to 2 different people after we decided to use their company
5/ Jay NEEDS to show us a copy of the inventory or take pictures if needs be of the furniture & either discuss it with us then and there or , send it to us along with the agreement to avoid confusion & consternation later on .
I suspect from the previous reviews & our experience that it is by design, a tactic that the inventory list is purposely omitted in order to demand more as it then is his words against ours .

Hopefully Route Removals heed the customer reviews & make the necessary changes but till then I would not like anyone to experience the hellish day we did .

Service cost: £300

[NAME EDIT] was the sale rep that gave us a quote and promised us good quality service. We paid for a full packing service with furniture to be dismantled and reassemble. Pre-move they did not fully pack up the flat as we asked, on the day of the move did not have tools to dismantle the furniture (we had to go out and buy tools), turned up late (which meant we were late in leaving - picked up keys at 1pm but didn't finish packing until 3.30pm) and had a few items, such as mirror/pictures still not properly wrapped up. [NAME EDIT] on the phone, wouldn’t listen to our complaint, drove off with our things, made up that we put their employees in danger by blocking their van (how did they drive off if we did) and wouldn’t return them even when we paid - which we were so unhappy to do. Would never recommend this company at all.

Service cost: £900

Before the move, these guys seemed professional and accommodative. However on the day of the move, they became increasingly rude and brash as the day progressed. One of the characters [NAME EDIT] was particularly aggressive and began to intimidate my wife, who felt threatened by his behaviour. At the end he created a noisy ruckus outside the house and bashed his removal van against the side of the house, resulting in permanent damage to the plastering of the house.

They rushed off the property without giving us a chance to review their work, and it was only after they left did we realise they had damaged an expensive piece of furniture. And neither did they reassemble the king-size bed or dining table properly (as the legs are shaky), nor properly site the washing machine. At the end, we were left with having to sort out the mess they created- despite having paid them a fortune.

Despite having pointed out the damaged plastering on the house caused by their removal van, there was no apology and no offer to repair the damage they created.

The purpose of this review is to warn all prospective movers about this rogue group of clowns who claim to be removers- AVOID ROUTE REMOVALS AT ALL COST! They came across as being most unprofessional, aggressive and rude. And [NAME EDIT] in particular is a dangerous character to be avoided at all costs- he needs to urgently attend anger management class and learn how to speak to women; he lacks any concept about customer relations.

Service cost: £600

[NAME EDIT] came around and made an inventory of everything we had and also advised us on what to pack ourselves and what would be packed by the movers.. We had opted for the full packing service.. One day packing and one day moving. Was in constant contact with the removal company before the actual move date.. The day before the move, [NAME EDIT] and [NAME EDIT] came with packing stuff and I was more than happy to leave them packing up the house whilst I went out to run errands on moving.. They moved some of the larger items like sofas and dining tables on the packing day so there was more space to organise the smaller things.. Everything was packed into boxes according to room.. On the day of the move I left them to fill up the van whilst I was able to sort the house out.. They unpacked everything into the correct rooms, put the furniture back together and left everything neat and tidy. There was only one broken thing in the whole move which was a pleasant surprise. For a reasonable fee they also disposed of a number of large items that I no longer needed from the new house.. I had read some of the negative review and was a bit apprehensive but in the end it all went well.. All the moving boxes and clothes rail were provided and they are picking up the used boxes this week to dispose of them.

Service cost: £1000

I just want you all to know how grateful I am for you guys. I had been cancelled by another moving company due to the fact they were overbooked. I then rang around frantically and came across Route Removals who came out the very next day and gave me a quote. He was very thorough and told me exactly what to expect and how everything would be packed and taken care. On the moving day the two gentleman expeditiously moved all of my items into my apartment and when our sofa did not fit into the lift, located the nearest stairs and offered another service.The team worked well together and provided speed and efficiency.

Service cost: £740

How this company are still trading is beyond me!!.
The van arrived and was clearly too small the driver agreed. We were moving from England to Wales, so had a long drive ahead, we had to get everything out of the house and leave it on the pavement with the removal men while they waited for the second van, by the time they reached the new house it was gone midnight. Things were smashed and when I contacted Jay the manager he told me he should have charge me another £500 for the second van and to go to B&Q and buy new ones!!

Do not use this company of you want a smooth move.

Service cost: £950

We found [NAME EDIT] to be very professional and thorough during our meeting for our move. She promised us boxes as part of our deal that would be delivered asap for us to pack. She also promised us a clothes rail so we had no need to pack up clothes.

We never received these boxes, we phoned and emailed to find out about them and they either never answered us or gave us a story that they would send them on the day if worst came to worst.

We were told our van would arrive between 9 and 10am on the morning move. At 10.40 no van had arrived so we contacted [NAME EDIT] who was on holiday and hadn't given us any contact details for someone else to liase with. We were then told our van was broken and another was on its way and would be another 2 hours! we had a schedule to keep to which was now out the window! If we had not rung we would not have been told any information. When we phoned back again expressing our frustration and upset about the stress caused we were hung up on by a man who said he owned the company and that he couldn't help us and we should be grateful for the deal we got. he then told us we were being aggressive for just trying to get a word in edgways on the phone and threatened to cancel our service all because we asked for some compensation for not receiving boxes and our service being between 3-4 hours late! when the van finally arrived they came with no moving equipment no boxes and no rail so all of our fragile belongings had to be moved in bin bags. in fairness the boys were very nice and did the job quickly but not much care was taken with our vintage furniture.

We were told we wouldn't have to move anything it would all be done for us but we ended up doing half of it ourselves. Our belongings were also held [EDIT]on the truck until we paid the full amount of which at the time we had no option but to pay.

The way we were spoken to and shut down by the guy on the day was appalling and we were very upset and stressed by the actions. If we had just been phoned on the morning to explain about the truck we would have accepted it and been fine but to not be told and then lied to about timings etc is highly unacceptable.

Service cost: £280

After reading the reviews I was slightly apprehensive to use Route Removals but I decided to give them benefit of the doubt and engage their services

They gave a realistic valuation and achieved the sale. The
support was excellent and they communicated well and when necessary were on hand with advice from packing materials to how to arrange parking dispensation. Route Removals even went the extra mile on our behalf when we had a tight deadline to meet for the exchange, offering to personally deliver the keys for us which really helped and saved a lot of stress!

Service cost: £580

It is so easy to write a compliant these days, but this company gets full stars from me.

25 April, I had to make a life changing decision and leave my home of 24 years and route removal came to my rescue.

The wonderful man single handedly removed all my items and I didn't lift a finger. The. When we arrived at my new place they lifted and placed everything where I wanted it.

I am honestly so grateful to the team! I seriously recommend this company to anyone who wants an efficient and swift move!

The price was extremely affordable given the service and number of items I had! I remember paying £60-75 max! Fantastic overall!

Service cost: £75

On the surface Route Removals seem like a professional company but this couldn't be further from the truth. Firstly, the price kept going up as they said there was more work than they realized. Secondly, my daughter's debit card was taken and used on the day that we moved and one of their workers spent £40 on it before it was cancelled. Thirdly, my son's PS4 was also stolen and lastly we've discovered that a pair of his trainers have also gone. I definitely can't recommend this company. If you do use them make sure you have a full inventory of your belongings and never leave them alone with your stuff.

Service cost: £2000

Sent for a quote listing the major items needing to be packed up and dismantled, they quoted us £400. We thought great, day of removal, they were 30minutes late but took just over 2 and half hours to pack up the flat with 3 men, which was fine. They then later went back to the depot to change the van, due to items being too "heavy" but then in the lorry, it was only filled 1/3 of the way.

The driver only left London at 6pm but was stopped by one of the guys back at the office after demanding another £800 for stupid reasons (having a few extra items, according to the office guy we had over 35extra boxes, which we never). If we didn't pay up our goods wouldn't be delivered, so we had no choice but to pay.

The guy at the office then calls at 8pm to say the driver is going to be another 2hours. Come 10pm still no sign of the driver. Come 11pm, the office guy calls to say the driver is going to be another hour and half, meaning the driver would not turn up till 12:30! He was not even apologetic for the delivery being so late and still expected people to open up otherwise our items would be dumped or sent back and then we would need to pay more to get the items back. The guy on the phone was rude and abusive and also threatened me with my own goods. Also said I wasn't a customer, only my husband was the customer because he paid and signed the contract even though I was on the receiving end waiting for the goods. He also expected me to leave my back door leading to the garage and the garage open so the driver could unload if I wasn't willing to wait up for the goods. Why on earth would anyone in their right mindS leave their garage with personal belongingS inside open in the middle of the night? Is this man crazy? Doesn't make any sense to me at all!

Me being a mother to a young baby hasd no choice but to wait for this driver with all our goods. Come 1am, there was still no sign of the driver and was told by the office guy he was going to be another 10mins. 45mins later the driver turns up, only to find that he was on his own!! How do they expect one man to unload a "lorry full" of goods on his own, it would take hours! Luckily the driver was nice, apologised for the lateness and told us to chill while he unpacked. I offered a hand with the lighter items with it being so late and I just wanted it to be over and done with. Eventually at 3am the goods were unloaded into the garage and the nightmare was over.

I can't believe a company would expect a mum with a young baby to wait till stupid hours in the morning for a delivery, talk about poor time planning, not forgetting the abuse, poor excuses and rudeness I had to deal with.

I would never ever use or recommend this company if my life depended on it. This company is a scam and will take your money! DO NOT USE, AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Terrible company and terrible management.

Service cost: £1200

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! I read their reviews online beforehand but assumed the bad ones were written by people who had perhaps not followed procedures properly. I can honestly say that ALL the bad reviews on this site and others are a true reflection of this company.
The first van turned up at 11am with two men to do the move. The 2nd smaller van turned up at 12pm with a driver who said he was only driving and not doing any moving. FOUR of us (me, my husband, my sister and her partner) ended up doing most of the carrying of our belongings, lifting heavy items like the fridge and washing machines. My sister's belongings fitted in the first van. My husband's and my belongings did not fit in the second van so we ended up having to leave behind several items in a neighbour's front garden which we then had to drive and pick up the next day! Luckily we were only moving about 8 miles away, but imagine if we had been moving to Scotland!
We expressed our displeasure at this service and said we were not prepared to pay the full quote. Jay then decided to accuse us of HIDING some of our belongings when he came to give us the quote which is why our belongings didn't fit in the vans he sent! He claimed we had also never told him we were taking our white goods with us (why would we leave them all behind?!) and then held our belongings ransom on the van and refused to unload them unless we paid over £100 MORE for 'lying' to him!! Honestly, we were so exhausted and upset by this stage, we paid it after about 45 minutes of stand off, but we swore we would write a review to warn others. And sadly, I should have believed the previous reviews which basically show that this is a common trick that he plays. DO NOT USE THEM! .

Service cost: £600

We chose this company among other shortlisted. Unfortunately, we were fooled by JAY (the culprit) who promised 1st class service until the day of the move. We initially agreed a price of £1050.00, but ended up paying (wait for it) £1967.50 to have our goods released that were being held at ransom until the inflated amount was paid.
On the day of the move a small van arrived. It was a lot smaller than the 12 ton van that had been promised. We rang him to complain and he assured us another van was in the way.
The guys started loading the 1st van and when they filled the van, we still had loads of stuff left. Had they sent the right size van in the beginning none of the drama would have occurred. The time to vacate had come and gone. New owners had already started moving in. Embarrassed and most importantly we had breached the contract with new owners. Solicitors were calling. New owners rightly wanted to enjoy their house without us roaming around. Eventually, the loading guys left for lunch about 2 pm, up the road,they said. They were to come back when 2nd van had arrived. WE DID NOT SEE THEM AGAIN UNTIL 8.30 pm, when the 2nd van arrived. Frantic phone calls to this guy, Jay who ignored our calls. The one call he answered, he lied the that the guys were 30 minutes away. Our stuff were now all over the drive and as we had to get them out of the house in a hurry. In the end they loaded the 2nd van and left at 9.30 pm for a completion that had occurred at 1 pm! (We have since had to pay costs to our buyers for breach of contract.)
The arrangement was for them to store our stuff until the next day when our completion to our new property was due.
The next day Jay rang my wife at 8.30 am asking what time we were collecting keys. My wife stated Solicitors offices were not even open. He then said he was going to deliver the stuff to the address. We still had not completed yet!
We phoned him back to tell him not to attempt to deliver items to an address we still did not own. This is when he said, actually we had more stuff loaded than declared that is why we needed a second van. But remember he sent a small van in the 1st place. He then increased the charge by £220.00 for extra van. How can it be 'extra' if he had sent an inadequate one at the beginning. He told my wife he was going to give her until 10 am to complete and get keys otherwise he would start charging £120.00 per hour waiting time per van I.e £220.00 per hr for 2 vans. We managed to collect keys at 12 midday, which is normal practise for these things. We made over 10 calls and messages to tell him we had keys. They all went unanswered. He ignored our calls to inflate the charges. He then called at 2 pm and we asked why he hasn't been answering calls or messages. He rudely replied that he was busy and wasn't looking at his phone. So for our sins he charged an extra £480.00 per van waiting time. We were charged until 2 pm and yet we had been trying to contact him from 12 midday - he chose not to respond.
The total paid magically added to £1967.50. We tried to negotiate that in-fact he had made us wait from 2 until 9.30 pm the previous day. But the guy did not even apologies for what he did. He was adamant he would not release our goods and would continue to charge £120.00 per hour thereafter.
We were frustrated and ended up paying as we had no choice.
If I were you, I WOULD NOT RISK to hire this company. If you ignore my caution you will be the next to be writing similar review. You've been warned!

Service cost: £1968

Route Removals moved my furniture and possessions from London to Worthing on 01-Feb of this year and did a first class job. I'd have no hesitation using them again and on this showing, would give full marks for their price competitiveness, excellent customer care/communication and overall service delivery. The move was done to the agreed fixed price following Ravi's initial survey visit and I was impressed by the speed, courtesy and care taken by Jay and Daniel in removing/delivering my stuff on the day. Thank you Route Removals!

Service cost: £530

We used Route Removals Ltd for our move from London to Humberside. We received a prompt inventory visit and immediately after received an unbeatable price via email. The surveyor was very helpful and answered all of my questions that I had in regards to their service. With not using a removal service before I was very curious and had lots of questions

The staff that carried out the move was very professional, neat and tidy. We requested a packing service as we have 3 kids and packing ourselves would be a struggle. They took extra care to ensure that my fragile ornaments etc were packed properly with bubble wrap etc. They were quick throughout the packing service but also efficient and done the job at a very high standard. When it came to loading the items onto the vehicle the staff worked so hard and got the job done in no time. As moving up north and weather was not great, they were mindful of my carpets and ensured they wore their overshoes. I couldn’t believe how quick and efficient it was to get everything in and out of the vehicle and in the correct rooms they belonged in.


I would thoroughly recommend and would like to thank all of the staff at Route Removals once again for their hard continuous work from start to finish. Who would of thought a move with 3 children and a husband would be so easy!

Service cost: £1680

When I submitted my name & e-mail to 3rd-party mover websites to find quotes I was contacted by the admin staff within 5 minutes and to my surprise a home visit was booked to assess the removal services on the same day! We were moving from a cramped apartment to a three-bedroom home, this is our big move to a house finally. I was a little hesitant as I read reviews on Route Removals, however like all services you have to take the good with the bad. The team arrived early on the moving day to get a head start. They packed everything with carefully into the truck. The boxes containing breakables were attentively stacked and secured. They finished loading everything within hours. These guys were head and shoulders above the other movers I have worked with in the past. The delivery was timely too. They unloaded and put everything where it belonged. It was a great moving experience made possible by these guys!

Service cost: £980

Route Removals were very understanding when we had to move the date a few times and they did their best to accommodate us especially around the festive period.

From the initial booking to the delivery, I found the experience pleasant and reassuring. As promised the team arrived between their hourly slot, honoured the free clothes rail, mattress covers and even brought blue shoe covers to accommodate the drizzly weather whilst moving into our new carperted property. Nice touch guys!

When they arrived there was a room to room service and I was astonished by the speed and strengh at which my things were unpacked but also pleased they took note of the fragile marked boxes. When it came to reassembling my Pax sliding door wardrobe, the team remainined in good spirit and did a spendid job.

In short I have no hesitation recommending this company and will use them again in the future.

A big thankyou to everyone involved in our removal at Route Removals.

Service cost: £800

Route Removals were really efficient and helpful from start to finish,all at a very reasonable price.
The whole team worked non stop in a very calm & organised manner. When my sofa wouldn't fit up the stairs in my new property they kindly offered to collect another sofa of mine that same day at no extra charge. All beds and wardrobes were reassembled perfectly and quickly.
As I was preparing to move I needed more boxes and they provided them within a few hours.
Highly recommend this company if you want a stress and hassle free move.

Service cost: £580