... This was with Pickfords and they were fantastic. Nothing went “missing” and not a thing was broken.
I REALLY DID MISS HAGGIS MUNCHING
There comes a time in every Scotsman’s life when the swirl of the kilt, the call of the bagpipes and the smell of a decent chippie and a haggis supper ... Read review
Advantages: Reliable, trustworthy and reputable firm Disadvantages: Used agency staff on the delivery stage (see op)
...moons ago. This was with Pickfords and they were fantastic. Nothing went “missing” and not a thing was broken.
I REALLY DID MISS HAGGIS MUNCHING
There comes a time in every Scotsman’s life when the swirl of the kilt, the call of the bagpipes and the smell of a decent chippie and a haggis supper becomes too much and he recovers from his lapse in marrying an English lass and settling in England and moves back home. Besides ... ...sell haggis suppers!
Pickfords delivered our boxes, packing tape and plain white and soft packing paper, so Mrs B got to work carefully packing our prized possessions, whilst I idly wasted away my life on Ciao earning a huge amount from the premium fund (not! Although I did get a £3 questionnaire to do). 70 boxes later Pickfords arrived.
Their lorry was huge and had side doors so that the whole lorry could be opened out. They then ... more
Now don’t get jealous karenuk, tange, seagulls lost horizon and you other Ciao Dr Who addicts, but I have a huge Dalek collection, and next to my mistress, they are my pride and joy. Not even my Son, who’s a brainwashed Dr Who fan, gets to touch them. I even have a two handed Davros before the company, Dapol, realised that Davros only has one hand, and had to withdraw the entire range and make new ones. So, who was I going to trust when we moved from Woodbridge to Aberdeen?
GET MY GUN!
Well being ex army we’ve moved around a lot and have some experience of removals crew. We’ve gone through the experience of having stuff nicked, missing, broken, bashed and dented. I shan’t name names as I’m always careful of being done for defamation, libel or slander, but having had the experience of 7 different removals firms I would need a magazine of 6 rounds to demonstrate how many I was satisfied with! That was what we thought would be our last move since leaving the army a few moons ago. This was with Pickfords and they were fantastic. Nothing went “missing” and not a thing was broken.
I REALLY DID MISS HAGGIS MUNCHING
There comes a time in every Scotsman’s life when the swirl of the kilt, the call of the bagpipes and the smell of a decent chippie and a haggis supper becomes too much and he recovers from his lapse in marrying an English lass and settling in England and moves back home. Besides over 600miles should be a safe distance to put between us and the inlaws! So we did the usual thing of getting a few quotes from removals firms, Pickford’s included.
HOW !£%$*@?MUCH!
Now to get from Woodbridge, Suffolk to Aberdeen is no mean journey. We can do it in about 11 hours, without the restriction of an HGV licence and their laws. So the removals firms all said they’d have to do it in 3 days. Day 1: Load up and drive. Day 2: Drive Day 3: Deliver
We went for the cheaper option of packing ourselves, not just because of the price, but because from our past experience we knew packers weren’t that careful and we didn’t want any unnecessary damages. Now I’d have thought a local firm would be cheap but they came out with the dazzling price of £4000. I did look in the mirror, but couldn’t see GUM on my forehead. The price is because being a local crew they’d have to take all their crew with them and pay for food and accommodation, etc. Or is it because the Managing Director who came to see us drove a huge flash car! Another national firm would also take their own crew but would charge us only £2500. But then the nice man from Pickford’s came to see us and my wallet was taken off the cardiac monitor.
THE NICE MAN FROM PICKFORD’S
They’re all nice people at Pickford’s. I firmly believe that if all people in an organisation are courteous and happy then it is a true representation of a firm. Without any sales patter (which I hate, I’m a no-nonsense, get to the point sort of chap, except when writing on Caio when wordage and entertainment is all important) or false promises he effortlessly guided us through the planned schedule of our move. I shan’t go into a guide on how to choose a removals firm, as there are already some excellent ops under member advice, which I found most useful. Instead, I’ll give my opinion and experience of Pickfords. The estimator came to have a look around our house. Checking for access for the crew and items that may need special care, such as an intricately carved elephant table that is Mrs B’s pride and joy. He calculated how much “stuff” we had and accordingly gave a quote. We were giving some advice about how to pack and which lettered boxes were to be used for items such as books, kitchen ware, clothing, etc. He described the timings for the move, and was the only firm that actually asked us what times we would like the crew to arrive and depart. As Pickford’s is a national firm, he explained that they would use local crew at both houses and there would be one driver, thus keeping costs down. So, the total bill (including VAT) came to £1786, which was their summer holiday rate. Had we moved in the winter, less busy months the price would have been a few hundred pounds less. We could have taken out Pickford’s Insurance policy for a further £266, but checking with our own household insurance, I got exactly the same cover for £40. We had to pay the total bill at least 7 working days in advance of the move by cheque. There would have been an extra charge had we paid by credit card. In case of events such as the house sale falling through, we could have taken out a cancellation waiver fee of £152, but I really was sure we had to flee from the inlaws!
FLEEING WOODBRIDGE
Shame really because I liked it there, but the chippie didn’t sell haggis suppers! Pickfords delivered our boxes, packing tape and plain white and soft packing paper, so Mrs B got to work carefully packing our prized possessions, whilst I idly wasted away my life on Ciao earning a huge amount from the premium fund (not! Although I did get a £3 questionnaire to do). 70 boxes later Pickfords arrived. Their lorry was huge and had side doors so that the whole lorry could be opened out. They then unfolded a clever ramp so they could go straight into the lorry. Although they had trolley’s they preferred to manually lift the boxes and furniture. What impressed me and Mrs B is that they were all smartly dressed in uniform and always courteous, even calling us sir and madam. They even tolerated the Mistress and the kids running around and made a fuss of them. We had three crew members, once of whom was the driver who’d drive all the way to Aberdeen on his lonesome (a really nice chap called Keith who is an asset to Pickfords).
An army marches on its stomach
We provided tea and toast before they started, and copious amounts of tea and biscuits throughout their pack, yet they never loitered about over tea breaks. Our four bed-roomed house, loft and shed contents was loaded into the lorry within three hours. There was no damage to the building, despite a very narrow staircase and tight corner. We could have taken out a £25 per building insurance cover, but elected not to as we’d used Pickfords before and there was no damage. They even accommodated waiting for the hoover whilst we vacuumed the house for the new owners. And of course they happily packed the last box for us with kettle, mugs etc. The crew always carry extra boxes for any last minute packing.
How much to tip
It’s always a difficult subject. In restaurants, I use the 10% guide, but this would have been £178! So we gave each £5, and a further £5 each at the other end (and more choccy biscuits and tea, etc). All seemed happy, especially Keith who got £10 and one of Mrs B’s elephant prints for his mum (we had to keep him sweet otherwise he’s have had Mrs B’s elephant table as his mum also collects elephants!). I would be interested to learn how much other people tip removals firms crew as we’ll be moving out of rented accommodation one day into our own pad and I don’t want to appear a meanie next time!
TWO DAYS LATER IN ABERDEEN AND CHRIS HAS OVERINDULGED ON HAGGIS SUPPERS – WHERE’S THE RENNIES!
We were greeted enthusiastically by Keith as we showed him round our new house and where things were to go. Unfortunately, there was no local Pickfords crew available and we had two agency staff. Although they were smartly attired and very jovial and friendly, they did manage to scrape and dent the upstairs wall (hope my landlord isn’t reading this!). However, this was the only damage and they were careful about positioning the heavy furniture so we wouldn’t have to move it later. None of the furniture was marked, scratched or dented and under Keith’s watchful eye and supervision our worldly goods were reunited and miracously fitted into a three bedroomed house. As we packed our boxes we were responsible for unpacking them. So the crew neatly stacked them against walls in their respective rooms. It’s taken us a few weeks to unpack them (hence my absence from Ciao) and nothing was broken, so well worth using Pickfords again, after all their slogan is “The Careful Movers” . A very apt and well-deserved slogan.
Ciaoer I’d recommend Pickford to: Has to be Proxam to move his vast and impressive beer collection from his cellar!
Advantages: Polite, efficient service Disadvantages: Confusing insurance form
...over £2000. Pickfords offered the best overall package, and at the most competitive price, and after some persuasion from my father, they gave me a little more discount on the price too! However a week or two after arranging this deal, they sent me a special promotion where I could request a further 10 % off my quote. On contacting them they knocked more off my price – not the full 10% but another £20 anyhow. It pays to be cheeky!
So finally we ... ...The staff in the Pickfords depot informed me, that the van would be with me between 9am and half past, but when mum and I arrived at 8.40am they were already there! I was very impressed by the politeness of Bob, Steve and Jason who were our crew for the day. They were as courteous as they could have possibly been, shaking hands to greet us, telling us their names, and letting us know exactly what they would be doing, whilst still being able to joke ...
Shufflebum 13.10.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Pickfords International
...from a few firms but Pickfords were the only ones who offered to come out and visit the house in order to give an accurate quotation. Initially they weren’t the cheapest quote but when I phoned to say that obviously moving is an expensive time and our decision on who to use would be based on removal price they managed to shave a substantial amount off the price. I was told that the removals van would arrive at 9am on the moving day. Moving day arrived ... ...go through but for me Pickfords made our move hassle free. They were prompt, polite, careful but still managed to have a laugh and joke with us in the process.
My only criticism would be that the guys suggested we needed more boxes and that would be a cost of £25 for 10 – we agreed thinking that they would know how many we would need to use for the move. It turned out that we used none of the boxes and these were taken away by Pickfords when they ...
salcin0 10.08.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Pickfords International
International move. AP were supposed to provide full packing/moving/unpacking/insurance.
Men arrived 3 hours late. Couldn't contact anyone who would tell us what was going on. When men did arrive we were given no reasons and they had no packing boxes/materials so they had to go off again to get them. We wondered if we'd ever see them again.
Sloppy packing - items not properly wrapped; clothes thrown into boxes.
At the destination the crate containing ... ...some way. The men would not enter the premises to put the items in place. They would only hand them over the threshold for us to position/unpack/remove and dispose of packaging.
Tried to contact someone at AP whilst all this was going on. Eventually contacted someone but he didn't give a s**t.
The insurance was a total waste of money - of course no help (and lots of hindrance) from AP.
We would have been better giving the stuff away at the old ...
alexw11 06.09.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Pickfords International
Advantages: still trying to think of one Disadvantages: insurance waist of time
well things are still the same at Pickford's i have been waiting for two months for them to deal with my claim i ring time after time and are promised people will call me back but my phone lays silent i have had three broken ornaments one broken lamp four phones and one Bose remote control disappear into thin air the four legs of my leather settee and one gaping hole in the bottom all for the small price of three-thousand-pound i have used them about ... ...on that occasion dealt with it prompt what has gone so bad for them in the last decade as for their insurance cover be very afraid as i have been informed by Pickford's they will not be paying for my settee so will have to have odd feet on my three piece suit not good your thoughts ...
markandpaul 04.03.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Pickfords International
...I am going to recommend Pickfords for one reason and one only.
If you want a trouble free move, no breakages, everyone turning up when promised, cheap charges, arrival on time, and an accurate assessment of how long and how many men are required and when, then Pickfords may not be the one for you. However, from my experience I suggest you are unlikley to find many companies that meet these requirements all the time. What I like about Pickfords though ...
REG 16.09.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Pickfords International
Service efficiency
Care taken with possess...
Competitiveness of char...
Value for money
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Pickfords International"
Advantages: They really like to take your money and then not deliver Disadvantages: Unprofessional, overpriced, late and don't take your thoughts into consideration
We used Allied Pickford to move from NZ to Canada. This is our 3rd international move, and we had never considered using Allied Pickfords in the past. 1st of all our sea container mysteriously ended up in Singapore. It showed up over 4 weeks late. We were told our sea can would be taken from our residence in NZ and delived to our residence in Canada. The office in Vancouver decided for us that they weren't going to honour that. Half way through the move, they decided to unload or belongings in Vancouver and reshuffle them into a moving van. Which just exposes our furniture to more scratches and nicks. We found the person handling our move in both NZ and Vancovuer to be very inconsiderate and basically lied to us. We would recommend anyone other than Allied Pickford. They are very unprofessional. ...