Posted 22 April 2024

Moving from up north down south

My in-laws have got two companies to quote for moving them from north to south. They live 15 miles further up from Newcastle and they are moving to Surrey. They are moving into a two bed bungalow. It is furniture and no white goods.

One company quoted £1,200 (exc VAT) which seems reasonable. Another one quoted £2,600 (exc VAT) (horror). Costs do not include packing.

It will take over 2 days as they will load one day and travel down the next day or load and travel down, then unload the next day. The distance is 315 miles and the drive will take 5.5 hours.

Of course we would go with the lower quote but I am a bit concerned at the difference in pricing.

Anyone got any comment on the difference in the pricing? I hope the cheaper quote is not from a cowboy company, although they seem to have good reviews.

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22nd Apr
Probably not what you want to hear but this might be interesting:

Rip Off Britain
Series 15: 28. (The 30-minute phone call to cancel your broadband) On iPlayer.

"The team investigate the nationwide removals firm that promised professional, trained staff but subcontracted their work to man-and-van teams who caused hundreds of pounds of damage".
Author
30th Apr
update - so I went back to the company whose quote was low to say that we have had a couple of quotes through and their quote seem to be quite low compared to the other quotes. I stated the distance and time between the 2 properties and asked them to check their quote so that there is no misunderstanding.

guess what? - not heard back from them, nada. So it would appear that they are a bunch of cowboys or that they have made a big mistake but you would expect that they would at least come back to you to say something!

we have decided to go with the quote of £2,086. The guy has asked for 25% deposit via bank transfer to the company account, when we book him in, which sounds fine. He wants the balance to be paid the morning of the move. Is it safe to pay everything before they have reached the new property and unloaded? Last time we moved, which was only 6 miles! the cost was £500 and we paid 50% deposit then the remaining when the job was complete.

update 2 - I contacted the company and asked if we could pay 25% deposit, then 25% when they come and move in the morning and the final 50% when they complete the job and they have agreed, so all good. We would have been stuffed if they didn't agree as there are not many to choose from for a long distance move! (edited)
22nd Apr
I moved end of 2022 from Yorkshire to Scotland, a distance of about 240 miles. It is a four bedrooms house. They packed the house which took a day and a half, took the stuff into storage for a month, drive It to Scotland and unpacked, so again another two days. They did absolutely everything, and there were quite goods and garage contents included. I paid £4500 all in. There were three of them loading and two unloading. One professional men told me they get paid £15 an hour as a rough guide. I got several quotes and they were all in the same ball park
Author
22nd Apr
I tried 4 companies and 2 said that they don't do long distance. Based on your costs, the £1,200 one doesn't sound like cowboy price and so it would seem that the £2,600 is too high.
22nd Apr
Hire your own van for anything valuable or delicate, leave the rest to a removals company.
22nd Apr
That is a very good idea
22nd Apr
£1200 seems far too cheap, considering the 640 round trip, a full 2 day job including travel and probably hotel and meals for 2 to 3 man team.
Author
22nd Apr
This is my worry. Maybe I should see if I can get another company to quote.

The cheap company has branches in the northeast and they have good reviews, so I am surprised that they have quoted so cheaply.
23rd Apr
A quick quote on anyvan gave this....

Author
23rd Apr
yeah, that was my starting point but I wasn't going to use anyvan as they have dire reviews. I got another company to quote today and they said that £1,200 + VAT is too low and that would be that the company got the quotes mixed up or they are doing more than one family at a time so we share a big lorry.

this company quoted £2,086 exc VAT, which is comparable with the £2,600 exc VAT quote, which they said was on the high side.

i don't know if i should go back to the cheap company and raise my concern that their quote is too low? (edited)
23rd Apr
£1200 does sound quite low. I moved from York to Northamptonshire in December and used Pickfords, Think it was around £2000 inc VAT and included dis-assembling/re-assembling some furniture, move was over 2 days. Surprisingly they were cheaper than the local firms we got quotes from and they were fantastic and they loaded/unloaded so quickly so definitely took some of the stress out of moving.
Author
23rd Apr
pickfords came up when i googled long distance moves but i thought they may too expensive as they have 0800 number and any company that has 0800 numbers aren't going to be cheap!

suprised to hear that they were reasonable. I may get a quote from them as well. Did they come out to look at the stuff that they would be moving to give you the quote?
22nd Apr
3 quotes always

check out what each quote gives in terms of insurance and check against the cover current home contents covers.

gocompare.com/hom…se/

Use a removal company who is a member of bar.co.uk/

A good removal company would be one that has all the contacts so can reduce the possibility of coming back "empty" so can pass on savings. (edited)
Author
22nd Apr
Yes, 3 is always best but I found that it isn't easy to get a moving company that will travel this far. I contacted 4 and two of them said they don't do long distance. So finding a company with good reviews that will move across the country isn't easy.
22nd Apr
Check this
comparemymove.com/adv…ost

£1200 seems alright for 2 days work?
Author
22nd Apr
That is what I wanted to gauge. Would 2 days work mean £1,200 is too low. It will probably be half day for loading and then a long full day for travel and unload, then drive back. It takes 6 hours to travel the distance from north to south, about 320 miles. (edited)
22nd Apr
Is it possible that the cheaper company are doing a split load and also taking another move in the same van?
Author
22nd Apr
we have only asked for the quote at this stage and we do not know the moving date yet as it is part of a sale and buy move. i will go back to them and confirm the stuff they are moving and the mechanism of the move but it does seem very cheap compared to the higher quote.

the cheaper company is a larger company with offices in the north east so may be they will load others on the way as my in-laws aren't moving a lot of stuff. the more expensive company is a small local company so may be they aren't used to moving long distance, unlike the bigger company. (edited)
23rd Apr
I arranged a move for someone - Kent to Surrey a round trip of about 130 miles. We had packed everything china, ornaments etc in bubblewrap and bought a load of £2 plastic boxes with lids from Poundland. Everything else wrapped and put into sealed cardboard boxes. The removal company sent five men including the driver to load up, dismantle two beds, re-build and carry a three seater settee and two armchairs all upstairs to the new property plus a dining room table and four chairs. They also disconnected a washing machine. They started loading at 8am and finished unpacking (having had their breakfast en route) by 2.30pm. This was a couple of years ago and cost £1,900. Quotes varied a lot but this was the one we felt happiest with as they sent a guy round to estimate. Others were online and wanted a list of the main bulky items and how many boxes there would be.

Bear in mind there might also be ULEZ or Congestion Charges depending upon which cities/towns they pass through or any toll routes.
Author
23rd Apr
from all the comments, it just sounds like the £1,200 exc VAT is just not right.
5 h, 18 m ago
Probably a bit late now but wouldn't you want to pay by credit card for at least some of the cost if possible for a bit of added protection?
Author
4 m ago
The company doesn't take cards, only bank transfers. Smaller companies don't have card facilities.