Packing all of your worldly possessions into boxes and stacking them up in a van to be transported to another destination is no mean feat. Factor in the legal and financial dealings and the general upheaval of breaking from a normal routine and relocating to another destination and it can be appreciated why moving house is renowned to be a stressful event. At the present time, there is even more pressure, if you’re trying to move before the stamp duty holiday ends.
When it comes to choosing a company to carry out your house removals, it’s worth taking your time to ensure that you’re choosing a legitimate and reputable mover. As in all industries, there are, unfortunately, companies that are out to make a ‘quick buck’ and provide a shoddy, sub-standard service at best. Here are just a few golden rules to follow to help spot a rogue mover and avoid entrusting your worldly goods to a cowboy removal company:
There’s no ‘badges’
One of the main things to always look out for with a removal company, is that they’re members of the British Association of Removers and for, reassurance of their credibility as an international mover; members of FIDI. These accreditations means that they are independently audited and assessed to guarantee quality and professionalism.
They’re camera shy
Virtually all companies have a website and a standard form of advertising. It’s worth looking closely though. You’d expect to see some ‘real life’ photographs of their vans, their removal crews and the moves hey have carried out on their websites and social media channels. When companies don’t show these and use only generic ‘stock images’ on all of their online platforms it raises the question of why they don’t want you to see their vans and their crews.
There’s no pre-move survey
Rogue removers are inclined to pull a figure out of thin air and insist that they don’t need to see your premises, the volume of effects you’re moving or take into account any problematic access. A reputable, experienced remover will most likely send a surveyor out to the premises to generate an accurate quotation, or conduct a moving survey via video and appropriately allocate resources to competently complete the move on moving day.
Their online presence is patchy
One of the best ways to choose a removal company is based on recommendations from other people. This may be via word of mouth or, increasingly it may be from online reviews. All companies fall prey to fake reviews from competitors etc but generally speaking a reputable company will have accrued a decent stock of favourable reviews online. Review sites like ‘Sirelo’ for example feature reviews that are verified to ensure that they are submitted by people who have genuinely used the services of the removal company. A rogue trader maybe suspiciously absent from any of the removal review sites.
