Moving House Guide - Part 6 of 6

Choosing the removal company that suits you

Everyone is different.

Ultimately the choice is yours, forget for a moment the various prices in the quotations you have received, think about what it is you require from the removal firm and which one of them met your criteria the best. You might prefer to have a small family firm that pride themselves on their good name or a large multi national company that will be able to handle anything you throw at them.

Ask family and friends.

You will be surprised how many people have just moved. Recommendations are worth their weight in gold and many companies; rely on word of mouth to get them work. This is often the best way of choosing a firm.

As soon as you have a date

Get in touch with your first choice of removal firm, if they are booked up have at least some more quotes to fall back on. Some companies can be booked up on your chosen date for moving. Remember try to avoid moving on a friday. This is the most popular day especially at the end of a month. For logical reasons like work etc this is preferred day, unfortunately removal companies often inflate prices (not all of them) to help with the quieter days in the week. Also if for any reason thier is a problem transferring funds everyone shuts and goes home for the weekend leaving you homeless and all your furniture in the van until the following (it can and does happen as the author knows to his own cost.). Legally you cannot gain entry to a property until all the funds have been cleared, the transfer also seems to take longer as well on a Friday sometimes as late as 4 o'clock.

Most companies wont take provisional bookings but ask them in case they do. Some will want either a deposit or full payment before the removal, and some will want paying on the day after the job is done. If you have booked a day and have to cancel check the small print on the "terms and conditions" you might have to pay a cancellation fee sometimes as much as 60% of the removal cost.

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