House removals Hull by Monstermove UKOr to be more accurate – Who is the best removal removal company for you?

There is no answer to who is the best removal company. Only who is the best removal company for you! One that is best suited to your requirements. When researching removal companies, admittedly there is a lot to take into consideration. So who do you choose? Do you pay a premium for a well known and established ‘house-hold name’ or do you go for one offering their service at a cheaper rate? What are the pros and cons? We’ll try and address some of these in this post.

 

The bigger companies

With the bigger companies, you feel a certain amount of reassurance that the job will be carried out properly. You can be confident that they will show up on the arranged day and will carry out your removal until completion. You can expect competent staff, equipped and capable of carrying out your removal without an issue. You also have peace of mind that should there be any incidents occur, such as damage for example; you can hold the company accountable and expect a resolution. You’re also pretty much guaranteed that the company will carry the necessary licenses and insurance.

The smaller companies

The smaller companies umbrella carries all the less renowned companies. From those that started last week and are just gaining the experience needed to carry out a professional removal to those who have been working in the industry a while, and have the savvy to call themselves professional. Even these start-up companies will advertise as a removal company. It’s not good business for them to tell you that they have only been carrying out removals for a short while now is it?

So who is who?

With the smaller companies, it’s very hard to tell who is who from a customer stand-point. With so many options, how do you determine which are ‘serious movers’ and which ones are just in it to pay for their beer money at the end of the week? We know of companies in Hull that have been established longer than us but don’t have the commitment that we do and certainly aren’t as serious, this does reflects in their work. By the same rule we know of companies that have been running less time than we have and are as committed and motivated as we are, showing huge promise for the future. These, incidentally are among the companies we won’t hesitate in recommending in the event that we have no availability on the date that you request.

Tell Tale Signs

The tell-tale signs that you are dealing with someone who is not a serious mover are as follows. Please note that this is not a definitive list and isn’t meant to be prejudiced, don’t strike a mover off your list for falling into a single one of these categories!

  • No website – Most serious companies have a website. It is a point of contact and a source of information on background, skills, staff etc. No website could mean that you are dealing with somebody that just works from a mobile phone. Which is not a good thing!
  • Lack of knowledge – If the person on the phone asks you how long you think it will take or doesn’t give an estimate, or offers you a price per load. That tells me that they are inexperienced. We can always give a ball-park figure over the phone. Even though we may ask if we can visit to carry out a survey to firm things up.
  • Amateur Questions – If you are asked how much your cheapest quote is – A professional moving company know what they charge. They know what their service is worth and what other people charge is irrelevant. The people whom ask what you have been quoted often aren’t informed enough to make an educated decision on their own. Being asked what you have been quoted in an attempt to under-cut is usually the tactic of a new-comer who is desperate to win your business.
  • No uniform – Professional companies have a uniform. It is a way of promoting themselves and show that they are proud of the work that they do. Having staff in ‘own-clothes’, trainers and other sportswear is an indication of a less than professional outfit.
  • The Price – If you have spoken to five companies and they are mostly within a price-bracket and one company is much lower, there is probably a reason why. Professional removal companies have large overheads. The cost of vehicles, repairs, maintenance, insurance, staff, tax and such mean that there is a general bottom line. If a removal company is much lower priced than others then they are clearly omitting one of the fundamentals above.
  • No Land-line or free-phone number – A company is only as traceable as the contact details that you have. A company who works solely from a mobile phone is high-risk in our opinion. If something were to be damaged, stolen or even just lost accidentally, how would you approach them? How would you challenge or claim against them? Mobile phones are disposable these days, and a sim card certainly is. No website means no contact address, so there’s no security there and no land-line means the same thing. Would you loan money to a stranger on the strength that you have their mobile number? The same applies.
  • Jack of all trades – These are the people that offer plumbing, decorating, gardening, electrical work, cleaning, handyman and DIY services etc. If you’re looking for a professional mover, which you should be given the fact you have saved and gone without to make your home nice, then I would avoid these people. To be insured and professional in all of these areas is a tall order. To me, they seem like the type of people that will do anything for a quick-buck!

We have found some articles on people that have fallen foul of rogue removal companies. We’ll provide links to them later in this article.

What it all means

Ultimately, your decision is down to you. But if you pick a professional removal company then you are setting yourself up for a stress-free removal. Imagine your worldly possessions being transported in the red minibus in the image below..

Who is the best removal company?

We found this guy advertising house removals. This is wrong on so many levels! I’ll point out a few niggles that we have noticed and you are free to point any more out in the comments below.

  • First and foremost, this is a minibus! Not a removal van!
  • There doesn’t appear to be any removal equipment (besides the sack truck).
  • There is no protection on the furniture. Where we would use blankets to wrap the furniture and protect it from damage, there seems to be no evidence of that here at all.
  • You can see that there is some flat pack furniture to the right of the sliding door at the bottom which has been wedged in. Again, unprotected. When this vehicle brakes, or slows down they will surely shift and occupy the hatch area. When the hatch is opened they will fall to the floor outside of the van!
  • Above there, more flat-pack. How that has been wedged in leaves a lot to be justified.
  • There is a bicycle in there! It seems to be wedged up against a coffee table frame or something and the front wheel is resting on the sofa back! Some things are pushed tightly against all the sharp nuts and bolts which are a risk to the furniture, but also what is protecting the sensitive areas of the bicycle? There are fragile and intricate gearing systems on a bike which won’t tolerate stress and pressure outside of their design. And what about the lubricated chain? Naughty packing!
  • Sofa cushions on the floor? Really? Cookers, washing machines and fridge freezers occupy that space, quite often I would imagine. Cushions, mattresses or any other soft furnishings should never be anywhere near the floor.
  • Those plastic boxes at the back. There is no support or security against cornering. The chances are when the van reached its destination, they would have been on the floor, or on the sofa. Probably open or split!
  • That piece of wood right at the front! A piece of removal equipment perhaps? Surely something to do with removals? No! That’s a part of the vehicle! A piece of plywood meant to cover the inner side-walls! Oh dear!!

These are the types of things that you learn whilst doing removals day in, day out. Everyone has to learn somewhere, granted. But do you want someone learning the ropes with your worldly possessions? I know I wouldn’t. Not to save £30, £40 or even £80. You don’t move often so have it done by a professional.

So you see it can be false economy to pick the cheap guys. If this guy hasn’t got the most basic of removal accessories then the chances are that he hasn’t got insurance to be carrying other people’s goods. Or insurance against accidents and or damage. You could save £5 per hour with this guy and have permanent damage to your furniture with no-one to hold accountable.

So again, who is the best removal company?

Property protected in the van

A Monstermove Removals Van on one of our premium options

Who is the best removal company? Is it Monstermove Removals? Maybe, maybe not! We’ll let you be the judge. We guarantee an excellent service. We’re fully insured, careful, courteous and eager to please. We arrive on a job, fully equipped and uniformed in a well maintained vehicle, fit for purpose. We meet and greet, introduce ourselves, by name and then asked to be shown around the property. We then form a strategy that will enable us to complete the house removal as quickly and efficiently as is possible and offer advice to the customer to help them understand the way it will work and how they can help if they wish or assist us in carrying out our role more efficiently.

Who are we? Why not meet the team? Check our about us page and see our staff. Learn about their strengths, and nick-names!

We’re not the best, and we’re not the worst. We’re right in the middle. The same can be said for our pricing. We offer a service with all of the bells and whistles. We’re fully insured and well equipped. Our staff are experienced, smartly dressed and keen. They’re all polite, friendly and will enjoy sharing a bit of banter whilst maintaining a professional approach.

A sad goodbye

One company, which we sadly said goodbye to this month as they made the decision to cease trading and move onto employment was Clay’s Removals of Hull. We have had a long and happy work relationship with the Clay’s, spanning many years. The team consisted mainly of two brothers, Mark and Lee Clay who did a fantastic job at moving people. We have been known to send them out in our work-wear and vehicles when we have been short of staff. Sadly, they have decided to find other means of work due to being forced under by the ‘will beat any quote’ bunch. Those that come and go like the seasons, do their damage to the general reputation of the industry and leave. This goes to show how much of a shambles this industry is in. The Clay’s are honest, hard-working, reliable and above all, nice people to have around. I personally don’t think they charged enough for the service that they offered but when it came up in conversation, their answer was that they were constantly being under-cut by the cut-throat newcomers. They just couldn’t reach the revenue needed to keep a legitimate removal company afloat due to the cowboy, uninsured, illegal removal companies that cut all corners and use removals to supplement their benefits. But people will choose these cowboys to save £20, which is understandable but from our point of view, and others in the know – there goes some of the good-guys. Which is really sad both for the Clay’s and the industry they have left.

Something to be taken from this is as follows. We have all heard of cowboy builders. Well the house removals industry has the same issue. By booking these little ‘will beat any quote’ people, you are contributing to the problem. Professional companies are often priced out of a job due to the fact they cover all angles. In effect, they are being penalised for doing things properly and the people who are taking a risk with your property are being rewarded the work by being able to offer their services cheaper, sometime much cheaper..

Are all big companies worthy?

We constantly study our industry. Looking for ways to improve, tips, tricks and know-how is always advantageous. We came across a company called Movago which is pressing into the UK market from their base in Germany. They have a lovely site, a very compelling web-presence if you ask me, personally. It has a video showing you how you can have the ultimate fixed-price move. No hidden extras. They even have a blog! Their blog, when you read it closely actually discriminates against independent removal companies such as ours but when you scratch the surface, there are some horrible things going on!

Take a look at this page. Then look at their official website. Eek! But you can see how people are sucked in.

Some related articles that we have found across the web.

This one is about a local removal company. Fair enough it is going back some time but it happened and could easily happen again. Read the guardian’s article on The removals firm that loaded up the furniture… and disappeared. There are comments on this article by Hardakers and Arnold’s Removals on Hull.

Read about the couple that lost everything when Lee Green, of the Black County decided to take a couple’s household contents somewhere other than their new home here.

And lastly, this article has been featured on our blog previously. Read about the businessman that lost thousands of pounds worth of Champagne buy using a website which finds you the cheapest mover here.

Who is the best removal company for you – to round off

We hope that you have enjoyed reading our spin on ‘who is the best removal company’ and we hope that it has shed some light on the removal industry. We’d like to round off by assuring that you that we are a legitimate removal company and can be trusted, without limitation to carry out your removal safely and efficiently. Though we may not be the cheapest option, which we are fully aware of since we cannot compete with Joe Bloggs who uses his horse-box to carry out removals to buy himself a few extra pints at the weekend. We are worth every penny.

If you are looking for an international solution then we would definitely recommend Appleyards – Removals Hull.