Pickfords

We used Pickfords to pack and move our belongings from our 4-bed house into storage while we house-hunt, as our purchase fell through.
We paid £2,000 for the privilege! What a waste of money and a huge stress over 2 days. Pickford was by far the most expensive of the 3 quotes, but we went with then as we were assured a "five star" service and no hassle. It couldn't have been further from the truth.
We live down a lane and were told 2 crews would arrive, and a big container lorry and a smaller transit van. To cut a long story short, the Transit and 2nd crew never came, Pickfords said firstly it was double cooked and then a van had been taken off the road for safety reasons.
The "Move Manager" system is a joke, they only contacted me to collect money and were useless when the crew didn't arrive.
We ended up letting the first crew pack the parts of the house that were not ready to keep them busy on the first day - consequently a lot of things I need are now in storage.
I wrote the the area manager and even the CEO, who didn't bother to reply.
THIS COMPANY DOES NOT DELIVER. THIS WAS INCREDIBLY STRESSFUL TWO DAYS, AND I AM STILL LEFT WITHOUT CLOTHING AND OTHER ITEMS WHICH I NEED. DON'T USE THEM, use a local company, I wish we had.

Service cost: £1980

We moved from the UK to Spain. Our house in Spain was under construction so goods had to be put into storage on the property. The few items that were unpacked straight away included my husband's model aircraft which were damaged. The removers said that if any more items were damaged when we came to unpack we could claim for them on the insurance. They knew we would not be unpacking them within 7 days. When we found other damaged items including antiques we were told by the insurers we could not claim as we only had 7 days to do so! We asked Pickfords to repair the antique items as they could not be replaced - Pickfords refused. Pickfords claim service was terrible, the customer service department never emailed us back, we had to keep telephoning them. It took 6 months for the claim to go through. Altogether terrible service, lots of damaged items and the claim payout didn't cover 25% of the damage done. We would never use them again.

Service cost: £3000

If I could give no star, I would!
The packing team was badly organised, careless and unprofessional. Our furniture was damaged in transit, boxes were old and had been reused; some items were packed together when they should not have been, for instance food with bleach and shoes!! We have moved many times and this was the first time we had so many items damaged. It took over 3 months to get the furniture repaired and, after 6 months, we are still trying to get compensation.
Absolutely not recommended.

Service cost: £6000

We have had a serious theft during our removal process from UK to Australia.

Pickfords unsurprisingly deny this. I am in shock just how many people are claiming suspicious circumstances around valuable items going missing, believed to be stolen.

I have created a closed Facebook group for all victims of Pickfords who feel they have been the victim of a crime committed by Pickfords.

With a collaborated effort, I intend to unite us and present ourselves as one voice to Pickfords.

Some of us are fed up of being fobbed off.

We refuse to be the victims of crime from an organisation we hired to move us.

Please message me and I will add you to the Facebook Group so we can openly share experiences.

You can email me on xenobiamcmurran@hotmail.co.uk.

Service cost: £5000

Fortunately we have had an absolutely brilliant experience with pickfords. Excellent communication and customer experience throughout. Competitively priced. Great team on packing up day. Nothing too much trouble. The best bunch of guys today too. Tommy, Will and Josh were an exceptional crew and made the whole day stress free. We had our stuff in storage for 9 months and everything looks like it's survived. I can't thank pickfords enough and personally I'd recommend them without the slightest hesitation. We've still got some boxes to unpack so fingers crossed these will have been packed and stored with as much care as those we've unpacked.

Service cost: £8000

Pickfords removed my furniture and put held it in store for several months. So far so good.

When I knew the move date to my new property I called them and enquired about a specific date to move in, some three weeks away. I was assured that this would be OK. When I finally heard back from them they told me that these dates were not possible. As I had arranged everything else for that day I said I would have to find another removal firm.

So I found another company in Maidstone who prepared a quote for the job. It was only when I called Pickfords to tell them what time the good would be collected that they told me that everything was in Milton Keynes..

Had they thought to tell me this I would have chosen a removal firm there.

So far not a word of apology..

Service cost: £5000

After a survey of my belongings I was given a quote. After they took my stuff they contacted me and said it didn't fit and wanted another £2k. I argued for a week until I said bring my stuff back at which point they said forget it l, they would pack it better!!   For the next month I couldn't get in touch with anyone to discuss shipping dates. When I did I was told their phone system was broken.   I had to intervene TWICE as they tried to send my stuff to the wrong city. Once was a mistake, twice is incompetence.
  When it arrived most of my belongings were damaged. Insurance would pay to fix or replace, they would only pay 25% of value of damaged goods. Something we were not made aware of.   They paid £1600 for damage that cost us £4500 to repair. Btw insurance cost is £700 extra!!   Given the extent of the damage I can only assume it was deliberate. One or two things broken/dropped.. Ok accidents happen but everything??   Guys who unloaded the stuff complained endlessly about the company, the hours they have to work, the lack off training etc how they hated being out of the yard.   I'm the end, I wanted them to leave so I could do the work myself without complaining.    
 
Do not use this company. They are the most unprofessional, disorganised bunch I've ever experienced.

Service cost: £6500

The saesman called round to my elderly parents and quoted a price that included the dismantling of a fitted flat pack wardrobe unit by a qualified joiner.  The actual removal was from a one bedroomed bungalow to a downstairs flat with no barriers to access at either end. It was not until the date of removal that myself and my sister discovered the actual cost of removal quoted for the job to be carrried out. Had we have realised the quote was going to be as excessive we would have recomended our parents went elsewhere.
The price quoted  for a 0.7 mile jurney removing a 3 seater and two chairs,small coffee table, small book case, tv and stand, fridge freezer, wahing machine, one double bed, 3 packed quilts, a whicker chair and the afore mentioned wardrobe and head board set was priced at £704.50 including VAT (OR £50.32 per item).The total time for the three removal men to empty the flat excluding the wardrobe was 45 minutes and to be fair it was a Monday morning so they maybe took a little extra time to do the job which was fair enough. Please do not for one second believe we have any complaints about the removal men they were excellent and did the job efficiently and with no fuss.
However another reson for this complaint was the job included the dismantling of the wardrobe by a qulified joiner, the removal men turned up and stated 'that is beyond my capability, there should be a joner here for that'. Upon calling head office the removal men discovered there had been no joiner booked for the job he offered to try his best but my parents would need to sign a disclaimer as he was not confident in doing the job. As mentioned earlier the job had been priced to include a joiner, eventually someone did turn up to dismantle the wardrobe we could only take it on trust that he was a joiner but given the circumstances this trust was given grudgingly. Mainly due to the time taken for the removal to take place 10am turned up van packed excluding wardrobe in 45 mins. Time for unloading 45 mins so tking into accounr the hour to dismantle and reassemble the wardrobe the actual time for the job was 2.5 hours or £281.80 per hour. 
After contacting the company and being passed around a little we managed to secure a £50 rebate mening the actual job was 261,80 per hour but being told that the quote was there to be taken or left was not waht we were expecting unprofessional springs to mind. This review will hopefully be seen by enough people to make them think twice about trusting a brand which is what my parents did. The service offered was not as expected had this service been for example a trhee piece suite it would have been classed as not fit for purpose and oreturned for a full refund and we would most definitely have shopped somewhere else for the goods. To conclude and if you have stayed with me this far thank you Over pricing, poor customer service, poor after sales, inadequate resolution to complaints if this were your supermarket would you shop there?  .

Service cost: £705

This was an excellent service from Pickfords - from the initial quote to the wrapping up and packaging of a dining table and six chairs plus a carver to the removal from one house at one end of the country to the transfer to another house at the other end of the country. All staff, office and removal guys, were polite and efficient from start to finish. Not the cheapest quote but definitely the best when it came down to choosing, and getting, total professionalism with peace of mind.

Service cost: £350

I booked Pickfords for my recent move. Mark Wardle visited to sort out a quote and explained thoroughly what Pickfords would do. Trish Hunter was brilliant at organising things for me, from packing boxes right down to roles of tape. The crew (Andy, Brad, Martin & a lovely tall lad whose name I didn't get) that carried out the move were superb. They made sure everything was securely and professionally packed and smiled throughout. Even my husband was happy to leave his beloved motorcycles in their safe hands! They all deserve a huge pat on the back. Pickfords should be very proud of them - thanks very much!

Service cost: £950

In recent years we have moved home 5 times and this was the best experience of the lot. This was a slick and professional operation and we were impressed with all of the staff that we encountered; including the office staff on the telephone. The surveyor had the sense to look at access arrangements for the new property and identified logistical issues that were overlooked by other companies that had quoted. A solution was provided at short notice. The level of care and attention to protect walkways and carpets surpassed previous experiences. The crew were polite, efficient, friendly and helpful throughout the two days of the move. No request was too much for them!

Service cost: £2000

I have never experienced such a poor quality service in any sector. After leaving our home of 38 years, we knew our furniture would have to go into storage for upto six months. On the day of moving the removals crew turned up two hours late, hung over from a Friday night on the drink. I twice asked the movers to unwrap articles on their way into the van as I had witnessed my brand new £4500 settee being dragged across the van floor with the arms in contact with the floor. We chose Pickfords as we thought they were the number one removal company and believed they would look after our belongings. My poor wife was a nervous wreck all throughout the storage period, anticipating the worst.

Throughout the six month storage period we were advised on numerous occasions that we needed additional waiver insurances for everything under the sun which we had no choice but to take out to protect our assets.

The team that delivered our furniture were the total opposite of the original team, professional, caring and punctual and came equipped with dismantling and assembling tools, unlike the first team who had to borrow our tools for this purpose.

Unfortunately, we discovered that when our furniture had been removed from our house, our brand new TV had been dropped on our oak TV stand. Nevermind, we had the foresight to take out the additional insurance. That’s when the real distress started as we have battled for a month, so far receiving a low offer of a reconditioned £400 TV. We paid in total with insurances close to £4000 for six months storage, removal costs and insurances and we have now been offered £800 for a TV that we paid £1350 for.
To get to the point, don’t fall for the salesman in the suit that Pickfords send out to quote you for your removal, they use local subcontractors to move your furniture and that’s where our move failed.

I would never use Pickfords again and certainly wouldn’t recommend them under any circumstances.

Service cost: £3700

Very poor.
Failed to book my move day in diary so when it came to moving they couldn't fit me in.
Showed no sympathy at all , they caused me great stress and upset.
Thank goodness I knew someone who knew a manager who worked in a different dept , she was amazed at the poor service and luckily found me a van and in the end the crew were awesome.
Pickfords are a global company and their Operation Dept needs a shake up.
Nicky Brotherstone you were awesome I thank you , you are Pickfords loss and someone else's gain.
I managed to get £200 compensation for my upset , this is after they tried to get me to accept £150!

Service cost: £1400