PSS International Removals

We recently used PSS to move a house lot from the UK to New Zealand. Up front they seemed really helpful, the packing team who worked on our house were efficient and helpful. But as we found out once our possessions were set to arrive in NZ, a number of the itemised inventories needed to clear customs hadn't been taken. In contacting PSS they were argumentative and unhelpful, meaning I had to work directly with NZ customs to get things straightened out. PSS also handed us over to NZ Van Lines to deliver our goods once on the ground who attempted to load us with additional 'fees' which were ultimately already included in what we had paid PSS. It was a really disappointing and stressful experience in the end.

Service cost: £3600

We used PSS for our move from the UK to Australia and they have been an absolute nightmare. We had 2 prior major moves with other companies with no issues at all, but PSS have been a disaster. Some examples: 1) They completely under-estimated our volume of goods, so we ended up paying around 50% more than their 'fixed price' quote - and if you don't pay they may hold your possessions to ransom, relying on the small print in the contract which says you pay for any errors they make. 2) They say they use their own removals teams but in fact subcontract virtually everything. 3) They delivered dozens of items damaged and broken through inadequate packing and handling - (which cost over £12,000) from TV's to washing machines, fridge-freezers and hi-fi equipment. 4) They accept responsibility for nothing - everything is somebody else's fault in their eyes. 5) You can forget about their complaints process and BAR membership - in practice they just ignore it and BAR seemingly turn a blind eye and even outsource their complaints process!). 6) Their expensive insurance may be worthless - we paid £1000 just for this, and 6 months after our move we've still not even had a visit from a loss adjuster and no progress is being made towards settlement. I could easily list another another 20 things they have messed up throughout the move. Seriously, if you're going to entrust all your worldly possessions to someone, really do your homework, shop around, forget the sales pitch promises and read ALL the small print, or you might be very sorry indeed. We just wish we had read the reviews online first and found out how terrible they really are, as PSS may well ruin your new start in a new country.

Service cost: £12000

Move was for Bournemouth to San Francisco but you can't select that and one star is one too many.

Our original quote was for £4829 and the salesman convinced us we'd fit into a 20ft container because we weren't moving any furniture. We didn’t and had an over-spill. Once they had our personal items in their hands the demand for money started coming in. Over spill, chassis charges, customs X-rays, currency fluctuations, you name it, they charged it. Total cost came to £6282 and they hold your stuff to ransom until you pay. The moving manager couldn't care less about anything other than adding extra charges. Even when I complained about something he ended the conversation with, "By the way, there's an extra charge for currency fluctuation due to the Brexit".

That's the money side out the way. For a service point of view, they outsourced the job to some company from Plymouth. Bad packaging, half empty boxes (explains the over-spill), and £2500 worth of damages. One of the packers cut his hand but continued working. I found myself cleaning blood off boxes while they were packing.

Just check out the local delivery companies report when they unpacked for us in the USA. They couldn't believe it themselves.

We're shocked, disgusted, heartbroken and very upset. Made our move to the US a living nightmare and we've had to refer them to the TPO (The property ombudsman). Fingers crossed we'll get something back for the damages.

Service cost: £6282

PSS WERE OUTSTANDING
Form diligence of the office staff who took their time to understand our requirements and built me a tailored quote to the home survey to the case managers and especially the guys that came to wrap and pack all our belongings, PSS were amazing. Cannot rate them any higher. Had so many fears following reading many bad reviews from lots of companies, I chose PSS from personal recommendations from people we know have had good service.
The guys that came to wrap and pack were absolutely amazing. I have never seen people work so fast but with extreme care for our goods. Careful wrapping and logging all the content details on an excellent inventory was mixed with fabulous advice for cleaning garden/garage items.
Our goods were taken away and we were kept informed of their whereabouts with details of container and ship details where I could track the progress over the following 11 weeks.
An unfortunate 7 day hold up in Malaysia pushed the delivery of our homely items in Perth beyond the estimate of 10 weeks (but that was out of the control of PSS)
Chess Removals in Perth did an amazing quick delivery of our items following quarantine and customs clearance so massive thanks to them also.
I cannot recommend PSS any stronger. There will probably be cheaper competitors, but they won't be able to do a better job.
Thank You PSS.

Service cost: £3800

We have recently used PSS to handle our international move from Edinburgh to Johannesburg. Unfortunately they arrived late and did a very rushed job to get our flat packed up.  Fragile items were not protected by tissue paper / bubble wrapping / or foam balls to minimise friction, movement or damage. Our picture frames and paintings were not protected. fragile items were placed in boxes unprotected alongside tools and kids bicycles and as a result were damaged.  PSS's response was poor basically stating we should have insured against their incompetence.  Their website states they take care with packing your items.  This is clearly false advertising.  .

Service cost: £2000

Initial visit and assessment was positive but it went down hill from there. The PSS movers damaged a wooden floor in my property by dragging a wardrobe and then suggested my disabled mother and partner, who was on crutches at the time, had part caused the damage by trying to move the wardrobe themselves!

On arrival we were charged a quarantine inspection fee which was a known cost but was hidden in the ‘small print’.
When customs inspected our possessions we were charged a further $495 for the Australian contractor to do the job we had already paid PSS for! When we complained and queried this as customs inspections are covered by what we paid for in the terms of the contract, we were told pay or we won’t release your goods and will charge you extra labour and storage costs until you do pay! PSS refused to provide us with details of their complaints procedure and when we contacted the company director he was not interested in resolving the issue and told us to pay……

PSS are a shocking company to do business with, customer care is non-existent and they take no responsibility for their actions.

Service cost: £4000

At the risk of something happening to our things that are currently in transit, I’m already writing a review. PSS removals seem initially a very friendly and reasonably priced company. We’re moving to Luxembourg and are living in a furnished house so there is not a lot of furniture to move. After getting several quotes, we decided to go with them because they send a live surveyor that gave (we thought) a realistic estimation of the cost. A lot of other companies just do a video survey or just estimate based on the number of boxes you give to them. After I agreed, I was told to prepay the moving cost in full, which I promptly did. They forgot to mention that the estimation was without VAT but after I received another bill, I paid that as I should have paid better attention. I was then asked to fill in a form to estimate the value of the inventory. After I sent that, I received another bill of more than £890 which would cover the insurance. Since we have little of real value, I decided not to take insurance especially since it was about three time the price we paid for insurance last time when we moved from Singapore to the UK. I did get the packing service as I am already overseas and wanted to spare my wife the hassle. Besides, we had good experience last time as professional packers are supposed to be fast and efficient. Unfortunately this was not the case. The two persons that came took a whole day and were very generous filling the boxes, leaving lots of space. Today I found out why. PSS is charging us 30 percent extra because they used more boxes. When I asked why, the previously friendly service quickly turned into accusations. We had extra stuff that we hadn’t mentioned to the surveyor. We had agreed on the list. Etc.etc. If we agreed on the list, how could we have snuck in extra stuff into our inventory? Neither my wife, nor I are removal experts so we have to go with the estimate the surveyor calculates. PSS can just pad the bill afterwards because they have our stuff now. I will file a complaint with the ROS and will never use this company again.

Service cost: £2267

I do NOT recommend PSS as a removal company. Upon my return to the UK from North America, a number of boxes did not arrive. A search was completed, but my belongings weren’t found.
CEO Liam Witham advised he would look into the matter, thereafter he ignored all further communication. I lost items both of monetary value and personal value - original wedding gifts, baby’s christening/first birthday etc, as well as soft furnishing and kitchenware.
Avoid PSS if you value receiving all your items when shipped.
They offered no apology, explanation or compensation for my financial loss incurred.

Service cost: £10000

PS Removals are the worst. You would think that a journey to the Middle East from the Uk would get some substantial packing. Not when you use PSS the boxes were so flimsy the cardboard could be crushed between thumb and forefinger finger ( my 80 year old mums). Needless to say nearly every box was crushed or damaged. My wardrobe containing numerous suits was dumped into a standard box. No regard for crushing or creasing. My suits and jackets are a total mess. How are these cowboys still in business I don’t know.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £3500