written by antandcharmi on 01/09/2013
For our 4 bedroom house, Mr. Reliable gave by far the lowest quote, at £1050 in July 2013. Previous quotes by more professional companies ranged from £1800 (reasonable) to £4000 (extortionate).
I really liked this guy, Jim. He was friendly, he talked direct, his price was really low, he had a real fexible, can-do attitude, and he and his men were keen, worked hard and got the job done, except that he did not inspect the house and so underestimated the volume. I paid him extra after the job because I felt they had earned it.
However, after the move, I discovered that most of the items of furniture were scratched. They also scratched the wooden floor of the house. They didn't bother to remove shelves from cupboards though they heard them falling left and right inside. I heard Jim saying "shhhh" when one of his blokes broke something.
They contracted £20 per item to dismantle and re-assemble a couple of items, but did not re-assemble. To be fair, they were way over time and exhausted, but they did not refund for that either.
I also saw that his vans were hired, and one of the labourers had never done a move before.
I was amazed that they drove from the far side of London to get to my place by 8am.
I'd sum Jim up as a very hard and keen worker, but not mature enough to run a business to high standards.
If you don't mind scratches to your stuff and do not have glass or wooden floors, Jim will save you a lot of money. I loved his can-do approach to everything.
As it was, overall, I probably came out even in terms of costs with the next higher quote or two, if you count the damage incurred, but of course things take up tns of time to get fixed and you can't easily fix scratches.
Next time I'll go with the second to lowest quote and see how much damage they do. :)
One thing is for sure, I'd still rather go with Jim than the extortionate top quoters who are certified. I'd just need to take exceptional steps to protect everything first though! :)