The Importance of a Removals Survey Before You Move

With a to-do list as long as your arm, packing to organise and your removal strategy to work out, there is more than enough to be getting on with.

However, one thing home movers might not think about – and it could prove costly further down the line – is getting a removals firm to send someone round to your house (a   surveyor) in order to appraise your home and provide a bespoke quotation. From our experience at     reallymoving.com, it is when a move is negotiated over the phone that problems crop up.

We recently had one user who left the following feedback about a removals firm they had used:

“I am totally dissatisfied with this company. 

It was a long day for all concerned. They even put the foam from the ceiling into a box! I think they were sloppy. They left me with more work to do. 

They never asked me if I could afford two additional workers, they assumed. They threw their empty drink cans on the floor, which I had to remove. Boxes were labelled incorrectly. Half of them couldn't be bothered to go upstairs. I found a large amount of bedroom boxes in the reception room.”

As you can imagine, the alarm bells went off. Negative feedback about a removals firm like the above is always a cause for concern. However, when we checked with the removals firm in question, they provided us with the picture below to show what they were faced with on arrival. The removals firm hadn't sent a surveyor round before the house move and had negotiated everything over the phone.

The big lesson here from the removals firm's point of view is that it's never worth skipping on a survey, otherwise you have no idea what you could be facing when you arrive. The removals firm needs to be confident that the size of lorry and manpower they are sending is equal to the job in hand and that the work is priced appropriately. In the above scenario, that clearly didn't happen. 

From a customer's point of view, you need to make it abundantly clear in advance exactly what you want the removals firm to move so there is no confusion when it comes to moving day. For example, neglecting to mention that your loft is full or that you have a piano in the corner could cause issues. The removals firm has to provide you with a quote that’s specific to your move so you are mutually in agreement.   

If you are going to hand over everything that you own – yes, all your worldly goods – surely you want to meet the company in person rather than just having a conversation over the phone? After all, you as the customer don’t want to end up with a surprise additional bill for the extra furnishings to be moved. Equally, the removals firm won’t want to be bringing in extra labour or vehicles at the last minute due to completion deadlines.

While reallymoving.com may give instant indicative quotes, we also strongly and vehemently recommend that customers invite the removals firm round to survey the entire job before things are taken any further.

Then it's down to the customer to read the T&Cs presented to them and to ensure that they are happy to proceed. To make sure that you know exactly what you are getting from  the removal company it's important that you ask the right sorts of questions. This detailed and comprehensive article from our website can help you to do just that.
  
Moving home – and especially moving day itself – can be a stressful experience, but it makes absolutely no sense to add to that stress by not being clear with your removals firm about what exactly your strategy and plans are. That is far easier to do in person, rather than over the phone, so we implore both customers and removals companies to get a survey carried out beforehand so both parties are happy with the plan of action on moving day.

Not only will this help make things less stressful, it also makes complaints like the above much less likely.