Pickfords

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1. Delighted with service.

   Pickford's helped us move house. I was initially reluctant to use a removal service as would have liked to do myself, however I had to work on the completion date and therefore didn't have a choice. However, I am so glad we did! Pickford's were great from start to finish. In particular the guys that did the move were brilliant. Friendly, professional and really looked after my wife and her mother on the day. Would definitely use Pickford's if we move again. Regardless of whether I was working or not!

2. Excellent stress-free move.

   The boys from Pickfords did an excellent job, making our house move as stress free as possible. They were cheerful, willing, and nothing was too much trouble for them. I would highly recommend the full packing service as it is quick and efficient and much better than doing it yourself. We took two quotes before deciding on Pickfords, and Pickfords was the most competitive quote.

3. Professional, helpful and efficient.

   I am extremely happy with the service I received from Pickfords to relocate to Dubai. I had a few challenges which meant possible need to change plans part way through the move and Alison was extremely helpful to make sure it would all work out fine, which it did. Also on both sides, the people collecting and delivering have been very professional and efficient. I would definitely recommend pickfords to other people I know relocating and would use Pickfords again in the future should I need their services.
   
   Please note - my move was to Dubai, but that is not on the list of places to move to!

4. Extremely happy.

   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.

5. Pickfords move UK to Australia.

   I've recently had my effects arrive from the UK handeled by Pickfords. They were recommended to me by a neighbour who had also moved to Aus and I fully support the recommendation.
   
   In particular I'd like to thank Susie Westgarth (international move manager). I felt under a tremedous amount of pressure in general with everything going on, it was all last minute (my fault) and I was very unsure of what I wanted or was even allowed to take. Susie was incredibley patient, helpful and proactive. Her response times always excellent and she provided a real sense of ownership which gave me confidence in the whole process.
   
   The staff on the day arrived on time, we're proffessional and and friendly and did a great job.
   
   I didn't shop around on price but I found the quote to be reasonable and given the excellent level of service worth the money.
   
   Many Thanks
   
   George Taylor.

6. Move from 6 bedroom house to first floor flat.

   I really can't fault the service provided by Pickfords for my recent move. The price was very competitive, the removal men efficient, helpful, well organised and pleasant, and not a single breakage with all the packing done to a high standard. The house contents were all removed to the new premises on time; correct furniture and boxes delivered to the correct rooms, and there were no knocks or marks on the walls of either property. I would definitely recommend Pickfords to anyone planning a house move, based on the service I received.

7. Dining Suite Move.

   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.

8. Excellent crew & stress free move!

   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!

9. Do Not Hire Pickfords!!

   The team that arrived to ship my one bedroom flat from London to New York was unbelievably unprofessional. One of the gentlemen put the entire weight of his body on my fragile $4,000 coffee table nearly breaking it. The team did not bring proper crates for packing and began to pack items loosely in cardboard boxes. Small, fragile ornaments and picture frames were packed together. Thankfully, I was watching the whole thing unfold and told the entire crew to leave. I just saved $60,000 worth of items from being entirely ruined, future lawyer fees and insurance claim nightmares.
   
   I would never recommend these clowns to anyone. If your employer or anyone recommends them—DO NOT follow through with their service. If I could give zero stars, I would.

10. Terrible company, terrible service - don't use them.

    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.

11. Using smallprint to charge extras.

    As a diplomat from a Western European country I have been moving back and forth with my family across the planet (Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East) since 1976 (about twenty relocations) and Pickfords has been by far the worse removal experience I have ever had. We needed to remove about sixty boxes of private belongings, part of it to my home country, the rest to an apartment I Portugal. The packing in London, the destruction beyond repair of a valuable inlaid wood table through carelessness of their staff, the removals to my home country and to the holiday apartment: the whole process has been fraught with stressful, unpleasant incidents, unilateral changes of plans by Pickfords or their subcontractors, inadequate advance warnings of delivery etc. This was all sloppy and unprofessional to the utmost and has been a terrible, stressful experience. I did remember having called on their services many years ago and had been reasonably satisfied, so little did I know how bad their service has now become. They were the cheapest of three quotes I requested but had I consulted removalreviews I would have known and stayed away from them. Interesting reading indeed!
    On top of that Pickfords’ staff, in particular a lady who spoke almost incomprehensibly on the phone and kept interrupting me, humiliated me by stating the removers would not enter my apt to deliver our stuff until one hour after I paid up the extra they were making me pay, though I had given my word in writing I would do so. I had no choice but to cough up because they were keeping my belongings hostage. In other words they blackmailed me into paying an extra. A removal lorry could have gone through without any problem to the apt in question, provided a minimum of precaution was taken, as was suggested to the driver, who steadfastly refused. So the delivery went into storage and I was made to pay for the extra cost of a second unnecessary delivery. The same problem occurred during the delivery to my home and I had to find a van myself, in spite of the “door to door delivery” they were contracted to.
    The lady in question said I should have read the small print (the usual trick used by "some" companies) that stated a 14 m. long lorry would be used and I was supposed to tell them if the lorry would be able to reach my premises or not. If I did not know what 14 m. was (I knew) I was told it equals the length of a London double decked bus. So she implied I was supposed to go through the streets of the destination cities (starting where? from London?) all the way up to my premises measuring street widths and curves to see if a double decked bus could manage them. Or maybe I should have hired a double decked bus cum driver… It was so ridiculous it made us laugh except the extra Pickfords charged was no laughing matter.
    Another interesting read is the website of the British Association of Removers and their Code of Practice Pickfords has subscribed to. It states: “promoting and protecting consumer interest beyond the requirement of the law”. I especially draw attention to Articles 1, 1.1 (destruction of table) 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.9 (not to refuse to release goods), 3.3 (provide clear information), 3.5, 3.8 (provide clear information on vehicles used), 5.1 (use vehicles suitable for removal work), 5.3.3 (destruction of table) of the BAR Code of Practice. Pickfords obviously couldn’t care less for that Code.
    Speaking with someone in the business I found out the problem is companies like Pickfords, in fact most of the removal industry now work increasingly with subcontractors. They obviously go for the cheapest ones and cheap almost always means bad service, being it for packing, transporting or storing. The subcontractors, who hire sometimes incompetent people who have no link with say Pickfords and pay them cheap, decide by themselves for example the date and hour of delivery, and in the case of the delivery to my home, brought it two days forward because that was their best convenience regardless of the customer’s previous arrangements.
    The contract between Pickfords and me stated “door to door delivery”. I paid in advance as requested, in good faith and I answered to the best of my abilities the questions they asked about access. I am not however an expert on where outsized lorries can or cannot go in town all the way to my home or vacation apartment. To reject on the customer the onus of extra costs because 14 m. long lorries the customer has never seen are used is utterly unfair and to blackmail him into paying these extra cost under threat of non delivery outrageous. This, I think is in total contradiction with the BAR Code of Conduct. Never in any of our many previous relocations was the size of the lorry an issue (nor was I made to pay extras by their competitors).
    With such bad service and their reputation going down steeply it wouldn’t surprise me if Pickfords soon went bankrupt. In the meantime my advice to diplomats, military, expats, businessmen and retirees, British or others: stay away from Pickfords.

12. Non arrival of ANYTHING.

    In October of 2016 my wife and I purchased a property in Tenerife with a view to retiring there in October 2017. We engaged Pickfords to deliver 6 (tea chest size) boxes of personal items to be delivered while we were there the last week in January. They took the consignment (and the money ) at the beginning of November. The 2nd week of our stay we spent around the apartment waiting for the telephone to ring to tell us when the delivery was to be made. We sent a few emails to confirm delivery was on schedule and were assured everything was going as planned but could not be advised of the delivery date. On the morning of Friday 3rd February we were assured over the phone that delivery was scheduled for that day and were told they would ring back with an a.m or p.m slot. At 2 p.m my wife rang to enquire where the delivery was, to be told the boxes were held up in customs! .
    "Since when "
    "Since they arrived in the country last Monday"
    " Why didn't you ring to tell us?"
    " The contact numbers (we gave them 3) were not local so the agent wouldn't ring them"
    On the morning of our flight out to Tenerife we emailed Pickfords baggage adviser to tell him the mobile number we could be contacted on whilst abroad. He replied and said he would update the details. Did he confirm with the local agent? I don't think so.
    My wife then discovered that the delay was caused by the lack of a passport number on the documentation. That would be my fault and I will hold my hands up to that ,but until I read the small print I wasn't aware that it would be needed . At no point after submission was I made aware of this . I can only assume that the documentation is NOT checked as a matter of course. I had emailed Pickfords with our NEI numbers as soon as we arrived and obtained them, so why did he not tell us then.
    Anyway we were one working day (Monday) from flying home. The adviser then inferred to my wife that he had suggested all along that we should have a plan B in readiness. Never had this been suggested to me although he stated to my wife that it was mentioned numerous times .I think I would have remembered that !
    "A plan B like what?"
    "Another delivery address or someone to let in the delivery"
    "We have just moved in and don't know anybody , how could we possibly go door knocking and ask someone to accept a delivery and hold for 4 months."
    Why would we need plan B if as is stated on their website , Pickfords are "reliable". If they had suggested I needed a plan B I would have taken my business elsewhere.
    As luck would have it we met our new next door neighbor , a very nice gentleman who offered to look after our key and let in the delivery. We informed TNT of his number, which they acknowledged.
    What did we have to lose.?
    Both Pickfords and TNT after having their ears assaulted verbally both promised to do their best to try to get the delivery made on the Monday.
    Tuesday came around and we flew back to the UK. When we got home there was an email from TNT customer services saying that our NEI number was required before the consignment could be released - Yes you remember the number we emailed to the Pickfords baggage adviser the previous week.
    Wednesday late p.m TNT emailed to say they would confirm delivery via email and contact the neighbor on the number supplied.
    So here we are Monday 13th February ,boxes should have arrived w/c 24 January. No sign of the boxes, no communication from either company since last Wednesday despite the fact that I emailed them both this morning.
    Needless to say when we move over there with our housefull of belongings, Pickfords will not be in the starting line-up.

13. Allied Pickfords sucks and they are thieves!

    Allied Pickfords gave us a quote for moving from New Zealand to Japan.. they did not communicate properly and came back to us after pick up saying we had to pay for extra.. and now in Japan they are telling us that they forgot to tell us that part of the delivery (the piano) was not included.. useless people.. and I am paying almost 10 grands for that poor service (and I am polite).. stay away from them.
    
    (Please note that the delivery and pickup locations proposed on this website do not allow New Zealand and Japan).

14. Calling all VICTIMS of Pickords.

    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.

15. Pickfords One to avoid !

    I am extremely disappointed with the whole experience and inconvenience caused using Pickfords.
    From the Initial packing of goods (why put shoes and remote controls in a box and label as kitchen !)from losing Winter clothes and a damaged Wardrobe.
    The lack of care and the general respect for my belongings is not at all what I expected from Pickford’s.
    The constant chasing that I am having to put in with an insurance claim does not help this situation.