chris and farideh

HI Guys,

Calling around the removal company, I had couple of them saying they wont come to the house to give me quote, but if I tell them what I want to be taken over, than they'll tell us what kind of container we need, I was wondering is that normal practice, PSS and Crown were the one, had anyone had just phone call quote and how right was the quote.
I cant get my head around it, how could they give you quote without seeing what you are taking with you.

Spikey

Hi, we're using John Masons and they haven't been around - we filled in a list of items we were taking (such as king sized bed, 3 seater settee etc) and how many boxes we thought we'd need per room, I think my H might have even done it online. I've a feeling my H has probably underestimated the amount of boxes but I imagine they'll bring a few more cartons with them - they're coming tomorrow!

TheAshleys

It's quite normal. We had 3 people over, and 3 quotes over the phone.

They all turned out much the same anyway, although their estimates of how much stuff we had (The people that came) varied by 100 cubic feet.

From what I saw, I would get DB and Masons over, and get a telephone quote from European Van Lines, as they seem to do real cheap moves for some customers (Depends how much work they have etc etc), and they are still pretty good.

Angela Marie

[We are using PSS - who came round and have been very professional so far - think most households take a 20 ft container, this allows beds, sofa etc to be stored safely.

PSS were a little more expensive than the rest , however when we had whites quote, they got our destination as Cairns , in Brisbane which got us worrying right away.
So PSS it is, they have rang us and been flexible with dates and made sure we were ok with paperwork, we have also had a letter from their counterparts in Brisbane who are clearing the container etc.,

Angela

ps - suppose its down to individual experience and am sure that a lot of companies offer an excellent service.

chris and farideh

so how did your hubby knew how boxes you needed, so does it mean you do some packing yourselves, or do they do it all themselves.

chris and farideh

I have called 5 in total, so I think more less I would get the idea how much is going to cost us.
DB, and Mason are one of them that I have them coming over to give us quote.
I call EVL, tomorrow, thanks for that.

chris and farideh

I have PSS coming over on Friday, as I told me I'd like somebody in the house to give us quote rather than over the telephone, so they are coming over.
but crown hasn't call me back I guess they aren't coming.

snowball

Hi - we are using PSS and so far so good! Very professional, came to the house, and received a very detailed written quote 2 days later

jo&neil

We're considering using 'pss' too, the man came round (only round about 15 mins) & we received a detailed written quote within a few days. Had Doree Bonner & Allied round too, still waiting for their quotes. DB did say that pss would prob be cheapest, then DB then Allied Pickfords. Quoted £1811 for 371 cubic feet.

Still confused too about how many cartons we will need, prob over/underestimated loads!!

x

peterpamnryan

hi we asked four pickfords=never turned up after we waited in,atlantis gave us a qoute over the phone=£3100 ,crown qouted £4200 and masons =£3130,masons and crown came to the house and they all qouted for sole use of 20 foot container,all the qoutes were without insurance so bung another £600 on top for £20000 worth of stuff,crown and masons we found very profesional but way off with each other price wise for some reason,got to call masons to make sure no hidden costs but looks like well be going with them

TheAshleys

Never insure with the removals companies themselves. They will drop their 3% rates anyway if you push them. Crown offered us 2%.

Insure through Letton Percival. 1.53%, loads of threads on here about them. Also, 1 yesterday about how good they are at paying out ! £300 for £20,000k worth of stuff.

gormac

Hi just saw your post i worked in removals for about 15 years take it from me if a company can,t be bothered to come to your house and give you a free estimate i would not touch them wiyh a barge pole All the best if you have any probs just get in touch Gormac

JackTheLad

We didn't ship any furniture or large applicances. This is how I did the estimate on total volume of clothings/linen/small items/books when getting a quote on the phone:
1/ Empty a big closet - no draws, just shelves.
2/ Fold clothes/linen neatly and keep stacking till all sections of closet are full.
3/ Empty closet, put items aside.
4/ Repeat 1-3 with all your items that can fit in closet.
5/ Take measurement of closet, calculate total volume and add 10% for packaing material (paper/bubble wraps).

For items which are larger and will be sent in their own boxes, i.e. electronics, kitchen appliances:
1/ Stack them in a corner of a room, big boxes at the bottom, smaller ones at top. Remember you can always fill any space inside these boxes with towels or small soft toys etc.
2/ Keep the shape as close to a cube as possible.
3/ Measure said cube, calculate total volume.

I had great fun doing all this and the estimate was really really close to the actual volume the packers came up with on the invoice.

Good luck.

Mrs JTL

pippin lara

I've just had the salespeople round - they all turned up - no phone estimates. I now have all of their quotes.

name quote Squ feet price per squ foot

white & co £1795 371 £4.84
anglo pacific £1735 350 £4.96
britannia £1846 350 £5.27
gerard group £1725 not quoted
doree bonner £2122 390 £5.44
PSS £1413 239 £5.91
pickfords salesman didn't turn up for appointment

On first glance, PSS wins out but they have quoted for the smallest volume. When price per squ foot is compared, White & co wins.

Given that I personally showed each salesperson the same items to be moved, any ideas why the squ foot estimates vary so much. I suspect a little 'creative calculation' to reduce the final quote (although I could just be the suspicious type and it could simply have been human error).

All salespeople said the estimated cost would change depending on the volume of the final packed items. Does anyone have experience of how the costs DO change when the final volume is calculated. One of the companies mentions on a pro rata basis, but this seems a little simple, given the fixed and variable elements involved in putting together these quotes.

Any help appreciated

David

PS I've just realised some of the quotes above don't mention GST - the Australia tax, so I'll need to recheck some of them.

chris and farideh

this is the latest from Crown, they called my OH, and said we wont come to your place, but once you get your estimate from other companies call us, then we give you a quote.
WTF if they want my business they better get their backside here and fight for it.