The initial move began on Saturday 17th December (using boxes that had to be supplied by another company as Pickfords failed to deliver said boxes, bubblewrap etc.). This went faultlessly and was more than happy with two removal men, who were helpful, happy and conscientious. Then on Monday 19th December, a new crew arrived to complete the job. Unfortunately these men were less than 'happy' and obviously just wanted to pack up ASAP whilst paying scant regard for preservation of my property. They arrived at the new house in Oxfordshire and waited whilst we waited at the estate agents for the keys to be released. This happened at 16:45. Just before this I received a phone call to say the removal lorry had left the new property and was going back to Maidstone and would not be back until Friday 23 December! This left us with absolutely nothing, only the clothes we were wearing and nowhere to live. We had no option but to drive all the way back to Kent and were lucky enough to stay with my parents for the week.
I was then told a lorry would be loaded with our possessions on Thursday 18th December and would leave at 07:00 the following morning (but only if we paid another six hundred or so pounds). At about 08:35 that morning I received a call from the driver to say they were there and where were we? Upon questioning how they managed to get there so quickly I was told they did not in fact leave that morning but the previous evening, staying overnight in Abingdon! Why on earth could they not have stayed over the day we were supposed to move in? Anyway, they unloaded and disappeared with saying two words to me, leaving a large wardrobe they 'dismantled' still in pieces and another assembled wardrobe they could get into a bedroom in the garage. I say dismantled in a loose form as they apparently did not posses a screwdriver and used a hammer to smash it apart instead, destroying it in the process. An oil painting has been ruined by being laid flat with a smaller heavy object laid on the canvass. An interior wall corner has been bashed so hard, plaster was knocked off exposing the brick below. Wallpaper was ripped and two paintings are missing. A huge roll of bubble wrap due to be returned to another company also disappeared.
All in all this has for all of us been the move from hell. The stress caused by Pickfords pushed us almost to breaking point, ruined our Christmas (especially for my five year old son) and cost us a lot of unplanned expense. We chose Pickfords for you experience and expertise, something that has yet to be demonstrated.
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