Questions to Expect from a Removals Company!
Why we ask the questions that we do.
A lot of people call us, just wanting a quote. When we try to ask our boring but essential questions they say something like: “at the moment, I am just looking for a removal quote, just a ball park figure would do…. it’s just a two bedroom place”. And we are thinking do we quote £120 or £5000 as we have charged both for moving two bedroom flats.
So what do we want to know:
Amongst other ancillary things that also affect the quotes, like packing materials and storage etc. There are four main things that we want to determine due to which we ask you all the questions we do:
1: Size of Vehicle Required
2. Amount of Man Power Required
3.The Distance to be Cover
4. The overall time it will require to conduct the job.
So if you knew all of the above, and called us saying: “I have one Luton Van load worth of contents, going from Edinburgh to Ayrshire, I have stairs at both ends, and therefore, I shall require two men at both ends. Since it’s almost a 4 hour drive, it will take you 8 hours of driving time plus loading and unloading. There is no dismantling, packing, or storage, we need you to pickup and deliver same day.” You shall notice that we will give you a quote within 5 minutes, presuming there isn’t any other service required. And we shall just be loading, unloading and transporting the contents.
Ancillary Questions:
Packing, Packaging Materials, Storage, Stairs, Antiques/Pianos, delivery dates and timings.
1. Would you require help with packing?
Packing question is asked for 3 reasons: Firstly, this allows us to clarify that a removal quote does not by default packing, this can be presumed by customers sometimes. It also gives us the opportunity to schedule the move better, and advise an earlier date for packing, other than the date of the actual move, such arrangements are bound to improve your moving experience. Finally, even if you did not consider getting help with packing, it is good for you to know that help is available if need be and how much it would cost; a lot of our customers have considered a packing service only after we mentioned it. We are not necessarily trying to take your time to cross promote an extra service, the idea is just to make you aware that it is available and just in case you presumed, it is not included in our quotes by default. This helps avoid any misunderstandings and allows you to make an informed choice.
2. Would you require any packing materials?
Yes, people have presumed that we shall come with the materials and pack and load up, when we only ever quoted for moving the contents. So again it helps to clarify any presumptions, this is when most customers find out that they can choose to get the packing materials to their door step, without the need to hire us for packing, and a lot of customers end up choosing to pack themselves but do require the packing materials regardless.
At this stage, we can also give free advice regarding the type of packing materials to choose for various items, so you shall find out materials from bubble wrap to acid free paper and everything in between; such a newspaper cut paper etc. We can advise you on the strength of boxes required, for example if you are moving contents into storage for 6 months, we would highly recommend double walled boxes which are sturdy and wont collapse under their own weigh when stacked on top of each other. Single walled boxes are just not good for long term storage especially stacking the items.
3. Would you require any storage?
Sometimes, you don’t think that you may require storage, but when we ask about the time the keys shall be exchanged, and if you have a plan B if the purchase doesn’t go through. Most customers would not have a plan B, this allows us to create a plan B and allow you to budget for such an eventuality. This also allows us to be logistically prepared and have a storage unit available and man power available to offload the contents and redeliver at short notice again.
Sometimes customers do not think about scenarios like that but as a removal firm we consider it to be our duty to ensure that we think it through on your behalf. And it doesn’t cost you anything extra to be prepared for such eventualities.
And for those who already know that they need to store, we can always advise of the type of storage, and their price differences etc. And the total cost of storage for a certain period.
4. Are there any stairs involved? With or without a lift?
This question is asked to ensure that we are not over quoting you, if you are going from a ground floor to ground floor, you quoted price should be considerably less than some of our customer who we have moved from a third floor tenement to a fourth floor tenement without a lifts at either end. We may need to deploy extra man power, or arrange parking for a longer period of time if there is a lot of stairs. Due to the time taken due to extra stairs, even with lifts sometimes, we need to take the extra time required into account and quote you accordingly.
5. Do you have any antiques or pianos in your ‘household’ contents?
Pianos, Grandfather Clocks etc. are specialist items and we have a different team that moves pianos and antiques, so whilst you might think, a grand piano can be moved by the 4 people who will come to conduct your move, it’s a specialist jobs, and only our piano moving team would move your piano or other antiques. Therefore, it is important for us to know if such items are included in the move, so we can plan better logistically.
For Antiques, we also have to ensure that they are covered by our insurance, so it is handy to know about any unusual items beforehand, our insurance does not cover antiques and pianos by default, unless you have booked a piano move with us.
6. What is your moving date and do you have any flexibility?
All our quotes are subject to availability, therefore, it is very important to know whether you have flexibility with the dates or not. If your dates are fixed and our availability for those dates is slim it gives us the opportunity to inform you at the time of quotation. Some dates are generally busy, so if you are moving on the last Friday of June, July or August, you don’t want to keep shopping around for too long, and commission a removal company at your earliest, it would not matter whether it is First Movers or someone else, but you will need to secure the dates to ensure you are not left without any moving company being available.
Flexibility can also allow you to save some money, especially if you are moving long distance, and the contents can be transported as a part load. For instance, if you are moving 20 boxes from Edinburgh to London, and do not mind when the items get picked up within a certain date range, it is helpful to let us know, and if there is enough time left to potentially match it with other customers, we shall quote you a part-load price, as opposed to a dedicated move, there are significant savings to be had there.
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Summary:
The more information you supply any company the more accurate the quote shall be, and whilst you may think that stairs are not important, you don’t want to obtain a quote for a ground floor delivery and be surprised that taking the contents to 4th floor will cost significantly more.
The best way it to fill in our enquiry form, which will ask you the addresses, the floor levels, along with the moving date. Please mention if the dates are flexible, and include a list of items if you have one, or indicate the size of vehicle you will prefer. And this information shall allow us to prepare your quote.
The best practice is to fill out a form before calling us, that way, we shall have the details in front of us and we shall only be asking you limited questions. The addresses obtained shall be error free.
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