The Removal Men

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  • SentenzaSentenza Posts: 12,114
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    And if I was paying someone 3-4 grand I'd be sat on the chair too not lifting anything :D
  • Jimmy ConnorsJimmy Connors Posts: 117,375
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    Stansfield wrote: »
    From last weeks preview, it made out they were going to be a Pain, but there was a family called Pain instead.;)

    They did seem a nice couple....but how the Pain's could lose the money from the first removal, that wasn't, they should sue....someone....over 3k out of pocket.:eek:


    And that Fire Engine in the Barn....I WANT ONE.:cool:

    The edit last week suggested they'd be a right pain, but they were quite nice people really. Loved the old fire engine too. :)
    Flukie wrote: »
    I thought all the people featured were nice this week! Funny and entertaining in some cases as well. I like Val moving into her caravans - and her 83 year old Dad!

    It's interesting in the first series they never mentioned how much anything cost but they do that about everything in this series!

    I loved the old Dad. :)
  • Gill PGill P Posts: 21,562
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    I enjoyed the latest episode but wonder why people don't pack anything when they move, especially the couple who had to be out by noon! Surely they must realise that the men had an almost impossible task given that they had so much "stuff"!
  • mrsdaisychainmrsdaisychain Posts: 3,431
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    I loved this programme the first time around and still enjoy it.
    I was really pleased they had changed the voice over, the previous one, can't remember her name was so annoying, (noticed her on another programme last night about pound shops:mad: ) its now changed to Caroline Quinten.

    I have always wondered how much removal firms charge especially for actually boxing ornaments, pots, pans etc.

    How upsetting to discover your link in the house chain hasn't signed when you are sitting outside you new home! enough to drive you mad!

    I don't know about anyone else but following the likes of the removal men, those working on the tube etc make interesting viewing,
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,219
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    Caroline Quentin voice overs are like nails scraping down a blackboard. :mad:
  • mrsdaisychainmrsdaisychain Posts: 3,431
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    MEW TOWN wrote: »
    Caroline Quentin voice overs are like nails scraping down a blackboard. :mad:

    Funny how people hear things differently, I don't mind her at all. Much rather have her than the one last year.
  • mrsdaisychainmrsdaisychain Posts: 3,431
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    I loved this programme the first time around and still enjoy it.
    I was really pleased they had changed the voice over, the previous one, can't remember her name was so annoying, (noticed her on another programme last night about pound shops:mad: ) its now changed to Caroline Quinten.

    I have always wondered how much removal firms charge especially for actually boxing ornaments, pots, pans etc.

    How upsetting to discover your link in the house chain hasn't signed when you are sitting outside you new home! enough to drive you mad!

    I don't know about anyone else but following the likes of the removal men, those working on the tube etc make interesting viewing,


    Have I got my Caroline's mixed up?:D
  • MorningCazzMorningCazz Posts: 2,042
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    MEW TOWN wrote: »
    Caroline Quentin voice overs are like nails scraping down a blackboard. :mad:

    I could'nt agree more - her awful voice ruins the programme for me :(
  • FM LoverFM Lover Posts: 50,645
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    johnny_t wrote: »
    It amazed me how little packing or preparation some people seemed to have done before moving. The woman, going to Fife, just picked up her washing basket, full of stuff, and stuck it in a box....

    I'm in the removals business and you'd be surprised totally how useless some people are.

    We've had moves booked, delivered a bunch of boxes a couple of weeks before hand so they can pack and when the lads turn up on the day of the move the boxes are still leaning against the wall in the hall where they were left a fortnight ago.

    We did a move a few years ago for Americans. The move was over 5 days and not once during those 5 days did the customer offer the team so much as a glass of tap water, just pure ignorance.

    Most people are organised, the worse type of people are like the woman in episode 2 that kept disappearing. Customers are supposed to be around at all times to instruct the team, and as for her leaving bit of paper on stuff that simply fell off when the stuff was picked up was just plain stupidity but I did love her father's ramp, very safe & sturdy.

    I loved the way that the crew said they couldn't work too long after 4pm because it gets dark so they'd simply come back tomorrow. That just doesn't happen unless it's either planned and costed into the move or the customer pays extra.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 82
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    Just been catching up on the last few episodes. That retired couple were fab, cooking them lunch and the way the woman laughed when the china got broken as she was going to give it to her son anyway :p

    I think the main attraction for me is seeing people's houses; if science doesn't work out I might become a removal lady :D There have been some gorgeous places on in the last few weeks- the big Victorian place in Bacup, the one up the steep hill in Caterham yesterday- both places that were being moved out of. Hated the place the artists moved into though - all for minimalist but bare breeze block walls and looking out of a window onto someone else's side wall isn't my idea of a dream home. Would love to know what they paid for it though.

    One thing I do like about this though is that they tell you how much each removal is costing and the fact that isn't made light of, e.g. "a whopping £3500" when to be honest that is a whopping amount of money - the openness is quite refreshing.
  • GloriaSnockersGloriaSnockers Posts: 2,932
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    FM Lover wrote: »
    I loved the way that the crew said they couldn't work too long after 4pm because it gets dark so they'd simply come back tomorrow. That just doesn't happen unless it's either planned and costed into the move or the customer pays extra.

    My husband was in removals for years too, and spent the last few of them managing a company. The 'it would never happen' bits are his favourite - he always passes comment on them. Having said that, they probably wouldn't show a lot of the things that do happen because nobody would believe them :)

    One of the drivers on one company he worked with found a live hand grenade during a house clearance once, so he chucked it in a biscuit tin(!) and drove it to the nearest police station. He actually made front page headlines in our local paper the next day, something like 'Is This Britain's Stupidest Removal Man?'! We put it down to the time when he'd tilted a wardrobe forward to help move it and the customer's 'battery operated pleasure toy' dropped on his head, switching itself on in the process.

    One of my favourite memories was when a customer gave my husband two tins of 'No Frills' baked beans for a tip. It's true that there's not the money in removals that a lot of people think there is, but I don't think he looked that hard up at the time :)

    We've moved three times ourselves in the last ten years. One thing I always do is pack a plastic crate with a few bits of cleaning gear (Jif, bleach, rags etc), the kettle and tea/coffee making equipment, teatowel, a few forks and plates, a bin liner and a toilet roll. I make sure it's the last thing on to the wagon and the first thing off of it. Knowing where to find these things makes life a lot easier, as does knowing that removal men generally perform more efficiently when you can fuel them with a steady drip feed of industrial strength tea :)
  • StansfieldStansfield Posts: 6,097
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    Gill P wrote: »
    I enjoyed the latest episode but wonder why people don't pack anything when they move, especially the couple who had to be out by noon! Surely they must realise that the men had an almost impossible task given that they had so much "stuff"!
    They could have packed some of it....plus all the steps, and the slope to get to it....:eek:

    Also thought the Sausage and Bacon couple were great, even when they broke the China....but the Dog missing, a nightmare, maybe trying to get 'Home'.
  • FM LoverFM Lover Posts: 50,645
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    We've moved three times ourselves in the last ten years. One thing I always do is pack a plastic crate with a few bits of cleaning gear (Jif, bleach, rags etc), the kettle and tea/coffee making equipment, teatowel, a few forks and plates, a bin liner and a toilet roll. I make sure it's the last thing on to the wagon and the first thing off of it. Knowing where to find these things makes life a lot easier, as does knowing that removal men generally perform more efficiently when you can fuel them with a steady drip feed of industrial strength tea :)

    Tea is what most removal men run on, most teams will get on famously with the customers and most you can "befriend" albeit for just a day or two but it's the friendliness that always gets repeat business & recommendations.

    This programme does show Pickfords in a very high regard but they certainly know how to charge for a move.

    We had one potential customer that had to get three quotes for their company that was paying but made in blatantly clear that they would only use Pickfords because they wanted the neighbours to see the truck outside their front door. A little later we heard that they'd sent just a plain van that day that was on hire and the customer was mighty displeased.

    In the first episode of Series 2 the person that rang most true is the woman who had forgotten to move her lap top bag so it got boxed up and she had the lads emptying half the lorry to find it. That's down to bad organisation on customers behalf.

    Cleaning products, a vacuum cleaner, tea bags & milk & sugar should always be the last stuff that's loaded onto the van.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,363
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    Stansfield wrote: »
    They could have packed some of it....plus all the steps, and the slope to get to it....:eek:

    Also thought the Sausage and Bacon couple were great, even when they broke the China....but the Dog missing, a nightmare, maybe trying to get 'Home'.

    Exactly. I don't understand why people can't at least make a start on the packing even if they have paid for the full service.
    The couple with the two small children had far too much stuff for that rented house. Nice to expect the removal men to shift a basket of dirty washing. :confused:
    I wonder if Pickfords did actually do the move a month later to the "dream" house or if they declined the job.
  • FlukieFlukie Posts: 40,578
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    As they say, you pay extra to have everything packed for you, compared to if you pack everything yourself.

    But personally, even if I could easily afford the extra money, I wouldn't have the nerve to have the men to turn up and see my house looking like a tip with what looks like rubbish everywhere!
    Like that couple where it looked like a bomb had exploded in their house!
    I'd leave the big things for them to pack (even things like books and DVD's if you have a lot, that kind of size) but all the other stuff - defiitely not!

    But that retired couple were just lovely. And they certainly fed the men well! It was nice the lady laughed off the breakages. It won't affect their monthly bonus, then. :)

    Also, that couple with mountains of stuff who literally left the house a minute before the new lot moved in ... the house must've been filthy after moving everything out at the last minute!

    I did comment on a previous post how in the first series no prices were mentioned, but now the price of everything is told to us. I wonder why they changed that?
  • habbyhabby Posts: 10,027
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    Don't know why they keep blaming their sat nav, unless its a Tom Tom. Should have got a Garmin :) Got me thousands of miles round Australia without getting lost. :)

    Why does he need that knob to hold on the steering wheel? Thats normally for disabled drivers! :confused:
  • StansfieldStansfield Posts: 6,097
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    habby wrote: »
    Don't know why they keep blaming their sat nav, unless its a Tom Tom. Should have got a Garmin :) Got me thousands of miles round Australia without getting lost. :)

    Why does he need that knob to hold on the steering wheel? Thats normally for disabled drivers! :confused:
    I guess, so it's easier to turn.....with all the maneuvering they do in tight spaces, FLT's have them too.


    Just wondering how much they charged for moving that Four Poster, from one room, to another, in that Castle.:eek:....did they say?
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    I wonder why that 90 yr old gent had two women waiting on him hand and foot? Could it be he's worth a fortune?!
  • StansfieldStansfield Posts: 6,097
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    LostFool wrote: »
    I wonder why that 90 yr old gent had two women waiting on him hand and foot? Could it be he's worth a fortune?!
    He did give the Men a big tip....:rolleyes:

    And I'm sure that 'move' with Sir Ben was just a publicity stunt, the two receiving the Guns, 2 knights and a stuffed bear, didn't look happy.....and I've seen him on a SKY Atlantic Documentary earlier this year as well.
  • Jimmy ConnorsJimmy Connors Posts: 117,375
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    LostFool wrote: »
    I wonder why that 90 yr old gent had two women waiting on him hand and foot? Could it be he's worth a fortune?!

    The thought did cross my mind too.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 13
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    LIZALYNN wrote: »
    Exactly. I don't understand why people can't at least make a start on the packing even if they have paid for the full service.
    The couple with the two small children had far too much stuff for that rented house. Nice to expect the removal men to shift a basket of dirty washing. :confused:
    I wonder if Pickfords did actually do the move a month later to the "dream" house or if they declined the job.

    In the process of moving right now with Pickfords and they state quite clearly that their insurance doesn't cover anything you've packed yourself, so if you've paid for them to pack, they pack AND insure.
  • domedome Posts: 55,875
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    In the process of moving right now with Pickfords and they state quite clearly that their insurance doesn't cover anything you've packed yourself, so if you've paid for them to pack, they pack AND insure.

    That's the case with all respectable removal companies.
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