Anyone had a good experince using Pickfords?

[britzy]

Can anyone let me know whether they have used Pickfords and are happy with the service.I keep hearing horror stories about them but they seem to offer a good service to me and are reasonably priced.I am swayed towards John Mason,we have had 5 quotes probably too many but Pickfords are so determined to get our busy,Is this because they are struggling ?I dont want to make the wrong decision any advise would be welcome.
Thanks

Helen

[clairelouise]

We used Allied Pickfords, mainly as theyy were recommended to us and they use their own company here in NZ instead of subcontracting out to someone else, and they were great. We were quoted about £3700 for door to door service with full wrapping, and Suzanne who was our move coordinator was absolutely fantastic! The packers allocated themselves a day and a half to pack everything up, and were brilliant, they were finished way ahead of their time too.
It took 6 weeks for our things to arrive to port, and we were given another Pickfords move coordinator here in NZ to deal with and she was patient and helpful too. She put up with me querying how to fill in the MAF form on many occaisiion! Our belongings turned up at our house about 2 weeks after landing at port, but the wait was mainly as we live in the far north and had to wait for it to get here, and also because MAF wanted to see some of our stuff. The men who delivered everything came at the exact time they said, and were really professional too. And best of all, nothing was broken !
I would say not to take the insurance out with them, it was looking quite expensive I found. We used Letton Percival and could not fault them at all.

I realise it is all down to personal opinion, but from this happy customer they get a big thumbs up!

[grady]

Hi Helen,

I work for Pickfords, we aim to offer an excellent moving experience
door to door at competitive rates, we have 14 local Allied Pickfords offices in
New Zealand to assist with Customs clearence and final delivery and unpacking in your new home. It is nice to see clairelouise's comments -
we have many thousands of happy international movers each year - occasionally like all service providers we can make mistakes - but we are
always focused on avoiding problems and rectifying any issues that may arise
during a move.Our 'Moving with Quality' programme sees us audit around 2000
moves during the packing process each year to ensure standards are maintained.
We are financially secure as part of a larger pan European moving network and
also a member of the Allied worldwide network.We offer all International clients an automatic Insurance cover that guarantees their shipping costs - so your money would be safe in our hands! (a bit like an ABTA bond)

I hope you will give us the opportunity to prove ourselves, please let me
know if I can assist you with any additional information.

Grady

[britzy]

Many thanks both, I will call Pickfords I have been extremely pleased with the service they have offered so far.There was one removal firm that came around and totally ripped pickfords apart.I don't believe everything I hear but it unnerved me.I can say they certaintly will not get our busy I thought they were so unprofessional but to be warned.
Helen

[grady]

Hi Helen,

You are right - all Companies should be stressing the features of their service and explaining how everything works and how the service they can provide will suit your needs.Talking down a rival Company is very poor and weak.

If you would like to let me have the Company's name we can report them to the British Association of Movers (our UK trade body) so that the individual
is addressed in the matter, I understand if you would prefer not to say.

If you wish to mail me direct then contact graham.hardwick@pickfords.com

Regards
Grady

[James 1077]

I can also couch for Pickfords. They were great throughout the whole process from packing up the flat to unpacking it here.

They even spent extra time putting our wardrobe back together again (the UK guys who took it apart told me it would be a nightmare to put together again due to its complexity - but said that the Kiwis deserved it having just beaten us at cricket!).

[Kate D]

I also have to recommend Pickfords. I understand it's a franchise in the UK, but the guys that I used were great. Took 3 people 3 full days to pack my stuff and load the container at a cost of 4,700K for a 40 foot container (too much for 20, lots of space left over in a 40 foot one! Oh how I wished I'd done the shopping spree before I left...). And they guys at this end were also great - well worth the six packs of beer I bought them as they were so helpful and friendly and assembled my key bits of furniture and unpacked in one day. I've not totally unpacked the last few things I don't need here currently in my rental, but so far all I had damaged was one glass panel in an empty cheap clip frame holder.

I had to pay a bit extra because the container couldn't be delivered to my door so the cost was for the transfer of the stuff into a delivery van. Around $250 I think, but perfectly fair under the circumstances. But the MAF inspection was done at my place based on boxes put aside (my estimates of those to check matched MAF's), and it was delivered there about 1-2 days after arrival into port. Container transit estimate was also pretty much spot on.

The end to end approach of the one company was a major seller for me after some of the problems other people were reporting with using more than one company.

I also used Letton percival for insurance though - half the price!

Kate

[russetoak]

I can also recommend Allied Pickfords. The guys in the UK were great and so fast. I think if i stood still to long i would've been wrapped and put in. Also this end fantastic service and trouble free.
As we sold our house very quickly we had to live in a caravan for 3 months before we new we were coming to NZ. A few days before leaving UK we took our final bits and pieces to the storage depot to be put with our other boxes to go into the container. Unfortunately human error, and they forgot to put this stuff in the container. So when we got the container 12 boxes were missing. It was found thank goodness and arrived on Christmas eve.
Even with this I would still recommend them. Everything was packed and boxed carefully and not a single item was broken.
The main plus for us was knowing the same company would be involved all the way through and due to our hiccup this really helped.
Good luck with your plans.

[WANZLittles]

Wow wonder if they have a partner in the US.

[James 1077]

Wow wonder if they have a partner in the US.

They are global so should do. Will either be called Allied or Pickfords or even Allied Pickfords!