How To Choose A Removals Company

Computers and the internet are amazing, but people moving house should remember that you cannot move a sofa by typing on a keyboard.

At some point, you will need a removal company to send men you have never met into your home to be trusted to handle your treasured possessions. Decide wisely who you want them to be.

The removals industry is going through a massive change because of the internet. Some long-established, quality removal companies are falling behind others in the use of the internet as a marketing tool and are struggling to reach potential customers. Many customer enquiries are being directed by Google to virtual removal companies and removal agents who are sales orientated and have no experience of carrying out a removal. Some terrible removal companies, true cowboys, have lovely websites promising a fantastic service. Beware…

When I started work in the Removals industry in the mid-1970s, advertising was simple.

Removal Companies placed an advert in The Yellow Pages and The Thomson Local, and when someone was moving house or storing furniture they went to their directory, phoned 3 or 4 Removal Companies and invited them to their home to discuss the service required and supply an estimate. All companies in the directory had one thing in common; they were real removal companies, employing real removal men, located somewhere in the area that the directory covered, by the late 1980s when I started to think about TFM nothing had changed.

Then came the internet and most of us in the Removals Industry ignored it because we really did not understand it. We were good at moving furniture, packing fine china, driving large vans and navigating around the UK and Europe, but many of us did not even have a computer in the office.

As time went on and the internet became increasingly influential, TFM, dragged by my sons and younger wise friends underwent quite a culture change and started to dedicate time and resources to the development of internet marketing and creating a website that told you, our customers, what TFM was about. Of course, other businesses, with younger and more computer literate leaders were the first to take advantage of this media which aided fast growth for some.

Please though remember that when you put the keyword “removals” into Google, sometimes, the companies that reach the top of the listings are not genuine quality removal companies but are Virtual Removal Companies, Removal Agents or cowboys.

Please take the time to read the “top ten tips” below which will give you some help if you are using the internet to find a removal company.

10 things to look for when choosing your removal company using the internet

Only use a company who a member of the British Association of Removers.
Take the time to look at a company’s website and compare it with other removal company’s sites. Remember that the people this firm employs will be coming in your home and handling your treasured possessions.
Find out how long the removal company has been trading. I started TFM in 1992.
Avoid websites that are not built and operated by genuine removal companies. These sites will take your details and then sell them to 3 or 4 removal companies who may or may not be good, trustworthy genuine movers.
Check that the removal companies you look at on Google operate in the area you live. TFM operate in Essex, Kent, East London and South East London. It constantly surprises us how many customers find us on line then phone us to carry out a local removal 150 miles away!
Read recommendations if they are available. Genuine scanned letters from satisfied customers are more reliable than on line forms, who can be sure who filled in the forms?
Go on to Google maps and put in the address the removal company operates from. Does it show a genuine yard with removal lorries and storage or perhaps it shows you something else.
Do not waste your time filling in an on line form. If the information you fill in is incorrect, the responsibility if the volume of the removal is wrong will be yours.
Phone 2 or 3 Removal Companies and discuss your removal, if you like the way they answer your questions ask them to come and give you an estimate for your removal. You can learn a lot about a company when you speak to them in person.
Only accept an estimate from a company who will send out an estimator to view your removal.

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