Following on from my tumultuous house move I need some advice on how next to proceed.
I arranged for removals to come and have a look at what I needed with my house move.
It was a large 6 bedroom house small holding and a distance move of 80 miles. We needed most of the house packed up and stored a couple of days before completion so on the day all we needed was 2 sofas and a bed moved first thing on completion day . This was so that we could load the animals up and devote the time to them plus it gave me a few days to clean the house from top to bottom with it empty
First removal day arrived and was slightly surprised that just a small 7.5 tonne lorry turned up with 3 men. We thought that possibly vans number 2 and 3 were waiting for one to load before coming in. We knew that we'd need a smaller van on completion day as where we were locating was quite a narrow track
The first van was loaded by about 10.30 , by 11.30 still no one else arrived.The same van finally came about 1.00 and proceeded to be filled but in no particular order. We presumed they knew what they were doing . After about an hour this one was full.. I asked how much longer this would take as there was still a lot to remove. I was then informed that they wouldn't be back until completion a few days later .
I emailed the company later that day stating that that wasn't what we had wanted and this would make completion day very difficult
Fast forward to the day itself and it was disastrous . I couldn't even start cleaning as every room had bits left in it and as they had no dust sheets to lay down on carpets (cream ones throughout upstairs) there were muddy footprints everywhere plus all the beds were still in situ so everything had to be hoovered and dusted .
The removals were then supposed to bring our furniture down that day but due to everything over running we left later than planned but before completion went ahead. I told removals to just load the boxes into the garage and I will deal with them but to put furniture in the right rooms as my husband and I couldn't lift these on our own . This was relayed before I left
I picked keys up from EA about 3.30 and proceeded to the house . Removals had put everything in the garage and couldn't access the furniture they had delivered as everything was boxed in.
They told me that they couldn't do anymore as it was 6.00 . We were trying to get the animals sorted as well as sort these people out who had little to no common sense . They said their office had called requesting payment and I said I would pay the balance when the job was completed and that until then I wouldn't pay the final balance
The following day they took from 11.00 in the morning until 6.00 that evening to deliver the rest as they only had the one van and had to keep going back to their storage 50 miles away , again with no method and everything everywhere, eventually I told them to just put the boxes outside and we would sort it, which they did but also all my rugs, shades etc. So it begins to rain and my husband and some friends had to get everything indoors and we were in a total mess
They asked me to speak to their office and they wanted an extra 500.00 to be paid for the extra day , at this point I told them that they quoted for a job and it wasn't my fault they didn't have the vehicles or the man power to get it done in time
The next day there was no way we could get everything out of the garage as it was piled everywhere, we took pics of boxes piled on fragile items just in case so decided to call our local removers to come and collect the furniture and store it until we could get in some kind of order . As we were taking boxes out of the garage to get to furniture we could live without for a few weeks it became obvious there was some damage . An american fridge freezer 8 months old had a big crease down one of the doors , a leather large sofa had a torn edge where it was placed on it's end on concrete , a single divan bed had been ripped on the base and a framed print was leant against a nail protruding out of the garage wall.
As soon as I could get on the net the following day I asked them for a claims form as I had items that had been damaged and sent them the pics . They totally denied any damage and said it had happened when the second removal company took them away. I told them this was not possible as the fridge freezer wasn't stored and was still in the place it had been left by them (pic provided) but now it had been unburied by us .
They deny any damage and that if I didn't pay the extra 500.00 by the end of the week they would add interest on a daily basis
I informed them that I will send a letter before action to their registered office and will proceed to the small claims court.
Have I done the right thing and how next should I proceed or should I just do the LBA and go through MCOL . Just to add I never signed anything before they left stating that everything was OK
Many thanks in anticipation
I arranged for removals to come and have a look at what I needed with my house move.
It was a large 6 bedroom house small holding and a distance move of 80 miles. We needed most of the house packed up and stored a couple of days before completion so on the day all we needed was 2 sofas and a bed moved first thing on completion day . This was so that we could load the animals up and devote the time to them plus it gave me a few days to clean the house from top to bottom with it empty
First removal day arrived and was slightly surprised that just a small 7.5 tonne lorry turned up with 3 men. We thought that possibly vans number 2 and 3 were waiting for one to load before coming in. We knew that we'd need a smaller van on completion day as where we were locating was quite a narrow track
The first van was loaded by about 10.30 , by 11.30 still no one else arrived.The same van finally came about 1.00 and proceeded to be filled but in no particular order. We presumed they knew what they were doing . After about an hour this one was full.. I asked how much longer this would take as there was still a lot to remove. I was then informed that they wouldn't be back until completion a few days later .
I emailed the company later that day stating that that wasn't what we had wanted and this would make completion day very difficult
Fast forward to the day itself and it was disastrous . I couldn't even start cleaning as every room had bits left in it and as they had no dust sheets to lay down on carpets (cream ones throughout upstairs) there were muddy footprints everywhere plus all the beds were still in situ so everything had to be hoovered and dusted .
The removals were then supposed to bring our furniture down that day but due to everything over running we left later than planned but before completion went ahead. I told removals to just load the boxes into the garage and I will deal with them but to put furniture in the right rooms as my husband and I couldn't lift these on our own . This was relayed before I left
I picked keys up from EA about 3.30 and proceeded to the house . Removals had put everything in the garage and couldn't access the furniture they had delivered as everything was boxed in.
They told me that they couldn't do anymore as it was 6.00 . We were trying to get the animals sorted as well as sort these people out who had little to no common sense . They said their office had called requesting payment and I said I would pay the balance when the job was completed and that until then I wouldn't pay the final balance
The following day they took from 11.00 in the morning until 6.00 that evening to deliver the rest as they only had the one van and had to keep going back to their storage 50 miles away , again with no method and everything everywhere, eventually I told them to just put the boxes outside and we would sort it, which they did but also all my rugs, shades etc. So it begins to rain and my husband and some friends had to get everything indoors and we were in a total mess
They asked me to speak to their office and they wanted an extra 500.00 to be paid for the extra day , at this point I told them that they quoted for a job and it wasn't my fault they didn't have the vehicles or the man power to get it done in time
The next day there was no way we could get everything out of the garage as it was piled everywhere, we took pics of boxes piled on fragile items just in case so decided to call our local removers to come and collect the furniture and store it until we could get in some kind of order . As we were taking boxes out of the garage to get to furniture we could live without for a few weeks it became obvious there was some damage . An american fridge freezer 8 months old had a big crease down one of the doors , a leather large sofa had a torn edge where it was placed on it's end on concrete , a single divan bed had been ripped on the base and a framed print was leant against a nail protruding out of the garage wall.
As soon as I could get on the net the following day I asked them for a claims form as I had items that had been damaged and sent them the pics . They totally denied any damage and said it had happened when the second removal company took them away. I told them this was not possible as the fridge freezer wasn't stored and was still in the place it had been left by them (pic provided) but now it had been unburied by us .
They deny any damage and that if I didn't pay the extra 500.00 by the end of the week they would add interest on a daily basis
I informed them that I will send a letter before action to their registered office and will proceed to the small claims court.
Have I done the right thing and how next should I proceed or should I just do the LBA and go through MCOL . Just to add I never signed anything before they left stating that everything was OK
Many thanks in anticipation
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