One day we will look back at yesterday and laugh, but not today, nor tomorrow and probably not the next day. But one day we will have sufficient distance and perspective to see the funny side.
I am starting to write this while sitting in The Jolly Fisherman in Craster having a drink before we have our celebratory crab sandwich at a table overlooking the sea. We booked it when we were last here as something to look forward to. We are both tired. We slept at a hotel. I didn’t sleep very well as the room had a green light on – I can’t sleep with the light on so didn’t get much sleep at all. It was Terry’s idea and as it turned out an inspired one. We finally got into bed at about 12.45am this morning.
The reason for this lateness to bed is not that we were celebrating our arrival. No. It was because we had to wait for our piano to be delivered. When booking the removal I was told that the piano needed a specialist crew and separate van to the rest. That should have been a big red flag. I assumed that it would arrive roughly the same time as the two Luton vans booked. Oh no… and I didn’t get the promised notification of the 2-hour time slot the day before. After several attempts at contacting the company during the morning of the move I eventually was told – at about the same time that the other crew were ready to leave at about 1pm – that they would arrive between 4-6pm. Bearing in mind that it is about a 4 hour drive we knew it was going to be late. But that isn’t the worst aspect of our move…. Oh no…. If it were I would be laughing about it now.
The crew had looked at their list and packed only what was on it (with a few exceptions). The 2nd of the vans already had someone else’s stuff on it. This puzzled me. The man said that the calculations of what was on the list meant we wouldn’t need a full two vans but a van and a half.
They had taken the king size divan bed base, but not the mattress! I hadn’t specified it. They had left the small filing cabinets in Terry’s room. I had tried to add them but wanted to do so by talking to my move manager rather than online. Every time you add something online the price goes up. I couldn’t get through to him. I nearly cancelled using them a couple of days before the move but thought better of it. I wish I had, even if it had meant waiting a bit longer to move.
Yesterday was the culmination of several weeks of preparation and declutterring. The move had been booked back in November when I was busy and stressed and probably not in the best frame of mind for making important decisions. Upon learning that the diocese does not pay moving costs when clergy retire I decided to go for the best value for money and spoke to a very nice man at Anyvan. He said they would price match. He quoted substantially less than another company and so I went with them. But the problem is that although I listed the main big items to him with a vague ‘lots of stuff’ I had no idea of how many boxes would be needed. After all, I am not a removals expert. I assumed he was. He suggested 40 large boxes. I also had some large plastic storage boxes with things in.
A week or so before the move my moving manager called and I expressed my fears about everything fitting and that I couldn’t understand how they could possibly estimate without actually seeing the job or asking for meaurements. There was no video tour of the house like the other company. I should have cancelled and gone with a proper removal firm, paying the higher fees. But we can all be wise in hindsight.
I had an uneasy feeling on the morning of the move about the 2 or 3 extra items I realised I had forgotten to mention, but thought they would get them loaded and worse case scenario I would be charged a bit more. I thought two Luton vans would be enough. I did a tour of the house with the man showing what was to be left. He didn’t say there was far more than he could fit in the vans.
So the men set off with the key I had provided them with. It is a good job we already own the property we were moving to and that nobody was moving into the vicarage the same day. I can’t imagine the stress if we had been in a buying/selling scenario. I didn’t want to wait till 4-6pm for the piano van. It would have meant a very late arrival. But by the time I had made a few arrangements for someone to have our keys and be there to supervise the piano loading my stress and emotions were running very high. How ridiculous that the bookings didn’t coincide with timing!
The worst of it is that when I had a look around the house to see what they hadn’t taken I was shocked. Nothing from the kitchen cupboards or utility room had been packed. We had already disposed of cooker, dishwasher and washing machine to auction as we have a fully fitted kitchen here. I wanted the larger fridge freezer though and thought it might be a bit of a tight fit in the space. And that was all they took from that part of the house. Most of the books on the shelves in my study were left behind.
Upstairs most of my art and craft stuff that I had stacked on the table were still there – and of course the mattress in our bedroom.
The men weren’t interested in using the boxes we had in the garage left over from our last move. They wanted to get off and on with the job. They had gone through their check list and as far as they were concerned that was it.
A trip to the pub for a drink and a bite to eat were in order. I was reluctant, being in quite a state and wanting to get on, but went along with Terry’s suggestion. The barmaid was lovely and caring as she could see I was upset. We had some chips and wine and encouraging caring conversation.
We eventually set off with me still not sure if the messages about piano loading supervision had got through. Eventually en route I was assured that it was going to plan and I eventually had an ETA of almost 6pm.
We stopped off at our usual half way point of Wetherby to change over driving and as the town is close to the motorway junction, went to one of the pubs. Just as I was about to pay for the drinks and a packet of crisps the phone rang. It was piano van man. Remember the mattress? One of the men in the morning said the piano van man might take it if I asked. So I asked for it to be taken. He phoned me to say that he couldn’t take it without permission from his manager. I asked him how much I would be charged if he brought it. About £80 he said. At that point I felt like telling him where to put the mattress. Instead I simply declined. I didn’t want the hassle. We want a new mattress anyway. This will force the purchase sooner rather than later.
The barmaid noticed my distress and anger and was very kind and listened to our tale of woe. She even moved us to a quieter table when she had cleared it.
As we drove the rest of the way to our new home we reflected that had everything gone smoothly we would not have experienced people’s love and care: the people at church who were there to help as well as the two barmaids. God doesn’t stop the horrible stuff happening. He leaves us to make bad decisions and poor choices. But he doesn’t leave us alone with the consequences. We have been blessed despite the difficulties, or indeed because of them.
Just as we were turning the corner into our road the phone rang. It was the removal men. They had finished and wanted to know about the key. They waited till we got there and we thanked them. But of course as I hadn’t been there to supervise the unloading the furniture is not in the places I had planned for them. And there are boxes filling the living room floor and upstairs too.
We paid for large boxes – but nothing was said about them only being half full. Some of them have been only half full. I realise they would be too heavy if full of heavy stuff. But we paid for the cubic meters. The large plastic boxes I spoke of weren’t all used, but many smaller ones. They were all counted by the men as if the same size. The company use algorithms for calculating the amount of space needed. But, for example, the 8 book cases we have range in size from quite small to very tall.
Also, it didn’t help that they emptied all the drawers thus creating the need for more boxes. When I moved in the past the contents stayed in drawers unless of course too fragile. Packing paper would fill the gap if necessary.
We have furniture that needs moving from one room to another. The house is like one of those sliding tile puzzles. We will gradually get it all rearranged.
We went to the hotel for a drink and another packet of crisps – the kitchen was closed. After seeing our room we came back home to await the piano.
This morning we went for a walk on the beach. It is wonderful to think that this is now home and not our holiday house.
We then shifted the double bed mattress that was in storage in our garage awaiting being sold along with the bed frame up the stairs. It is much easier to get a mattress down stairs than up them! I am so glad that the EBay auction didn’t produce a buyer for it. We will use the double mattress on the kingsize divan for a while. Unfortunately the bolts and washers fixing the headboard to the base are missing.
Oh and the fridge freezer – it is too big! I thought I had checked the measurements. I have found someone on Facebook who wants it. Hopefully they will collect it tomorrow. We will manage with the smaller one we bought for the house when a holiday home. It will stop me hoarding things in the freezer until they go in the bin!
We will have to arrange for the rest of our things to be packed and delivered to us. This will incur more cost and probably send the total cost of the move up to more than the original quote I had from the proper removal company.
But it could be worse – nobody has died, nothing was broken that I am aware of and other such platitudes. I am not laughing but at least I’m not crying any more. I won’t even continue beating myself up for the poor choice of firm. My mistake was believing the sales pitch and not reading the small print of the T&Cs.
So my advice is to avoid Anyvan like the plague unless you know exactly what items you are moving and exactly how many boxes. The men they use are fine and did a good job. The piano shifting was impressive. But they are simply ‘a man with a van’ carrying out a job for a big firm who talk the talk of being a house removal company but don’t walk the walk. They aren’t house removals, they are a network of a men with vans. I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way. The two things are different.
Edit: I have just written an update as I had a response from my complaint… see my next post.
Elizabeth Jones' Diary 