Auckland Removers product reviews

I have to say, planning a major relocation has to be one of the most stressful events in a person's life. It's never going to be easy, after all there is so much more to do than just pack and shift... you have to update umpteen different stores, government departments, family and friends, deal with closing off your various services and subscriptions, finding money to pay for rent and bond and possibly letting fees... the list is substantial. And then there's the contents insurance...

Now this is where the pitfalls occur... do you pay through the nose for your regular insurer to give you a 2-3 day cover policy that will cost you about the same as a year's worth of normal coverage... or do you fork out a per-thousand rate to the carrier firm for their own insurance (which gives you far less coverage than you think, and carries some MAJOR loopholes in their favour!), or do you gamble on the carrier actually being able to do a decent job without trashing your gear? In the end, we decided to take a middle road... we arrange transport of all the very valuable items by a different route, and just loaded all the bulk items and 'replaceables' on this firm, and flagged both insurance options... that way we made sure the cost of transit was minimised, while still getting everything shifted safely.

So, pickup was booked... we arranged our own packing, and set up a few little 'surprises' to see how well these guys could make delicates travel. Of course, nothing vital was used, some old glassware we bought at the op-shop and some old crappy plates packed loosely in a box. I thought it unfair to make the test too unrealistic, so I tagged the boxes "Rattle OK" to see how they would handle stacking them. A few other boxes marked "Top Stack Only" to mask the 'test subjects' and we were ready to go. The expected outcome was to have a maximum of 20% of the badly-packed test items arrive broken. Life is full of surprises it seems.

The day before pickup, I got a phonecall telling me that due to another load cancelling on them the truck would be arriving an hour earlier than first booked - so 8am instead of 9am. This proved to be incorrect, as they arrived a full 60 minutes ahead of the booked time, meaning I was still packing the last boxes while they were loading. Score a point for wanting to be quick and get me moved sooner, but lose that point for arriving at 7am when everything was geared around a 9am launch.

The loading progressed well enough, though it took a lot longer than planned due to a MASSIVE under-estimation by a leading shipping firm we brought in to do a visual inspection - no fault of this crew, who worked tirelessly to get all the extra gear loaded. It was more by good fortune (for us) than good planning that had the truck 'short-loaded' by 12 cubic metres, giving us the chance to get almost everything packed and shifted in a single move... except for...

ONE solitary cabinet. Which had been brought to their attention three times throughout the loading, and was promptly forgotten every time. I gave them half an hour after they pulled out of the driveway before I alerted them via TXT as to the oversight. The reply was not only late in coming, but far from expected... what I expected was along the lines of either "No worries, we'll spin around and come grab it" or "The truck is full, we can't fit it in." What I got was "Sh*t, I forgot about that. Call the office and she can arrange something." Not ideal, not professional, but at least it offered hope of a solution. And what a solution... I managed to get it into storage, and a month later it was delivered free of charge - when they had predictable space available on a trip passing through both locations. Not exactly timely, but a fair compromise since they acknowledged culpability. Despite this, they arrived a full 14 hours late and no-one thought to ring me to explain! Score a 'plus' for the free delivery, score a 'minus' for the slack communication again.

As for the goods surviving the trip... now the surprises come in. The badly packed 'predicted failures' - One small chip in a plate, one cracked cup, but the huge majority arrived safe and sound! What added a slight NEGATIVE surprise... the large dining room table that I watched getting wrapped in packing blankets and strapped to a wall... HUGE long dent - it would have been a nasty gouge if not for the blanket, which makes me wonder what elephant-sized pothole they hit on their way up here. So again, the positive points get knocked out by the negatives... still at 'Neutral' - better than it could have been thus far.

The price for the total of 46 cubic metres of goods: $1840.00 estimated on the initial quoted 36m3, plus a stunningly good $250.00 to cover the extra 10m3 and extra 4-5 hours of labour. A full $600.00 cheaper than the company who came to do the visual inspection and offer us the 'baseline' quote and only slightly dearer than the 'cowboy quotes' we received from some 'unknowns' who saw our quote-request listed through a couple of 'backhaulage broker' services. Score a full 'plus' on price!

Overall, a fairly pleasing result, despite some niggles and more than a touch of unprofessional behaviour. I honestly didn't mind them asking if they could watch a couple of my DVDs in transit (To note: There were TWO staff in the truck, and I was assured the driver was NOT able to see the screen, in compliance with NZTA regulations.) but it was a little strange to have them ask if there was anything I wanted to get rid of, and they'd just not unload it and take it for free if it had any resale value. That just didn't strike me as right. An offer to sell on my behalf at least, leaving it to me to offer it for free disposal if I so choose, would perhaps have been a better approach. These guys are actually quite a safe bet that I would be quite willing to recommend - with a gentle warning to the friend or family member planning the move - but I would STRONGLY suggest you utterly ignore any predicted timeline, as it just won't get adhered to. I also suggest that unless you are keen to hear their life-story - in detail - you don't engage them in pleasant banter or chit-chat and just let them get on with the job in peace.