Choosing the right removal company from Van Man Exeter

Ok, so over the last year or so numerous removal businesses have appeared across the region.

To begin with this may seem like a good thing and competition within a business sector is always healthy for customers and keeps us on our toes but there really is more than price to consider when we are talking about handling and moving all your worldly possessions!

We have on occasion been called out to help people who have been let down by the company they have booked to help them move and the same businesses get mentioned over and over again! Just imagine having all your goods packed up and ready to move and your movers don’t turn up. A stressful day just got a lot worse.

Here at Van Man Removals we have a 100% reliability history and will even give you a call or text in the unlikely event that we should we be delayed at all. We also use modern vehicles to guarantee vehicle reliability and all bookings are backed up 3 times so there is no way of losing a booking or double booking a time. We also have the latest Tom Tom Sat navs with built-in live traffic to keep us on track.

Firstly you need to do your research. Most of our customers find us via Google or other search engines and they are searching for “removals”. We also get a lot of custom through recommendations that have been given by our previous customers. Do you know anyone who has moved recently? They may be able to recommend someone or even steer you clear if they had a negative experience.

The next step is to get some quotes.  Here at Van Man Removals Exeter we have the experience to quote for some jobs over the phone or easier still via email. The best thing is to get your mover to make a house visit. This should be free as it is with us. Make sure you have as much information about your removal as possible to hand. The basics will be the addresses that you are moving to and from. Dates and any flexibility in those dates. You will need an outline of what needs moving. No one will expect a list down to the last DVD but a list of all the big stuff and then an estimate on boxes and bags should be accurate enough. Then it’s just a case of listing any access and parking issues and you should be able to get an accurate quote.

Van Man Removals Exeter recommends getting at least 3 quotes for your removal. This may seem a strange thing for a business to recommend but it makes sense to shop around and we offer genuine value for money so we are not too worried!

Then you just need to sit back and wait for the quotes to come rolling in. You will probably have a fairly reasonable idea on the prices you will be receiving so I hope there are no big shocks. This is when your research really needs to come into play. You will hopefully have at least one business that can help you on the date you need and within your budget and you need to check that this business is the right one for you. Let’s be fair it doesn’t take a lot for someone to buy a cheap old transit van with a bit of MOT and Tax and write 'man and van' on the side does it?!

Check the businesses website and see if they show their own vehicles? Or are there just some stock internet pictures? Also see the businesses website for references and customer feedback. It’s all well and good having quotes all over the sites saying how great they are but do they have any proof of it? Van Man can:

Check out our Which? Trusted trader reviews HERE

Check out the buy with confidence website for our reviews HERE

Next stage is to check the business is fully insured. As a legal minimum the businesses vehicles need to be insured for “hire and reward” this enables them to be used for this type of business. A basic insurance policy would not cover this.

Any reputable business will then have “goods in transit” insurance. This covers your items whilst in the van. 

We have standard liability insurance for loss or damage to your goods while in our custody and control which provides £25,000 of cover as standard – this can also be increased at your request upto £100,000.

They don’t have to but they really should have a public liability insurance policy which would cover damage to the public and property whilst carrying out there business duties. We have this for £2million

Then any business with employees will need an employer’s liability policy to cover their staff whilst at work. We have this for £2million

Van Man Removals has all of the above policies in place with reputable, specialist insurance firms.

After you this hopefully you are ready to make a booking with the company you have chosen. You should be able to do this via phone or once again the best option maybe via email so you can accurately get all the address details to your business of choice. Make sure you have agreed a start date and time and you keep a note of the business details and request a confirmation email. Also make sure you provide a contact number that will be in operation on removal date. A landline that will be disconnected is not the best.

Also check what the removal company expect from you.

This may all sound a bit much if you are just moving a few items across Exeter but a few minutes checking and emailing could save a lot of bother.

You will hopefully end up using a reputable business and have a stress free removal at a decent honest price but just think if you get that price back that just seems too good? Is it? Unless it’s from us obviously!
Van man Removals Exeter goes the extra step. We are now part of Devon County Councils   “Buy with Confidence” scheme. The business has been visited by a member of the trading standards team. All insurances have been checked and trading standards carry out a check on a number of previous customers to check the standard of work meets their high standards. Van Man Exeter also was subject to a credit check and all members of staff were subject to a criminal record check. 

We went through this process to prove ourselves as a reputable and responsible business and to hopefully make choosing a removals company that little bit easier for our customers.

We aim to get all email quotes back within 2 hours so there’s as little waiting around as possible. All staff our uniformed and follow our exacting standards and work ethic. We genuinely love what we do here at Van Man and really hope that you choose US for your removal.

Many thanks

Mike Bradley

Van Man Exeter