cOME ON JEFFK , tell us your old school tales of pickfords . I love the colour tv ribb . that was favourite of my dads , one person said to him it wont matter as his tv was black and white . 
Once told a customer who was packing boxes to go to New Zealand who asked my advice on packing them,i told her that if she turned the cartons up side down and put all the light stuff at the bottom and the heavy stuff on top and when they arrive they would be the right way up.
Got back to the depot the manager said can i have a word Jeff, she had phoned up to complain,some people have no sense of humour.
bullitt:
0These would catch you out if you didnt know what they were.
Lucky for me I’d worked for an antiques shipping and restoration company before I got into removals, so I knew how these wardrobes and things like tallboys, mirror-back dressers and granfather and grandmother clocks came apart. But yes, definitely a trap for the unwary.
bullitt:
SMASH!!!
Even just reading that I found myself wincing. I used to hate loud bangs and “noises off” especially expensive sounding ones.
And the customer who decides how much to claim in damages before you even start the job,
Always make sure you point out the damage before the item is moved.
Why is a new build property with no unmade road have white or cream carpets ■■?, "no i wont take my safety boots of madam " !!! 
why do they never want to sweep the mud and leaves and moss of the garden path ? , why do they never have the washing machine unplumbed ready ? , why is it the car is never ready off the drive way ■■ , why does the next door neighbour want to move his car after you have put the ramps down ■■? why ?
oh and the one to make them fell sorry for you " do you have to sleep in that small space " pointing to the sleeper pod !!! , hear is a fiver to get you a warm drink !!!
I once moved an insurance assessor when I was on for White & Co and took him to Wales somewhere. Again, we moved him to a building site with white carpets etc but we took pride in our job and covered everything so no problems. At this point we didn’t know who he worked for. We knew it was a ‘pink ticket’ job so it was for a corporate client.
Towards the end, Frank my porter slipped on the ramp and damaged a CD rack, just a cheap Argos jobby but we help our hands up, blamed the large amounts of mud etc, apologised and finished the job.
Couple of weeks later, I get hauled in the office and asked to explain why a £7k claim was being filed. Gave my side of the story, explained the damage and that was the only problem. Said nothing else was damaged and to fight the claim.
Upshot of it was an independant assessor unexpectedly called on the guy, saw the damage we caused and nothing else. The client lost his job with the insurance company. I did also get an apology off my boss at the time 
Also, just heard a rumour from a very reliable source that Pickfords are no longer sending their own vehicles accross the water. They are instead subbing the work to Pearsons of Middlesbrough. Their drivers are not happy about this
Something to do with Pickfords new name being Pickfords move management. Think we will see more of this from them 
That was a good one jdc, you can do all you can to stop prints on the carpet but at least one bit of mud will get in , I call upon ther lads from time and if I do not see the carpet blankets down i make sarki comments about xmas presents etc .
Tricks to pay on the rushing driver on a friday night about 6pm was to nail his unfolded blankets to the floor by the luton or tie his ties in bloody tight knots .
Pinch his keys whilst he is packing and tell him you have packed them by mistake .
It looks as though Pickfords have changed their name under a pre-pack deal keeping the same management just a different name for the company,
what it means is that their creditors stand no chance of getting their money its a fiddle used by many companies.it should be against the law.
I priced a job a few weeks ago and got the job , I said it was a two day job with pack/load one day from Oxford to Telford,deliver the following morning with no overnight , Pickfords said to my client it would be three days with a full day travel from oxford to Telford with a overnighter at Enfield , bloody hell whats that about , they were £90 cheaper than me and Cadogen and Tate were £1000 dearer than me . I got a good price any how .
Jakey, jeffrey, not living in the UK I don’t keep up with things but is there a suggestion a certain large, long-established and very well-known removals company is going down the pan? If so, how - poor management?
ParkRoyal2100:
Jakey, jeffrey, not living in the UK I don’t keep up with things but is there a suggestion a certain large, long-established and very well-known removals company is going down the pan? If so, how - poor management?
Apparently Pickfords has been in administration, and the directors of the old company has formed a new company to take it over.
Well, well, well, isn’t that news that has been kept quiet. We heard of Comet, HMV, and Blockbusters but never mention of Pickfords. Think what you may, but it would appear these kind individuals raided their piggy banks and put their money where their mouth was and saved the jobs of all the hard working Pickford’s staff. Must have nearly been another Woolworths
It happened first in 2008 and again now. Whilst they might have saved the 900 odd jobs, its a shame they havent found the missing millions from the pension fund!
Yes Carl and written of all their old debts,there could be many a small removals companies who have done work for them waiting a long time for their cash.pre pack deals should be against the law.
Same company same directors different name.
jeffreyk:
Yes Carl and written of all their old debts,there could be many a small removals companies who have done work for them waiting a long time for their cash.pre pack deals should be against the law.
I don’t know what they are like today, but in our day they were still nationalised and then given away with a dowery when privatised. With the twn centre property etc they could sell for huge profits they didn’t need to pay their way for years, and I can’t ever see they would mend their bumbling inefficient ways.
When they were nationalised no one, management, staff, drivers or porters hadn’t a clue what they were doing, and every year businesses like ours were taxed and some of the money passed to them to cover their losses.
Carl
jeffreyk:
Yes Carl and written of all their old debts,there could be many a small removals companies who have done work for them waiting a long time for their cash.pre pack deals should be against the law.
That’s a familiar theme. If you’re a subbie and the big mob fall over, it’s basically “take a number and join the back of the queue”.
Not saying that’s how it is with Pickfords, just an observation on how subcontractors (often small outfits or one-man bands) are usually the last to get anything.
@ Carl I suppose the silver lining is that at least some still have a job to go to.
Oxford depot shut about three weeks before xmas , some of the staff were asked to go to either Reading ,Swindon or Enfield , most left all together , to be fair they didnt have any lgv drivers left as most had left or retired long before . All the vehicles were R reg and were very tired and in one bad state .
In the days before guestimators measured a removal in terms of cu2.
Can remember hand written job sheets and depending on the size of the van,it was an “easy,comfy,good,big or tight load” 
Quick question to the furniture humpers here: which do you prefer - domestic (household) or office/ commercial moves?