Moving House Don't Get Done Get Dom

I've been battling for consumer rights for years

but it seems that some companies are still not getting the message.

The customers were technically paying your wages

and keeping your company afloat.

Day in, day out, thousands of you have been taken for a ride.

And it's always the same old things.

Shoddy products, the small print and bad customer service.

Customer service is really important and if the company is good

I'll go back to it.

Too right, but some firms are driving you barmy,

causing you sleepless nights and making you feel like

you're the one to blame.

But don't despair because I'll take them on to make sure

you don't get done.

It's often said that moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do.

I mean, after all, you're moving all your life's contents from A to B.

And that's exactly why we employ removal men,

to make sure that all your possessions, from furniture

to your favourite books, get there safe and sound and in one piece.

'But that's exactly what didn't happen to Lucy Fitzpatrick.

'She has a major complaint with Pickfords.

'She employed them to move her and her husband's belongings

'from their holiday home in France back to London.'

Steve and I never had any intention of selling our home in France.

But life suddenly dramatically changed in June 2011

when he was diagnosed with cancer.

'Their belongings went into storage as they waited to complete building work

'on a new house they were moving into in London.

'A couple of months later, Steve sadly passed away.

'It was a few months before Lucy and her son could move into the new property.

'It was a bittersweet day.'

Every single piece of furniture we have has a strong memory.

And much as it's lovely to have that memory,

under the circumstances, it's very painful.

'And as Lucy started to unpack the van, her feelings weren't made any better.'

It looked like a jumble sale.

All my items had been literally thrown in.

And the first box I opened was full of glass.

It was a side table that had been smashed to smithereens.

'Some of the worst damage was to a pair of oil paintings.'

All the oil paint had come off

and it was completely ripped, the canvas was completely ripped.

At that point, to be honest with you, I burst into tears.

And the second painting had an over 12-inch rip down the centre of the entire painting.

'The case is now in the hands of Pickfords' insurers,

'but for Lucy, it isn't just about the money.'

They will never be able to give me back my memories.

They will never be able to replace irreplaceable items, I know that.

'Sadly, Lucy isn't alone.

'Carol Bellard-Thompson has also written to me and has a similar story of damaged goods.

'She's back in the UK from Europe visiting her daughter

'and is keen to tell her story.

'She employed Pickfords to move her to France after she retired.

'As well was her furniture and belongings,

'Pickfords were also going to move her precious piano.'

When I bought the piano, it was just after I'd retired,

and I had to retire due to ill health.

That was £2,500 for a new piano.

'Pickfords placed Carol's belongings in storage.

'Three months later, she was in France, ready to take delivery of her things.

'But alarm bells started ringing when the hydraulic lift she'd been expecting

'to move her piano didn't arrive.'

The next thing I knew, the two French removers were walking up the steps

at the front of the house with the piano between them on straps.

'Once positioned, Carol had to leave the piano untouched,

'to allow it to acclimatised to the new environment.

'Six weeks later, it was ready for the piano tuner,

'but it wasn't good news.'

The piano tuner's opinion in France

was that the piano had suffered some kind of impact.

It had either been dropped or something else had hit it very hard.

'Damaging it both inside and out.

'Carol has been reimbursed the £600 charge for the no-show crane.

'But she's had to fork out for repairs on her treasured instrument.'

What I'd like from Pickfords is at least an apology,

an acknowledgement that something happened in the three months when my things were in storage with them.

'Right. That's two stories of damaged items.

'But I've also had a third complaint about Pickfords which is slightly different.

'Vivien Hanson chose Pickfords to move her belongings out of her flat and into storage

'for a period before transferring everything to two separate addresses.'

From their documentation,

there was nothing to suggest that there would be any extra payments

over and above what we had asked for.

'And when the time came for her belongings to be moved out of storage,

'Vivien was shocked when Pickfords informed her there'd be an extra delivery charge

'of approximately two grand.'

We could either leave all our goods in storage

and pay monthly for however long.

Or we could pay what Pickfords were demanding.

'Vivien reluctantly agreed to pay the extra, but to add insult to injury,

'she was also hit with a parking fine for one of the removal vans,

'and she's still receiving demands for this.

'I've got to say, I'm pretty shocked by these three stories.

'I've come to meet Lucy, Carol and Vivien to see how I can help them.'

Hello, ladies. Vivien, lovely to meet you.

Carol, lovely to meet you. And you, too, Lucy.

'So, what made them choose Pickfords in the first place?'

I chose Pickfords because it was a household name.

I felt that they would do the best job for me.

And I trusted their name.

-Would you all agree with that?

-Yes.

-Yes.

'Unfortunately, it seems that all of them feel that that trust has been misplaced.'

The way that Pickfords have dealt with my claim...

..has been appalling.

We were extremely upset at the sort of service we were getting.

I couldn't believe what was happening.

'Lucy and Carol have brought along photos of their damaged belongings,

'and I've got to say, I'm pretty shocked at what I'm seeing.'

-There doesn't seem to be any respect for your personal belongings at all.

-No.

'So that I can build a complete picture of all these cases,

'I need to talk figures. Firstly, Lucy's damaged belongings.

'Pickfords have actually already offered Lucy £14,308 as settlement.

'That's £5,808 cash and £8,500 towards repairs.

'Lucy calculates the damage to her goods at much more.

'In fact, £22,703.'

I would be financially out of pocket by thousands.

I end up with paintings that have got great big rips down them,

and even though they can be patched together,

all the restorers have said they will never look like the paintings that we had.

'Carol is in a similar position when it comes to her damaged piano.'

Why have you not been able to claim on their insurance for this?

Because they have a catch-all, seven-day insurance period.

It is in the small print, which I might add I can't read

cos I have sight problems.

Erm, I don't know actually why they have that because it's not suitable for a piano,

you cannot bring a piano to a new environment and tune it immediately.

'She has been refunded the charge for the crane which was never used to move the piano,

'but believes the piano has lost value, plus she's out of pocket for the repairs.'

-Which is how much?

-The repairs were about 650 Euros.

'Now, Vivien's case was slightly different.

'It came down to an additional redelivery charge she knew nothing about

'for Pickfords to get her belongings out of storage and into her two properties.'

Can I ask how much?

Erm, for the two flats, it was approximately £2,000,

-which I did negotiate down with them.

-To what?

For one we negotiated down to about 200 plus VAT,

and the other was 800 plus VAT.

'Vivien managed to negotiate this charge down at the time,

'because Pickfords did soon acknowledge

'they'd mistakenly left the redelivery charge off the original quote.

'Although they reduced the additional charge by £720 in recognition of this,

'Vivien still had to pay £974.16 plus VAT.'

If we can get that wiped, and also the parking fine,

-which I don't think is enforceable anyhow, you would be happy?

-Yes. Yes.

In your case, Carol, what would you be happy with?

I would like Pickfords to pay for the cost of the repair of the piano at least,

and probably for the loss of value.

And, Lucy, your one gets very complicated.

-Because there's items there which can't be replaced.

-Correct.

-Or repaired, by the sounds of it.

-I desperately want closure,

because my house is full of broken items

that just remind me and anger me and upset me.

-You want to get on with your life.

-Got to.

'It's up to me to fight these ladies' corners

'and get them the results I think they deserve.

'But I don't think it's going to be easy.'

-I shall keep you all informed. Lovely to meet you all.

-Thank you.

Pickfords are probably one of the biggest removal companies in this country.

We've all heard about them. I'm quite shocked to hear these stories from the three ladies.

The pictures are pretty horrific, as well.

Let's see how Pickfords respond once I get on the dog and bone to them.

'But before I start, I like to know a bit more about who I'm dealing with.

'According to their website, the Pickford family

'first set up Pickfords Removals as early as the 17th century.

'And today, the MD is still a Pickford.

'With generations of experience, it's no wonder they're the UK's largest moving and storage company.

'However, I know a few ladies who are less than impressed with their experiences of Pickfords.

'Time to give the company a call myself.

'I've only got the general number for Pickfords,

'but they should be able to point me in the right direction.'

Good afternoon, Pickfords.

My name's Dominic Littlewood, I'm calling from the BBC.

'I explain I want to speak to somebody about my group of complaints.'

Which department do I need to speak to, please?

'The receptionist tells me it's a lady called Lyndsey in the marketing department.

'She's not in until tomorrow. Shame, but fair enough.'

It's been lovely talking to you. Bye-bye.

'I've given all my details, got an email address to send everything through to,

'and the second the phone is down, I send over all three cases.

'I hope it lands on Lyndsey's desk.

'But as I start to get to grips with these cases,

'will I get the answers I'm looking for?'

That was one of the most polite conversations I've ever had.

'I've got my work cut out with these three cases,

'and so far, I've managed to leave a message and send over the relevant paperwork to Pickfords.

'And a few days later, I get a message to give them a call.'

I've got a lady who's waiting for a call back.

I have sent her an email so she's aware of the cases.

Let's see what she's got to say.

Morning. Can I speak to Lyndsey Daykin, please?

'Lyndsey is happy to talk to me about the cases

'but she doesn't want her voice to be used.

'First up, I want to chat about Vivien's invoice.

'She ended up paying over £900 more than she was originally quoted.'

Nowhere on there does it actually state

that this does not include redirection of your furniture.

It's just purely removal and storage.

And I would've assumed, even if it is an extra charge,

that you somewhere need to list that and itemise that.

'There's also the issue of the parking fine that I need to talk about.'

If she's paid for one van, and that's what she was asked to supply,

she doesn't feel she should have to pay for a second van

or any parking penalties that turned up.

'Lyndsey says she'll gather all the case details and get back to me with some answers.

'Now, onto Carol and her damaged piano.'

The big problem there, of course, is you've got a seven-day period

which you give people to report problems.

'Carol's point is that she had to let the piano settle for six weeks

'so didn't spot the damage within seven days.

'But Lyndsey assures me she'll speak with the person who dealt with Carol's move and get back to me.

'And finally, on to Lucy.

'Lyndsey has got most of the details but hasn't seen any photos.

'So I fill her in.'

I can't see any restraining cables whatsoever. Everything's falling over.

'Pickfords have said that Lucy should've itemised belongings worth over £500

'to be certain they were properly insured,

'and that she didn't, hence their offer of just over £14,000.

'But Lucy believes the items were worth £8,395 more.'

She said it's because of the circumstances, her husband was very close to his death,

and as you can appreciate, there was a lot more on her mind.

You have made a settlement, an offer, I should say, for some of the items.

However, there's a few items there which she disputes,

and quite rightly so, I think.

'Lyndsey is saddened to hear about Lucy's circumstances.

'She says her role now is to coordinate the responses from Pickfords for all three cases,

'and then she'll get back to me.' Thanks, Lyndsey. Bye-bye.

That was one of the most polite conversations I've ever had.

Hopefully, things are starting to move in the right direction. Cup of tea!

'The problems that Lucy, Carol and Vivien have experienced have got me thinking.'

When you employ the services of removal men,

you're entrusting them with some of your most precious, personal possessions.

So, what do you do if something goes wrong

and one of those personal possessions gets lost, stolen or damaged?

-GLASS SMASHES

-Oops!

'Martin Rose from the National Guild of Removers has some sound advice when it comes to moving house.'

Moving can be a stressful experience, but it needn't be.

'Firstly, do your homework.'

Because people move not very often,

it's difficult to know how to choose a remover,

and there are certain rules that we publish

that will tell them how to do it.

'Being one of the best-known names in the business,

'Pickfords are a member of another trade organisation

'called the British Association of Removers.

'And, like the National Guild of Removers, they have codes of conduct, as well.

'But if you are moving with an accredited company,

'how can you make sure you're properly covered?'

The best way of doing it is to let your remover carry out his insurance,

because he has expert insurance which will cover you for all eventualities.

Quite often, you won't have to pay anything extra for insurance,

it will be included in the removal price.

'The three ladies I'm helping had all taken out insurance,

'but in Lucy's case, Pickfords are saying some of her items worth over £500 weren't itemised,

'so she was underinsured.'

It's probably wise to itemise or specify

any particularly valuable items, and that gives you added protection.

'Good advice, but itemised or not, what should you do if some or all of your items are damaged in transit?

'And what, as consumers, do we need to be aware of?'

If some of your goods turn up damaged,

the first thing you need to do is report to the remover,

who will decide whether or not to bring in his insurers,

or if it's fairly small,

he may have discretion to sort it out with you directly himself.

There is an instance where a household could find themselves uninsured as part of the move,

and that is if you pack your own belongings.

And the reason is, the insurers won't cover you

because they had no control over how you packed the goods.

'So, if you want to make sure your move runs smoothly,

'it's fairly simple. Choose an accredited removal company

'and get recommendations from others if you can.

'Make sure you get the appropriate insurance cover for your belongings.

'Anything of particular value should be flagged up with the removal company.

'If you do notice something is damaged when it comes to unpacking,

'make sure you inform the removal company immediately.

'Some sound advice there from the National Guild of Removers, which I can apply to my cases.

Of course, Pickfords are fully accredited,

'but things still seem to have gone wrong in all three of my cases.

'For Vivien, the big problem is that

'she was hit with unexpected charges of over £1,200

'after she had been given a written quote.

'But can a company actually do this?

'Looking online at the latest consumer directives, Vivien's not so sure.'

Retailers must ensure that the total cost of a product or service

is disclosed, including any extra fees or charges.

If shoppers are not informed in advance, they will not have to pay these fees.

And it goes on to say any services which attract a fee

must clearly set this out before purchase.

Well, certainly in our case,

I would've thought that we had agreed on a price,

we'd agreed on a service,

but that this was changed later on when we were asked to pay

extra money for the redelivery of our goods.

'This is just what I needed. I think it shows that Vivien has got a case.

'So I plan on getting a result for her.

'It's been almost a week since I spoke with Lyndsey at Pickfords

'and I'm ready for some answers.'

I think it's time to chase up Pickfords.

Even though I'm out on the road, there's no rest for the wicked, as they say.

Oh, hi. Can I speak to Lyndsey Daykin, please?

Hi, Lyndsey, good morning. It's Dominic Littlewood from the BBC.

I wondered if you'd be kind enough to give me a call back please. Thanks very much, Lyndsey. Bye-bye.

'It will be a waiting game for me, then.

'I had a good old chat with somebody in the press office at Pickfords, a lady called Lyndsey.

'She's been looking into the cases and I'm now just waiting for her to get back to me.'

I've just had a voicemail message and I've got a funny feeling

it might be Pickfords. So, let's have a listen.

'I was right and I'm hoping it's good news.

'Lyndsey says she'll come back to me today on Vivien's case.'

Lovely-jubbly. I like it when people are ringing me and not the other way around.

But I'm actually not going to wait for her to call me this afternoon,

I'm going to ring her right now, see what's happening.

'Thankfully, I get straight through to Lyndsey.

'She tells me she's just finalising the details of Vivien's case this morning

'and will get back to me with the results.

'So, it's good news.' You're crossing your Ts, so to speak.

'Lyndsey also tells me she's still working on Carol and Lucy's cases

'and will let me know when those are finalised.'

Brilliant. Lovely talking to you, Lyndsey.

Everything she said was quite positive.

And she did say, I will have an answer for you on one of the cases,

which is Vivien Hanson, this morning,

which is one third of the way there.

Two thirds of the way still to go.

But it's better than I was last week. Bingo! So far.

'Waiting to hear back on these cases has got my mind reeling with what can go wrong with removals.

'Just listen to Martin Rose from the National Guild of Removers one more time. It's for your own good.'

There are absolutely no laws that regulate the removals industry in the UK.

And that's one of the big problems that householders face.

'Wow! That's quite a shocker.

'However, both the British Association of Removers, that Pickfords belong to,

'and the National Guild of Removers may be able to provide support in some instances.'

The Guild actually offers a conciliation service,

which is impartial, to the customer.

'And there you have it.

'There is help out there, but my advice is to help yourselves

'by understanding everything you sign up for in the first place.

'True to her word, a few hours after my phone call to Lyndsey,

'she gets back to me on Vivien's case.

'But I have to wait a few more days for answers on Carol and Lucy's.

'I forwarded on Pickfords' statements to Carol and Lucy

'so they can read them themselves.

'Lucy's case was that Pickfords had moved her belongings from France to London,

'and during the move, a large number of her belongings were damaged.

'Pickfords accept responsibility for this,

'and they tell her they have conducted an internal investigation

'and taken action to try and stop it ever happening again.'

We deeply regret the distress caused to Lucy and her family during this time

and apologise unreservedly for the packing and loading standards

that contributed to the damage.

'Lucy was told she didn't itemise all her items that were worth over £500, which she acknowledges.

'But this was just as a result of her husband's serious illness at the time.

'Lucy only listed a handful of items worth over £500 originally.

'However, Pickfords had offered her a cash settlement of £14,308 in light of the damage.

'But Lucy declined this.'

These payments are in the form of repairs or cash settlements

to the items that Lucy did not insure in the accurate declared value.

In response to this request, we are prepared to pay, as an additional ex gratia payment,

from Pickfords

£1,692.

To make a total payment of £16,000.

'It's a disappointing result for Lucy.

'With my involvement, Pickfords have increased their offer,

'but they maintain that Lucy should have correctly itemised her valuables.

'Sadly, it is not the result she was hoping for.

'Now for Carol's response. Luckily, she's over from her retirement home in France

'visiting her daughter in Blighty.

'The statement starts by saying that

'Carol accepted the terms and conditions and declined goods in transit insurance.'

I don't remember being offered anything of the kind.

'They state she signed a delivery note saying the move had been a very good one

'and they didn't hear from her until six weeks later,

'but that she had agreed to the terms that state all claims must be notified within seven days.

'Carol had raised with Pickfords the issue of being reimbursed

'for a potential loss of value for her piano

'after its accident and repair. Pickfords say...'

We accept that, as a service provider,

we have an implied obligation

to carry out the service with reasonable care and skill.

We have taken legal advice on this point

and we are advised that in the event of a breach being established,

compensation would be dictated by any agreed limits in the removal contract.

In this case, Mrs Bellard Thompson accepted a limit of £40 per item in the contract.

'But Pickfords go on to say that if the item is professionally repaired,

'like Carol's was for 650 Euros, then the value may not the affected,

'and so to say so would be speculation at this stage.

'They accept the piano needed to rest after being moved,

'but say it could have been looked over at that time.'

We are prepared to pay 325 Euros as a contribution towards repair.

This offer is made on a without prejudice basis

and should not be interpreted as an admission of liability.

It is a genuine offer to reach an amicable compromise.

'Again, Carol had hoped for a little more.

'But although pianos need time to settle,

'Pickfords maintain they don't understand why she didn't check the piano when it was delivered.'

All I'd had until Dom took it up was just a straight refusal,

no, nothing happened, you're outside the seven-day catch-all insurance.

Go away.

Erm, and I am just incredibly grateful to Dom for taking it up.

'I'm disappointed that both Carol and Lucy haven't got quite the outcomes they wanted.

'But nonetheless, they're grateful that I was able to at least get them something more from Pickfords

'than they had managed to achieve themselves.

So, what of my third case, Vivien?

'Well, before I heard back from Pickfords about Lucy and Carol,

'I went to meet her to break the news about what the company was doing for her.'

-Vivien, it's good to see you again.

-Thank you. Very nice to see you.

-Thank you.

In your case, I've got a statement I'm going to read from Pickfords.

'In their email, they outline Vivien's case

'and state that her quote should've been made up of five elements,

'including the delivery from store to the new properties,

'and that when Vivien came to arrange delivery of her belongings,

'it became clear the charge had been missed off the quote.'

When the error was realised, the move coordinator

contacted Mrs Hanson and personally apologised for the oversight.

'They recognised that a discounted charge for redelivery was offered at the time.

'And they also offered a discount on any future move Vivien might make.'

It is regrettable that both parties did not realise that redelivery was not specified on the original quote.

Which, to me, sounds like an apology.

However, it is not our customers' responsibility to police our paperwork,

and there was a failure of process by the move coordinator. They put their hands up.

In view of the failure of our process in this instance,

we will waive the redelivery costs to Mrs Hanson as a gesture of goodwill.

They're addressing the problem and hopefully they'll make it clearer so it doesn't happen again.

-That's very positive.

-It is good news. Now we're going on to the parking fine.

'They explain that on the day they did send two small vehicles,

'which should have occupied the space Vivien had reserved,

'but that one vehicle was refused entry to the parking area

'and so had to park further away.'

On reviewing the case, it is unacceptable that this cost should be passed to Mrs Hanson.

We apologise to Mrs Hanson and we will waive the cost of the parking fine.

Thank you very much indeed. I'm very happy. At the end of the day, I've got what I want. Thank you.

-And hopefully it won't happen again.

-I hope so.

I'm going to love you and leave you. Thanks, Vivien. Bye-bye.

'We asked Pickfords to comment on our cases and they said...

'They also say that it doesn't reflect the level of service that they strive for.

'But they do point out...

'But despite this, they say...

'And so, with that in mind, Pickfords say...

'What I can say is that's good news for all future Pickfords customers.'

I think Dom made an enormous difference. I don't think this is the way it should've been,

but I think without him we probably would never have resolved this issue satisfactorily.

What a charming lady Vivien was,

but what I found quite interesting, this was never about the money.

She wanted Pickfords to realise they'd done something wrong,

stand up, take it on the chin like a big boy and apologise.

Pickfords, you did that, so good on you.

The fact that she got her money back was almost irrelevant.

Anyhow, job done.

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