EDIT: I was contacted by the company following the posting of this review.
They explained that the driver mentioned below was a new hire and made up both the ULEZ charge and the extra hour he 'generously' waived following his damaging of my antique desk.
They also re-imbursed my 50£.
Basically this is a case of a company having had luck with a new hire, who reveals himself to be fairly crooked on his first week on the job, rather than the company themselves being in the wrong. As such I am changing the rating from 2 to 4 stars, as I appreciate when people try to make good.
I am sorry to say that my experience with this company was quite bad.
Booking was fairly simple though obtuse, I had a pleasant convo with a man on the phone who asked me a series of details and gave a series of options (time, people helping etc)
After the conversation he sent me a link where I had to put all that information back, which seemed unnecessary. One of the questions was about congestion charge, we’ll
get back to that.
Anyway the quote is given (127£ for 1 man 2 hours and 2 flights of stairs) the deposit is paid (31£) and we’re off.
Yet I specify in my booking I have an antique desk which is a bit fragile.
The promised day comes and the van arrives!……..30 minutes late, having called to say he would be 15 late. No biggie London is huge and traffic is what it is. The fellow Has his own way of doing things so I follow his lead and one of the few things that we bring down is yon desk mentioned earlier, we carry it both to the van with care, and I leave to grab other items.
All is packed, onward!……………………..::..
………….except that before I go I’m told I need to pay an additional ULEZ charge, as the address going is ulez zone.
Dear reader no such question/option was on the booking page it merely asked about congestion charges, might have mentioned.
Oh well off we go!……………………..:::
………..except that 5 minutes into the ride I’m told as the desk was being laid down in the van one of the legs snapped……..
The driver said to look for those who could repair it, i wondered if it meant the company was going to cover costs of repair or take some off the final bill.
No such luck in the 22 minutes the ride took. Anyway we arrive, we unload everything and i survey the damage, and a leg is busted dear reader, very busted.
Yon man, his task finished, comes to me to settle the bill. At which point he says we have gone over the 2h limit by 15 minutes (it was 12 but who’s counting) and an additional hour charge applies. BUT given the kerfuffle with the leg he is willing to only charge half!
What generosity dear reader! What grace and kindness.
Holding back tears of joy (not really) I point out that I had been very specific about the desk when I made the booking and they had spectacularly failed to take care of it.
At which point, overcome with the milk of human kindness, yon man waived the extra fee entirely, and I also never heard mention of the ULEZ charge again. He diiiiiid make sure I paid the remainder then and there, and I acquiesced so to settle the matter and get on with unpacking.
There are some, dear reader, who might define this series of events as carelessness and unprofessionalism, there are some who might describe these behaviours as predatory in a financial sense, obfuscating information, demanding extra charges, and damaging goods. There are some who might say these things indeed,
But for my part all I shall say is I shan’t be availing myself of the services of this company again, nor am I inclined, dear reader, to suggest you should. EDIT: See top.
This review is dedicated to the memory of my desk.Read more
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