AVOID AVOID AVOID All rip off merchants !! From the estimator (Robin Johnston) to the General manager (Richard Fisher) to accounts (Andrew Pittwood) all the way through to the MD (Robert Dance) As can be seen on previous reviews!! Final invoice is double the estimate !! I got 3 different companies to send out estimators to our house to come and calculate volumes and give as an estimate to store our houses content for 4 years. Quote 1 was 1200 per year (Nowstorage)Leatherburrows Quote was 1400 per year Quote 3 was 1800 per year We took leatherburrows quote as we were taught you dont take the cheapest quote and you dont take the most expensive, in the middle should be a balance between cost and value.When all our stuff was packed and taken away we received an invoice that equated to 2800 per year. When questioning the invoice vs the estimate as to why it was double ??!! The response was, sorry, we supplied an ESTIMATE which you SIGNED and unfortunately there was more stuff in your house than we culculated for (they said their estimator had 30 years experience estimating). We are willing to reduce the rate slightly as a goodwill gesture ! And if you are not willing to pay these rates (2400 per year) then you would need to come collect your stuff as we cant be held accountable for an ESTIMATE. Bearing in mind I had already paid Leatherbarrows a separate fee to pack and collect my houses content. I now had to pay another company to go and collect my houses content from leatherburrows and take it to the new storage company in quote 1 which stood by their quote of 1200 for the exact same content leatherburrows were trying to charge me 2800 for. To which I responded No thank you I will have my stuff taken away and stored somewhere elseWhen I told Richard Fischer (General manager) I was having my stuff taken away he became very unhelpful. Not responding to emails, not responding to the Newly instructed removal companys emails especially after arranging with Richard that he would communicate with them in order to make the process efficient and to get my goods out of their way as quick as possible. As a last resort we had to contact London Head office ( Britannia Movers) to intervene and get Richard and his team to release the storage container numbers and information via email so that the new removals company could go and collect my goods.I could not believe to what extent Richard and his team went to try and rip me off, fortunately I had the money to pay another removals company to go and collect and store my goods as I was told by Richard that if I dont collect my goods they would just carry on charging me at the new rate which was double the estimated rate. This company and their staff do everything possible to get your business and then when they have it they double the rates and in some cases as you can see on the other reviews triple them !! I tried to find out from Robert Dance who is the managing director of that branch how this business relationship went so horribly wrong. And his response was Richard is dealing with you, I am not interested, you are not willing to pay our prices and have decided to take your goods away. Robert did not want to answer any questions to why the final price was double the original quote, it was as if he was dealing with this sort of problem on a daily bases. Dont go anywhere near this company! Not for removals, not for storage, not for anything !! If this review had a feature whereby I could upload the estimate and final invoice I would, as well as all the email correspondence I had to have with London Britannia Movers.
I give them 2 stars because my goods did arrive in the US with nothing I have found so far broken! Initially the process all seemed very professional and Leatherbarrows were helpful as the time was short. The packers appeared to be good with very few breakages! Issues arose after pick up. I was advised of the ship the container would go on, and so I tracked it. When it arrived I called to see when I could expect delivery and then I realised that they had NO IDEA. There was no tracking, little link with the US handlers and from my perspective I saw little ownership from Leatherbarrows. I contacted the US handlers - they were unhelpful. Eventually they told me it would arrive a week later than the ship I was told it was on, then it took more than 2 weeks after docking to get it 200 miles from the port - at one point I was told it was on a train that was going to take 6 days to cover the 200 miles from the port to my city. I was working and had to alter plans around when the stuff may (or may not) arrive, and after cancelling / re-arranging several business trips, it arrived the day I was going on a trip and so I was then charged $100 / day for the container. Eventually the stuff arrived - 2 great guys delivered it, and I realised the packing of my clothes, well, I may as well have screwed up my own expensive suits in to a ball and vacuum packed them for 6 weeks. Large cleaning bill ensues.........So, overall, the stuff got packed, picked up and delivered, 2 stars. Lack of communication, lack of traceability, a couple of additional 'charges', late delivery, lack of ownership - you can see where the 3 stars were lost. In 2016 this isn't really acceptable. Very disappointed.
This might be just a one off incident. However, it left us in a difficult situation. Leatherbarrows failed to correct a misunderstanding of the price despite several attempts for clarification. It seemed as if Leatherbarrows knew that if we waited for their survey, which was only a few days before our moving date, that we would not have many options but to just accept their price. The price estimated on the phone, repeated and confirmed was almost three times lower than the final price but for the same volume. Even during the survey I asked if it will be in the price range suggested over the phone and it again it was confirmed. Which ever side the misunderstanding happened, it left us just a few days before our moving date without a removal company as we had to cancel others. As soon as the misunderstanding was realised I asked if Leatherbarrows could match the offer I had from Pearsons as I lost the moving slot with them. But Leatherbarrows didn't show any understanding and wasn't willing to lower their price at all despite that their quote was significantly higher than Pearsons. Luckily I was able to go back to Eagles which were most helpful so far.
At last on the 6th of March my moving day became a reality after 6 months of waiting for the sale and purchase to be completed. You could not have sent three nicer young men to do the job. They were polite, cheerful and very willing and what my daughter noticed that there was no bad language despite the difficulties of having to carry everything up two flights of stairs.Thank you, thank you, and thank you again!!!!Sheila Parkes
Britannia Leatherbarrows is a UK Moving Company based in Christchurch, South West England. Britannia Leatherbarrows is located at C3, Aviation Park West, Christchurch BH23 6BW, UK.
Please contact with Britannia Leatherbarrows using information above: Address, Phone number, Fax, Postal code, Website address, E-mail, Facebook. Find Britannia Leatherbarrows opening hours and driving directions or map. Find real customer reviews and ratings or write your own review.
Find Moving Company in Christchurch
You Might Also Consider