Swanscombe Storage Ltd Avis 57

SIMPSONS

I would like to share my international removal service with Simpsons to Thailand from the UK.

After a recommendation, I felt I would receive a decent service from a well-established, family-run business.

However, I found the entire experience stressful and I would not recommend Simpsons to anyone.

Apart from when they were touting for business, demanding my deposit, then full-payment, I had to keep on top of them throughout the entire process with countless inconsistencies and mistakes galore.

Removal day confusion - after agreeing with a firm 2-day removal/packing booking, I discovered that the days were incorrect in their books only after I phoned them the week before to confirm. I demanded that the 2 days could not be changed at my end. Hence, a likely double-booking at theirs. As a consequence, only one removal worker arrived on the first day, though in fairness he was professional and worked hard. Day 2, two workers turned up but they could not take everything that was included in the original inventory unless I was ultimately willing to pay for a larger container. They did their best but we had to leave/throw/give-away several items.

Despite several requests, no receipt was ever sent/given (even an electronic one) for the £4k paid - this after at least 4 emails, countless phone calls chasing up and to-date never received.

Incorrect name placed on the shipping papers/packaging. This was a huge mistake - I demanded that all the paperwork be changed. This was thankfully done after more reminders. However, the 180 incorrect labels on the boxes were not removed but only covered up and that could have posed a problem. More to the point, If I had not noticed the original error, I could have encountered very costly issues with officials in Thailand.

Simpsons prompted us to be in the country before our shipment arrived, but delivery was about 2 weeks behind schedule. We accepted that. However, only after contacting Simpson’s agents in Thailand were we told that the goods had already arrived in port (had been there for over a week) and the agents were waiting for Simpson’s permission to release for customs check/clearance. I was told this was the procedure Simpsons adopted. But because nobody in the UK notified the agents, this resulted in 10 days additional storage cost - THB 6000 (or £110). Again, if I had not phoned and checked what was happening, this could have escalated into a very expensive penalty - one easily avoided if Simpsons were efficient. At no point do I blame the Thai agents (United Relocations) as they were most helpful and trustworthy.

In total, a 3-week delay, additional hotel/travel expenses for us so I demanded a refund of the additional port storage cost. After some back and forth correspondence, Simpsons admitted liability and agreed to compensate us £110 for the additional port storage charges (in Bangkok). Again, had I not chased up the company this could have been far higher.

The final straw. After more than a month and numerous emails, I have given up waiting for any compensation. Simpsons are only consistent in one matter and that is apologising for their cock-ups with lame-duck excuses.

Credit where credit is due, the packers were professional and worked hard though many plastic storage boxes were destroyed as they were stacked then wrapped. The yellow carbon paper description list was also a bit vague and inaccurate.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! We have dozens of interactions with service companies every week, online and off line. We normally don’t spend any energy on poor customer service, and we are generally very flexible and pragmatic. This experience just went too far, at every interaction.

We have moved internationally 5 times, never have we dealt with a more unprofessional, unreliable and rude company. Their staff are “brainwashed” by the owners, take no accountability, don’t show any empathy and don’t find any solutions to their self inflicted problems.

On the surface, Simpsons Removals and Storage appears to be a “well family run business" that sets a pride in delivering high quality service. But in reality only until the contract is signed and the deposit is paid; from then on they did NOT care about us as customers. Then it is all about maximising their revenue!

Their surveyor did the site survey, and he sold in the company very well. But beware, what he was selling in, the company could not deliver against. Mark was completely out of reach when issues started to occur. We asked to speak to him more than 10 times to confront him with his promises, but he never called back or responded on internal messages. The sales manager in the sales department did not care, he referred to the terms and conditions and was rude and patronising.

PRICE MATCH
Simpsons Removals and Storage cheat you when they price match a competitor price by lowering the volume, because they always invoice the customer for the actual volume they pick up! Their explanation was, we thought you were getting rid of some of your things, which was never the case, we updated them during the process on what changes had been made from the survey was done to the actual packing day. So no surprise for them really. When issues occur you are dealing with different people, no one takes responsibilities for what was agreed up front, it does not help when they do not get back on e-mails or phone calls. We have had more than 90+ e-mails to deal with them on this international move.

RESPONSIBILITY & ATTITUDE
Simpsons Removals and Storage promised a delivery date prior to signing the contract, when deposit was paid, a van had broken down, then a second van breaks down the 5 days lead time increases to 10 and 30 days, they do not compensate you – again they refer to terms and conditions, it is all your problem, when you choose to do a part load service …. According to them, they have no responsibility, when the vans keep breaking down …

How they approach it is completely unacceptable, most companies in such a situation will try to do what they can, but Simpsons Removals and Storage refers to terms and conditions, it is YOUR problem and not theirs. They lack understanding that they deal with people’s things and not knowing when your household items will arrive will put unnecessary stress on a family and especially children. We had to reach out to the owner of the company in order for them to take responsibility of our situation. At the end 85% of our household was delivered after 10 days and the rest 15% was delivered 6 weeks later. Simpsons Removals and Storage were not able to share what was among the 85% of the first shipment and they did not notify us until the day prior to delivery. They treat you with no respect.

PACKING
Expensive items were badly packed – or not at all, our expensive dining table was wrapped in a cloth and of course was damaged at arrival. Our Montana wooden box furniture, were not wrapped at all and were all scratched and damaged at arrival.

PREMIUM INSURANCE
We paid a premium insurance, but quite time consuming to deal with the insurance company, as they try to get away with the bare minimum, they kept saying that our damaged dining table could be repaired, despite the manufacturer had the opposite opinion. Then they said our dining table was scratched, as the moving crew had made a note of this, despite we had pictures of the dining table just before it was moved out of the house. Do not expect it will be an easy ride to claim anything.

All in all an extremely stressful period, dealing with an unprofessional and rude company. We would not recommend anyone to use them or the insurance company.

The removal men, James, Grant and Marcus arrived early and they worked so hard to get all our belongings safely into our new house. They were really accommodating and very careful with all of our things. I was expecting the day to be very stressful but as a result of them, it wasn’t at all. Would really recommend Simpsons.

From the intial survey, booking and then the actual move everything was done in an efficient and proffessional way. Would recommend Simpsons to eliviate the stress and hard work of a house move.

Very helpful and professional from start to finish. Turned up on time, delivered when they said they would and communicated well throughout.

Only lost a star for saying delivery would be between 7 and 21 days, taking my stuff away and then wanting to deliver on day 26. I had lined up someone to sign at the other end for those 2 weeks, but they were on holiday the following week. I explained to Simpsons, who told me if they couldn’t deliver that day then I would be charged storage fees until they could get my things on another delivery. Solved by a third party at a storage facility in my destination town being willing to sign in the end.

So if you want a specific (or even rough) delivery date, then these guys are not for you. But if you don’t mind when it’s delivered then I can highly recommend the rest of their service.

The removals guys were fantastic. Really helpful, friendly and professional.

Excellent service all round, stress free and very quick.

Made the move very easy and straightforward - everything was on time and handled very well from the point of first contact to the last box delivered at the new house. I wouldn't use anyone else !

5 star service

Simpsons not only gave a great price they managed my removal from Belgium to the UK - including several months' storage in the UK - with total professionalism.
The move was scheduled to meet our requirements - a narrow window of possible dates - and the men who came to take our furniture arrived on time, working really fast and well. Everything was packed properly and nothing was damaged.
I could have asked for nothing more!

Excellent customer service!! Had one of my driver there who could not load some furniture items on his own and Simpson Removals went out of their to find a solution for me and help the driver get loaded. Service to the extreme and beyond the call of duty. THANK YOU LYDIA BOWLES!
I highly recommend this removal and storage company.
Antoine

Great professional service. Good communication, friendly and proactive.

My wife organised the removals from the UK as I was already in Portugal. Tom Thetford visited our home to give us an estimate of the cost. My wife asked for insurance especially on the TV which I bought her as a birthday present. It was expensive which is why she specifically mentioned insurance. The packers came on Tuesday 19th June when I was home to help my wife and our 3 children with the move. Everything was loaded into 2 vans - I was told this would be unloaded into a warehouse and then reloaded on to another van and possibly unloaded and reloaded again. This already rang alarm bells. Our stuff arrived a week later in Portugal which is great, the same day my wife arrived with our 2 younger children, one of them being only 3 months old. On unpacking our stuff, we discovered so many broken items - including our £3,000 TV which had been dropped. It was wrapped in one thin blanket and taped with brown tape. Photos and canvas prints of our family have been ripped. An original painting which we got from Africa was torn, chest of drawers unusable. The glass top off the garden furniture wasn't even wrapped in anything but magically was not damaged in any way. My wife has been complaining for the past 2 weeks and the company has done absolutely nothing but just keep fobbing her off. Were now being told there is nothing the company will do as we didnt take out "Premium" insurance. This implies that there was some sort of insurance but the company are not taking any liability. The customer service is extremely poor. The staff are rude on the phone. No one seems interested. How would they feel if all their belongings that they'd worked so hard to buy were thrown around and damaged and then not replaced? Absolute joke!

***DO NOT USE**** We emigrated to Portugal two weeks ago, Simpsons packed all of our items as they told us they were the "professionals". Around half of our items arrived broken including our £3,000 flat screen TV which was dropped and visibly broken and no longer works; photos and canvas prints of our children; original paintings which cannot be replaced; and other fragile items inadequately wrapped! I have been complaining for the past two weeks but been fobbed off by everyone I have spoken to. The company refuses to accept liability despite packing our belongings and said I didn't select "premium insurance" despite me specifically asking for it when they inspected our home. They will not replace the broken items. An absolute disgrace! ***DO NOT USE THEM AND PLEASE DO NOT RECOMMEND******

Damaged Items: Yes
Moved from Sevilla to London
They are the worse removal company in the world.
They failed to collect a large proportion of my items from Spain having subcontracted out the job. The items were left on the steps to my house to be stolen.I in the end had to organise some men to collect them as they were incapable of sorting out another removal truck to help me. I sorted it from the UK !. They were very difficult about the delivery and kept changing the date. Telling my furniture was still in Spain. The rudest logistics woman I have even spoken to literally said" tough". I had many broken and badly packed items i.e My expensive French basin. Not bubble wrapped just a bit of tape. They are claiming I did not pay for the insurance when I specifcally did. Simpsons don't return my calls and basically don't care about their customers. NEVER EVER USE THEM. I am in shock at how dreadful they are. The story of hell is far longer but I think I have made my point. I felt severely ripped off and very Badly treated.

We had a horrible experience in using Simpson's shipping services. They turned out to claim that they could not stick to the shipment timeline and then would not stand behind their insurance policy. Our shipment was delayed at the local port because Simpsons didn't sort out the payment to the local partners. This resulted in us paying an extra 750£ just for storage. We originally purchased insurance from Simpson's to cover such costs but they wouldn't pay back and are cynically taking advantage of the fact that it's not cost effective to make court claims from abroad.
Beware of them!!!

Arranged an appointment with a surveyor to come around yesterday at 5pm and made arrangements to leave work early to be there. Nobody turned up. Had a ruffled message at 5pm from someone that could have been them and immediately called and then text the number with no answer and still received no call back. Not acceptable.

Completely unprofessional company to deal with and would suggest there are other companies in the area offering the same service but with staff who who trun up when an appointment has been made.

very happy with move The Simpsons team was very efficient in getting the move booked, and in helping me complete all the necessary paperwork. The pick up went smoothly, and communication was very good. The driver and his helper were very friendly and efficient.

The service I received from start to finish was excellent , the 2 men on removal day arrived on time and were very professional, polite and made my move an enjoyable experience also nothing was to much trouble for them. I would definitely use Simpsons again should we move in the future.