Advice on removals France to UK

General Discussion
1

Sadly we have to leave our home in Normandy and move back to the UK (Lancashire). Should we use a French removals company or get one to come over from Lancashire? What are the pros and cons? Any advice welcome.

2

Look on your move as a new advenure, life is too short to be sad.
Best to use a uk international remover.
Try Watson European.
We moved back in December.
I will look up the topic I started and try and link it for you.

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3

https://www.facebook.com/blackbulltransport?

We are in the process of moving back and these people have been very helpful

4

I would be inclined to use a company which doesn’t outsource any part of its work.

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5

Thanks - they do look good. I will definitely contact them.

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6

Thanks for starting this thread Harriet. There will come a day when the info here will be useful for us. We too are heading back after 20 years. Like @JohnBoy, I see it as our next big adventure. Hope it can be for you too.

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7

Thanks. Yes it will be an adventure and it’s fine But leaving a house I’ve had for 30 years is also a little sad. Don’t regret it though.

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8

We came over with David Dale Removals and have nothing but good memories of how things went, both in the UK and here in France.

I know it was way back but they are still operating and looking at the customer feedback, they are worth considering. Here’s their website. https://www.daviddale.co.uk/

9

Thanks Rachel. I’ll have a look.

10

Exactly!

11

@Harriet_Devine
There are lots of topics about returning to the UK.
This link is our experience.
I hope you find this link helpful.

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12

I think I mentioned in another thread somewhere that GB Liners moved me to France and were exceptional in every aspect. Assuming you’d be moving your stuff to your new place (as opposed to storage, someone else’s place or whatever) you’d likely have the same office / people that I did, and recent reviews suggest they’re just as good as they were back when with me. Although they weren’t cheap I know they do good deals on return leg loads. Just a suggestion for you to store away for when it’s time!

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13

Thanks so much. We’ll take a look.

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14

Try ANYVAN. You will get several quotes, but you do need to be accurate with your inventory. We have used them twice, once from uk to France and back 11 years later. Good luck. https://www.anyvan.com/

15

Thanks Caroline.

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Anyvan uses third part contractors. I moved with them in 2019, a Polish company, with office in Ireland. The most messed moving I had in my life. Boxes missing, furniture broken or damaged, a horror. The worst thing was that we only noticed several months later, as we didn’t buy the house for several reason and only noticed the damages a year later.

For all these troubles we paid more than £ 4000.00.

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Thanks Marie Lucia. We won’t be using that one then. !

18

We moved back from Normandie to Kent six months ago. We used a company in Kent. They were very good at both ends. We booked a part load which was much cheaper, but meant that there had to be flexibility of a few days around collection. We rented an Airbnb for a week which actually made it all much easier. In the end our stuff went before we did and had a few days in storage nearby.

19

We had one good experience with them, and then an awful one!

If I were to use them again I would take a lot more time evaluating and questioning the quotes.

20

Look for a firm who will do a deal based on a return load, one way or the other. You would have to be flexible to fit in with their agenda, but the reduction in price should be worth it. Don’t just grab at what may seem a good deal though. Based on experience, avoid agreeing to a part-load deal where the firm offers to do the removal in more than one load. It can end in tears. Homework on the firm’s reputation is essential. Ask them for references, and follow up on them. Also, get insurance for the whole thing.