Generally, removal workers are a trustworthy lot – many businesses depend on the integrity and honesty of their staff. Occasionally though, the daily routine of sorting through other people’s possessions turns up a few interesting finds and unusual experiences. Some of those experiences have been shared with us below, and kudos to those who took responsibility when something went wrong!
James Robertson from Anthony Ward Thomas Master Removers tried to do a good deed for what he thought was a forgetful family:
“We emptied a house in London, filled two vans and sent the family off to their new home in Devon while we filled a third van. We found their cat asleep upstairs, so popped him in the van as well. We expected a tearful reunion between the family and cat when we got to Devon, only to discover that it wasn’t their cat.”
Mistakes are occasionally made, but in this instance from Mark Prout at Aussie Man & Van, it was quickly rectified – although it probably made the removal staffs’ day that extra bit longer:
“Three of our removals guys were sent to a job on the King’s Road. They turned up at the address and explained to the cleaner, who answered the door and spoke little English, that they were there to move its contents, and started loading the lorry. The client called me later that morning to ask where the removals men had got to; only then did I realise that the King’s Road they had gone to was the Chelsea one, not the correct address in Richmond. By the time the error was realised, they had cleared the entire first floor. One person who was delighted was the cleaner as it meant she could give the ground floor a thorough clean before they put all the contents back into place and headed off to the correct address.”
Peeking into the private lives of clients is part and parcel of the business, but it also means removers can come across a number of weird and wonderful items they need to move. Dusty Hall of Aussie Man & Van recounts a few of his most memorable items:
“Over the years, we’ve moved many bizarre items. There was the marble fireplace we shifted from the Vatican to the Holland Park home belonging to the CEO of a large company. We moved a Lutyens bathroom into storage for one customer, while another asked us to move his 1964 Aston Martin DB2 into storage.”