Duffy Removalists.

The final payment must be paid five days before the nominated pickup date.

Yes. This varies depends on which company you are using. Usually, the minimum charge is based on the cost of transporting 5 cubic metres.

The cost for your local move will depend on how long your move takes. Some dishonest moving companies quote very cheap hourly or half-hourly rates to get your job, and then work slowly on the day or surprise you with additional charges in order to make more money.

Unless they are running a limited special offer, most honest removal companies need to charge at least $45 per half hour or more in order to pay their staff (two people usually come to load and unload the truck for you), pay their insurances, and make sure their trucks are serviced regularly.

If your booking is a premium service, the company will be able to provide exact timing. If your booking is a shared option, then your schedule will be a window between two to seven hours on the move day.

Reading reviews is a great way to determine if a removalist is the right one for you. Platforms like Google, Product Review or Muval are great for this because they have built-in mechanisms to ensure reviews are from genuine people that have actually interacted with that business.

However, we advise to be cautions of moving companies with hundres of reviews and a perfect 5 star rating on these platforms as reviews unfortunately can be faked. Don't get us wrong: honest companies with a perfect 5 star rating do exist and they are excellent (we have a few on our platform!). But, given the nature of furniture removalist work, something, at some point, is bound to go wrong. Maybe the truck breaks down and is late for a job. Maybe someone accidentally trips and some items in a box are damaged. Whatever it is, accidents unfortunately do happen and these sorts of occassions rarely attract a 5 star rating.

Because of this, companies with a 4.5 or above rating are often just as good as a company with a perfect 5. So, we suggest, instead of looking for all 5-star reviews, take a look at a companies worst reviews and pay special attention to how they responded to the issue. Were they sympathetic? Did they respond promptly? Did they offer a resolution? Were they contactable for the customer to voice their concerns? These are the sorts of things that separate the best removalists from those who don't deliver a high level of service.

Read more about how to avoid dodgy removalists here.

The earlier you book your move the more confident you can be that the date you wish to move will be available. However, the time in advance that you should book is heavily dependent on the time of year. Between October and March we recommend booking at least 3-4 weeks in advance of when you want to move. From March - September you can leave it a little later, booking 2-3 weeks out.

We encourage bookings ASAP, and this will hold the price, reserve the space, and give you peace of mind. This can also mean you avoid any future price rise.

The best way to ensure a successful move day is to be prepared. One way to do this is to notify your removalist about any very heavy or awkward-to-move items before move day. It can never hurt to double-check with them that they understand that you have these items, even if you have also submitted an inventory list. These sorts of items include:

• Grand / Baby grand piano
• Pizza oven
• Concrete furniture
• Pool / snooker tables (particularly slate)
• Many pot plants / large pot plants