[Carey]

Booked our packers but they want 3 whole days to wrap 'n pack. Do we need to be there the whole time? Were you ? Difficult to get time off work and all that. Have asked them but awaiting reply.

[dusk]

if you turst them and you have very clearly marked items which do NOT want packing/shipping I don't see why you couldn't just let them in and e thee at the end of the day?

I'm sure it's easier for the packers if you are not underfoot too

[vixxann]

Carey can I ask who you are using? so many threads and opinions on here its blowing my mind :p

[Carey]

Going with Britannia in the end, mainly coz we liked the guy; OH only met this one and was impressed, others appear to have under-estimated how much furniture we've got. Had quotes last Oct, went back to them all, all increased, haggled hard but didn't get very far. 40 fter, sole use, for £5200. Ooch! Now looking at Letton Percival for insurance.

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Letton Percival are good and easy to deal with, but be aware of the excess values as part of the cover.

We left our packers for about half a day whilst we went off to do some final paperwork stuff. It was fine.

[Derv]

Personally, I wouldn't have even considered not being there all the time when they packed. Even with a very good company (which we had), it's best to be there to (a) make sure they pack the right things (ie not pack what you want to take with you, nor anything that's staying behind), (b) keep an eye on how they pack things (such as plasma TV, fragile/valuable things) and (c) sign off each box as it is packed so that you know everything is okay.

However, only you can decide the balance between these comments and your job.

[Sam B]

Well we were in NZ, so they can defo do it without you there! We went with Brittania and they were very good.

[peebles16]

Brittania packed for us too and we were in and out of the house the whole time and no complaints from us :) They even gave us a lift to a mate's house to pick up some stuff we had stored there :yes It depends on the crew they send I suppose but our guys were fantastic!

Karenx

[Tia Maria]

We preferred to be there also, although we were hideously unprepared, so we had to be there.

It probably depends on how you feel about your possessions and how simple your pack is. Ours was spread out over two days and didn't quite fit in the container so we needed to choose what would stay and what would go.

We spent part of the time there and part of it down the chip shop! :D

Ours arrived quite early, so perhaps you could arrive at work a bit late, so that you have time to give them instructions. Then pop home at lunchtime to check up on them (make sure you let them know you're popping back, they will probably work more conscientiously).

Cheers

Tia

[James 1077]

Ours took two days and I was there the whole time. To be fair most of it was spent reading books / newspapers and trying to stay out of the way but I did answer various questions and was able to tell them what was staying.

I guess it depends on how much preparation you want to do beforehand (like put everything not going into one very well labled area.

[Belmont Babes]

Well we were there but certainly didn't feel that we needed to be. Good luck. Speak soon

[mgbridges]

I was there and felt more comfortable being there the whole time although as others have said you do seem to spend a lot of time 'keeping out of the way' and/or making cups of tea! Whether I would have been able to manage to do this with DS in tow I don't know but fortunately he was staying with his grandparents.

It was just as well I was there as I managed to stop them packing a few things that were staying in the house (e.g. the toilet brush!:eek:) I was also able to make sure potential MAF inspection items were grouped together. And last but not least I was able to keep badgering the skip hire company to come and take the damn thing away so the removal men could have access to the drive/garage/back of the house - but thats a whole other story! :uhoh

Do whatever works for you and 'feels' most comfortable, the last thing you need is to be stressing about whats going on at your house.

Anneliese