Zelf Ltd
Van Hire in Devizes
New Park Street
Devizes
Wiltshire
SN10 2hl
Contact Numbers
Key Services
Reviews
Zelf Removals - dreadful experience - do not use them
Summary of my experience with ‘Zelf’ as a home removals company: I was quoted £3,250 for what I was led to believe, by Zelf manager Keith Barnes, was the superior and fully insured house moving service they claim to provide. Due to an inconvenient completion date, this quote from Zelf more than doubled to £7,100 and payment in full was demanded immediately, ahead of the move, to avoid being left stranded without removal services I had to agree. Zelf verbally made me a lot of promises, none of which they kept, they sent out underage, inexperienced young men to ‘package’ and move the entire contents of my house. They arrived on multiple dates exhausted and unfit for the job. They were rude and intimidating, and they damaged many of my valuable possessions, for which I am now being offered total compensation value of £43. The estimated total cost to me for this move, currently stands at £12,800. Full review for those who are brave enough to read it: Pre Move: I am a woman of mature age who lives alone, and needed a removal company to make my house move smooth and easy. I obtained a few quotes ahead of my moving date confirmation. Keith Barnes from Zelf visited my home in order to assess and provide me with a full quotation. I was very impressed with the service he told me they would provide, which included the unplumbing of my washing machine, tumble drier and American fridge freezer ahead of removal. I was told that they wouldn’t normally do this but would make an exception for me. I own some valuable items that Zelf told me would be packed separately in their own van for extra protection. They also said they would return the day after my move to help me move heavy items to where I wanted them, and mount items on the wall for me, such as my televisions, large mirror and valuable paintings. I was also assured (albeit verbally) by Keith, that Zelf had full insurance cover in the event of any breakages so I need not worry about a thing. I did not have a firm date for the removal, but Zelf knew that it had to happen by the end of June, so Keith pencilled in a date of his choice and told me to keep them updated. They took £100 deposit from me. Zelf’s full packaging service move, including all the above, was quoted at £3,250. Zelf phoned me frequently to check on the date and I kept them updated throughout. As soon as I was provided with a date for completion I was initially informed by Zelf that they could not do that date. I then got a phone call to reassure me that they would do it as a favour to me, but I would have to accept that they would have to do it over several days instead of the two to three days expected, with my items being put into storage. Keith Barnes visited me personally to inform me that the fee would now be £7,100, and that I had just half an hour to make a decision. If I wanted to go ahead with it I would have to sign up and pay in full there and then. I made as many calls as I could in that 30 minutes, but could not find anyone to help. I had no option but to accept the price hike and inconvenience that would go with it. I paid on my card over the phone, but when I checked my bank account, instead of the £7,100 quoted, Zelf had actually taken £7,320 from my bank account on top of my initial £100 deposit. The Move: The next day I was given 40 minutes notice ahead of removal men coming to take my belongings. I had the full packing service so I thought everything would be taken care of. Two very young boys arrived who appeared to have little experience, or in fact any idea of how to pack valuable items. Later in the evening two other men arrived. Having travelled extensively during their working day already, they appeared to be in no fit state to undertake the work and they refused to wear any PPE despite being asked. The following day was even more chaotic, a filing cabinet with all my personal, private and confidential information in it was taken as well as other items despite my having been very clear about not removing them. Two men arrived later in the day, also clearly exhausted having already driven to Leicester and back that day. The next day, the removal men arrived around 8pm, following a work trip that took them to Scotland and back from Wiltshire. They were both in no fit state to undertake the work, and from the onset were complaining about how tired they were. I still had some very expensive items to be moved. They then refused to take my nearly new fridge freezer due to it being plumbed in and told me that despite what Keith had agreed to, I would have to find an independent plumber to do the job. It was late in the evening and there was no way I could find anyone to do this in time for my move the following morning. I had no option but to leave my very expensive American fridge freezer for the new owners. The following day, Zelf arrived late in the afternoon to deliver my belongings to my new house. The boxes were not labelled making it impossible to know where to start with unpacking. They left again, informing me that the rest of my property would be with me in an hour or so. It was in fact hours before they came back, this time with the two young boys again. They were clearly exhausted. As they opened the van doors, I could see one of my expensive lamps was not packaged and had been broken. I took a photo of it in situ as it had arrived. At the same time, I took a photo of the removal ‘men’ who were very angry and demanded that I delete it straight away. They became very agitated with me, and I heard one of the young boys clearly say that he was underage. As an older woman alone, and with no one to help me, I felt very intimidated and threatened by these men. If I complained about anything at all, they told me that they would refuse to continue with the job. Leaving the house in a real mess, the removal men told me they would be back to finish the work the next day. I was expecting them, as promised, to put the rest of the furniture together, move things around and put up the televisions and mirror. I waited in for two days, but no one arrived or contacted me for the whole weekend. I had furniture all over the house and in the wrong places. On Monday 5th July I still had heard nothing from Zelf, so I emailed to ask when they would deliver the rest of my things and do the other things I had been promised. I received a shocking email in response, informing me that they were refusing to continue with the job. They turned up in the early afternoon to deliver my garden furniture, insisting that I sign a satisfaction form for completion. I refused to sign, because by this time I had discovered that there was further significant damage to my possessions. I was told that if I did not sign the form there and then they would put my belongings back in the van and take them away! Effectively I was pressured and blackmailed into signing the form. Following all this Zelf have then taken to telling a friend who tried to help me that I was mad and that the removal men were refusing to enter my house. The Damage: Zelf have broken a very expensive lamp, ruined a silk Habitat lampshade, scuffed my Conrad unit (which they tried to hide by turning it round,) one of my garage units has been broken, the rubber stops on my piano have come off. My Skovby sideboard has been scuffed, a small chunk out of the side, and the door had come off from the runners. A coffee table is broken with a missing leg, and there is also a broken ornament which had great sentimental value. The power supply to my 55” Sony television is missing. There is a scuff mark to one of my mirrors and a further broken ornament. There are still many boxes to unpack so there may or may not be further damage. All the broken items that I had discovered at that time were shown to Keith Barnes who then photographed some of them. Zelf’s response: The following morning, I received an email from Mr Barnes telling me that the broken items had been valued at £43! He informed me that as stated in their terms and conditions they are permitted to search the likes of ebay for a similar item replacement value to offer as compensation. Breakdown of compensation Keith Barnes offered for my possessions broken by Zelf during the move: Broken Glass Light Shade £20 Mark on the cabinet £20 Missing rubbers on the piano £3 Mr Barnes also offered me a refund of £200 for the work they had promised to do but didn’t complete, and said that he would refund the overpayment they took from me at the start. I responded to his email to let him know the actual value of the damaged items and the fact that he had ignored many of them. He responded informing me that he was not prepared to get into negotiations and that as stated in their terms and conditions their insurance covers up to a maximum value of £40 per item damaged! Estimated cost of using Zelf The cost to date for removal service has been £7,320 on top of my initial £100 making a total of £7,420. The cost of the damage adds even more: American style fridge freezer - £1200 The television replacement as a like for like - £2,500 The broken coffee table - £200 Conran Unit - £450 Garage unit - £80 Habitat shade - £80 Lamp bought from TR Hayes in Bath - £350. Ornaments - irreplaceable (sentimental value!) Estimated costs for tradespeople to carry out the jobs that Zelf refused to complete - £600. Assuming that I do not find any further damage, Zelf have so far cost me in the region of £12,880 for this move! Conclusion I DO NOT IN ANY WAY RECOMMEND ZELF AS A REMOVALS COMPANY. I understand that the moving date came at the worst possible time with it being the end of the stamp duty relief period…. BUT that is no excuse for the appalling service and treatment that I received from Zelf. Zelf’s appalling services, can at best be described as something you would likely see on BBC’s Rogue Traders. SHOCKING
Deborah Rees - 13/07/2021 | report this review
Do not use this van hire company.
The team at Zelf come across as very friendly and helpful at first, promising you everything you need for a low cost. Well, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. I rented a van a few weeks ago to move house, I didn't have many large items to go in there, just a chest of drawers, lots of boxes and flat packed furniture. When I returned the van the next day, the man working checked it over, told me it was fine and sent me on my way. It wasn't until 3 DAYS later, when I got a call telling me that a very significant dent had been left in the sliding door (something had hit the inside of the door with such force that the dent was visible from the exterior) and this would cost £310 to repair. Not only did I not have anything in the van heavy enough or high enough to cause this dent (and there was no damage to any of my belongings), the team at Zelf were unwilling to investigate whether this could have happened in between the time of return and the time of the phone call. This smacks of sharp practice, and the car/van rental industry has an ugly reputation for this. This is immensely frustrating because once you have signed the rental agreement, this effectively gives Zelf carte blanche to put through a host of charges. Armed with your personal details, money can be taken off your card at a later date - and there is little you can do to stop this happening. This has happened to me and it will happen to you too. Zelf will claim that you caused damage that you didn't, charge you the world for it and then take the money from you, all whist trying to treat you like their best mate. Would certainly not recommend.
Scarlet Milo - 29/06/2017 | report this review
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