We have all thought about our big move. Should you get a removalist or do you think it would be cheaper to do it yourself?

Moving locally perhaps – within a few kilometers, but even then, the price of a damaged fridge or UHD television could cost twice as much as using a local professional removalist. We, for one, can tell you that hiring a truck, packing the truck yourself, using friends to help or hiring a truck to move interstate rarely ever works.

Unless you are an expert.

This story happened around a decade ago.

A customer called me and had all the questions in the world. I was more than happy to help. The plan was to do interstate backloading from Brisbane to Adelaide. Okay, not my choice of state as I prefer the Lions over the Crows any day!

Anyway, they provided me with a list and it didn’t seem very much at the time. I do recall some of the items: 3 seater lounge, washing machine, boxes, double door stainless fridge, coffee table, glass china cabinet, plasma television and a few odds and ends. No dramas. Quote: $1,350 including GST, door to door on a backloading service.

Well, that was that! It was too expensive, can’t you go any lower? Is that the best price? The prices went on and on.

Let me say this now: we give our best price up front with no mucking around, no shifty sales tactics.

So, the customer said thanks and I never heard from them again… until 3 weeks later.

“Do you think you would be able to come and collect my items now?”

“No problem. Whereabouts do you need them collected from, Brisbane still?”

“No, they are at Tweed Heads.”

“That’s fine.”

“Well, we have a bit of a problem… The furniture is in a car salvage yard in Tweed Heads.”

Interesting turn of events. And remember the initial quote was $1,350. So, the customer’s story goes:

I decided to hire a large tandem trailer to tow behind my 4wd, loaded the trailer up with everything, even filled up my 4wd as well. We got almost as far as Tweed Heads, we came around a corner, then the traffic had slowed considerably.

We were traveling a bit too fast for the weight of our load…

(The trailer cost them $240 to hire, which they could return to a depot in South Australia so that appeared to be a good, cheap option.)

So we came around the corner and had to pull up fast. Because of the banking of traffic, the weight of the trailer was just too much. The trailer pushed our 4wd off the road and into the ditch which runs alongside the highway. Then trailer bent up and jack knifed into the rear end of our 4wd.

The trailer was wrecked…..and so was our 4wd.. Well, it could still be driven but you get my drift. Luckily no one was injured!

Long story short: we ended up collecting the items and bringing them back to our depot to hold them. So much of their stuff was damaged (e.g. TV, coffee table, washing machine, lounge). In total, it cost the customer over $8,000 by the time they had to pay for replacement items, including the trailer.

It sounds unbelievable, almost like this is made-up, but this really happened. I do feel sorry for these customers, but at the end of the day, a professional interstate furniture removalist will do a better job and always take the worry away from moving.

Our interstate removal company has been serving clients locally and across different states for over 35 years. We know what we’re doing and we want only the best moving experience for you, so call us today at 07 55 200 488 to enquire about our backloading service.

All the best everyone. Keep safe.

Kind regards,

Owner of Backloading4u