What should I do if my preferred removal company has bad reviews?

Confession: Sometimes we get bad reviews. 

If any removal company tells you they never get complaints, I'd be REALLY impressed (and slightly dubious...). Removals is a high risk highly charged industry, think about it, we move thousands of different objects every year, some heavy, fragile or awkward. We move those items from houses and buildings that are never quite the same, with different size doors, hallways, with different obstacles and different challenges every day. We do it in all sorts of weather from the height of summer to depths of winter where sometimes getting salt from the local shop to help us clear a path is the only option to get a move done (Yes, this has happened!). We use human beings to do this, oh, and we do it at a time when our customers are REALLY stressed and the smallest thing can be the straw that broke the camels back! (moving house rated as one of the 3 most stressful things we can do in life). For an incident or accident never to happen I think we'd have to invent teleporting, and whilst we've got some pretty good ideas, we're not quite there yet. 

So we admit it, sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes one of our humans makes a mistake, sometimes something happens in our customers world that throws everything we planned so carefully into chaos and actually the move doesn't run as smoothly as we all tried so hard for and that can result in a complaint or a bad review online, and when that does happen:

We believe the most important thing is what happens next: What do we do to put it right or stop it happening again? 

So, when you're evaluating removal companies and come across a few bad reviews for your preferred mover DON'T PANIC, here's some tips for how to read and evaluate those reviews further to inform your final choice. 

How does the removal company put things right when a move goes wrong?

How did the company respond to the online review?

Did their response change your impression of them? were they argumentative, making things worse? Did they take responsibility and offer the customer next steps for getting the problem resolved? Did they have a good attitude? Did they disclose personal details about the move which betrayed the customers confidentiality? Did they respect the customers right to complain? Is this the type of company you want handling your move if the worst happens? 

Sometimes the company don't get a right of reply (not all review websites allow a company to respond to complaints) but if they did, use the above questions to get more of a feel for the customer service of the removal company you're considering. 

What does the company have in place to protect you if something like this happens to you?

Does the company have insurance in case something gets broken? Do they have a complaints procedure that shows they will work with you if something goes wrong? Are they a member of a professional association like the British Association of Removers which will require them to comply with a set code of conduct when it comes to complaints and provides an independent ombudsman in the event that a dispute can't be resolved? 

What does the company do to prevent issues happening?

What quality systems do they have in place to reduce the risk of something going wrong?

Look out for accreditations to make an assessment here. This is a bit like using a Gas Safe regsitered plumber or an ATOL protected holiday company. Any company can make a great website and send a good salesman round, but there are 1000s of removal companies on the internet making it hard to know who is reputable. Look out for these two badges which are a great indication: