Storage Wars in Adelaide: Pay Your Bills People!

If you haven’t already heard, reality TV has gone to new lengths to prove that anything can become a hit with the mainstream audience. Think about this for a moment. Someone comes up to you and asks you if you want to make a reality TV programme about Storage facilites. If you are like me you would instantly think how boring, no one would be interested in that. But the A&E network  has done it.

The programme is based around Californian storage companies auctioning off peoples goods that haven’t paid their bill for more than 3 months. It follows professional buyers who purchase the contents based only on a five-minute inspection of what they can see from the door when it is opened. The goal is to turn a profit on the merchandise.

If your are moving into storage in Adelaide, the same thing can happen to you

For anyone that is considering hiring a storage unit in Adelaide, this is probably a horrifying thought but similar things happen here in too. If you don’t pay your bill over a period of time, your goods become the property of the storage facilities and they can do what they please with it to recoup any losses they have made.

 

The moral of this story is choose your self-storage facility wisely and pay your bills. Price alone, isn’t and never should be the deciding factor on which you choose, the integrity of the company should be considered if you find yourself unexpectedly unable to pay your storage bill. A good company like Complete Removals will be far more willing to negotiate a payment plan or a suitable deal to ensure your goods remain yours.

If you are moving you may like some tips on how to pack a box like a pro!

 

How to Choose Self Storage in Adelaide

In my many years in the Furniture Removals and Storage industry I have come to the realisation that people are mostly just concerned about price in this day and age. While I can understand why this is so, it breeds a sinister problem that is growing and growing.

Cheap and nasty.

More and more businesses are boycotting quality for lack of, it’s very disheartening when you pour your heart and soul into your business to provide the best service you can and make a name for yourself  only to lose job after job to useless, cheap and sometimes dodgy competitors.

Many times I have considered just cutting costs left,  right and centre so we can compete on price instead of service, but it’s not in my DNA or in the vision I have for Complete Removals and Storage for the long term.

We are currently building up the self –storage in Adelaide arm of our business, and this too will hold the same integrity we have built with our quality removalist service.

Quality Self-storage in Adelaide is something we can be very proud of!

When selecting your storage facilities, you should consider the strength and integrity of the company providing the quote.

What is their track record?

What is the likely hood of the price going up during my self-storage period?

What about rodents and the possibility of water damage?

What does the insurance cover and how hard is it to make a claim?

And last but certainly not least…..

What is the customer service like?

We challenge you to find a better quote, service or value for money than our self –storage options.

Several tips for what you can put into your Adelaide self-storage unit safely.

Timber and laminate furniture. These items are the key to utilising your vertical space as the make excellent base items to stack on. If you use your vertical space, you need less floor space and will save money. Blankets, sheets, towels or button less clothing are a cost effective option to be used in between timber surfaces to protect against scratches.

Leather, vinyl and suede lounges. Extreme care should be taken when storing these items. We recommend you hire professionals like Complete Removals, our removalists can pack these items with ease. Remember, If any item is poking or  resting against these types of materials, they will leave stretch marks that won’t come out. It’s a common myth you should wrap plastic around all lounges for self storage, however if you wrap leather a store in the summer months, the heat can cause it to   sweat and perish. Suede should be plastic wrapped as it marks very easily.

Mattresses. Ideally these items should be wrapped in plastic, however if you are storing for a short time (up to 3 months), it’s not necessary if you’re looking practically at ways you can save money. Mattresses should always be packed up off the ground in case of flood or even excess water draining out of your washing machine or outdoor furniture as you will read below.

Boxes are a removalist’s best friend. Boxes are the ultimate versatile item, they can be used as base items, the can be slotted into small gaps or placed on the top of your stacks (provided they aren’t too heavy). We always recommend using new, specialist furniture removals boxes like tea chest boxes and book/wine boxes.

Second hand and free supermarket boxes can compromise the safety of your goods while in self storage, especially if stored for more than 6 months. I personally have seen stacks of furniture collapse because cheap boxes have folded under pressure. This goes double for plastic creates, these items were not designed for moving house and should be avoided.

We recommend you learn how to pack boxes like a professional removalist before you start, to ensure you maximise the safety of your goods during the move. The video is very interesting and easy to follow!

Your piano, grand piano or other heavy items. These items are safe to store but keep in mind, if you are storing in the summer the fluctuations in temperature can affect the tuning of your piano. If you have a piano or a grand piano and need to move it, you will be pleased to know our piano removalists here in Adelaide are considered the best around. We even push one in the City to Bay Fun Run every year…..thats right, we push a piano 12 kms from Adelaide to Glenelg.

Pool tables and aquariums are just a few of the other heavy items we come across regularly, these items are safe to store but you should take extra care when handling and storing them. If you are not confident, we can move these too.

Fridges, freezers and white goods. These items are fine in storage if you remember to do a few things first. Fridges and freezers need to be defrosted thoroughly before storage and absolutely must be stored with the doors open to ensure mould doesn’t grow.

Hot tip: be very careful what you stack on top of a washing machine, the lids are normally brittle and can’t take much weight. Your dryer is ideal to store on top of the washing machine with a blanket in between.

Electronic Appliances. This includes televisions, hifi equipment, computers, kitchen appliances etc. Where possible, we recommend if it fits in a box, pack it in one. If not, they can be stored without covers but if storing for more than 3 months, you should consider throwing a plastic wrap over the stacks to stop dust settling on these types of items.

Hot tip: Queen Bed plastic covers are a great cost effective option to protect against dust, just cut one open so it folds out to twice the size of a queen mattress, then throw it over your load.

Shed and outdoor items. These are fine to store safely, we recommend you drain trampolines and other items that are exposed to rain, before moving into storage. There is nothing worse than filthy black, stale water draining out of your trampoline frame and dripping all over your furniture and boxes. We also recommend you give everything a wipe down to clean off the dust, cobwebs and grease to ensure these items don’t rub off on your cleaner household items.

Hot Tip – You may have just as much dust collected on the tops of wardrobes and wall units inside as you do on your shed items.

Check our next post to see what you shouldn’t put into your self storage unit in Adelaide.

If you like this you may like our 7 part series on how to pack a storage unit like a professional

 

 

Introduction to a World Class Furniture Removalist : Maurice Heke

This week we welcomed our new operations manager, Maurice moved to Adelaide from New Zealand a few weeks ago to step into his new role. I interviewed Maurice to learn a little bit about him here is how it went, this guy is great!

How long have you been a furniture removalist Maurice?

I am embarrassed to say this, but I have been a removalist for 44 years. I was 18 years old when I started

Wow, how were you trained back then?

Nobody taught the skills for loading or stowing back then; we were just thrown in the deep end and trained on the road with a crew of furniture removalists that back then, had been in the furniture removals game for 20+ years. Back then, I wasn’t rare to find guys that have been doing removals for many decades.

Prepacking was different; training was performed by an experienced packer in the warehouse.

How is this different to the training in the furniture removals industry these days?

The difference now is companies don’t want to train new removalists on the job because of the way it looks in front of the customer whose paying top dollar, but few companies can afford to train in the warehouse,  so it seems to get left out these days.

Another thing that’s changed is,  back in the old days removalists would load up to 6 tears and then stop for a smoke whereas now, they stop far more than this.  One tear takes about 30 minutes to an hour to load.

For the companies that are fortunate enough to be able to train their team, employ trainers that generally don’t know bugger all!.

Have you been injured over your many years of lifting?

No, not really!

That’s amazing, how have you managed to avoid injuries?

By using proper lifting techniques, I always teach young removalists to use your knees and not their  backs, especially when lifting heavy items like piano’s and pool tables. This is imperative to maintaining back and leg strength and health and ensuring your spine is not strained.

Oh, I have given myself a hernia once many years ago, but I don’t believe it was due to furniture removals.

Ouch, that sounds like it hurt!

Yeh, it didn’t feel that flash.

How has moving changed since you started?

I feel overall, a lack of professionalism has crept into the industry, but this does not include everyone ofcoarse, just a slow trend as a whole. Back then, being a removalist was considered a good career option. A job that guys could do for decades as I mentioned before, but now; it is considered a transition job that young men do whilst looking for an actual career. In New Zealand it’s still considered a career for young kiwi’s, so they have time on their side to really sharpen their skills and become great removalists.

What is one of the most memorable moves you have done!

I was part of a 12 man crew that moved Kerry Packer. That was an experience!

It took 6 experienced prepackers 6 full days just to prepack the kitchen. Their were dozens of different dinner sets, some Gold lined, some from oversea’s etc. The Packers were only moving 500 meters down the road but it still took us 10 full days to complete the move with a 12 man removalist crew.

The furniture and effects were obviously of the highest quality and for that reason, intricate care needed to be taken with every individual item.

Did you get a tip and the end of the job?

Ha ha ha, yeh we did. Every guy on the crew got a slab of beer and a couple hundred dollars each. Pretty good considering there were 12 of us. Plus Kerry’s wife was buying us all lunch and drinks the whole time we were there. They were really nice people.

What do you think of our team of removalists in Adelaide you have met so far?

They seem like a nice bunch of hard working lads, Complete Removals has a reputation for quality and I can see why, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t many changes that need to be made.

What changes are they?

Well I can’t give away all of our secrets but I can say I  will be aiming to get them to thinking like me, or at least how I think about furniture removals and customer service. We need these guys to consider furniture removals a career option and pump some of the old fashioned work ethics back into the Adelaide Furniture Removalists industry.

I also hope to create more of a team atmosphere where we get a crew to stick together and operate as more of a team, one unit instead of individual removalists. These guys also need to feel comfortable with each other and each other’s skills, no one removalist in our team should feel they are going to have to carry the guy next to them. This is one of my goals and whilst I know it may take some time, it is achievable!

Well Maurice, its been a delight speaking with you, I am excited to see how things evolve and hope to interview you again in a few months to see how you are progressing.

That would be great.

If you liked this article you may like a recent article we wrote on an unlikely 80 year old furniture removalist.

 

Adelaide Removalists Became Banana’s in Pyjama’s

I recently interviewed one of our most experienced removalists, when asked what was one of the more memorable moving stories from his past he told me about some internal office removals he performed at the ABC building over 10 years ago. An internal office removal is when office furniture and boxes gets shuffled around the same floor or building, no furniture removal truck is required.

But this particular office relocation came with a twist.

Being impressed by the removalists efficiency and enthusiasm, the production manager of the ABC asked our removalists if they would be interested in another less labour intensive task. Thinking it was a good opportunity to catch a breath, they obliged.

The production manager led them down the other end of the building and into the production theatre.

“Here, stick this on so we can take a few photos” he said standing there with a smirk on his face. He was holding some bright yellow costumes with blue pin stripes. Hesitantly, the boys grabbed the costumes and put them on. When they looked at each other they begun laughing uncontrollably, they were “Banana’s in Pyjama’s”.

Removalists calling each other banana heads took on a whole new meaning!

The photographer took multiple snaps of the boys posing. One of the removalists commented “being a prop beats manual labour, that’s for sure”!

At the end of the day, the removalists were asked if they were interested in some afterhours work as props. It didn’t take the newly found stars long to agree, especially as their photos were getting blown up into life size cardboard cut-outs to be used on a live set,  and they were getting paid for the privilege.

I guess it shows moving isn’t all serious business.

If you like this post you may like one of our past posts on our removalist posing as the hulk

Storage Facilities in Adelaide!

More and more of us have items we need to put into storage these days, it’s a growing trend. The main reasons for this is the fact that housing is in short supply in Adelaide, affordability for renters and buyers is getting worse and forcing people to share or move back home with the folks. Suburbs are being built up and by developers and housing densities are getting worse. The average living space per person is getting smaller but average possessions per person aren’t. This means there is a bigger demand for storage.

The upside is there are more storage solutions for this lack of space. Furniture is becoming more innovative, you only have to walk through IKEA to see how the Swiss fix their space problems. Another place where innovation is taking place is in the storage industry, the latest creation is portable storage units. These portable storage units are light weight, they are made from aluminium skin panels held together by a steel frame. The most common brand you will see around is PODS.

Storage is Becoming Cheaper and More Convenient

PODS can be lifted on and off a truck whilst remaining level where as steel shipping containers need to be lifted on and off with a tilt tray, as you can see it’s not a safe way for your furniture. The angle is intense and puts your possessions under great stress.

Conventional storage options are improving too, storage companies are offering better terms, better access to your furniture and better quality facilities. It’s the old formula in play.....

Growing trend = growing demand

Growing demand = growing supply and competition in the market.

You are the winner in this one.

 

A Storage Solution That Suits You

Complete Removals has got storage solutions for you too, we have our finger on the pulse and know what to recommend for your storage needs. Some of you may be suited to PODS where as some of you may be suited to conventional storage units.

Why pay for 20m2 when you only need 10m2?

Professional removalists will save you money on your storage too, especially if you are storing for many months. A removalist can load a unit tight, where as an inexperienced removalist or someone trying to move themselves will struggle to utilise the height in their storage unit.

For more information on what we can do for you, give us a call today on 83580212.

If you liked this post you may like one of our first posts from a few years ago on how to load a storage unit safely

The 80 Year Old Furniture Removalist

Our local removalists were moving a customer to Mawson Lakes in the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide last week. The customer was not able to be there as he could not get the time off work, instead, he had arranged for his father to be there for our movers.

His father’s name was Tom and he seemed to be a fit old bugger. As we were moving stuff into the new house, Tom was only too happy to pick up a box and lend a hand where he could, I guess it’s that old fashioned hard working mentality. Time came to move the piano, Tom stepped in to lend a hand but our removalists told him they didn’t need it. They were afraid the old fella would hurt himself with such a heavy item, they couldn’t predict or believe what happened next.

Moving with stairs can be tough on the body

We had only a hand full of items to pull off the truck when it came time to move the mattresses. As our movers were carrying a heavy King Size mattress up the stairs one of our furniture removalists twisted their ankle quite badly and was unable to finish the lift. This was a bit of a predicament because the mattress was half way up the staircase. The head removalist on the job rang our operations manager to tell him we needed a replacement fast, but the operations manager could not get anyone there for at least half an hour. What to do with this mattress?

No sooner had the head removalist though it, Tom stepped in and grabbed the top end of the King sized mattress. He picked it up with ease and guided it up the rest of the staircase perfectly, just like an experienced removalist would do. Tom went on to unload the rest of the items on the truck with without missing a beat. He moved a fridge, a dining table, 20 boxes and a lounge suite. The thing that is so compelling about this story is that our head removalist said he worked as efficiently as any other hard working removalist here in Adelaide.

If your reading this Tom, give us a call if you are thinking about coming out of retirement!

Your Removalists Just Keep Going and Going!

Customers often comment on how hard our Adelaide movers work, we take great pride in delivering one of the highest work rates in the country for furniture removals. Work rate does not mean we rush, it simply means we move fast when we can and show finesse when it’s needed with more fragile items.

If I hired a removalist, I would want them to work like we do. Let’s be honest, when removalists charge an hourly rate of $115 + dollars per hour, we want to see them working hard but not at the expense of our possessions we care about. That’s why Complete Removals have impressed hard working ethics into all of our employees, just as it was from the start when our great business began.

Experienced and reputable Removalists work out cheaper

Many unsuspecting people who are moving unfortunately choose the cheapest quote, only to learn the hard way. Cheap removalists generally means inexperienced removalists and it’s this lack of experience that makes a four hour move take six stressful hours. Follow the “hard working ethics” link in the previous paragraph to read about my own personal ordeal that led me to become a removalist myself in the late 90’s. My ordeal became my motivation to create a moving service that was a cut above the rest.

The Complete Removals difference is our blend of experienced furniture removalists, hardworking ethics, true pride in our work and our desire to please our valued customers, YOU!

In the past, I have worked with less experienced movers, I always made the observation that I could think a few items ahead of time, whereas the less experienced guys only had the ability to work on one item at a time. The downside being when they are finished with that item, they have to stop and think about what’s next.  Experienced movers don’t have to do this as they already are prepared for the next item. The time this saves over whole house relocations is considerable and outweighs any cheaper hourly rate savings.

Example : Lightly Furnished 3 Bedroom House

$90 per hour X 6 hours = $540 Total relocation cost.

$120 per hour x 4 hours = $480 Total relocation cost. The other bonus is a more professional service.

This is a very realistic example of the differences between experienced and inexperienced furniture removalists. The total price gap grows bigger for bigger jobs too.

If you like this post you may like another one we wrote a few weeks ago on some key questions to ask your removalists on the phone.

Moving to Tea Tree Gully?

As a local furniture removalist in Adelaide of 13 years, I have got a list of my favourite suburbs to work in. One of those favourites is the city of Tea Tree Gully. The main reason for this is I grew up in St Agnes, Tea Tree Gully.

When I was a kid, the creeks had Yabbies in them, the streets were safe and there was always something to do. We used to race BMX’s on a track in the spot which is now the Tea Tree Plaza car park, the one closest to Pelican Plaza. We used to hang out at Time Zone or spend hours lining up for a shot on the Gully Gusher. Occasionally we would go for a walk up in the hills and see the early settler ruins on Anstey’s hill. Those were the days.

Unfortunately I moved away from my stomping grounds in my twenties.

It still gives me great pride to send my trucks to my old home town to do furniture removals in Tea Tree Gully, and now that we have a depot in the Northern suburbs we are local again.

If you moving to Modbury, Redwood Park , Hope Valley, Banksia Park or Highbury. Give us a call, we are local and provide the kind of service you expect.

5 Key Questions: How to Select the Best Furniture Removalists

When selecting a local removalist, Adelaide is a place where you should select carefully, especially in the northern suburbs like Salisbury, Enfield and Tea Tree Gully. To make your selection process a little easier, here are some key questions you should ask when ringing around.

If you ask these questions how they are written, you should quickly be able to pick out the crème of the crop. To be prepared you must have a basic list of items, your moving date, pickup and delivery access.

1. How long will my move take and how accurate is your estimate? This question is an inexperienced removalists nightmare. To quote an accurate time over the phone based on your list of items takes real skill and experience.
2. How much do you charge and does that include GST and or hidden surcharges? Where do you charge from? Many removalists will provide a low hourly rate that seems appealing,  but sting you in hidden surcharges like excessive travelling times, adding GST afterwards, charging extra for stairs or certain items like piano’s. The appealing very quickly becomes appalling.
3. Who will be handling my goods on the day? Do they work for you or another company and what level of experience do they have? How can I be sure I am getting good quality workmanship? This is and always has been the bane of Adelaide furniture removals, it is rare to find a company that actually provides skilled removalists. In this line of questions you are also finding out whether the company you are dealing with are lead dealers. Lead dealers don’t own any trucks and only contract your job to other removalists for profit. You may be ok with this but it’s worth knowing all the same.
4. Are my goods insured? If so for what and to what value, can you please elaborate? Can you provide a copy of your policy so I have it for my records? Most unreputable removalists will squirm when you ask these questions, many lie and mislead about their policies. Asking them to elaborate and provide proof is a sure way to know where you stand with insurance.
5. Can you provide me with the phone numbers of at least 3 customers you have moved in the last week as referrals? This is a bold question but carries more weight than all the rest put together. If you are unsure about the integrity of a business, ask this question to remove all doubt. A truly honest, high level removal business will have no issue handing over the phone numbers of as many as you want. Remember, it’s important to select people from the recent week as any removalist can draw up their own dummy testimonials,  or dig one up from a customer years ago that they were able to impress. 

Finally, ask them to provide all of their answers in writing.

These questions are designed to warn unreputable removalists that you cross your “t’s” and dot your “I’s” and are seeking a good quality service. If they know they can’t provide what you are looking for you will hear it in their tone.

If you want to save yourself a lot of time, call us today, we are more than happy to accommodate all of your questions.

If you like this, check out our affiliates blog on Profit For Screw, finally a business is taking charge on quality control in the Interstate removalists Melbourne market.

Happy New Year 2012 : Complete Removals Kicks Off With A Bang!

We just want to start the year off by saying Happy New Year. 2012 is a defining year for our company. We have already planned it and made some massive and exciting changes.

• We are introducing a very exciting new member to our company that is really going to shake things up for our removalists in Adelaide.
• We are expanding into the Adelaide northern suburbs and another location to be decided upon still, our furniture removalists will be closer to your door than ever before.
• We have placed specific focus on the quality of our Adelaide furniture removals service.

If you wish to stay up to date with what Complete Removals are doing, stay tuned to this blog.

Everything we do will be on here…..