A Stressful Move from France to Delft

Let’s start with the easiest, where did you move and what were the reasons?

I moved to work in the Netherlands.

Moving was incredibly stressful. As mentioned in the review, JCL Removals had a contact person reach out to us, made us a quote and answered all of our questions regarding the service provided and how to properly pack the items.

Unfortunately, on the day of the move terrible communication and unprofessional handling by the company that actually handed the move made it. However, Sirelo was a very nice starting point in order to contact several moving companies and compare them.

That doesn’t sound great. How did you manage the process of finding a mover?

I obtained at least 7 quotes from other companies and contacted over 10. I read reviews of other customers listed under Sirelo but also other websites and services and was pleased with them.

The contact person at JCL Removals was quite responsive, reachable with WhatsApp, spoke English and seemed quite professional. There were the occasional typos in official documents or emails but nothing that would jeopardize the image of the company or somehow hint at how poorly the actual move would play out.

What about the moving day? Did everything go as planned?

On the moving day, the contact person told us the driver/mover should arrive from 10-11h.

The driver showed up over 1h30 late, did not speak any language we could talk (English, French, Portuguese, Greek), and immediately refused to move the only piece of furniture that we actually needed help with.

He behaved quite unprofessionally, haphazardly stacking boxes clearly marked as fragile atop one another and effectively doing the bare minimum to load the truck. At one point he simply stood inside the truck smoking while me and 3 other people loaded the truck. We tried to confirm with him at what time they would arrive the next day and he simply said he didn’t know.

We were scheduled to fly the next day at 12h00 to reach the destination before the movers. Unfortunately, our flight got cancelled, its replacement was delayed, and our luggage destroyed.

We contacted JCL Removals ASAP and often throughout the day and they kept telling us to try and do the impossible.

Very stressful couple of days, all the items were moved and were undamaged (we packaged everything very thoroughly ourselves) but the poor communication ruined it for us.

After your (not-so-good) experience, what would you recommend to other people moving?

• Ensure there’s a good communication channel between the company with which you’re directly in contact and the company that actually performs the move.
• Ensure the latter sends someone who can speak at least one language in common with you and exactly what they can and cannot/refuse to move.
• Be thorough about the details of the service and insurance coverage.
• Be aware that even when a company has decent reviews you might be unlucky and have a poor experience.
• Don’t go with JCL Removals especially if you’re moving from France, but perhaps in general.

About this Move

Joao moved from France to the Netherlands with the moving company JCL Removals, rating 9.5/10 in Sirelo. Customers praise their clear communication, price and friendliness. However, some reported bad communication.

When choosing a moving company, compare and read reviews, as one person’s experience may not reflect the overall quality of their services.