Ever used a rogue
house clearance company? Got a story to share?
Tell your story and help warn others not to make the
same mistakes.
Send your stories to Email: ukhouseclearanceassociation@googlemail.com
Please Note! As much as we like too, we are legally
bound not to name certain companies
sometimes mentioned in the stories we receive. Sorry
but that's the law!
We have changed certain names and areas to protect
our users privacy.
Allison Greene from Cambridge...
my story
After my grandmother died I decided that I didn’t
want to go through the pain of clearing out her house
myself, so I decided to employ a house clearance company
to take care of the work for me. I had set aside those
items which I wanted to keep and had clearly marked
the boxes “DO NOT REMOVE”. I had also informed
the gentleman (who seemed such an honest man at first)
that those were the items which I wanted to keep and
that everything else should be removed. I also made
sure to tell him that there was nothing of any value
in the boxes, that they merely contained items which
were precious to me, such as photographs etc.
I left the men to get on with the work
and went to my own job. I returned to find that absolutely
EVERYTHING had been removed from my grandmother’s
house; including the marked boxes and that the men were
nowhere to be seen. I called the man’s phone but
there no answer, as it was late I decided to leave the
matter for now and not to worry as the office may simply
be closed and I told myself that I would deal with it
in the morning.
I managed to speak to the owner the next
day and he informed me that the items had been lifted
in error and that they would be returned to the premises
soon. I asked if I could go myself and pick the items
up but I was informed that that would not be possible.
I was getting increasingly anxious about the matter
as I had paid the man upfront and realised that I did
not have an address for the so called company, nor did
I have a landline number – I was simply given a
freephone telephone number – which I soon realised,
was being redirected to a mobile. I agreed to allow
him to drop the boxes off at my grandmother’s house
the following evening but, much to my disappointment,
no one turned up. I called the freephone number on several
occasions to find out what the problem was but got no
reply.
I had begun to think that I would never
get the items back, after several phone calls and not
a single apology, it was finally agreed that I could
come to meet the men on site at another job and pick
up the items for myself. I couldn’t believe the
attitude which these men had to such a delicate issue
and I wish that I had heard of the UK House Clearance
Association before I had my clearance done. I will certainly
be more careful in future and I would urge anyone else
thinking of hiring a company to carry out this type
of work for them to do the same. 
Peter Headingley from Surrey...
my story
I had to have a house cleared about 3 years ago as the
place had got into a bit of a mess after some students
had rented it from me and I just didn’t have the
time to sort the place out for myself. I found a company
from an ad in the local paper and got them out to do
the job. It was a total disaster; they took their money
before they started the job and told me it would take
1 day to do. 3 days later the place was still full of
stuff and they then asked me for more money, telling
me that the job was bigger than they thought so I would
have to pay more. I gave them what they asked for and
left them to it. I wasn’t happy but there was nothing
else I could do. The job ended up taking 5 days, and
I know I could have done it myself in 2 days if I’d
had time. 5 of them took 5 days. It was a total disgrace.
Thomas H from Kent... my story
Talk about cowboys! I had a right bunch of cowboys out
to clear my father’s house last year as it had
got into a bit of a state after my mum died and he couldn’t
manage it on his own. He’s an old man but he still
has his wits about him. They were supposed to do the
work during the day when he was at the hospital and
I was going to be there to oversee the work but they
somehow managed to convince him to let them come in
the evening when he was going to be there on his own.
They finished the job (which I’d already paid for
in advance) and then told my father that he had to pay
them more money. There was no reason given why they
needed the money, they just kept telling him that they
knew he had money in the house and that if he didn’t
give them the extra money they would go and find it
themselves and would take extra for the hassle. He ended
up giving them an extra £200.00 and at first he
didn’t even tell me what had happened as he was
so embarrassed. He then confided in me a few days later
when I noticed that he seemed down. I can’t believe
that anyone would do that to an old man, and I am also
annoyed at myself for not using a company that had been
recommended or one which had an office which I could
go to complain. I have reported them to the police but
I’ve been told it is a civil matter between myself
and the house clearance firm. I don’t expect my
father to ever get his money back.
Sarah P from York... my story
I was seriously messed around by a house clearance company
last May. I work in Leeds but live in York and I really
wanted a company who could come to do the work in the
evening but I couldn’t find anyone who was available
at short notice who was also happy to work after 7pm,
so I arranged for the lads to come at 8am and I would
let them in and show them what I wanted done, then leave
them to it and go to work. At 10am I was still waiting,
when they finally turned up they were actually quite
rude, as if it was me who was inconveniencing them!!
I couldn’t believe it but thought I best leave
the complaining until after the job was done as I wanted
it completed quickly as I was selling the house and
I didn’t want any further delays. The work was
to be finished by the time I got back from work that
evening. I ended up being 3hrs late for work in the
end and when I finally got back home in the evening
the job wasn’t even finished. I had to wait in
again the next morning for them to come back (on time
this time!). A truly unprofessional operation.
Katrina R from Glasgow... my story
I ended up being fined by the council after I had my
house cleared last year by a rogue company. It was a
small job, a fridge, fridge freezer and a couple of
TVs needed to be dumped but I thought I would get someone
out to do it as I knew that those kind of items needed
to be disposed of properly these days and I didn’t
want to go to the hassle of finding out how etc. I live
in quite a posh area, a bit of a curtain twitching one
if I’m honest, and clearly someone had been making
notes about who was having the work done! The guys who
did the work didn’t dispose of my items appropriately;
rather they dumped them beside the allotments at the
bottom of my street!! I then ended up getting fined
as one of the neighbours was able to tell the council
that it was my property from which the items were removed,
something which I obviously couldn’t deny. Needless
to say, I couldn’t get in touch with the guys again
after they were paid!
Mary from Leeds... my story
House mess making service more like! Before these “contractors”
came into my house I had nice new cream carpet laid
and they were only supposed to be removing stuff from
the downstairs but my toilet is upstairs so they were
traipsing up and down the stairs to the toilet all day.
They didn’t bother to lay any dust sheets and the
combination of a lack of manners and oily shoes completely
destroyed my stair carpet. We needed to get a professional
out to clean the carpet after they left. I refused to
pay them the final instalment of the money (I had paid
half upfront) because I needed the money to pay the
carpet cleaner and I wouldn’t have needed a carpet
cleaner if it wasn’t for them and I got a mouthful
of abuse when I said I was withholding the money. Before
the whole saga was over, 3 men had been round to demand
the money, trying to threaten me but my husband is a
police officer and when they heard that they soon stopped
the harassment! I wouldn’t like to think that that’s
the way they treat all their customers, especially since,
as far as I’m aware, a lot of house clearances
happen when people have died. Thankfully that wasn’t
the case for me or it would have been even more stressful.
Gwyneth from Swansea... my story
My husband has a bad back and we called a house clearance
company when we were moving house and needed a lot of
old junk we’d gathered up over the years shifting
as he can’t really lift heavy objects. He’s
not lazy but he didn’t want to hurt his back any
further. The young man who came kept asking for help
with the heavy things as he was on his own and my husband
felt like he couldn’t say no as he’s only
50 and doesn’t look old or anything and didn’t
want the chap to think he was just being lazy. I was
at work so I had no clue all this was going on. When
I got home I saw Frank out the front helping the chap
into the van with a big box. I was livid as that was
the very reason we’d paid the chaps to come in
the first place. After the whole ordeal was over, Frank
ended up having to spend 2 full days in bed resting
his back. I telephoned and spoke to the girl there who
I’d booked the job in with and asked her why they
only sent one chap over when they knew my husband had
a bad back and she said it was a small job so they wouldn’t
pay 2 men to go. I couldn’t believe how blunt she
was with me but I’d already paid so what could
I do? We’ve learned from our mistake and won’t
be picking the first ad we see next time!
Zara from London... my story
I'm sick to death of being ripped off by rogue tradesmen.
For example, I had a new kitchen and two new bathrooms
fitted recently and the tradesmen I got in to do the
job wouldn’t take any of the rubbish away so I
called a clearance man in to sort out the rubbish –
what a nightmare! They wanted paying up front for the
full amount before they even started! What was supposed
to take 1 day took 2 and I ended up having to take a
day from work to make sure it was done right. I also
had to replace a worktop in the brand new kitchen because
when they took the old stuff away they scratched the
top on one of the new worktops! Why don’t people
working in your home take more care?! It has totally
put me off getting anyone in to do work for me.
Finn from Aberdeen... my story
I got some lads in to sort out a house I had bought
at auction about 3 years ago. The house was in a bit
of a mess and the previous owners had left a large amount
of rubbish in the property. I just couldn’t bring
myself to deal with all of the work by myself so thought
it best to get the professionals in. Whilst removing
some kitchen cupboards they discovered a rat, and instead
of informing me of the matter, they just ran out of
the property and drove off. I returned home to find
my property empty and unlocked. I couldn’t believe
it. I had no clue where anyone was, hadn’t had
a phone call to let me know what had happened or anything.
I telephoned them immediately and was practically laughed
at on the phone; apparently they found it very funny
that they “had to run away from a rat”. They
didn’t want to come back until the rats had been
removed, which was fair enough, but I was so shocked
that they had just left my property open and run off
without telling me. As I had paid them upfront I had
to have them back in to finish the job once the rats
had been removed because I couldn’t afford to pay
twice. I felt really uneasy around them after that incident
and was just waiting for them to mess up again. Nothing
else happened but the shock of finding my property open
and abandoned was problem enough!
Kelly Ann from Yorkshire... my story
My family and I have had some less than memorable experiences
with cowboy tradesmen, our most recent happened when
the roof leaked again. We've got a VERY leaky roof and
we've had it for several years, whenever there's a storm,
water comes pouring down the back of the wall in the
toilet, into the lounge and kitchen. It has flooded
the electrical intake cupboard in the kitchen on several
occasions, which I am guessing is a potential fire hazard.
Over the years we've had plumbers, surveyors, roofers,
electricians and goodness knows how many others in to
try and fix it, but nothing ever seems to get sorted.
About 6 months ago I was woken up to the sound of gushing
water and got out of bed to find myself standing in
a puddle – at this point I’d had enough and
decided to call a very expensive well known building
firm in to see if they could finally fix the problem
and thankfully they did. After all the work was done
the house was in a complete mess and all of the furniture
from the room which was flooded needed to be skipped
so I thought this can’t be a hard job, I’m
not paying a really expensive firm to do this, I’ll
just get the cheapest one I can find along, gees was
that a mistake! They dumped the old furniture, carpets
etc, as well as some rubbish bags which I’d left
outside in a skip only 3 streets from my house rather
than disposing of it properly. The rubbish was then
traced back to me from letters in the rubbish bags and
I had to pay SOMEONE ELSE to come and dispose of the
rubbish properly. I couldn’t believe my luck. Now,
finally, after years of bother with the roof and everything
else, it’s all sorted but after considerable and
unnecessary stress caused by cowboy tradesmen.
Paul from Blackpool... my story
I had £500 stolen from me by rogues last year.
I paid a house clearance firm to clear my mother’s
old house. They asked for £500 upfront and £500
on completion. I didn’t think it was really that
big a job but they went into some detail about fees
etc they needed to pay for safe disposal and talked
me into it. I paid the first £500 in cash on the
Monday and someone was to come on the Wednesday to start
the job. I’m retired so I said I would be available
all day and when they still hadn’t turned up by
12pm I called to find out what the delay was, they said
they were caught up on another job but would be there
the next morning, I waited again and the same thing
happened – no show. Nearly a week went by before
I realised I’d been had and that they never were
going to come and do the work – I’m £500
down the drain and a little wiser now! I haven’t
even bothered contacting the police because I know what
they will say.
Elaine from Essex... my story
I had some dodgy tradesmen out last month and I’m
not one bit happy, the experience was a complete nightmare,
from breaking my light fitting in the living room when
carrying benches through, to ripping up part of my carpet
and breaking a handle off one of my doors, I couldn’t
believe the destruction they left in their wake. I thought
I was getting someone in to clear my house, not to tear
it apart. The men were rude, uninformative and disrespectful
of my home. They moved items which were to be retained
and left items which were to be removed, there was absolutely
no communication between them and at one point I saw
someone take a box out for the next guy to bring it
straight back in! They tried to add “extras”
at the end as well; I was having none of it, paid them
what was agreed and was glad to be rid of them. I can’t
believe that businesses can continue to operate with
such poor customer service! I have reported them to
trading standards and await a response.
Tracy P from Richmond... my story
I called in a house clearance company when I was moving
my elderly Mother out of the house she had lived in
for decades. I was quoted a fixed price. However, when
it came to paying they said they had incurred ‘additional
expenses’ and wanted nearly 40% more than they
had originally quoted. I was shocked but they maintained
that the level of ‘clutter’ meant more work.
Bear in mind, they had already had a look-around and
knew what they were taking on! Not only were they unprofessional
and unreasonable they were quite rude when I mentioned
the original quote up.
Fiona from Middlesbrough... my story
I had a superb service from a team of professional gentlemen,
or so I thought! 3 weeks after the clearance was done
I noticed bizarre transactions on my credit card and
found out that I’d had my credit card details stolen;
the only possible culprit was the clearance outfit.
Thankfully I managed to get the police involved in enough
time and the men were caught. Hopefully no one else
will be tricked by them now!
Alison from Poole... my story
A lot of people think that the only problems you can
have are financial ones but the main problem for me
with the house clearance company I used was customer
service. First of all, when they came in the first thing
they did was light up a cigarette, instantly it put
me back, I didn’t know what to do, whether I should
tell them not to smoke in my house or to let them get
on with it. They didn’t look for any clarification
before doing things either, they just got stuck in and
all I heard the whole time they were there was a lot
of swearing and I felt totally uncomfortable having
them in my home. I just couldn’t wait for the thing
to be over and done with and I was glad to see the back
of them.
Chris from Peterbrough... my story
I was totally ripped off by an office clearance man
in May. He took £345 from me as a deposit, then
another £300 after the first day and ANOTHER £100
at the start of the second day for a "disposal
fee" which I was never told about to begin with.
I said I wasn't paying but then he said he wouldnt finish
the job and I had to pay him because I needed the office
to be functional when my new staff came in on the Monday.
I thought that was the end of it but when he finished
he asked me for another £240. I asked why and
he told me that the job was bigger than he'd thought.
I said that I wasnt paying it and he said that if I
didnt he wouldnt give me my office keys back. Stupidly
I had given him the only set and I had so I was left
with no choice. I can't believe now that I paid the
money rather than rang the police but he was quite threatening
and I didnt know what else to do at the time. Complete
madness if you ask me!
Pete from Cornwall... my story
I had a right time of it. The job was fine but after
the boys had been my daughter’s ipod and mobile
phone were found to be missing from her bedroom drawer.
They denied taking them and there was nothing I could
do to prove it, no amount of letters or phone calls
made any difference. I’m really disappointed by
the whole thing.
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