MV Removals

Stephen Smith, sole trader of MV Removals (mvremovals.com) is currently (Thursday 24 March 2022) operating without public liability insurance according to https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/Mvremovals1056039

I booked him via an advert he placed on Gumtree, to move me from Seaton, Devon to Exeter on Wednesday 22 July 2020. Steve promised it would be no more than 3-4 hours for the entire job, @ £50 / hour. He arrived at Seaton Self Storage at 2:09pm. He had his front 2 teeth missing & explained that it happened yesterday due to an accident, & in fact the person that caused the accident was quite apologetic & gave him an extra £100.

Steve is the man featured on his van's advertising & he showed up with another young man. Steve was on the phone for most of the time we loaded up, & worked at a leisurely pace, & had his assistant do most of the hard work with me helping. Steve was discussing the purchase of a new £40,000 van the entire time he was phoning. He even had me measure the length of his Luton van from the inside using a tape measure l myself had.

We then went to load up my house possessions. Steve remarked on how expensive my gear was. Steve then tried to persuade me to go back to the seafront in order to get to Exeter, which was very bizarre. Then when l insisted that we leave town via the north end of Seaton (where my accommodation had been), Steve drove incredibly slowly to Exeter, & l had to spur him to go faster.

En route to Exeter, Steve unravelled & told me of house moves that went badly, e.g. one where he had to barricade himself in his van to prevent himself going insane & beating a female client up, & l think in the same event, the female client had called the police because he wouldn't let her have her own stuff. Steve also bragged that on that or a separate occasion, he was reported to the police for feinting at a woman, without actually hitting her (his excuse: he "only lunged at her"). Steve also bragged that his brother was doing approx. 9 months in Exeter prison for threatening to burn his (ex?) girlfriend's mother's house down (presumably with the girl & her mother inside - it was a serious enough offence to put him in prison). Steve also mentioned that he broke into a former employer's storage container & stole a £400 TV because his former employer had gone bankrupt, owing over £3 million to his creditors, & had not paid him. I believe these were all veiled threats that Steve was making to me.

Throughout the journey within Exeter, Steve was constantly ogling young females & remarking on their bodies. We first went to Jesmond Road in Exeter to move my home possessions in. We then went to Exe Storage in Pinhoe. When it came to unload my 5 filing cabinets at Exe Self Storage, it became clear that 2 of the filing cabinets were ruined because Steve had incorrectly replaced the drawers inside them, & ruined their mechanisms. Whilst unloading at Exe Storage, Steven continued to work quite slowly & l did considerable work to assist him. When we finished, circa 5:40pm, l offered to pay Steve up to 6:09pm but l wanted him to take a few boxes of possessions back to my new home at Jesmond Road, plus l needed a cashpoint as l didn't have enough cash (because of the extra time he notched up).

On the journey back, to Jesmond Road, Steve began to insist that l won't be staying at Exe Storage for long. I requested clarification, & he refused. He then insisted that l pay him from the time he picked up his hired hand: an extra hour. I refused, even though Steve insisted. He then insisted that l at least pay him for £15 for the fuel from Exeter to Seaton to reach me, but his quote of £50 / hour was for all expenses included. I reluctantly agreed to this as l feared violence. Steve's hired hand was quiet.

Steven then drove me to a secluded Lloyd's Bank in central Exeter, clearly not the nearest bank, then he dismissed his hired hand whilst l was withdrawing the necessary extra cash. Once l returned to the van, it was just myself & Steve sat in the stationary van. Steve then revealed that he had dismissed his hired hand because he didn't want him to see us arguing & he again insisted that l pay an extra hour for the time it took for him to reach me from Exeter. I refused. Steve then insisted that l leave the van with my remaining possessions (2 or 3 boxes that weighed approx. 8 kilos) & walk back to Jesmond Road (it later transpired from Google that Jesmond Road is en route from Exeter City Centre to Steve's home). Bear in mind that it was around 5:48pm, l had paid him up to 6:09pm & that this was still part of his remit: to move my house possessions.

Steve then drove off but he then drove back l think to take a photo of me from his van. I walked back to Jesmond Road with great difficulty due to the distance & the weight of my possessions. Note that Steve takes photos of every job & uploads them to Facebook, presumably as a safety measure?

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £300

We moved on Saturday from Topsham to Exmouth and used this company following reading very positive reviews and recommendations online. Could not have been happier. Steve came out and gave us a quote and from the very start it was clear he is a very conscientious young man who takes great pride in providing a high quality service. On the day they turned up early and just got on with the job. It had been quite wet and they put runners down on our carpet and stairs to stop muddy footprints. Steve was very particular, for instance putting all our plants (of which we have quite a few) in a different van so that they didn't leak and spoil the rest of our belongings. Operatives were very efficient and friendly putting us at ease, making the experience almost enjoyable!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: £1080