Imagine the scene. You have gained a new customer, probably the best of customers, the customer who requires an on-going moving service. The Nirvana of moving customers. The first job is completed without fuss. The second one is finished in the same manner. Call at the house, load up the vehicle with the directed items, deliver said goods to a quiet little place of storage. Simple. This process is repeated fairly regularly over the next few weeks. Arriving at the property for yet another job, you are in the middle of loading when you are met by certain gentlemen in uniform. The result is an investigation by the Police and stress as the people from Moving Van can attest to. So how did this happen?
In all good faith a customer service operator from Moving Van receives a call from a potential customer, this happens on a daily basis of course. The voice on the other end of the phone line requires the services of a professional moving company, furniture and other household goods. Standard procedure is to take the customers details, name, address and so on. The client enquires as to company insurances in case of breakages, vehicles size, the general questions anyone would expect to be asked. Towards the end of the call both sides are happy and have the necessities to continue.
When the crew from Moving Van arrived at the address in Kensington, London on the agreed date and a little earlier than intended, they were met by a couple of men. These men were dressed as one may expect for the demographics of the area. Smooth-looking, elegant, suited and booted, as the chaps in the van commented to one another. The property was a two-storey Victorian house, the value of which the lads would only guess at. The movers, when being interviewed by the Police at a later date, describe how the customers escorted them into the house, instructed them which specific items were to go, specifically expensive items it was noted. A smooth leather sofa, an antique oak cabinet, a maple furniture set, and a beautiful Dalbergian table are among the things that were loaded into the removal van.
The movers state that the supposed customers said that they will be doing renovations and they want the expensive items removed from the house in case of damage whilst the works are carried out.
They had personal storage already available for all the furniture and household appliances and they were all taken to a shady, but secure-looking facility filled with storage units. The movers unloaded everything from the van and into the personal unit, and that was supposedly it, nothing too taxing, a standard move.
The following day Moving Van received another call from the same caller as before. Ever happy to be helping such wealthy customers, another team of 3 men with a van was despatched. This time the two had discovered a few more antique pieces that should be moved for safety reasons. Again the movers carried out the job like the professionals that they are, not suspecting anything wrong. The invoice was settled again with cash and then movers returned to company HQ, with the agreement that they would return the next day for a ‘finishing touch’ as one of the men described it.
The third day of moving came and the team set off. They arrived to the house in Kensington, met the two men, and proceeded as the previous day. This days task comprised of a few boxes and an armchair. The movers were almost finished loading the van when they were taken aback by the appearance two police cars, not a normal occurrence the chaps noted to one another. The customers became agitated with these events and shifted to one side away from the front door. The police cars stopped next to the van, one at either end, this van was going nowhere. It was at this moment the two customers made a dash for it, a worthless attempt due the appearance of another car with flashing blue lights.
It transpires that the two had watched the property and movements of the occupants for some time and put the plans of theft into action once the family had left for a holiday. The saving grace for the family was that of a vigilant neighbour who noticed the strange activity at their house and decided to inform the Police.
Our reporters state that the two have been arrested and charged with breaking and entering along with burglary, and further charges will possibly be made once the house owners return from their holiday. The neighbour informs us that they are ‘livid’. The movers from Moving Van have been cleared as unwitting participants and will only need to make a statement about their involvement in the case.
This only goes to show how important it is to pick the right removal company for your job, but also raises the question whether the companies should also be asking for identity confirmation and ownership of the houses they are removing items from, this is easy enough to achieve with production of a utility bill with matching I.D. With the instigation of such procedures events as described would be cut to a minimum. There are always devious people who will endeavour navigate around these checks but the company will have made a more concerted effort to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Moving Van is a London based man and van company that specializes in all types of moving services.
