British Association of Removers Reviews 12

The BAR code of conduct and quality assurance are literally worthless. The entire organization acts as a front to get their paying members work by pretending to consumers (me and you) that they have some code of quality. After 7+ months of complaints, that have gone to an Ombudsman and to my MP to investigate in government, the removal company have not paid me back for their over-charge or the fine imposed on them by BAR and the Ombudsman.

The removal company, Eagle, keep saying they are in contact with BAR yet miss even their own deadlines for payment.

BAR is a shameful scam. It is a con where cowboy removal companies pay these cowboys and cowgirls to give them a logo to pretend they will deliver some kind of quality - and these cowboys and cowgirld DO NOT CARE at all and do nothing when it is proven that the removal companies have lied, over-charged, broken items, etc

The badge is worthless. I complained about one of their members to be met with a professional stone wall response, there is nothing we can do about it. Hilarious as they are the governing body.
As stated the badge and membership is not worth anything, they do not help or assist at all. Do not be fooled by "we are a member of BAR", nonsense.

In my experience the B.A.R. is a really supportive and forward-thinking trade association that works hard to support its members via regular training, high-quality events and lobbying. The recent conference was instructive and thought-provoking, and staff members are friendly, knowledgeable, and always on hand when we need support. Highly recommended to all quality UK removals operators.

Their supposed guarantee scheme is so riddled with loopholes - they don’t pay out. It is essentially a marketing ploy.

BAR misrepresented themselves. Following the bankruptcy of our removers I received assurances over the phone from BAR and as a consequence we placed further business with one of their other members.

However, when we went to claim against the guarantee we were refused by BAR. Sleekit and disreputable.

They offer peace of mind and a great service to all their clients.

A stunning Annual Conference with masses of relevant information to help your business.
Exceptional entertainment and networking too.
A lot of hard work was put in to this and it was definitely worth while. Thanks all

Waste of time. Similar experience as others with complaints. Only interested in looking after their paying members (removal companies) Same with their dubious ‘arbitration’ service.

Bar acts just like a trade union and will defend its members without even investigating whether they're at fault or not. It's quite wrong to suggest on their website that using one of their members will result in a stress free move.

I had a terrible experience with BAR member Doree Bonner for my move from the UK to France in 2019.
The removal company badly underestimated the volume to be moved, so the initial quote was reasonable. We paid upfront for the whole move. On moving day, we nearly missed completion because they sent an ill-equipped team. Then they hit us with a heavy new bill to cover the volume they'd overlooked, by which point we had no choice but to pay. The packing people told us it was standard practice.
Ahead of delivery at our new address in France, we clearly and repeatedly let the movers know we could not guarantee a parking spot in front of our home. We were told it would be no problem.
Upon arrival there, the drivers said they couldn't find a convenience place to park. After driving around for a while, they eventually declared they could not deliver and would be taking all of our possessions back to the UK. They then sent us a bill for £2,760 for a redelivery. We contacted the BAR who advised we paid and claimed the money back later.
Our possessions were put back into storage, so we had to keep paying those fees, too. Our belongings were finally delivered on the second attempt, although many items were lost or broken, and several boxes had been stored in water. We then raised a claim against the BAR member to claim the cost of the second delivery back, as well as the cost of storage accrued since the failed delivery. They ignored us for weeks. Promises to get back to us were never kept. We contacted the BAR again, and they put pressure on the retailer, who finally consented to speak to us, and eventually declared they bore no responsibility in what went wrong, and merely offered us a gesture of goodwill.
We refused and turned to the Furniture Ombudsman. The investigation took many weeks because the retailer were slow to engage with TFO. Eventually, TFO ruled in our favour and ordered, on 1 April 2020, the BAR member to pay us £2,657.93. It has ignored the ruling, and us. While we understood the sanitary crisis could explain some delays, the removal firm resumed operations in mid May. Yet by late June we had heard nothing, and our phone calls only resulted in empty promises that someone would call us back. The BAR stepped in again, but their member merely lied to them and announced untruthfully the matter was resolved. They only paid up when we involved the press. The press then let us know the BAR was being highly defensive of their member, insisting that lockdown justified everything.
We asked the BAR that a review of what happened took place, but were greeted with cool desinterest.

I have tried reviewing the BAR member on Trustpilot, but they reported my review without justification (in my view), and it has been offline ever since.

We are truly disappointed that an association who advertises transparency and integrity in their code of conduct, leapt in defence of a member who breached a contract, extorted money out of their customers, and treated a ruling against them with open contempt.

We chose a BAR member to handle a life changing move. We believed that the membership offered genuine protection. The total move, including 5 months of storage, was circa £25,000. The last leg (and the most expensive part) of the move was a disaster with 2 BAR members involved as the first company had subcontracted this part.
Our beloved possessions were treated with complete disrespect with all items that were not in boxes left uncovered and the whole crammed into a vehicle that was not fit for purpose. The first company acknowledged this, but allowed the second company to load in this manner and drive away. We had paid a small fortune of Marine Transit Insurance, but did not expect this to have to cover wilful damage by the removal companies. Almost everything that was not boxed was damaged in some way with glass being a write off. The insurance claim covered a minor part of the damage as most of the damage was minor - scratches here, dents there, handles missing, scrapes, feet damaged and even the bolts to our bed missing. Everything was soiled, including mattresses, and the numbering labels stuck everywhere and anywhere (we still cannot remove most of them). The company with whom we held the contract admitted their failings to a degree and offered a very small compensation sum - also advising us that they would be claiming from the sub contracted company, but only on their behalf, not on ours. The breach of BAR standards and Codes of Conduct was significant and easy to identify, even by us as laymen, so we took our dissatisfaction to BAR. They, however, do not handle complaints and you are directed to The Furniture Ombudsman, who basically was fixated on the damage and the fact that we had submitted an insurance claim and did not seem to understand that our issue was with the breaches of BAR standards and Codes of Conduct. They upheld the first company's small compensation offer however we considered that BAR should understand how their members operate in the field. Eventually I managed to contact BAR's consumer affairs (it was not easy) who at first appeared concerned but then hid behind the fact that The Furniture Ombudsman had not raised issues regarding BAR standards and Codes of Conduct (exactly my point from the outset). After chasing, I received a closure e-mail from them that said how pleased they were for bringing issues to their attention, but they could not comment to outsiders on how they deal with issues relating to their members. Total waste of time. BAR is not a safeguard or any form of protection. It may be that our case was unusual, but that does not make it right to be treated in this way. If we need a removal company in the future, we will avoid any company that purports to offer the protection of BAR.

BAR are absolutely pointless and morally corrupt! Worthless and total creeps! BAR is just a front...it does nothing! Fact!
These creeps will not help you! They will send you around in circles.
BAR member stands for ZERO! It's a bunch of thugs who don't care when your precious items are broken by BAR cowboys.
Do NOT trust BAR or anyone associated with BAR!

We recently entrusted our possessions to PSS Removals as they were a member of BAR, which we took to be some guarantee of the standards they operate to.

We've since found out BAR are just a sales front for removal companies, who pay them a membership fee. If something goes wrong, BAR are useless. They say they operate an independent investigation scheme, but this is just a subcontract service they buy in. We initiated a formal complaint months ago and there is no progress or redress. They are completely unaccountable, as are their members. Beware - claims of BAR membership are meaningless and worthless.