My move from the UK to Spain – an interview with our former customer

We recently asked Ana Rodriguez to tell us a bit about her move with MyCheapRemovals. Find out what she said about her first-hand experience!

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Ana Rodriguez, I’m a 34-year-old Spanish woman married to an English man named Patrick. Together we have two kids: an 8-year-old daughter Lily, and 6-year old son named Josh. I used to live in London where I studied Public Relations. I met Patrick at the university and after graduation, we both decided to move to Manchester where Patrick’s family lives.

Why did you decide to move to Spain?

Personally, I couldn’t imagine myself living in the UK for the rest of my life! We used to pack our things every summer to spend at least a few weeks in Barcelona, where I come from. Kids absolutely loved it, and eventually, we started to consider moving there for good. It was not that easy though, as we were both working in Manchester and had well-paid jobs. However, things started changing with Covid – both I and Patrick started working from home and this transition offered us the possibility of working from nearly any place we wanted! We discussed the move and made a decision to go for it. It was quite stressful back then, but now I can tell you that it was one of the greatest decisions we made as a family.

What steps did you take first?

We started by doing some research on different places to live in Spain. Most of my family is based in Barcelona, but we were taking into account the surrounding area as well. Living in a big city was awesome, but we dreamt about the serenity of the village. Finding a house near Barcelona and selling the one in Manchester was the hardest part that took us around four months. If it was not for our families’ help, it would have taken much longer, I assume.

Was choosing the international moving company equally time-consuming?

It took some time, yes. We started googling and encountered some websites offering international removals. We made some quotation requests and emailed a few companies to understand the process. Eventually, we chose MyCheapremovals over other companies because of the competitive price and excellent customer service. We received an instant quotation, and all of my questions were answered on the same day, and I must say I was not an easy customer. I shot questions at Sylwia, as we were not sure if we were going to make it before the Brexit transition period ends, and she was so reassuring! In the end, we booked service in the midst of March because of the complications with selling our house.

Can you tell us more about your moving experience from the moment you booked the service to the actual moving day?

Honestly, it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it would be. We were worried that because of Brexit, we would need lots of documents for the customs clearance. Finding out that you require only the inventory list and the copy of my passport was such a relief! We could fully focus on purchasing the packing materials and on the packing itself. Unfortunately, your company does not offer packing services, but we engaged our children who packed all of their toys and clothes by themselves. I was so proud of them! I guess they were extremely excited about the move as well!

How was your moving day?

Moving day itself was totally stress-free. The driver arrived on time, he helped us with loading the boxes and huge pieces of furniture. I must say that even though you offer only the assistance with loading, and that only the first hour is free from charges, the driver worked very hard for the entire time and did not even mention the additional charge. After three hours all of my possessions were on their way to our new house. I was very happy!

Did anything surprise you regarding our service?

I was quite surprised to find out that the transportation of goods from Manchester to the suburbs of Barcelona took only two days. We were obviously informed about the delivery date and time before the collection, but other companies were not as quick at deliveries as you.
The goods arrived safely, nothing was broken. Sylwia advised us on how to prepare our goods before transit, so they were packed in boxes, and the pieces of furniture were bubble-wrapped. We needed to put in a lot of effort, but I think that the price-quality ratio is fair. Also, the transparency of MyCheapRemovals is astonishing – your offer is 100% clear to the customers from the very beginning.

Do you have any tips for those who are about to move?

Do your research in advance. It will save you money and nerves!

Thank you, Ana! We hope you and your family have a great time in your new home in Spain!

Basic facts about the removal:

• The volume of the consignment: 20 m³
• Relation: Manchester – Barcelona
• Quotation: £2629
• The quote included:
  • British 20% VAT
  • Customs Fees – £250 + VAT
  • Fuel for the entire journey
  • Ferry fares
  • Fuel for the entire journey
  • Standard Goods in Transit Insurance – up to £20000
  • One hour of driver´s help with loading and another hour of help for unloading.