A lot of people take advantage of people offering man with a van services to perform a variety of tasks ranging from moving house to collecting bulky items from a friends house and even going down to the local warehouse to buy all the materials needed for next weeks job down at the building site.
While having a friend who owns a van is great because you can give them a quick ring, find out if they can lend it to you or drive you around, and they take it away again with no fuss or even payment if your friend is that nice.
Others dont have anyone who can help them out in their time of need. In this situation, they find that they have to raid the phonebooks to find someone offering their services for a fee.
So if youre paying money for the service, you want to ensure that youre getting the most cost-effective assistance — you certainly dont want to be calling them again in two days time because the van was too small to get the job done; thats just throwing money down the drain. Here is a guide to getting the most from your deal.
Things to Check Before Hiring a Van Service
Get the right sized van. A lot of people offering their van and/or services dont actually mention how big their van is, which can leave people with a number of issues when it actually arrives.
One of the first questions you need to ask when booking your man with a van is regarding the capacity of the vehicle; after all, you dont want to be trying to collect several tons of equipment for the building site in a van only suitable for delivering a few parcels.
Check the pricing structure. To ensure that youre not paying over the odds for the service, you should make sure that you know exactly how much youre paying, and what you get for your money.
The majority of the time youre looking for an all-day service which can be structured with payments based on an hourly, half-day or full-day rate — check what the person youre booking with offers to make sure youre not paying too much, and that if you pay for an all-day service, you know the timings, (i.e. 9 AM until 5 PM).
Is labor included? With some services, the man with the van will offer to help you with whatever you need to do, in others, they will not, theyll simply provide you with the van and collect it later.
Find out beforehand whether or not you get your assistance included or not so you can find extra help if needed — you dont want to be trying to move things on your own!
Verify cargo and vehicle insurance. Even in the best of situations, accidents can happen. Are your possessions protected? Will you be liable for someone elses injuries in the event of a collision? These are important considerations and should be verified before the job begins.