How to Find a Removalist You Can Actually Trust

Moving is already one of the most stressful things you can do. You're juggling lease dates, settlement lawyers, and the physical reality of getting everything you own from one place to another without breaking it. The last thing you need is to discover, on the morning of your move, that the company you hired doesn't answer its phone.

This happens more than people realise. And the problem isn't always that the removalist was obviously dodgy. Often they looked completely fine at the booking stage.

So here's what to actually look at before you hand over your deposit.

Why Checking Reviews Isn't Enough

The first thing most people do is search Google, find a company with four or five stars, and book. That's not a bad instinct. But reviews alone have a few problems.

Google reviews can be gamed. A brand new company with eight reviews and a 5.0 rating might have those reviews from family members. A company with 4.3 stars and 200 reviews is statistically harder to fake. Volume matters.

More importantly, the kind of review matters. Reviews that say "great service, highly recommend" tell you almost nothing. Look for reviews that describe specifics: "They moved our marble table from Balcatta to Joondalup without a scratch, called ahead when they were 20 minutes out, and wrapped everything in blankets before loading." That's a review written by a real customer about a real job.

Also look at the one and two-star reviews. Every genuine business gets the occasional bad review. What separates a trustworthy company from a bad one isn't the absence of complaints but how they respond to them. A professional reply that acknowledges the issue and explains what happened is a green flag. A defensive or dismissive reply is a warning.

The Physical Address Question

One of the fastest filters you can apply: does the company have a verifiable physical address?

Not a PO box. Not "operating across Perth." An actual address where they store their trucks, run their admin, and where you could show up if something went wrong.

This matters because fly-by-night operators often run on nothing but a mobile number and a Facebook page. When a job goes badly and you need to follow up, there's nothing to follow up to. No depot. No staff. No accountability.

A company with a real base, a registered ABN, and a physical location in the suburbs they claim to service is far less likely to disappear after your move day.

At Awesome Mate Removals, our depot sits at Unit 5/207 Waterloo Street, Tuart Hill. That's not a serviced office. It's where the trucks live, where the gear is maintained, and where the team starts the day. You can verify it on Google Maps. You can look us up on the ABN register under 42 293 475 158. That kind of transparency shouldn't be unusual. Unfortunately, it is.

What to Look For in a Quote

Getting three written quotes is the standard advice and it's correct. But most people don't know how to read a quote properly.

Here's what a good quote should include:

A specific truck size

If the quote just says "a truck," that's not a quote. You want to know whether it's a 4-tonne, 8-tonne, or larger vehicle, and why that size suits your job. An under-specced truck means a second trip, which means extra hours, which means a bill that looks nothing like what you expected.

The number of crew

Two-person crews are standard for most house moves. One person with a ute is not a removalist. Knowing who's coming matters for timing, safety, and how your items get handled.

What's included in the hourly rate

Some companies quote an hourly rate but charge separately for travel time, fuel levies, stair charges, or heavy-item fees. A properly written quote lists these out. If a quote is a single number with no breakdown, ask for the breakdown before you agree to anything.

Insurance coverage

More on this below. But it should be on the quote.

Any company that gives you a verbal estimate over the phone without seeing the volume of your move, or refuses to put the details in writing, is not worth booking. A phone estimate for a full house move is a guess. An in-person or detailed virtual assessment is the minimum standard.

Insurance: The Detail Most People Skip

Ask every company you quote with: "What insurance do you carry?"

The answer you want is public liability insurance combined with transit coverage or goods-in-transit insurance. Public liability covers damage to the property you're moving from or to. Transit coverage protects your belongings while they're being loaded, transported, and unloaded.

Some companies carry one but not the other. Some carry neither and hope you don't ask. A few will say "fully insured" without being specific about what that actually covers.

Ask them to confirm the type of coverage in writing. A company that won't do this is telling you something important.

The Upfront Deposit Red Flag

Paying a small deposit to secure a booking date is normal. Paying a large cash deposit before the job starts is a warning sign.

If a company is asking for 50% or more of the total job cost upfront, especially in cash, be cautious. Legitimate removalists charge on completion or take a small booking deposit to hold the date. The reason cash-heavy deposits are a red flag is simple: once the money is gone, so is your leverage.

Payment by card or bank transfer with a paper trail protects you. If something goes wrong, you have options. Cash handed over before the job starts leaves you with very little recourse.

Stock Photos vs Real Photos

This sounds minor but it reveals something useful about a company's honesty.

Scroll through the company's website and social profiles. Do the photos show their actual trucks, their actual team, their actual jobs? Or do the images look like they came from a generic moving stock photo website, with perfectly colour-balanced vans and models who have never lifted a fridge?

Real operations take real photos. Not always polished ones. A candid shot of the crew wrapping a couch in the driveway of a Dianella home is more reassuring than a professional image of strangers smiling next to a generic white truck.

Companies that use entirely stock imagery often do so because they don't have a real operation to photograph.

What Locals in Perth Actually Look For

When Australians are asked how they chose their removalist, the answers tend to cluster around a few consistent points: personal recommendation from someone they trust, visible Google reviews with genuine detail, and the ability to speak to a real person before booking.

The phone call matters more than most people think. When you ring a removalist, note how the call goes. Do they ask you questions, or do they just tell you a price? A company trying to understand your job will ask about floor levels, access, stair count, parking, and the size of your home. A company that jumps straight to the hourly rate without any of those questions is giving you a number that has no connection to your actual move.

A Quick Checklist Before You Book

Before you confirm with any removalist, run through these:

• Verified physical address on Google Maps
• ABN registered and searchable on the ABN lookup
• Written quote with truck size, crew number, inclusions, and insurance
• Three or more quotes for comparison
• Real customer reviews with job-specific details
• Clear payment terms with no large cash deposit required
• Answered the phone when you called

None of this is complicated. But skipping even a couple of these steps is where most moving day problems start.

Why Getting This Right Matters

The cost of hiring the wrong removalist isn't just financial, though it can be that too. Damage to furniture that isn't covered by insurance. A job that takes four hours longer than quoted because the truck was too small. Items left behind because the crew ran out of time. A company that ghosts you when you try to report a broken item.

Moving day is already a big deal. The company you hire is going to have access to everything you own for several hours. That's worth spending a bit more time choosing carefully.

If you're moving in Perth's northern or central suburbs and want a quote from a company with a real address, real insurance, and four-plus years of local jobs behind them, Awesome Mate Removals offers free quotes with no obligation and no vague phone estimates. Come take a look and see what a straightforward moving quote actually looks like.