DIY removal - van hire ideas please

[Doggy]

My daughter and her partner are moving from the St Albans area to Hemel Hempstead in a few weeks, (a distance of about 10 miles) and I've been 'volunteered' to help.
They're on a fairly tight budget, (or more likely the really tight, 'bank of dad' version).

Anyone have any ideas for getting a decent discount / finding the cheapest way of getting a biggish van on a Saturday, for this job?

[lozz]

What I did was look in the local paper.
There was a chap advertising one way drops.

I got all the heavy stuff eg. Washing machine/fridge freezer beds etc
Got him and his buddy to drop them off. Cost me 30quid or so
And then the rest I moved with the car it took me a couple of hours with an old n-reg 306 tho.

I feel sorry for anyone that's moving house its so fecking stressful.
And you will also find that most people don't answer the phone when they know your moving house

[Welly]

I've moved 3 x times in the last 10 years, twice into storage/parents whilst waiting for a property to be ready (removed ourselves from the 'chain' to speed things up).

Each time I used a Merc Sprinter (4.0m) and about 2 to 3 loads had the whole lot done, there's 4 of us so all the beds, wardrobes, sofa's, white goods. It's surprising but you may look in a room and think "ooh there's not much in here" but you put it in a pile for shifting and

Any hire place will do a Sprinter for about £60.00/70.00? - you'd pick it up on Friday night (giving you a chance to do one run) and take it back Saturday late afternoon. I used to work in Kettering and Longmarsh rentals were pretty good.

[DaiRees]

you'd pick it up on Friday night (giving you a chance to do one run) and take it back Saturday late afternoon.

I always preferred the early morning pick up / drop off, enabling you to keep going into the evening till it's done or till you fall asleep (hopefully not at the wheel). Then again if you want it on a weekend that only works if they're open Sundays. Some places have weekend rates too.

[GingerMagic]

A hire company down the road from me does evening pick-up at no extra charge, so you can fill the van the night before and get a good start the next day. This way you can return the van the next day so will cost less. £60 - £70 is about right.

[rwb]

I moved from Birmingham to Camberley in 3 loads in my 406. No furniture or white goods though.

I moved all the same stuff plus two easy chairs from Slough to Basingstoke in 1 short wheel base transit. Was only about 3/4 full. I think it cost £60 + fuel. Backed it over the flowers to the door and chucked everything in under an hour. Took the rest of the day to carry it all up to the second floor

You pays your money you takes your choice, but there's no effing way I'm carrying everything back out again -- the next van will come with a man.

Definitely everything must be boxed and ready, as close to the door as possible, and in the right order. It makes it so much faster. Stairs are your enemy.