Farcroft were used by my insurance…
Farcroft were used by my insurance company after an extensive fire damaged many household items including things that had been in the family for over a century. There were many sentimentally significant items to be cleaned and restored. One of a pair of vases that were my grandparents wedding present in 1897 arrived back broken and still black with soot. This happened either in transit or on unpacking. I complained and they said they would mend it if I sent it back…. why not admit they had broken it- the edges were clean so definitely didn’t happen in the fire… and clean and restore it? The toys were beautifully restored. The dolls house came back damaged . Large pieces of Victorian furniture still smelled strongly of smoke and on cleaning them again after they returned them it was evident there was still an awful lot of black that hadn’t been removed that obviously left the smell. They asked what colour replaced upholstery I wanted but this was completely ignored and things came back with the original colours replicated. . A Victorian blanket chest had its lid removed to upholster ; it was replaced using Philips screws not the original brass ones . One large silver coloured urn that wasn’t real silver was just returned blackened-it cleaned up easily in the kitchen sink. A Victorian desk had a marble top . The wooden part of the desk was returned but not the top. Eventually, they told me it was chipped… I said send a photo-if it’s small at the back it won’t matter. A while later a photo came through… the top was in at least seven smashed pieces. About 9 months later someone came to measure for a new top- obviously had no idea how to do this to describe the curves etc. Another 6-9 months later no marble appears and my insurer asks if I can sort out anew piece myself, This was achieved in about three weeks. The guys who moved and returned all the items were extremely careful but the process was very hit and miss and wish I’d taken more things to clean myself as I could have done the job without breaking things; everything I moved by car survived intact. Some of the staff were helpful but the people in charge need to check people’s items are looked after properly and the things returned are actually in the best condition possible and any breakages are admitted to quickly and dealt with appropriately. This experience has been a long way from the glossy brochure… nearly three years later thankfully I won’t have to deal with them again.








