Scotland Shuttle serves Glasgow (G), Stirling and Falkirk (FK) and Edinburgh and the Lothians (EH) postcodes, plus London, Oxford, Swindon and Cambridge, on fixed fortnightly days, and every booking chooses one of two service levels: Kerbside or Assisted. This is an honest guide to which one you actually need, because plenty of people pay for Assisted who did not need it, and a few pick Kerbside and regret it on the stairs.
The difference in one minute
Kerbside means one driver and one rule: your items are packed, labelled and waiting at the ground floor door when the van arrives. The driver loads them, you sign, done. At the other end the driver hands everything over at the door again. Kerbside starts at £149.
Assisted means a two person crew comes inside and carries everything from wherever it is, on any floor, lift or no lift, and at the delivery end carries it in the same way. Assisted starts at £299.
Both travel on the same van, on the same fixed days, through the same Oxfordshire hub, with the same four hour windows by text. The only difference is who does the carrying at each end.
Choose Kerbside if
- you are sending boxes, bags and luggage only
- you can carry everything to the door yourself, or have a willing friend
- you are on the ground floor, or happy to deal with your own stairs
- you are a student in halls, where handover at the building entrance is the norm anyway
- you want the lowest price and do not mind earning it
Kerbside is the right choice for most students and most people sending boxes ahead of a move. If your consignment is ten boxes and a suitcase and you are reasonably fit, paying for a carrying crew buys you very little.
Choose Assisted if
- there is any furniture in the consignment that you cannot move alone
- you are above the ground floor without a lift and cannot manage the stairs with loaded boxes
- several boxes are near the 30 kg limit
- you are pregnant, injured, older, or simply have nobody to help
- you would rather spend the time on anything else and are happy to pay for that
None of these are edge cases to be embarrassed about. Two trained people carrying your belongings downstairs is quicker, safer and better for the belongings than one determined amateur.
Stairs, honestly
Kerbside includes no stairs. Your flights are your job, at both ends. Before you shrug at that, do the arithmetic: twelve boxes from a second floor flat is twelve round trips, which is forty eight flights of stairs, most of them loaded. It is doable, and people do it, but it is a workout, and it takes longer than you think.
A fair rule of thumb: one flight and under ten pieces, Kerbside is fine if you are able bodied. More than one flight, or more than ten pieces, or any single item you would not want to carry downstairs twice, and Assisted starts earning its price. Remember stairs are a cost driver in any carrying service, so be accurate about your floor when booking rather than optimistic.
Furniture, honestly
Small furniture travels on the shuttle at £45 per item, and the service level question is really a carrying question. If you can get a bedside table or a flat packed bookcase to the front door yourself, Kerbside handles it fine. Anything that genuinely needs two people, a desk, a chest of drawers, a small sofa chair, means Assisted at whichever end it needs carrying, because one driver cannot and should not wrestle furniture alone.
If your consignment has more than 6 furniture items it is beyond the shuttle entirely and needs a removals quote, so the Assisted question only arises below that line.
Time on the day
A Kerbside stop is short. Everything is at the door, the driver counts it against the booking, loads and goes, usually within minutes. Your real time cost came earlier, carrying everything down.
An Assisted stop takes longer because the crew is doing the carrying, but your part is only pointing at things. If your building has controlled entry, fob gates or a concierge, make sure access is sorted before the window starts, whichever service you pick; the four hour window by text tells you when to be ready.
The honest summary
Most box only consignments from able bodied customers should be Kerbside, and you should not let anyone talk you into more. Most consignments with real furniture, real stairs or no spare hands should be Assisted, and you should not pretend otherwise to save money, because the saving is spent on your back.
If you are genuinely torn, describe the job as it really is: which floor, lift or not, how many pieces, what furniture. A straight description gets a straight recommendation, and either way your items travel on the same van, on the same fixed day, to the same postcodes.