Vash the Stampede

Sally Simpson

Great photos Vash

Vash the Stampede

Part #14: sea freight.
At long last our sea freight finally arrived on Wednesday!

It was delivered by three blokes from Allied Pickfords. The guy in charge was called Martin (just in case mr mover knows him).

They arrived at around 10:00. It was a blazing hot day and I felt sorry for them from the moment they began to unload the truck!

Vash the Stampede

That's Numpty Bub in the corner, safely locked up in her bub-proof playpen. She took a great interest in everything and seemed quite entertained by it all.

Vash the Stampede

We had two breakages; this was the first:



An old IKEA lamp, not even worth claiming for. The shaft had been snapped in two somehow.

The second breakage was my own fault. I was unpacking the microwave and didn't realise that the packers had bundled the glass carousel plate outside the microwave instead of securing it inside. As I slid the cardboard box away, the carousel plate came with it and smashed on the kitchen floor.

Unfortunately our microwave is a UK model and I don't think it's available over here, so if anyone knows where to find a glass carousel plate for a Sharp R-246 microwave, please let me know!

Vash the Stampede

Our two bookcases went straight into Mrs Stampede's study:



One of them was slightly scraped at the top; I remember this occurring when it was being taken downstairs in the UK. Unfortunate, but still not worth an insurance claim.

Allied Pickfords had told me that our tv would be packed in a custom built wooden frame; they even charged me a little extra for this. But when it arrived at this end I saw no sign of a wooden frame; only thick cardboard packaging and bubble wrap.



(The tv is ithe horizontal oblong at the far right hand side of the picture, just below the oil heater and partly obscured by Numpty Bub's pen).

Fortunately it had not been damaged at all and works perfectly. But I will be complaining about this. If I am charged extra for a wooden frame, I expect a wooden frame!

Vash the Stampede

Numpty Bub's stuff was all fine; here's just some of it:



Nasty patches of plaster on that ugly wall. She's lucky her room is the next on our renovation list.

My office stuff was also OK.







Sadly, my room is at the bottom of the reno list!

Vash the Stampede

The AP boys finished at around 13:00. They had worked hard and consistently without a word of complaint despite the heat. We had paid for a door-to-door pack-unpack service and that's what we got; everything was unpacked onto a flat surface for us to sort and put away in our own time. They also assembled our collapsible furniture for us, which they are not obliged to do.



As we all shook hands and said our thanks, I gave Martin $30 and told him to get some coldies for himself and the lads. I am not a beer drinker so I have no idea how far $30 will go between three blokes, but they were all very appreciative so I think I got it right.

I was very impressed by Allied Pickfords' service at each end of our move, despite a few niggles like the tv frame. Everything arrived in perfect condition except for the IKEA lamp. Books were dry and had not been bent or folded. Clothes were sensibly packed; my spare Drizabone oilskin coat had been carefully wrapped in greaseproof paper and had not contaminated anything else when it "sweated" inside the container. Picture frames were straight and clean; pictures and glass were free of mould and damp. Everything was just as it had been on the day it was packed.

bourbon-biscuit

I really like the wallpaper in your study, hope you won't remove it when you give it the reno! Enjoy having all your stuff

Vash the Stampede

It looks nice from a distance but it wasn't put on very well and the pattern starts to get to you after a while.

It's definitely coming off when we renovate!

hectorafp

Have just read this whole thread! Brilliant! - thanks very much for all the updates, will now be following it closely (and jealously; wish I was over there). Good luck with the renovations, looks like you've got off to a fantastic start.

Zenshin

Thanks for the updates. We are considering Pickfords too for our move. We are looking at needing a full to the brim 20ft container. How much did they charge for yours and was your container full?

Vash the Stampede

Thanks guys, it's been an adventure!

Zenshin we were charged £2,165 for half a shared 20ft container and a single-day collection on our departure date. This price did not include insurance, since I had already chosen a third party insurer (Letton Percival). I had to do some haggling for this deal (see the post here) but ended up saving ~£900 off their original quote.

Zenshin

Thanks for the info. Martin is the guy who did our quote too but we are looking at £3900 plus insurance for a full container. I think I will get my husband to do the haggling as he is exceptionally good at it.

mr mover

[QUOTE=Vash the Stampede;8275085]Part #14: sea freight.
At long last our sea freight finally arrived on Wednesday!

It was delivered by three blokes from Allied Pickfords. The guy in charge was called Martin (just in case mr mover knows him).

They arrived at around 10:00. It was a blazing hot day and I felt sorry for them from the moment they began to unload the truck!

Hi vash , i know Marty, he,s a good bloke..and a good worker...sorry to hear about your problems, and the tv not being crated , but it got there in one piece which is the desired result.....if you have any rubbish to be collected, IE cartons or wrapping left over, contact Skye [my daughter] at Allieds and i will arrange to pick it up on my way home one night..............cheers mm