Haktahsin

Not cheap is it, have had two quotes for a 20 ft container so far, both around the £3700 mark, with or without packing....

From London to Melbourne, anyone had cheaper?

Samleeuk

We started with 40 ft container, and everyone on here said reduce to 20ft, but means getting rid of lots of stuff...declutter, quotes were around 6500gbp mark. We have now gone to a 20ft and being very severe much to my dismay, but as we look like we will go straight into longterm rental rather than holiday let (due to the peak season ridiculous costs) We will have a month with no furniture......we hope and pray not an xmas Anyway the money saved on the container approx £3000 and on not having a holiday let, straight to longer term let ......1 wks holiday let = 1 months longer term let! Can go towards furniture at other end......our 1st day in Perth will be spent in the lovely IKEA I guess, stuffs not the greatest but will do us fine

We decided to go with Whites for 20ft around £3600 not inc ins and other costs

andreak

I've just gone throught this proces, all the shippers I had come round said we needed a 40ft container, gone with John Masons, not the cheapest, not the most expensive, but seen good feedback on this site, plus I felt they were the better company. All dealings so far have been very professional, but the big test will be on 27th Oct when they come to pack up my home
So if any of you have used JM's and have any good comments to make about them please let me know and put my mind at rest I've chosen the right company.

Babsw

we used them when we moved to Adelaide and used them at UK end when we came back. We are off to Brisbane now and using them again - guess that says something. Had no problems,fingers crossed for this time as well!!!
Like you say not cheapest or most expensive but good service and easy to get hold of and talk to-real people too who know me when I ring up. They also were happy for us to insure with diff ins.

slipshot

Next one in - PSS at £6239. Looking better....

Andy

slipshot

Oh - anglo pacific just came back with their quote. £8365.

Having a laugh? You bet.... Silly people...

invictia

Hi All,

Please could I add a note of caution about "Inside and outside" containers, I'm sorry you are being taken for a ride here! I work in the shipping industry here in Perth and the removal companies have no say over where the containers are placed in the vessel, that is the shipping lines planners job.

Please dont fall for this one, the containers are safe wherever on the vessel they are placed.

Sounds like a con to get more money out of some of you.

I have read with interest peoples experiences with shipping containers and removalists both in the UK and over here, I came across with DB in 1999 from the UK and used Chess this end.

I personally had no dramas, but had no idea this would be my chosen career, my son also works in the industry unpacking said containers!!!!!!!

Any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Sally

kirstyp

Hi,

Not sure who told you this, but removals companies dont have ANY control over where on the ship your container is loaded - if they are telling you they do, or are charging a premium for doing so I would strongly suspect this isn't the truth!

I work for a UK removal company, and the price you get for freight is a simple one cost - regardless of where the container is loaded on the ship.

Was it a removal company that gave you this information?

Kirsty

Fly Away

PSS told us that they don't use shipping lines which put containers in the open air.

invictia

It gets worse! Sorry guys but please be very carefull as 2 of us have told you the same thing now.

PSS are taking out of their backside because they have NO say whatsoever where that container is situated on the vessel.

Regards

Sally

kirstyp

I would certainly be dubious about this, i've NEVER heard of a removal company (who have relatively small volume on each individual ship, thus sway, in comparison to some of the massive cargo operators that will be using the vessel week in week out) being able to do this, i'd be tempted to ask them more about this bit......

surf n turf

There is absolutley no way that a moving company has any influence over where a container is positioned on a ship...most are world wide vessels collecting from and delivering to many ports.

Loading of vessels is done to minimise the handling and therefore cost, it is not done for cosmetic reasons. Only hazardous cargo has an influence on positioning.

PS. No one should be charged VAT on a shipment overseas.

BATS666

thaz right, overseas shipments are VAT zero rated.
We were quoted £5,561 by D Bonner for a 40fter, However, this included 20ft for a motor vehicle which would save a lot of packing for half the container. I dare say that a 40fter for only personal effects would be more expensive. This was Bristol to Freo. They quoted £3,619 for a 20fter, personal effects only. They were the second cheapest. Whites quoted £3,360. Crown were the most expensive at nearly 5 grand. Silly money.
Do read all the small print tho. Some companies include things in the price that others dont, e.g. AQIS fees.

BATS666

I'd be careful with LP insurance. I thought we'd save a few hundred quid by insuring with them but I'm now having 2nd thoughts.
Firstly, this company only does Marine Insurance, so you are insured from the moment you finish loading the container to the moment it is delivered the other end. It does not cover breakages/theft when packing and unpacking, even by a professional removals company. You would have to rely on your own house contents insurance to cover these eventualities. I checked mine and the policy only covers me for DOMESTIC removals, not intl ones. I phoned them to check and they confirmed this. I cannot pay extra and get the international cover. So no cover this end sheds a completely different light on LP insurance. If you DO have sufficient insurance this end, you would have to make sure you had sufficient cover the other end too, to cover an intl arrival.
Secondly, I have some antique ceramics I want to take with me. They will only insure these at 3% rather than 1.6% (more cost). I have to get these professionally valued (more cost); professionally packed (NOT by the removals company - more cost) and the removals company has to build a special crate for the boxes (more cost).
Thirdly, LP have an excess of 1% of total value. For us that's about £500 for us. D Bonner are quoting 2.7% with no excess.
Finally, there are some exclusions in the LP policy that may not be in your removals company's policy
Even if we were covered in the UK for packing, there's not alot in it. About £1,200 (LP) to £1,485 (DB). Certainly bumps up the container costs !!
Always pays to read to small print and, if in doubt, ASK!
....and check that whoever is "selling" you insurance is allowed to do so. Check the FSA website. Not all removals companies are FSA authorised (even if they say they are).
that is all....phew !!

Fly Away

Great post - loads of stuff I hadn't even considered in there!