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Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Old Jan 25th 2008, 8:21 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by Fly Away
Good plan!! But wouldn't the shippers want to see inside the boxes before packing them?
just tell them what you have done and explain that you want them packed together and you want TOP LOAD, written on the box,,,,,,,,,,,,mm
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Old Jan 25th 2008, 8:30 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by IanJakeCharlieDaddy
Hi pickfords use temp staff so you run more of a risk with things going missing and not much care taken. I was adv to look for a comp that had full time reg staff. Also I know someone is going to have bad things about any company, but my gradparents used them to go to malta and had all their sliver wear and some other valuable stuff stolen. Hope if you do use them it is a much better story for you. good luck

P.S we are using bournes.
I refuse to use agency staff, on any of my packs, i have girl who works for me and i trust completely, after 26 years in this game my reputation is one of my most important assets.
Most packing contractors, make good money and compromising this is not an option, we get paid by the box,s we pack were as company guys get paid by the hour,so they tend to drag jobs a bit.............mm
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Old Jan 25th 2008, 8:41 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Our shipping arrived last week and we used Allied Pickfords. From start to finish they were amazing and were so professional. We haven't had one item broken and they made everything seem so less stressful.

The guys that packed our things in England were so lovely and we wondered if it would be the same in Australia? When they arrived here we still had the men taking our hire furniture away and the guys from Allied Pickfords quite happily waited till they were gone. We then had a day of nearly 250 items coming into the house and the guys made it very happy and fun. I even got showed how to peel bark from the gum tree outside and see the biggest huntsman I have ever seen!!!

We shipped everything and we are so glad we have. Just buying the outdoor furniture was boring enough without trying to buy a whole house of furniture. After nearly 3 months it is so nice to have our things around us again.
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Old Jan 25th 2008, 9:19 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by mr mover
just tell them what you have done and explain that you want them packed together and you want TOP LOAD, written on the box,,,,,,,,,,,,mm
Thanks again MM!!

I shall do that and pray. We lost so many precious things which had been in the family for generations. Insurance doesn't make up for those losses. It was the only move we have ever paid someone else to do for us and we swore we would never do it again. Now we have to have packers again..... I am contemplating sending the really precious sentimental stuff by courier to my family in Oz.
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Old Jan 25th 2008, 9:21 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

We had a bad experience with them.


Originally Posted by scor
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated
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Old Jan 25th 2008, 9:57 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by IanJakeCharlieDaddy
Hi pickfords use temp staff so you run more of a risk with things going missing and not much care taken. I was adv to look for a comp that had full time reg staff. Also I know someone is going to have bad things about any company, but my gradparents used them to go to malta and had all their sliver wear and some other valuable stuff stolen. Hope if you do use them it is a much better story for you. good luck

P.S we are using bournes.

Thats quite a damning statement - you imply that any temp staff employed by a removal company are potentially thieves!!! - Mr M - what do you think about that??

You'll find that Bournes and the majority of companies in the UK, neigh around the world will use 'temp staff' at some point. But where they do use them then they are generally employed for unskilled elements of the removal - such as lifting and carrying under the supervision of full time employees rather than let loose on specialist export packing.

Companies (and not just removal companies) have to supplement their workforce at certain times of the year to assist them 'cope' with demand. But you will find that removal companies will only usually use specialist contract packing companies (subbies) for overseas type moving and packing. These subbies generally employ fully qualified export packers and generally work to strict guidelines laid down by the companies that they work. This is how Grace work with Mr M and given the commendations he gets on here they are more than happy with the service he and his company provides to its own customers, which, is generally the norm where a removal company has these sort of arrangements!!

You would be surprised - some of big International Moving companies around the world have very few of their own removal staff staff and generally rely on the expertise of specialist sub contractors!!

So whilst your Grandparents may have had a bad move - given the location that they have moved to - it is more likely that if anything went missing it was as a consequence of a customs inspection rather than 'temporary staff' employed by their removal company in the UK.

Chris
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Old Jan 26th 2008, 12:07 am
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Hiya ... replied to similar vquestion recently but can't remember what thread ... we moved our stuff over in two lots (don't ask!) using Pickfords ... first pickup .. nottingham crew ... excellent, second pick up leicester crew ... ok ... Oz end they outsourced to two different local companies ... one good one average .. though in saying all that ... nothing went astray (apart from what customs randomly decided to destroy) ... just feel that if you pay premium rates you would expect them to both pick up and deliver ...

By the way all removal companies use temps ... to augment their own workforce ... mainly because its not a steady demand ...

Cheers David
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Old Jan 26th 2008, 12:30 am
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

[QUOTE=chrisk8;5839834]Thats quite a damning statement - you imply that any temp staff employed by a removal company are potentially thieves!!! - Mr M - what do you think about that??

Your pretty much on the money chris, we refer to agency staff as "arms&legs" the company we hire from run police checks on the employees, so we try and weed out the undesirables.
The reason i personally dont like using them is they , are unskilled and you have to watch constantly to avoid damage, and when we are packing a large shipment i just don,t have time to train them.
Theft has never been a major problem, i can only recall one attempt and he was caught on CCTV.......of which we many in our depot.
Most disapearences, our due to poor checking of inventories when emptying containers.........a major problem when you get groupage containers.
Aqis and customs staff are always accompanied by company employees when working the bond store, which is always locked when unattended at risk of a large fine from the federal goverment, if found open...........mm
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Old Jan 26th 2008, 8:32 am
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by scor
We had a guy from Allied Pickfords come out to see us today so he could give us a quote for shipping. They came across as a very professional group who really care about the stuff there moving (there was even a little book for our son in the information they gave us). We just want to know if anyone else has used this company and if you think they were good. They are the only company who have come out to see us and we have contacted loads. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

P.S. I think I put this in the wrong place to start with, sorry.
We used them and it was fairly straight foward. The only thing I would say about all these companies is to check what is included in the price. Get it listed. Our insurance was fairly pricey with them although saying that a couple of things got damaged which I wasn't surprised at and they all got covered with their insurance. Very speedy and the cheque came out very quick to put things right.

For information Pickfords this end were fantastic.
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Old Jan 26th 2008, 12:59 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by nicolamoon
Hi,
I think it goes on the volume the price, we have booked a local firm and he told the quote but said the cost would be calculated when the shipment was packed . He also gave us a tip that the others didn`t. He told us to put soft things like cushions bedding etc into the washer ,tumble dryer etc owt with a hole He also advised us to put some clothing ,linen into the drawers of units etc as this would reduce the volume therefore reducing the cost


Malc
Careful here - this can cause problems with customs and the company I work for wouldn't advise it. Especially to Australia. The way the chest of drawers is export wrapped, customs would have to tear into it to inspect any items inside and tis could be seen as false declaration of effects if not listed. Yes it does bulk up the shipment somewhat but if you are concerned get the vaccum bags and take the air out which will reduce volume.

Originally Posted by IanJakeCharlieDaddy
Hi pickfords use temp staff so you run more of a risk with things going missing and not much care taken. I was adv to look for a comp that had full time reg staff. Also I know someone is going to have bad things about any company, but my gradparents used them to go to malta and had all their sliver wear and some other valuable stuff stolen. Hope if you do use them it is a much better story for you. good luck

P.S we are using bournes.

You will find most of the larger companys will use contractors during busy periods - if you think about it if you were a company would you keep 20 packers on full time if you often only needed 10 - no, you would hire 10 and get in help when needed. You should find during the winter low season that only the regular full time crew are working. I would recommend reading all the moving companies T&C as the ability to use sub contractors will likely be on there. It you are concerned you can always request a long term crew member - I have seen this done.

You will find with the majority of moving companies that if something goes missing that the crew are blamed. If you are sharing a container then your goods will be handled by the crew, then usually taken to a consolidation warehouse and handled again there, then loaded (handled again), then arrives and customs might inspect it (another handling) then taken to the local warehouse and unloaded then you will be contacted for delivery. If you have seen the size of some of the warehouses, then you would be amazing that more stuff doesn't go missing (stealing is obviously another matter). Best way to avoid theft or missing items (if this is your concern) is to ship in a full container.
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Old Jan 29th 2008, 11:35 am
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Ouch!

Just had a quote of £1200 from allied pickfords... almost double what ive been quoted before..
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Old Jan 29th 2008, 6:42 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

Originally Posted by scor
Ouch!

Just had a quote of £1200 from allied pickfords... almost double what ive been quoted before..
Hi
How much stuff are you being quoted for , if youv`e been quoted £600 thats very good, I was quoted that price when we were moving around the corner. Best quote we had was £1600 with Brittania Appleyard, if there no hidden xtras etc I should snatch there hands off

Malx
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Old Jan 29th 2008, 7:19 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

We used them, and would recommend them. Not a single thing was broken. They also price-matched the lowest quote we got so definitely worth a haggle! We did the "We'd like to use you, but as you can imagine, money is tight... is there any chance you'd consider matching the quote..." and they did!
My only comment would be to insist they stay and unwrap at the other end. (if that's what you pay for!) I let them talk me into not staying -- stupid!
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Old Jan 29th 2008, 8:30 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

[QUOTE=Wheeler-Jones;5841719]Careful here - this can cause problems with customs and the company I work for wouldn't advise it. Especially to Australia. The way the chest of drawers is export wrapped, customs would have to tear into it to inspect any items inside and tis could be seen as false declaration of effects if not listed. Yes it does bulk up the shipment somewhat but if you are concerned get the vaccum bags and take the air out which will reduce volume.


You'll find that most companies do advise to use any space you can - they will even do it themselves if they are packing. The chest of drawers suggestion is always a good one, providing they are strong enough and are only packed with light / soft items. But you can also use items such as ottomans, wall units etc. All you / they need to do is ensure that the shipping inventory is marked accordingly.

With regards to AQIS inspections anything that is opened is not actually opened physically by them - it is always done by a qualified export packer who is employed by the company handling the shipment in Australia. Consequently, once it is opened it is then re-wrapped properly to safeguard the item for its onward journey.

Personally, I would advise against vacuum bags - whilst it is unlikely that AQIS will look at clothes but if they do and they are packed into vacuum bags then they will not be able to reseal the bag with a vacuum and can lead to extra packing charges.
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Old Jan 30th 2008, 2:25 pm
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Default Re: Allied Pickfords, any opinions?

ok its gonna be £750 for 150 sq cubic feet, ot £1300 for 300 sq cubic feet..

which isnt too bad i dont think.
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