Jasonmb

Earlier this year (Jan time) we did our BE research and found what we thought were the top three shipping companies, based on individuals personal experience. We were impressed with all three and did not make any immediate decisions as we had not sold our house and it was our initial intention that I would stay in the Uk until sold then we would ship our belongings.

During February all three companies stayed in touch, but mainly Crown, when we decided (last minute, mid March) that we would leave the house for sale and all travel in April, we rang all three compaies and asked if the quotes would be the same, they were for the first 2, we spoke to Crown last and when they confirmed the price, we immediately told them that they were too expensive (by a long way) and we would be going with one of the other cheaper quotes as we were satidfied that we would get the same level of service but at a cheaper price, the Crown sales man agreed to match that quote if we gave them the business, so we did.

How wrong we were to do that, we should have had doubts when they arrived to pack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was agreed during our consultation that we wanted sole use of a 20ft container, we also have a large drive and it would not be a problem to bring the container and pack on the drive, we have documentation to verify this was agreed.

On the morning of the packing a HUGE and I mean HUGE delivery van turned up, before they started doing anything we told the packers what we had been told about the container coming to the house and questioned why this was not the case, he rang the office to check this to be told that as they would be packing over 2 days this was the easiest option for them, Ok we let them carry on, what fools we were.

After we had been here a week or so we decided to have a look at the Crown site, and track our container, when we had a look we had very little information, if I had paid Crown full price thinking that I would be able to track my container then I would have been disappointed, but one thing we did notice was that our container had not left the UK until 16th April, this is a delay of 15 days, so what had they been doing with our belongings all this time. We were concerned and emailed the office to be told that ” sometimes there are delays getting to and at port and this will have been when the ship departed and should not cause a delay in our shipment arriving”

We accepted the response, but Jason was keen to try and track the container himself, he eventually found a web site, which is

https://www.maerskline.com/appmanager/,

we had received an email from our local contact and when responding to her asked what the container number was and she very kindly provided this so we could track the shipment.

Tonight we have tracked our shipment and the 40t container that it is in, we believe that we have knowingly been deceived by Crown, who are currently investigating this. Because they reduced the price they have placed our belongings which should be in a sole use 20 ft container in a 40ft shared container, had they knowingly not tried to deceive us, when we asked what they delay was we would have been told that they were waiting for the container to be filled wouldn’t they, not that it was traffic and the port.

We will be taking this further but wanted to warn any others who were considering Crown, that if Crown reduce the price it seems they also reduce the specification that you believe that you are getting, but don't tell you, so make sure you aren’t fooled, also if anyone else didn’t have the container packed at home you might also want to check the above site and see if you have paid for sole use and are sharing too!! I wouldn’t mind but the price we have paid is comparable with the other companies sole 20ft use price, as Crown were way off the mark with the initial quote and had I wanted to share could have got that cheaper than this price.

I am furious, I don’t think anyone will be able to comprehend how cross we are at the moment and just wanted to share our not so great experience so far with Crown.

Nu-Shooz

I would never recommend Crown, if i saw a post asking about them i always tell them how bad they were for us. I know people do have good luck with them, but for you and me they were useless beyond useless:curse:
They stole our stuff after packing it. Our furniture was also packed in a van, not a container. It was broken into the day they packed and one of their packers stole alot of our property.
Then when it did finally arrive 2 months later in OZ, most stuff were damaged. Took them 3 months to pay up!!!
So a bad start to our new life, which never got much better anyway.

lisas

We had a problem with pickfords and after numerous emails and no response got onto the ombudsman in the u.k. a few hours later we had 2 emails back, one from the office manager from the office that we dealt with and one from the national manager. his first question was . how far along where we with the grievance with the ombudsman. we told him not far but we would be if we didn't get the help that we needed. he duly obliged and refunded part of the money we had paid. don't want to go in to too many details but use the facilities that are in place to help you and you won't go too far wrong.

lisa

tawkins1

Thanks for the warning!! This was one of the companies we had contacted & were planning to use
Not now!!!
The other company we are thinking of is PSS International, does anyone have any views on them? I have only heard good ones so far

Elvis

WE USED CROWN RELOCATIONS AND WE COULD NOT FAULT THEM!! THE ESTIMATOR WAS VERY FRIENDLY & INFORMATIVE & THE PACKERS WERE BRILLIANT. THE ONLY PROBLEM WE HAD WAS WITH OUR WHIPPER SNIPPER WHICH WAS SENT TO QUARANTINE BUT THAT WASN'T CROWN'S FAULT.
KATRINA

Jasonmb

We had heard great reports about Crown which is why we went with them, the estimator was good, the packers great, really friendly, our issue is that we have paid for a sole use 20ft container and got a shared 40 ft container and had we not tracked the container ourselves would have been non the wiser. Somewhat deceptive of Crown I think.
Tracy

Katya_Mark

Hi Tracy

What awful timing. We have already paid Crown and they are coming next Thursday!

We are using a shared container already but it has made me want to go back to Crown and get more information on the process.

Mark

LIBBY

We have used then 2 times and can not fault them at all.

LibbyX

Sunbound

If you search this forum you will find that people have had good and very bad experiences with just about every shipping company going.At the end of the day whatever company you use its down to "the human element" ie if you happen to get good packers both ends whether the person who deals with your claim is an ahole or not !!!! Its pot luck and at the moment i'm having trouble choosing which one to use. So far i've had in White and co, Excess baggage, Allied Pickfords and a quote over the phone from Crown who are a £1000 more expensive than the rest !!
So far its down to Pickfords and Excess as both were very professional but Crown are coming to see me next week so will see

From the sounds of it though Crown have pulled a fast one and saved a buck or two !! Take them to the cleaners !!!!
Sunbound

sammyg

We knocked crown down to 3050 for a sole use 20ft container, it arrived at the house, the guys spent 2 days packing it REALLY well (we didn't even insure it), was packed on the fri and on the sea on the saturday - and it arrived without a single breakage.

So, not all experiences have been like yours - but i don't blame you for being extremely angry in your case
Alarm bells would have been ringing when they turned up without a 20ft container - as you know they are going to repack you if they take away stuff in a removals van

Best of luck getting something out of it

emmal

I agree with this post - crown gave 100% throughout our shipment from beginning to end. Not 1 piece of our shipment was damaged and the service was good at both ends. I am afraid it sounds like you have just been unlucky and had a bad experience which could be experienced with any company. Hope all works out for you in the end.

Red_V_Roger

My company used David Turner, who were expensive but excellent.

I wonder if you sometimes get what you pay for and that you're better not screwing people down?

sammyg

Well, we screwed them down and our stuff was superbly packed so i'd say - no

spartacus

Nice.

Kooky.

I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this. I saw a lot of people come and go in Singapore and until this I'd heard good things about Crown - they would have been top of my list, had I had a choice.

However, I think you may need to be careful what you say publicly if this is an on-going situation, especially if it is likely to get litigious.

(Our company went with Unigroup/UTS and, so far, they've been fantastic; our stuff cleared customs and quarantine yesterday so now it's down to the local guys but we're going to have it within a month of packing.)