norway2aus

Hi All,

I have just hired Crown Removals in Norway to move my personal effects to Australia. The shipment was picked up 23rd November 2011.
The quoted ship date to arrive in Australia is the 21st January 2012.

We have packed all the boxes ourselves.

So far my impressions are mixed.. I will keep updating this review with information as I progress with the move.

The quote we received was not the cheapest - we went for Crown because they had a local office in Norway which we thought was important if anything went wrong. There are some negative reviews on the internet about crown - as with most removal companies.


23rd November

The Crown contact arrived on time and early in the morning as arranged a few days prior.

The man that picked up our goods was friendly to us, but not so friendly with our boxes i noticed. Only 1 man came to pick up our goods even though some boxes required 2 men. I therefor had to help with the heavier boxes. The van that picked up our shipment was a small white unmarked moving van without a hydraulic lift.

Our beds were pushed into the van rather than placed. The cardboard encasing was damaged.
The boxes were not sealed very carefully - The delivery foreman must seal each box themselves. This task was done very quickly and was not very carefully done. I tried to improve of taping but there was not enough time.


24th November

I measured every box to the nearest cm and calculated less than 8 cubic metres prior to collection.
After the goods were moved to the head office in Oslo the shipment has now grown to be 10 cubic metres.

The mail we received said: Even though you have measured out 8 cubic metres, in the container it takes up 11cbm - this depends on how it it stuffed into the car or container.

I have now replied to Crown saying that 8 cbm is 8 cbm - I have no control over how they pack the containers so it is ridiculous that I should pay for the extra 2 metres of air.

The insurance papers also say that if you pack the boxes yourself that you are not covered for any damage incurred during transit. I have asked for clarification around this.

Awaiting Response..

Bermudashorts

There are examples of good and bad experiences with all removalists.

It seems reasonable that your boxes will take up more room than the exact measurements you took doesnt it? It is also bog standard that if you pack yourself the insurance is affected.

Familyonthemove

Good luck with Crown. We have moved many times using several different relocation companies, and in my opinion Crown have serious problems with customer service.

They were late to collect, very late to deliver and mould/mildew destroyed almost the entire shipment. They accept no liability beyong that which you pay for yourself via insurance and take, on average, a month to reply to email queries.

Vash the Stampede

We used Allied Pickfords and Letton Percival. An excellent experience with both.

h2oskineil

I understand that is correct.... If you pack the boxes yourself, you are not covered by their insurance.

Lets face it someone who is not experienced might wrap a bit of plastic around a 50inch plasma TV, where a shipping company would wrap it in may sheets of thick plastic wrapping and also create a box for it, hence they will insure it.

We recently took our dishwasher out of storage (6 years) and it was so well wrapped and air-tight it still smelt as fresh as the day it was packed.... I was very surprised as I thought it would be full of bacteria etc and small rotten.

chris and farideh

We also had very bad experience with crowns When we moved here just under 5 years, shame they haven't improved in all that time..

Familyonthemove

Yes, I've used Pickfords four times and they were excellent. Also used Asian Tigers once, and they were good. I've used Crown Relocation twice and they were average the first time and terrible the second time. Never again. It's not as if relocation servcies are cheap!

Dentonburn

Christ, I've booked and paid for Crown for the 22nd Feb!!

Tr1boy

We've used Kent 3 times, all good

CEM

We've done the move four times in total. No problems at all (except the odd broken glass) until this time when we used Crown.
Most of our shipment arrived in September, but a lot was missing and we've had no luck in getting a response from Melbourne re the missing items. A large sofa was left behind in store there and is eventually being delivered tomorrow, but the other things we have no idea about.
When my oh moved out of his house we weren't sure whether he'd be coming to the UK or if we'd be joining him in Melbourne. He was told that our belongings would be packed and taken to store then, if we were coming to the UK they would be export wrapped and repacked (they packed for a domestic move). That didn't happen with the inevitable result that a lot of things arrived broken - pictures, antique mirrors and furniture. The guys who unpacked at this end were shocked at the quality of the work.
Four months later we've still had no word about the missing items and we're still waiting for a response regarding our insurance claim.
Needless to say we won't use them next time! It wasn't the cheapest either especially as we paid for the repacking that didn't happen!