debs1966

Hi

I have had several shipping companies around and I have narrowed it down to either John Mason or Crown Relocations.

Can anybody please advise me of their experience with either of these companies before I make a decision on which one to use.

There is not much in it in terms of cost for a 20 ft container.

Many thanks

Debbie

Scotty1

Crown - found them excellent and went with them as they don't use an agent in Oz - its Crown that have your stuff from start to finish

Buzzy--Bee

Here's the thread I did on our experience with John Mason, with photos:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=474957

Crown didn't want the business, they offered a price 1.5 times everyone else.

BB

newlife_downunder

We used Crown Relo last year Southampton to the Gold Coast. They were OK; we had a few items damaged due to the carelessness of the packers the UK end. They wrap layer upon layer of tissue paper around a tupperware container and my treasured dog ornament the least amount of paper and put him at the bottom of the packing box so consequently he broke....not impressed. Also our leather settees with wood surround completely damaged due to not enough protection on the wood arms, so one sheet of tissue paper is suffice? I don't think so.
Also items we had specifically placed together to be packed together they split eg. legs of dining table were in three separate boxes, spent ages having to unpack absolutely everything to find the missing bits (we did not want to unpack every box as we were in a rental) - like it's their little game they play!

All in all the delivery guys at this end were helpful and as previous poster says they are Crown staff not a 3rd party.

One last thing - we found we had to chase the staff at this end as we had heard nothing and this was 2 weeks past our estimated delivery date.

deb68

CROWN

Rideaway

We used John Masons in Jan 2009 and some things went missing - can only blame the removal guys not the company. Otherwise happy with their labelling/boxing and price.

Jan n Neil

We used Crown from the UK to NZ could not fault the service, they where spot on

moneypenny20

John Mason, they were superb. Crown gave us a stupidly high quote from memory.

steen1976

I'm using Crown. They did not give the cheapest quote initially but they price matched and a little bit more and worked out cheapest once Aqis fees were considered.

Been impressed with their professional service so far. So fingers crossed for the rest of the experience.

IndieG

A lot of my furniture was damaged - pretty badly at that. I won't use Crown again

Buzzy--Bee

How will any shipper be able to calculate AQIS fees before the goods reach Australia?

BB

deb68

All we can say in reply is that we had a fixed price for all in, door to door.

steen1976

I think crown work it out on a per cubic centimetre price. I believe Aqis charge a certain amount regardless and then per hour after that????

So this must be based on some calculation of time to CC? I suppose is just an estimate but I'm being charged door to door and the part they quoted for Aqis didn't seem unreasonable and I'd not heard of anyone complaining they were overcharged up front.

And I'd prefer to pay it now and get it done and out of the way.

Pollyana

AQIS usually make a flat charge, plus an individual charge for any tiems treated or destroyed. Hence no shipping company can really estimate what the AQIS charge will be in advance cos they can't possibly know what AQIS will pick out. If the company say you are paying AQIS charges upfront, make very sure that the small print covers all the destruction/treatment fees, not just inspection.

steen1976

No I believe it's just inspection to be honest Pol. Well I've done it now But it's not a criticism I'd seen levelled at Crown so wasn't really aware of that after my bit of research. I will of course request a copy of the Aqis charges/report and see if there is much of a difference.

Ta