need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Hi All

There seem to quite a few threads on whether to take furniture etc but not actually any recommendations for the companies to use (or ones to avoid!)?

We're not going to take any furniture with us so we are just looking to ship personal/kitchen belongings as well as an 26 inch LCD tv.

I've seen one called voovit which seems very reasonable but then there's the fear it's too good to be true! It also drops off at the port rather than door to door which isn't a particular problem it just would be easier if they arrive at the door!

Many thanks!

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

There are loads of threads. One person will give a great review on a shipping co and the next will have had loads of problems.

Those that appear most rated on here are Anglo Pacific, PSS and John Masons.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

We used John Mason. Had no furniture, just personal stuff, stereo, speakers, paintings, kitchen stuff. 35 boxes I think. Costed 1500GBP plus insurance. We only insured a few bits. Not one thing damaged and delivered to our door. Very happy apart from the grumpy chaps who delivered it.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Hi

We used Brittannia, very happy with them apart from they overstimated our stuff and said we were very near the maximum for a 20ft container, so we got rid of loads of stuff but when it came to it, there was masses of room.

Apart from that, they did a great job.

Sam

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Are you using them? I've never heard of them. Do they come recommended?

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

yes im using them - do a search in the forum and it will come up with quite a few people recommending them!

such as this thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...eedom+shipping

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

We moved from Norfolk to Brisbane 12 weeks ago and we used Harrowgreen.They were exceptional nothing was too much trouble very professional gave us lots of info on what to bring & what not to. We had a few quotes one from Whites who told us we had room to spare and he was very vague Harrowgreen said it would be a tight squeeze & it was. We had a 20ft container it took 7 weeks door to door no problems getting through quarantine at this end it was a company called Kent who were also very good. It certainly took the stress & worry away as it all went so smoothly. :thumbsup:

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Thank you very much.
Will start my research now. (We accepted an offer on the house yesterday - it's been on the market for 16 months! So now it's action stations)
:thumbup:

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Get quotes from them all.... AND take everything you think you might actually need at any time in the future!
My advice is to go with the ones you get the best feeling about. Then shop around for your insurance (plenty of threads about shipping insurance) you can save a good deal of money by doing that.

Honestly, I rationalised lots of things, like did I really need all that crockery and old mugs and the answer was of course I did... I had to got out and buy cheap mugs... the bloody workman broke one of my Denby set and I actually waned to crown him with the pieces, it's really really expensive here! I find myself thinking... I wish I'd just thrown it in! Even silly things like the old wheelbarrow... we should have just thrown that it too... Seem silly when they're hardly pristine, but things like that were still perfectly usable and buying anything again is pricey, especially when you have no idea of where the cheapest place is to shop when you first arrive here!

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

They have been recommended to me too :thumbsup:

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Fantastic news Charlie. We too have just accepted an offer on our house after 16 months :eek:
We have got, Freedom, Crown, Coles, John Mason, & Anglo Pacific coming next week to give us a quote. Over the phone Crown & John Masons were the most helpful & informative so we'll just see what prices they come up with now :eek:
Goodluck with the sale, hope everything runs smoothly for you x

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Brilliant! What a relief!! :thumbsup:

If it's of any use to you, three of my friends used Crown and thought that they were really efficient.
Good luck.
x

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Great post - thank you. Will bear that in mind.
:)

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Once you get all the prices in play them off against one another. We used John Masons and knocked them down £250 from their original quote.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Will do - thanks, :)

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What can we expect the price range to be for a 20ft (by what?) container: London to Canberra, door to door?

Thanks

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How much did it cost please?

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Crown quoted £3500 estimated for a 20ft container from Lancashire to Perth... They are calling next week to give us a proper quote....

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

hi all,

am new to this forum as we are just embarking on our move from Cheshire to Brisbane. Looking for references for shipping companies. Have had quotes from Crown, AngloPacific, GB Lines and PSS.

Have used Crown before (New Zealand to UK) and they were great, although we had some breakages they sorted out our insurance claim quickly so we were pretty happy. Have also used Allied Pickfords in the past (Australia to UK, then UK to NZ) and they were also good - but have been told that the company has changed ownership now in the UK so have steered clear this time.

Problem is we seem to be getting a big variance in Cubic volume and quotes. Have just received a quote from Crown for over £6,400 for a sole use 40cuft container, whereas AngloPacific have quoted £4,400 for 20ft sole use and some groupage (have now asked them to quote for a 40ft container to compare apples with apples). Crown estimated 1350 cuft, whereas AngloPacific were 1170cuft! Still waiting on the other two quotes to come back - but all very confusing. Obviously don't want to get hit with a massive bill at the other end!

Definitely DON'T want to use groupage as there seem to be too many horror stories on here of stuff going missing.......

Am keen to get the PSS quote thru (but they aren't coming till Monday) as they seem to have the best reputation on the forums.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Yes, very confusing.:frown:
I've only had one quote so far - John Mason - 20ft container - 4K, Leicester to Brisbane.
Will let you know when I get more.

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We got a quote from Coles today £3595 for groupage (we need 900 cubic feet) & £3995 for sole usage of a 20ft container which holds 1100 if that helps :thumbsup:
Got more companies coming over next week :eek:

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

It was 4k we bought most of our stuff as we felt it was cheaper to take than try & kit a 4 bed house out for the same money. It has paid off we had to buy some things when we arrived like white goods bed linen,towels etc is quite expensive but you can pick some good things up in the sales.It's good to have familiar things especially for the children. All our quotes we're similar it came down to a good feeling about the company we finally chose.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

[QUOTE=chelle1607;7701560]hi all,
Crown, AngloPacific, GB Lines and PSS.

. Have also used Allied Pickfords in the past (Australia to UK, then UK to NZ) and they were also good - but have been told that the company has changed ownership now in the UK so have steered clear this time.
!
Lets just clear up, what has happend to Pickfords uk ,the company is still operating as normal, its ownership has changed hands, due to some economic restructuring.
The TEAM group a european relocation company now control Pickfords [uk], this company [team] is still part off the Allied consortium.
This was due to some much needed economic restructuring, on part of the SIRVA Group , the owners of the Allied brand...............;)mm
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=221144

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

we came out at the end of march and used john masons they were the most professional and the best price our stuff arived in six weeks all in tact would recomend this company:

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Go through all your quotes, have a look at the recommendations on expats, ask questions about the dpot in Oz that will be handling your cargo: can you attend the quarantine inspection etc. Some companies only ship to the port, and leave you with a big mess to solve when you arrive, with potential storage costs etc that weren't expected. there are a few businesses in Brisbane that can help with your cargo, one that has been recommended before is QC Solutions. Do a web search and shoot them an email for info. Doesn't hurt to get extra advise at the other end

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Just got another quote in from Allied Pickfords 800cbft £3185 20ft sole use....
Coles were 900cbft £3995 for sole use... Just waiting from Crown, John Masons & Anglo Pacific to send us their quotes....:D

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

I have had Crown, John Mason,Pickfords all round to quote for a 20ft container going to the gold coast as it stands J Mason have come in with the best and Crown the worst.Just getting a quote from a company in partnership with HiFx

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

We went with Crown, who were more expensive than most other quotes we got, but part of that is due to the extras that are included. Bear in mind the costs for clearance at quarantine, with Crown that's all included, and no extra fees to pay the other side unless you have items that quarantine pick up as needing cleaning (&therefore extra charges). It's not necessarily included by the other shipping companies. Also, Crown included an unpacking service on the other end as standard, which is not included with the others. So you need to check & compare apples with apples before dismissing solely based on price in quote.

We got PSS round to quote, and the guy who came round got my back up immediately by stopping me mid-sentence as I explained to him what I wanted to be quoted on. He told me he was the expert, and to please leave him to do his job, afterwards I could tell him what I wanted shipped, and he would see if it was possible to adjust. :thumbdown: Then he proceeded to plonk himself on my sofa, and whattle on for ages dissing other shipping companies, and we couldn't get him out the door for an hour - he thought he was being friendly but we were just getting aggravated by his attitude & lack of capacity to take our hints it was time for him to go. In addition, they kept phoning us to ask us what we thought of their quote, but never received it. Twice they apparently sent it, but we mysteriously never got it. Did not bode well for their service down the line to us, so we decided not to seriously consider them. I realise others have been very happy with them, but I guess you have to make a call on the companies that quote you & how you feel about the service they presented to you. It's a bit like an interview, after all, but thereafter there is an element of risk.

One other thing to note ; we were chatting to our packing crew (who were fantastic!) and it appears the crews generally tend to work independently, and get called in by certain shipping companies as required. So, may work a job for Crown, then a job for PSS, then a job for John Masons, etc. Our crew did tell us though that even though they work independently, they were contracted to work for Crown, and Crown tends to cherry pick their teams (could be a bit of self-promotion going on there too though ;)) but apparently some shipping companies will just take whatever crew is available, so they don't all necessarily work to the same standards. Same on the other end, our crew who unpacked here are exclusive to Crown, but told us other agents/companies often will rely on using independent teams. So maybe ask the companies about that as well.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

I think quality is the most important thing rather than price, i think HIFX have a deal with Anglo from what they said to me. They arent the cheapest but do seem to have a good reputation, as do Crown

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Just had out quote from Crown £3883 20ft sole use container for 845cubicft... Anglo Pacific £3710 but didnt include the customes fees in that which are roughly $400! :eek:
Crown seem to quote for everything so no surprise fees later on.... Looks as tho Crown are gonna be the best quote we've had. Pickfords quote was £3100 but didnt include half the fees & I think they have under estimated the cubicft so know doubt it would end up costing a lot more...
If crown can be trusted to move the Mona Lisa in one piece then thats good enough for me!!! :thumbsup:

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Paulry - we are doing ours through GB Liners - got a 40ft for £3700 to Canberra.... you on your way now then??

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Hi Faircity, 40ft for £3700 sounds very cheap. Most quotes that I have seen above are about the same price for 20ft.

We are waiting for our visa grant but it looks imminent (:fingerscrossed:). Yes, Canberra is where we intend to settle. We hope to be there in early December. You?

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

i have quotes from pss and fox but i got these last year after an expo to get an idea of what size container we would need and rough cost
for a 20 ft container pss is 3600 and fox slightly higher.

I think i recall both guys saying you're not allowed to pack things inside things like inside the tmbledryer or in chests of drawers is that right? seems like wasting space to me. esp cos i have a huge tumble dryer.

I also asked if we could pack ourselves and was told (i think) that wouldnt be able to get insurance if we did.
Does that sound right to you guys?

we are on the verge of getting the visas now so have to sort this and make decisions very soon.

Seems like we have been getting rid of stuff for ages to get down to fit into a 20ft container as they said we were 1100 cubic feet over.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

OH goes end of this month me and Ry beginning of Sep! Let us kow how things go PM me and we can arrange to meet up when you get out there!

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

Will do :thumbup:

My OH and I have just had dinner with three very nice people from Canberra. I hope they are all like that :fingerscrossed:

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

We have recently had two quotes both sole use 40ft container London to Brisbane.
John mason £5,200
Crown £7,600 :eek:
Awaiting other quotes but from our point of view with such a huge price difference even allowing for some loss or damage £2,500 is a no brainer which one to go for. Will keep you posted re other quotes i know some peeps go for how nice or not the salesperson who deals with them is towards them but for me they are not the ones doing the work on the day they are purely sales image It is just luck on the day which crew you get.Just pay your money and take your chances.

Re: need shipping company recommendations please!
 

In regards to tumble dryers, fridges, washing machines etc, you can bring them to Australia. The only thing you will need to do when you get here is to have the plugs changed over unless you buy some adaptors to plug them in. Chest of draws and other timber furniture is not a problem as they are commercially made. If you want to pack yourself, do some investigating into insurance etc. Hope this helps

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We used Doree Bonner, 40 foot container, £5000 Bathgate- Scotland to the Gold Coast.

We had no problems at all and would definitely recommend them

Lindsay x

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Hi not sure if this will help but we moved from the North West of England a good few years ago to Perth, we used Robinsons not only were they far cheaper than anyone else at the time I also had a great "vibe" from them....we were going to Perth and at this end they use Grace...a long established company here in Perth..everything arrived....(it did take much,much longer than we were told but that was only because when arriving at Freo Docks the container was not offloaded....a mistake this end...it then went around the globe...lol....) we also did not have to pay any more money this end which some people at the time seemed to have to do although they were not told of this....

We brought everything...even the t.v's (did not recieve local t.v. but the children could play their games on them and new ones nowadays do work here....we are going digital next year)...we just hired a few things that we needed while our furniture arrrived....which was cheap to do....good luck with everything and try not to stress to much....it all comes together in the end....