tad

Hi all

Got my visa last week (Interdependent) which took precisely 4 weeks
from the paperwork arriving at Australia House. Is this a record??

The Immigration agent I used was brilliant- he really knows his stuff. I doubt that we would have attempted it without expert advice as ours was a complicated application.

What I need now is personal recommendations/horrid experiences of removal companies, so we can start the ball rolling. It's hard to know who to believe. Some "experts" (the ones who advertise in Australia News" for example), suggest you choose a firm who has its own offices in Australia.

Others say that smaller companies(without Oz branches) are better because they try harder and tend not to lose/break things etc.

I don't know what to think, so please let me have your thoughts on this.

Many thanks

tad

mashiraz

Amazing speed - what sort of independent visa was it out of interest?
Cheers
Mash..

cinderella

What Agent did you use?

A lot of people seem to have used John Mason and are very pleased with them.

Regards,

Cinderella

tad

I used Ian Harrop and Associates (Immigration Agents). Thoroughly recommend them.

I too have heard good stuff about John Mason, but I was wondering about the benefits of using a special relocation/removals "agent" who gets quotes on the emigrants behalf, then sorts it all out for them.

Apparently, this way is less time consuming and less hassle for the person emigrating, and allegedly, an agent will put things right straight away if there are problems/breakages/insurance claims.

The agent gets their commission from the removal firm eventually chosen to oversee the move, but obviously somewhere along the line, the commission cost must surely get slipped into the overall fee charged for the removal. Or am i just being a cynical old thing???

Comments anyone please on the advantages/disadvantages of using an agent for removals.

Thanks

crispins

My advice is...

Allied Pickfords...

I used them to ship over 28 cu ft and it arrived on time, within budget and with nothing damaged...

I called around various shipping agents quote my size of shipment to avoid confusion and then chose them as they were in fact the cheapest and dealt with the shipment from port to door.

This is my second experience of shipping personal goods from the UK and I can tell you, I was very impressed.

They packed my all stuff... I will honestly advise everyone to go for this option...
Reason are...
they know how to do it - I don't...
they check and personally pack each item which reduces your insurance premium,
checks for soil and wood products - saves time the other end with customs...
having a shipping agent from port to door reduces those "hidden" costs and you also have acountablilty... rather than buck passing.
Informed of hidden and extra costs from port of origin.
Remember, you are being charged for volume not weight.

It is a very stressful 3 months whilst your world goods are travelling around the world as you can imagine.

I had no breakages, I can honestly highly recommend Allied Pickfords.

REMEMBER take out the offered insurance, read the small print, read the small print again, be honest and make a list of EVERYTHING that you have packed...

Good Luck...

scoobydooathome

Hello

4 weeks that has to be world record, may I ask what is your occupation or the main applicants occ, Nursing perhaps just curious......

Thanks

Good luck.

renth

The post reads "Interdependant" not Independant, that's why.

renth

The post reads "Interdependent" not Independent, that's why.

Westside

We used John Mason's to move us to Perth. Not only were they the cheapest, we had quotes from them all, but also they were extremely helpful and professional. Their handling agents, Wridgeways, were top class too! Everything, thankfully, arrived in one piece and on time!!!

Incidentally, try searching the Aus/ NZ Migration forum as there are numerous items on removal companies there.

Good luck!

magnetman

For those who have been through this, did you take the option of 'marine shipping insurance"? We have been quoted 3-4% of replacement value. That seems quite a lot of extra to pay. Haven't done the figures yet but 30k is a common level of household contents insurance, which would add around 1k to shipping costs.

Westside

The beauty of Marine Shipping Insurance is that you can decide which aspects of your contents that you want to insure. We took out the insurance, but only insured our larger items i.e lounge suite, fridge, hi-fi etc. The peace of mind was worth having. Incidentally, we didn't have to claim for anything as everything arrived in one piece!

heading downunder 2002

Same here Westside and we also used John Masons and then Wridgeways at this end (Brisbane) couldn't fault them at all.

magnetman

Mmm - wonder why the removal companies didn't bother pointing that one out? That is very helpful to know thanks.

Incidentally, it is certainly worth getting back to the companies on their quotations. We got quotes from Crown, Pickfords and Hoults. We liked the look of Crown best, but they were 1.5K more than the lowest quote. One phone call and they dropped the price by 1.2K. Another phone call later and they halved their quote for storage to match our lowest quote.

They may be big companies but they still want your business