A usenet poster started a thread a few weeks ago completely slagging off 1st Move International. Could this be another shipping company telling tales about the competition??

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=1st+move

If the link doesn't work, the thread is titled shipping9

I picked up every shippers brochure I could lay my hands on at the Emigrate show in Sandown 2004, I e-mailed every one of them, I got two replies PSS & JM. Says a lot for the competition

Got them both to quote, PSS came in tops, JM wanted extra cash for special handeling of large bulky heavy items.

A 20 ft "Reefer" container which is smaller than a normal 20FT was just over £3000.00 door to door.

Wouldnt touch Pickfords with a barge pole, had a nightmare with them on another international move.

glad to hear that u got ur visa, last time i saw u at the meeting in brum u wasn't too sure if u would get in, we might be there some time towards the end of this year ourselves all goin well.

good luck

andy

Yeah, that`s something none of the shippers can include in the quote... they can only warn you that Aqis/customs will charge something when the goods arrive, but no-one can tell how much that will be.

Prices sound good but ....

Just be careful and make sure your company is financially protected. Some companies are members of the removals industry scheme that protects your money if your mover goes bust. It is something like the ABTA thing for travel agents. If they don't have the protection and they go bust then you lose your money and you would probably have to pay again to have your stuff shipped.

Check the british association of removers website to see if your remover has got this protection.

This was an essential on our list when we were considering who to use. Too many companies don't have this and you are playing with fire and could lose alot of money.

:scared:

Have a good weekend everyone,
Theresa x

Great advice, will remember to check that out.. who did you decide on..

OK change of plan PSS now win. The 4 weeks free storage is rubbish it turns out to be in uk not Oz as I was first told, and I would have to pay £300 because Hunts said they would have to load my things onto a lorry then unload them for storage then load them on to my 20ft sole use container, instead of just storing container for a couple of weeks. So whats free about that

annn

Nightmare!!

PPP have quoted for us, they do seem very professional..

Good luck, when are you going?

Julie

Many thanks yeah it did seem like we kept hitting brickwalls but well worth it now. Hope alls well with you and good luck to you.

I have bishops move coming next thursday I'll let you know.

Just out of interest I had quote from Hansards for 20ft sole use for £3800ish when I ask about shared container...it takes 2-4 weeks longer but came down to £2800ish...quite a saving if you arent that bothered about sole use(which Im not)

That`s pretty expensive for a 20ft container. Maybe it`s because you`re in Devon.

We just had our furniture arrive in Brisbane, although not out of customs yet!
We used Brittania although it was a company local to us that actually did the packing. We paid 2650 pounds for everything packed, a 20 ft container and unpacking and removing the packing this end. So far everything has gone smoothly although we didn't expect a 3 to 4 week wait after it arrived before we can get it delivered. Hope this helps

We are hopefuly going to Perth in June and are in the middle of getting quotes, so sharing a container is a possibility.

were you down my end of the country to start out from Spainy...? Doreedonner have quoted £2700 for shared 40ft so Its come down £100 so far...still 2 more to quote me yet thou

We got a quote from allied pickfords on friday of over £4000 with insurance to go on top of that. This was for sole use of a 20ft container and door to door. Must say chap who came around was excellent. Still to get some more quotes.