Flixy

Hi everyone,
I have had several quotes from various agents, they all differ in volume from 650 cubic feet to use of a full 20ft container (1000 cubic feet) My question is to everyone who has used a shipping agent.......if you were quoted say 850, do they really charge you per cubic foot thereafter if you fill the container to it's max?
Thanks in anticipation!

DoubleCabbage

Shipping (by sea) is on a volume basis.
Not sure I understand your question, but do you mean what happens if you fill a 20 foot container and have some more? In that case, I would suggest you consider junking some of your stuff! Seriously, you should consider that option.
A 20 ft container is a LOT of space. And good loaders will plan and pack it really well.
Or maybe you could consider a full 20 foot container, and a LCL separately. I doubt if they would be willing to use a 40 foot container to make sure it all goes together in the same container. I would, however, advice against LCL. Mostly smaller players, many of who are bottom feeders.

paularn

I can only answer the question based on what I was told as I have been getting quotes for the last few weeks (we are in Canada). All quotes I have received have been different, none of them totally fill a 20ft container. But since I knew it was close to filling one, I did ask if they would charge us more IF we were to fill it and I was told they would. Why they would do that I don't understand since there isn't enough space to put anybody else in the container.

Anyway, I'm starting to seriously re-think moving what we were going to move and just going with personal effects. The $10,000 - $12,000 (Canadian) we have been quoted seems a bit much and we could buy new when we get there.

newjersey

I have been ripped off once by movers. The quote I have received ended up being complete waste - when you are on schedule, they know that and start pulling every trick in the book on you. In my case -

[rant starts here]

a/ They underestimate the volume to come under in competition and get chosen, although may casually mention that you pay on the actual but never say how wrong their initial estimates are. Mine was off by more than 3 times. Get a FIXED PRICE quote if you can, or work out some wording in the contract that if they say your queen size bed is, ah, 30 cu.ft - they will wave the excess fees. No chance in hell, but you will see who is being half-honest and who is a down right lying to you. Offer them to come in and do measurements if they want to or come clean on how their calculations work. Their reaction will tell you who you are dealing with.

b/ Their labour could not write to save their bum out of prison. And I am not kidding. The customs declaration I had could as well have been written in Japaneese. Good thing I had a self-prepared inventory and what went in what box - their agents on this end had to rewrite some paperwork because customs did not accept the forms following the container.

c/ if you do your own packing, it will be no good no matter what. They stick you with an insurance voiding notice that basically means you might as well leave all your stuff on the front lawn. Sure thing, they have their own boxes and bubble wrap to win the packing Olympics and it costs a mindtwisting fortune. Especially after you have already bought and used half a ton of cardboard and three miles of duct tape.

d/ if you are going for an LCL, mind that other freight may have some issues. In my container there was a CD collection, belonging to some student, returning back home (all good so far) with some paperwork to follow (brilliant forward thinking you say). That poor b@$^#rd did not know, or forgot to tick a box on his customs form on arrival to his destination, that he had a shipment going a separate way. Long story short, the container got arrested and a month after the storage fees start accruing, while movers were breaking up an arrested shipment into legit lots leaving those darn CDs back in the warehouse.

ok, rant over.

So, if you can afford a sole use of the container, do that, have that written into your contract too - these CDs were not even part of the original deal in my case, where one container was supposed to have just two LCLs. This will at least fix the price. Do all the docs yourself if you can, and think of a yard sale or give some items to charity to buy new on arrival.

HTH


PS > all that applies to moving out of US, but, speaking to an Aussie friend of mine with a similar story to tell, I got an impression this might be international.

DoubleCabbage

If you are moving from the US, I would recommend Mayflower. They arrived before time, packed efficiently, loaded stuff like packing sardines. Not a penny more than what was quoted. The packing guys did explicitly ask for a generous tip, and I willingly obliged.

More than the intrinsic value of your possessions, it is things like family albums, baby stuff, documents etc that matter more. They cannot be replaced, and you don't want to be stressed about those things.

And for heaven's sake, make it FCL or nothing. Even excess baggage (Air) would be better than LCL.

Flixy

Hi,
Thanks for all your replies. Sorry I wasn't clearer, what I meant to say was if they quote me for 850 cubic feet, then on the day I find more stuff to chuck in, how do they work out what more I have to pay? I have spoken to another agent today who said that they only charge for the labour and extra packaging involved as the freight cost is the same regardless of how much is in the container. I just wondered from someone's personal experience that if you keep the packing guys fed and watered, will they turn a blind eye to the extra bit
We do expect to have sole use of a 20ft container.
Believe me, we are selling/chucking everything that isn't necessary! We just have some big furniture that isn't flat pack!

DoubleCabbage

Well, we did feed the packers very well!! A bunch of Israelis, that too. Probably the compulsory military training! They were efficient as hell, and didn't even stop while eating. Disciplined and well-mannered to boot.

If you are over your LCL limit, most of them will bring out the tape-measure. And there is this convoluted volumetric measurement formula in case the entire stuff doesn't fit into a cube. Feeding and watering these guys might not help. They need their jobs They have your stuff. Almost like theirs now- until you pay off their bills. Possession now becomes 90% of law.

Flixy

Ha!ha! I forgot to say we are in the UK, so if anyone from here can add to this it would be great.

Elizadolots

Just thought I'd add to this discussion as we've recently waved goodbye to most of our worldly possessions, packed into a 40' container - headed to Melbourne.

I obtained 4 quotes from shipping agents: 3 quoted me for about 90% capacity and 1 quoted a full 40' load. I knew I still had stuff to collect from my mum's place - dating back to the times I'd lodged with her between house moves and never shifted all my things when I moved out(!) plus things of hers she wanted me to have - so I ruled out the full 40' quote.

Of the remaining three, two asserted that they were confident their quote was accurate and that it would cost me more to pack any extra belongings they hadn't seen or quoted for. Only one company told me they'd allowed for a full container and agreed they wouldn't charge me more to go from 90% to 100% capacity.

Negotiation is key to getting yourself a good deal on shipping - the firm I've gone with agreed a reduction in their original quote to the tune of several hundred quid. Plus they allowed four days for packing and loading the container.

I'd always recommend taking quality stuff with you if possible - furniture ain't cheap in Oz - and getting a dedicated container. Ours was loaded at our house on Friday and set sail the following Thursday - how great is that?