Dave - Jackie

[QUOTE=Swotsmart]Dear All,

Based on some suggestions, I requested surveys and quotes from the following removal & shipping companys;

Britannia - sole use 40 ft Container - £5600 exc insurance @ 3% and custom charges
PSS - sole use 40ft container - £6300 exc insurance @ 3% and custom charges
Allied Pickfords - sole use 40ft container - awaiting quote
John Mason - coming on Monday 20th

They all provide dooor to door service except delivery of car which I believe I need to collect myself.

Of all the companies that I have seen so far, Allied Pickfords are the only ones with offices in Australia and therefore able to offer single point of contact i.e. no buck passing if anything goes wrong...and they claim there insurance is new for old which means that any damage in transit isn't subject to wranglings over payment of excess by me.

I would like to hear from any of you out there who has had experience of shipping with any of these companies (Please don't hold back)

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE

Hi There

We used John Mason - only needed 150 cubic feet (did not bring much). they came and packed it all up, and was delivered to us in brisbane. They use another company over here and they contact you when your stuff has arrrived and you can keep track of it over the internet. They then come and unpack all your stuff and take all the boxes and stuff away. Thought they were very good. That cost £1,000 door to door. Had to pay $60 here for quarantine inspection.

Jackie

budababes

Hi - advice please! Removals in this week to pack and remove our belongings for Oz. They were due to be here for 2.5 days and have worked so well today that they will finish packing tomorrow p.m. So far, so good!! Cheerful and hardworking and appear very efficient (we'll see once our worldly goods arrive at our new home. We wondering whether we should tip the guys who have been packing, and if so what would be the suggested rate? There are two of them most of the time with some input from another chap for about four hours today??? Would be interested for a reply to this query. Thanks

Vinny van Gogh

Just a thought...unless your comment re the Customs is tongue in cheek, I and maybe others who will eventually get to the shipping out stage are interested in all aspects - including what to expect from customs, especially when we hear of problems over wood and whicker stuff.

Karen

DrWho

I think you might find that Customs is not really the problem... It's the AQIS chaps that invariable put the boot in...

For more information on moving your personal and household effects to Australia see this link...

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service

maxamber

hi
do not use european van lines or direct removels . thats all i can say but if i was doing it again i would spend some time on the internet and do it yourself as we are from new zealand to oz .

sg1964

Hi All,

We arranged our own 20' container, packed our own stuff, loaded it, got it to Melbourne used Chess to customs clear and deliver, only found 1 glass broke, cost us;

Packing Materials - Approx £100
UK - Mel £869 inc insurance (through the company i used to work for, this was a cost price to the shipping line £800 + £69 insurance, with no charge to me for either collection or delivery to the port of the empty/full container, which would have been £150)
Mel - The House A$2527 (Approx - £1020)

Total Approx Cost - £1989

Nothing was stopped by either Customs or AQIS, so no nasty "extra" charges

Well worth the time & effort, and of course with help from our friends.

Regards

Simon

msf

So ultimately how do you choose a shipping company.
Had quotes from PSS, Allied Pickfords, White & Co, AGS/Four Winds and Robinsons(Does anyone know anything about this company?) All quoted on a 20ft container, PSS and Allied mentioned it as a 'Reefer' container. PSS was the cheapest at 3276 GB Pounds and Robinsons the most expensive at 3750 GB pounds.
I keep reading either really good reports or really bad ones about PSS.
Any one any suggestions?
Also what do you do about insurance?
Have been reading fine print and am totally confused.

DrWho

Choice of shipper is really just down to who you feel most comfortable with after you've done all the price/service comparisons...

For insurance check out Letton Percival who charge 1.53% instead of the usual 5% that most shippers want...

Good luck...

thomas and sarahjayne

Shippers been and gone this week. Used doree bonner/ grace international. 40ft. did not fill the full containner but definately over 3/4 full. Took some photos will post on when get organised. It was complete bedlam, no other way to describe, chaos. On monday there was 3 guys , packing , same again on tues and weds and on thurs, the driver came with containner and it all got packed on. The guys were great, really considerate, left the girl's mattress's off beds until last day and left kettle , toiletries, and essentials etc until last minute. seems to make a difference when they have a wee bit common sense. Only criticism i have is when we got the quote, it stated 4 full days work as per volume of stuff going, but guys were only here 10-3pm and on last day , 9-1pm, so i felt as if it could have been blitzed in 2 full days.

£5988 FOR 40FT, and marine insurance, effect insurance, vat etc came to £6800, glasgow to melbourne, oh, expected arrival date 26th january, quicker than i thought.


It was really emotional watching the containner drive down the street with the stuff, no turning back now, hope it arives saftely.

sj x

scoobie

hi just looking at this post as we will be using PSS (only reason our friends used them to go to NZ and back???)
my question is on the quote it says delivery within 30 miles of port Adelaide
did they do the same on your quote or can you get them to waver it £3600
door to door sounds better to me as we will be 60-70 miles away.

tazgirl80

just wondering if you have had any answers about this? we're in larne and hoping to move next summer, fingers crossed!!

msf

Well called John Mason, and they are now here. Quote fair and reasonable, 3450GB Pounds London to Sydney for a 20ft FCL not a 'reefer' container, which is about 200cubic feet smaller! Beware when agreeing on a 20 ft container, as to which one you get.
Guys came to pack today, ok team, but did not finish, as intend to complete the packing before the container arrives tomorrow. Hope they manage to!
What I did notice, is to make sure you check the inventory list, as they make comments, about the condition of the items - just noticed one of the china boxes is marked broken, and I do not recall any broken china! Also, beware if you supply any boxes, they mark that down too "well madam you supplied the box" I can already hear if it gets to that point.
Decided on this company, as have excellent service so far. Called last Thursday, Estimator here on Friday, quote an hour later, agreed too hour after that, and now they are here on Monday, container due to go out on a ship on Thursday 21st December. PSS was my second choice, but not impressed with Estimator, and think he badly underquoted the volume.
Will keep you posted.

msf

Thanks for that.

Stormz

Sorry, didn`t have time to read the whole thread, but my best pieces of shipping advice is:
don`t insure your items. Just insure the whole container for total loss. The premium is alot cheaper, and there really isn`t much point imho in insuring all your items seperately.... if anything does break, the insurance would probably still cost more. Containers very rarely get lost, but if it does, at least you know the whole lot is covered.
Bring as much stuff as you can (except gardening equipment (the dirt) and your fridge (may not last long here)), and buy some travel adaptors to use UK extension leads in Aus sockets (that way you only need say 6 adaptors).

Vernons

Hi

We used John Mason and they shipped our 20ft container from Bristol to Brisbane and I think we paid £3200 or there abouts. We also had a $300 customs fee.

I was very worried about who to use and nervous about them packing our things but I needn't have worried. On the day of packing two young slim guys arrived and I though 'oh no!!'. We have lots of very heavy furniture (running machines etc) and I thought we don't stand a chance.

Well the first day the spent wrapping and I was surprised to see they used a thick paper instead of bubble wrap. The lads did not stop and wrapped brilliantly all day. They came back the next day and loaded it into the container (with the help of my hubbie on a few heavy bits) and sealed the container infront of us. We were very pleased with them, they were nice lads.

Our things were delivered to our house on Wednesday but the Aussie branch of John Mason - Kent removals/shipping and this time thre were three huge guys - no worries! They gave me a sheet with all the box numbers on and I ticked them off as they brought them out of the container. My husband then directed them to the correct rooms and once that was done they started unpacking.

I thought they would unpack everything but they didn't, just the really big stuff (about half the boxes) and took away the rubbish. We then spent the rest of the day unpacking the smaller things. We now have a garage full of rubbish and they said if we call and put it out they come and collect it.

The Uk end with John Mason I am extremily pleased with. The boys packed things so well and nothing is broken or damaged which I think is amazing. We were really well organised back in the UK and had a real sort out, clean and organised things into piles so it has been quite easy unpacking.

The Aussie end has been good to. The lads were efficient and unloaded things really quickly. My only grip is they took our lovely leather 3 seater through our front door despite us showing them the side gate and huge alfresco door. As a result I had to watch in horror as they rammed our suite through the door. The door creaked and sounded like it was going to fall out! There was no damage to the sofa thanks to the UK boys and their thick paper wrapping but we have a chunk out of our door !! My husband was not best pleased and they took the other sofa the correct way!! We should chase it up but OH can fix it so feel like it is not worth the bother.

So in a nutshell John Mason great and I would highly recommend them. I would also recommend having a huge sort out and organising things so that when you come to unpack over here it is a delight and not a horror! I would also recommend watching which doors sofas go through upon delivery!!!

Oh and the boys in England sealed the boxes with white tape so we could tell ones which had been opened by customs as they re-seal with brown tape! Also I brought dishwasher tablets which were sealed in individual wrappers, you can bring more than you think you can!

Good luck with it all