brookel

Re: Hilux, yeah we've been all through the req's to import it, it'll be 15years 10 months when it ships so according to RIV, transport canada and CBCA it's ok.

we're getting it steam cleaned so it'll be all shiny and new when it gets there....also planning on doing the daytime running lights before it goes too, and I'm going to speak with a Toyota dealer in Vancouver if I can, to see if there's anything else we can do before it goes.

Apart from the lights and it being spotless does anyone have any other tips?
all advice, info much appreciated

sparklingWater

RE: car shipping

I had my lovely shogun and defender shipped over from Liverpool to Toronto via Montreal. Didn't bother with the running light, it is not mandatory for imported vehicles that are 15 yo or older. Didn't bother with the 3rd (high) stop light for the same reason. I did not even convert the headlight lenses (shouda done it though). I don't know if BC has extra requirement relative to transport canada. Anyways, the cars flew through the certification and emission test (diesel car rock, they don't even start the car for the emission test...)

annaonholiday

Has anyone used Intercargo before?

They appear very competitively priced, and their economy air freight (10-12 days) costs less than my sea freight!!

I noticed they got voted 7/10 on this website, but have read some nasty reviews from other disgruntled customers on other websites... I guess, it all depends on how angry the customers are to write a bad review on any company.

Still, I want to get my excess baggage shipping sorted out, and now it's down to 3 choices:

1) Anglo Pacific for sea freight (8-12 weeks) £170 (they're matching the Excess Baggage quote)

2) Excess Baggage Co (8-12 weeks) £170

3) Intercargo (10-12 days) Economy Air £168 (that's cheaper than sea freight!)

All in all, it looks so tempting to go with Intercargo - but I don't know if they're reliable, and if there are additional customs charges.

And there's actually a 4th option....

DHL Express (2 days) which costs £280, and that is just £100 more than the sea freight - and I don't need to wait 8-12 weeks (although it doesn't bother me as I don't need my stuff urgently)... I'm just not sure about whether I'll get slapped with customs duty. DHL seems to love doing that.

Any ideas about Intercargo?

dgagitw

I think there may actually be some truth to this one sadly. I used Crown and had them pack stuff for me (because I couldn't be bothered to do it myself). The container arrived here having gone through customs without obviously having been opened (certainly none of the boxes inside had been touched). By comparison, I have several friends here who did DIY packing and had their stuff held and searched - in one case resulting in bunch of gardening stuff being seized. I can see that customs would generally not worry so much about things packed by removers they're familiar with since they'd assume they would know the rules about what you can and can't import.

Londonuck

Anyone used Air Transat Cargo? Ive mailed them twice and had no reply...

chobert

quick update from me .... (so many pages on this thread I'm not even sure i've posted here already! ...but so useful to hear others good and bad experiences)..

We chose 4 companies to survey and quote for our requirements (West London to Nova Scotia) ... Robinsons, GB Liners, The Moving Partnership and White & Company. Based on our requirements, all quoted for sole use 40ft container.

Robinsons didn't bother to respond to our email ... I then heard not so good things from a friend who used them so didn't bother to chase them up.

Most competitive were The Moving Partnership, followed by White & Company and then GB Liners. None were prepared to move from their original quote due to timings (August is a very busy month apparently for them).

We are going to require some storage in the UK prior to shipping; White & Company offered 8 weeks free storage; GB Liners offered 4 but then said they would do 6; The Moving Partnership was 0 weeks free - approx £120 per week if we needed this.

So basically, we're going to proceed with White & Company. I also noticed that their costs were for a FULL packing service even though we will have packed some of the smaller items ourselves.

Will keep you informed of how things progress once they're booked, packing, storing, shipping, delivering etc etc!

Very useful thread so thanks to all who have contributed.

beaujolais

Hi
We are moving in a couple of weeks, we used GB Liners. They have already left with our shipment. I couldn't praise them any higher so far. Polite, courteous, efficient helpful bunch of guys. They appeared to be a little expensive against competitors, but when you added in the cost of excess if you were under quoted they came in well priced. We had 4 quotes most of which were around 2000 sq ft - 1 40ft container. Fox didn't manage to turn up on time and lost our details- ruled them out before day one. Pss were cheap- but only quoted on 1750 sq ft and would have been as much as GB liners when they had charged for the excess. Bournes looked like they offered a great service but were the most expensive and GB liners over any one else if we didn't use them!
We got a discount from GB Liners because we were going to risk using PSS, but really were not keen on hearing about the company they used in Calgary, which brought the prices closer together.
We don't regret a thing about using GB. They packed everything we asked them to, they double packed stuff we asked them and were just delightful.
Lets hope they are as good at the other end.....

Miss Clinique

Its nice to see some positive comments about the "professionals" - GB Liner and whites. Yes they do cost a bit more sometimes, but if you value your goods enough to ship them, then surely they need to be be packed properly. Never under estimate the value of a true export pack, the materials used are far superior to the cheaper companies.

arniedog

hi everyone , my turn to update. Had Robinsons , Britannia and Pickfords come and look round on Fri just waiting for quotes. Going with gut instinct Robinsons are in front at mo. Their bloke turned up early and was polite and said we were just under 20' box. Britannia man phoned up 10 mins after he was meant to be there and said "im running late is that ok " Mmm its a bit late now isnt it ? Still he quoted a 20' box. Pickfords turned up and told us we will need a 40' box but not to worry as you can share it with someone else to keep cost down . Now insurance was also mentioned , all quotes for insurance was between 3% and 3.5% i happened to let slip that i know of people on b/e that have got their insurance quotes down to as little as 1% . Only Robinsons said well in that case we will see what we can do. I was told by Pickfords the only way youll get it that cheap is if its total loss insurance. Can anyone tell me if Thats true thanks everyone

arniedog

meant to ask aswell has anybody used fox removals ? Dont seem to recall anybody mentioning them , i might be wrong thanks everyone

davidsk

Update:

Our goods arrived with Fox International.

Overall it was not too bad. We have one baking tray broken, a couple chair and table little damage and one painting missing. They are still tracking where it went wrong.

We had a little doubt about the packing guys over in London. On the day of packing, our $300 cash disappeared. It was stupid us that left the cash obvious on the table.

arniedog

thanks for that youve just made up my mind for me. I rung fox at 9am today to arrange for a quote to be done , i was told that somebody would ring me back from a local depot asap. I might be being a bit harsh but just over 7 hours later i still havent had a call back , so ill be ringing someone else. Ok davidsk , so you might have been a bit daft for leaving cash on the side on show but Thats no reason for some thieving scum bag to pinch it

nativenewyorker

Hi, Just an update. We have used Robinsons for our move from Derby to Vancouver. They packed over two days, very polite, professional and quick (however I have never made as many cups of tea in my life!!). Goods left Liverpool 27th June and arrived in Vancouver last Wednesday. We went to Customs on Friday and our goods were delivered on Saturday by Williams, who were equally as good.
One table leg was broken, but a report was filled out, photographs taken and we were reassured that somebody would contact us early this week.....time will tell.
Anyway, so far a fantastic service both sides of the Atlantic which has made a very stressful process just that little bit easier.

Maria_747

I used GB Liners for shipping all my stuff rom West London in a 20 ft container on 16th July. They initially charged me a higher price compared to the others a good £1,000 extra. I negotiated with them and said I would pack non-breakable items and they would only pack the breakable items.
They were so good, they gave me the boxes a good 3 weeks before, so I could pack my things. In the end, I paid £4,590.

The three guys came from 8.00 to the evening and next day for half a day.
They were absolutely brilliant, the packers were really lovely, jolly, helpful, very patient when we were dithering with taking and not taking certain pieces of furniture. They packed efficiently and quickly and managed to get my large pieces of furniture out the door.

God bless the packers Steve, Garey and Mick who drove from France. They were lovely guys and we had a good laugh with them. I haven't got my furniture yet, it will be coming round about 5th August. I highly recommend GB liners from the UK end.

glenn wilson

We used Robinsons over 3 years ago when we moved from the UK to BC. They were great and I would always recommend them.