We are already packing for the move to Calgary on 4th December.

Due to the exorbitant prices for a container :scared: , we/they decided that we will not bother to take any furniture only things we can fit in a box......or 10.

We decided to go with Excess Baggage Company[UK]. They are very helpful and the prices are reasonable. I know its to late but has anyone already used them???? Was your experience good/bad or indifferent..

I look forward to your replies. Thanks in advance....

Cant advise if they are ok... We are going to use these too. Have the boxes from them but that is as far as got got at the moment. Will be interested in any responses you get.

We used them and they were great! We sent 33 cu.ft. in 11 boxes. The staff were really friendly (and patient!). On the day we had two men arrive and pack up everything. We could track the shipment via the internet and it arrived at the day and time they said it would. All our china, glassware, etc. arrived with not one breakage. We were really happy with them.

Hope that helps,
Jen

Hi Andy_Jen, just want to ask as to how much did you pay for the 33 cu.ft. in 11 boxes? have you got their website? Thanks.

www.overseas-removals.com

Thats whats on our boxes anyway.

We dealt with David Ferguson tel 0207 3731977.

thanks nickola

We used them in July and although the UK part of things went smoothly when we got to Canada it all fell apart.

They phoned us a couple of days after our arrival to say they had our baggage was ready for collection and gave us a shipment no and a phone no for Air Canada. When we called AC they told us the shipment had already been collected. It turned out the number related to a shipment of 24 boxes weighing 889kg. Our shipment was for 15 boxes weighing 440kg.

We had to phone Excess Baggage (EB) in the UK and they just kept telling us over and over again that the number was correct and that they could tell us no more.

In the end we had to make lots of phone calls over a couple of days to finally get everything sorted out. EB really couldn't have cared less whether we got the baggage or not, they even at one point said "well you're insured aren't you" - hardly the point!

We ended up spending a lot of time and expensive phone calls to get it sorted out. Eventually we did track our shipment down and the collection process went very smoothly, but the stress that EB caused us was totally unacceptable. We never, ever had an apology from anyone.

I personally cannot recommend them, but saying that we chose them because other people seemed to get a good service from them.

Incidentally a guy where I used to work in the UK used them to move his stuff to the USA when his job was transferred. They lost two of his boxes which contained his children's expensive musical instruments. He never got them back and had to go through the insurance route.

He moved a week before us, so perhaps they were going through a rough time in July. Hopefully everything will go well for you.

Good luck
Jane

I sent you a PM.
Jen

Hi Canada Jane,

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience...must have been very frustrating. I'm sure, with all things, that you really only get a measure of a service when things go wrong. I must admit, we didn't ship anything we couldn't replace. We scanned in all our photos before shipping and the musical instruments went on the plane with us. The impression I got was that excess baggage didn't themselves handle the door to door delivery but had contracts with others to do everything. I wonder if companies that employ their own staff throughout the whole process have a better response when things go wrong? Or maybe it's just luck?

Jen

hi all,
i am thinking about using the same sort of companies (sending boxes of stuff). Can anyone give me any ideas of the costs? I think i will have about 20 boxes (books, cds, clothes, kitchen stuff mostly) and i like to get an idea of how much it will cost.
thank you so much!

We are taking 10 boxes. Tea chest size 35kg and have been quoted about £600. Plus insurance on top. 5% of value...bit steep I know.
But far cheaper than those container compaines

thanks for the quote, that really help me to estimate that..yes, much better than a container. I suppose those tea boxes can hold a lot of things? I think i will call them up for an estimate also. Do they do door to door service? I am moving to a rather rural area (2 hours from Edmonton) so i am hoping they will deliver....

They go by weight - we had 15 boxes, weighing in total 440 kg and it cost us £1,268 to ship. You then have the option of insurance which is based on the value of the shipment and in this case cost £400.

I've got them coming round on Thursday to give me a quote,for an entire 3 bed house so I'll post back on this thread to give everyone an idea how much they're charging.
Bit worried since reading Canada Janes posting,read good and bad about all companies but need to choose one of them.Leaving early Dec so need to make a decision either way.

My understanding was that air freight goes by weight, and is generally more dear. Shipping by sea is by volume and much cheaper, but slower. We shipped 33cu.ft. and it cost 470+ pounds and we paid for 3,700 pounds to be insured at 3% so it was an extra 110 pounds. So 580GBP in all. It was mostly books, CDs, kitchen things, some clothes and blankets and documents. I think air freight would have cost us a fortune due to the weight of the books alone. We also had ours done door to door so that they packed it all up and took it away and then delivered it at our final destination. I know that Excess Baggage had the option of doing either air freight or shipments by sea.