dogstar

Hi All,

Hope you are all well and in good health and spirits.

Can anyone here recommend any firms in the UK (London/South East) that could facilitate our move to Ontario?

I have obtained a quote from one firm however whilst I am comfortable with the price I have read some pretty poor reviews online of customer experience so am asking here for any feedback. We're not taking the entire contents of our home but I just want some recommendations on alternatives based on positive experiences?

Many thanks as always.

Siouxie

The wiki section on shipping has links to threads that might be of use to you
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Shipping-Canada

How much stuff are you hoping to ship? Have you considered self pack, similar to, https://upakweship.uk.com/ or sending it air freight (air transat cargo)?

dogstar

Siouxie Thanks for the tips and I will check these out. I have not considered the self pack option but sounds interesting particularly if we get to ensure our items are protected properly. Not sure about air freight as I think that will be cost prohibitive? The estimate we have had thus far is 400 cubic square feet of stuff although that will come down significantly in the coming weeks as we weed out the chaff.

Flamehorse

About 4 months ago I got a container quote for 10 cubic metres of around £6000.
But from what I understand due to shipping restrictions and delays, etc due to COVID prices have doubled sometimes tripled at the moment

Siouxie

That seems extremely high - you can usually have a full 40ft container for that amount or less. 10 cubic metres would be a shared container (groupage) - a 40ft container is around 67 cubic metres..

Perhaps ask for a quote from these people, to see what their price might be.. (includes containers) https://upakweship.uk.com/ Groupage - (shared container): https://upakweship.uk.com/shipping-containers/shared/ https://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/s...ations/canada/

This may be of use - 2021 prices for containers.. https://www.movehub.com/advice/inter...hipping-costs/

Not recommending these people -posting the link for the information they show, approximate costs in 2020 - https://blog.pssremovals.com/shipping-to-canada-cost

ArekDeBoss

My goods are on the ship whilst we speak. The whole container 1000 cubic feet with extra charges and insurance closed in £7500 bold figure.
I used PSS comprehensive service including packing etc.
And although packing bit was very smooth and professional, with wrapping securing etc the initial office of the company is shambles.
They under estimate of the total capacity so when it comes to packing and loading you end with more stuff than estimated so then they charge you extra £4 per cubic foot - max I'd I believe of £500 and extras on top of that freight and currency adjustment - whatever that is. In my case and extra £180
But since it all happens when 90% of you stuff is in the container already you have no choice. They have you under tha barrel. What I have learnt it a common practice.
Other estimates dbinner, anglio-Pacific etc were around £8000 for full container.
Details on reqest

DMajor

I'll never get my head round why people ship house contents round the world.
Much easier to sell on Ebay/Marketplace etc. and buy when you get to destination.
A few items with sentimental value maybe, but much easier and less hassle to buy when you get here.

ArekDeBoss

I respectfully disagree. No chance to get decent money for used stuff in full working order when you are leaving. Sell it on time, not be left without when needed etc And in Canada all these things are very expensive. For example rugs purchased in the UK - 2 for £25 in Canada one is 99 dollars.
so definitely better to send than buy. And also a hassle of buying all in one, all you need etc and hassle of selling stuff. People trying rip you off, haggle etc.

Winterdiva

Hey! We are moving from London too
Try https://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/
I heard good reviews about them. So far my experience has been good.

dogstar

Thank you I will check these folks out!

dogstar

Thanks to all the feedback on my post folks. I'm still trying to source a decent company to help with the move and it is very frustrating currently particularly with some of the excessive quotes that I am receiving. I totally understand the fact shipping costs have increased in recent months and also believe underestimating cubic sq ft is rife within the industry, I found a company that could guarantee the items arriving in 12 days (as they have a weekly departure) and all items palletised and shrink wrapped but the cost is circa £6.5K compared to almost a third of that if I go with a groupage option. Still looking and will nail this shortly.

We've got about 400 ft3 and potentially 3 items of furniture that could take the volume up if we decide to take it but then we have the unknown departure/arrival dates to contend with also. I'm only considering taking the furniture as I figure if it costs me to ship it then I don't need to buy it again once there and absorb the cost within the transit. More so, it's good quality kit and I don't want to sell it for £50 on ebay or whatever because as mentioned in a reply to this thread folks take liberties when they make you unreasonable offers.

ArekDeBoss

What else I can advise is to bear in mind that it is a common practice (despite previous agreements) that if you decide to go for a full ( sole ) container and it's not filled they will try to add someone else's stuff. And as much as it does not affect your possessions it does affect delivery time since those other possessions will have to be claimed first. It's a common and unfair practice. They always blame delays on the other side and advise to contact counterparts which are most often none the wiser.
so as expensive as it may be it's sometimes better to load it full than leave the room on the container.
Good luck

dogstar

Thanks for sharing that!

crofty82

A bit late but we used Whites to move from the UK to Ontario last year and I found them professional, helpful reasonably priced. They serve the entire UK I believe.

Winterdiva

hey, please could you share the details of this company?