our shipping company search
 

Shipping is a frequent topic on here so I thought I'd start a thread while our search is ongoing, with our experiences. If anyone would like to give any tips for questions I ought to ask when people come to assess our stuff it would be much appreciated, I'm sure there are lots of pitfalls!

After trawling through the hugely long thread on here about shipping, and making lists of companies, I narrowed it down to 7 companies, plus one recommended by a friend locally (Glasgow). I emailed all of them on Wednesday night, and by the end of Thursday all but one had replied either by email or phone. It's funny how quickly you start to make impressions of companies, just through first email/phone conversations! Some background info - we've a small 2 bedroom flat, are looking to take everything, from Glasgow to Nova Scotia, would rather self-pack.

So far....

GB Liners. Very nice and friendly on the phone (my fav so far). Someone is coming to look over our stuff next Thursday.

Robinsons. Email reply, I phoned to arrange a time for them to come. Person to speak to wasn't available, and didn't phone back till 3.30pm, by which time I'd almost given up on them. However the guy seemed very friendly and is coming to assess our stuff next Tuesday.

Moving Partnership. Not been able to speak on the phone yet, but sounded friendly in their message, and in their emails.

shipit.co.uk. All communication (so far) by email. I filled out an online form and they've given me a quote by email for a sole use 20ft container, self pack, £3220. This doesn't include costs at destination - another quote to follow.

Fox Moving. Not managed to speak to them by phone yet (I can only make so many calls while in the office lol)

Ewepack. The only ones not to reply to my email enquiry. A bit annoyed as I thought they looked quite good for what we were looking for....

PPS. Least friendly over the phone. By that I mean friendly, but much more 'big office businesslike'. Not necessarily a bad thing, but when it's all I have to go on they're not very high so far! Someone coming to assess our stuff next Thursday.

Britannia. Local moving company, not contacted them yet.

I'll update as people visit and we get quotes, in the hope that the info might be useful to people! (If anyone has any thoughts on the above companies please let me know...)

Re: our shipping company search
 

Any reason why White & company are on not on your list?

You have a couple on your list I would take off, but it would be very wrong of me to say which ones, so I will keep quiet :devil_smile:

Re: our shipping company search
 

when I scoured that loooong topic on shipping I noted what sort of write-ups companies got, and Whites didn't score very highly (my notes say 2 +ve and 3 -ve). The ones I went with had the most (if not all) +ve reviews.

Why would it be wrong of you to say which companies? Always helpful to hear others comments! :)

Re: our shipping company search
 

Maybe because she works in the business and might find it to be a conflict of interest or against the sites policy of touting for business;)
There again Im not shameless and suggest you look up Brytor.

http://www.brytor.ca/

Re: our shipping company search
 

I was trying to be discreet :)

Thanks for posting the link ;)

Re: our shipping company search
 

We're at the same point as the OP. We've got more stuff, we're a family of 4 + 2 dogs, going from Manchester to Calgary in August.

We're limiting ourselves to three quotes at the moment:

Moving Partnership: very pleased with their attitude (Tracey is on maternity leave, we're dealing with Matthew) and courtesy. They arranged for an assessor to come by within 2 days of our first conversation. Seemed very knowledgable, and knew of this forum.
Supplied a quote to us the next morning.

White & Co : Coming to assess our needs next Thursday.

GB Liners: Coming to see us on Monday.

Both Whites and GB Liners seemed friendly enough on the phone.

We know we're quite early to be getting quotes but I know we're moving at the busiest time of year and I didn't want to miss the boat, figuratively and literally.
Looks like we'll fill a 40-footer easily :blink::ohmy:

Re: our shipping company search
 

Try getting a quote from Eliteshipping http://www.eliteshipping.co.uk/

we did a self pack 20 foot container to Halifax with them in 2011 as did our best friends................ very pleased with them

Re: our shipping company search
 

I've also been in touch (by email so far) with Matthew. No doubt he'll be on my next batch of phone calls on Monday!

I'll have a look at Brytor, and Elite Shipping as well. Thanks! :thumbsup:

Re: our shipping company search
 

As someone who hopes to be in this position soon (relocating from the UK to Calgary) I will be keeping a keen eye on this thread.......

Re: our shipping company search
 

Would it still be wrong via PM?;)

Re: our shipping company search
 

I will follow this thread with great interest, Izzy, as I, too . hopefully will be leaving from Glasgow possibly later this year ( if house sells quickly). However I will have to get them to pack for me as no way could I do it all myself!

Granma Nessie

Re: our shipping company search
 

Hi Izzi, I read a few of your posts and thought I'd offer our recent experience in case it helps.

We just moved back to Canada 3 weeks ago after living in Wales for a year and a half.

We went with Fox. Their quote was basically the same as the ones from White and Brittania but the sales guy who assessed our needs made a good impression on us and that's really why we went with them. He just seemed to know his stuff well, and offered his experience to tell us about specific things to watch for when bringing goods into Canada (e.g. absolutely no mud on outdoor items, shoes, etc.).

Our container doesn't arrive at our house until next week, but so far Fox has been great. We had more stuff than would fit into the 20ft container and the two packers helped me on the day to make sure the important stuff got in, as well as some stuff we had held back as "nice to have" in case there was room.

Customer service has also been good, making sure I knew how to complete the paperwork, etc. Here in Canada, their delivery partner is TippetsWord.com, who have also been professional and on the ball.

I'm sure many of the other options will also do a good job, so whichever one you choose I hope you have an easy move and a good experience. Let us know how you get on!
Andrew

Re: our shipping company search
 

We moved from the Highlands of Scotland and used Whites - they were first class, efficient (I did most of packing), friendly and managed to reach us in a snowstorm. They couldn't fit our canoe in their van (because of our driveway they could not use the larger truck) and promised they would go back for it after we had left the country. True to their word they did and everything arrived in perfect condition in NS. Tippett Richardson, their NS counterparts were excellent too. Definitely get a quote from them.

Re: our shipping company search
 

Can I add , we have just moved to Lloydminster using John Mason.
We looked at self pack to keep costs down but decided on them doing it (was only about £1000 dearer) and Boy are we glad we did. 2 men came and wrapped all of our stuff, in a way that we never would have been able to. At the time it seems a viable option to self pack (how hard can it be, eh) but I seriously doubt I could have managed it, having seen them do it. If you have 20 mates to help you pack and load ( and don't forget the 20 mates at the other end to help unpack!!) then yes, go for it, if not, think realistically about what is involved

Re: our shipping company search
 

We have just used Whites and have to say they were fantastic.
We had three quotes-Whites, GB Liners and Fox. Fox and Whites made a great impression when they came to quote, the man from GB Liners was really pompous and "I'll tell what you must do" which seriously put us off!!!
the quotes for a sole use 20ft container were similar but when we tried some haggling Fox wouldn't budge, White took £600 off.
The White's packers (Mel and Jerry) were lovely- They worked from 8am-4pm for two days and basically only stopped for lunch (though I kept them well supplied with tea and biscuits :)) On the third day young Adam appeared to help fill the container. We had a 4 bed house and they got everything in.
We are now waiting for it to land- Friday hopefully and so far Tippets this end have been really helpful and kept us well informed. Obviously don't yet know how our stuff as coped but so far so good :D