Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Jun 21st 2013, 1:33 am
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Nova Scotia (from Scotland)
Posts: 1,032
Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
OK I hope you're sitting comfortably because this is going to be a long post! When I was researching which company to use to ship our belongings to Canada I read a lot of posts on here, so I'd like to return the favour with our experience. Quick summary - sole use of 20ft container, 2 bedroom flat from Glasgow Scotland to Halifax Nova Scotia and then delivered to Canning.
We (or should that be I) took a looooong time deciding on a shipping company. In the end we went with the Moving Partnership, because they offered one of the cheapest prices, plus I liked Matthew, the guy I dealt with on the phone. He seemed a lot more switched on than the other people I spoke to. Some of the reps from other companies were too 'salesman' and I didn’t really like that… one of them said when they came to estimate that their service would ‘hold our hand the whole way’. Not the right thing to say to me lol – no one had held our hand this far and we were doing pretty well! So we booked with MP and the removal company they used for our goods was Hamiltons.
We went with Letton Percival for our insurance. The MP quote was cheaper than most of the other shipping estimates we had (2.3% compared to 3.3%) but I decided to shop around having read posts on here, and LP had a cheaper quote as well as including more as standard than the Moving Partnership did. The guy I spoke to at LP was very chatty and friendly as well. The only downside was there was no excess with MP, and a £250 excess with LP. More on this later!
We had a small flat crammed with stuff plus some things from my family’s house, so we used a whole 20ft container at a cost of £3765, full pack and unwrap. Once we had paid MP I then stopped dealing with Matthew and instead was passed to John, one of their sale guys. He was not quite as on the ball, I have to say. He phoned the day before the packers were due to come and told me they were on their way (driving up from Norfolk), would likely be there for 9am, but they’d phone me themselves that night. I waited… no one phoned. It was past 8pm and too late to phone the MP office....
Next morning I got up early to tidy up some bits and pieces before they arrived. Thankfully the first thing I did was have a shower and get dressed because at 7.45am I got a call from the packers saying they were here but couldn’t quite find the address! Cue much rushing about and feeling totally unready for them when they arrived – there was still stuff all over the place.
There were 2 guys doing the packing, and I’ve never known anyone drink as much tea as they did. If at all possible make sure you are not packing the kettle and have a supply of teabags, sugar and milk because you’ll need it! They flew through our possessions, reducing each room into a stack of white boxes. They must have worked until after 6pm with barely a break; say 2 x 15min tea breaks and 1 x 30min lunch. We were very impressed.
The main thing (apart from the tea supply) that I learned from the packing experience was that it’s *really important* to take time to think about what you want packed into the container and what you want to take with you in your luggage. We had several things that I remembered about too late, and a couple of things that we actually had to open and rummage through boxes to find. It would have saved a lot of hassle if, early on, I’d made a more thought-out pile of things we didn’t want packed! Similarly, put anything you don't want to take with you at all somewhere they know not to pack it - ideally out of the flat! This is something I didn't really think about, until I realised they'd packed everything under the sink, everything from the kitchen drawers, and so on.
There was still more to do and they left saying they’d be back at 7.30am the next morning, because the container was due to arrive at 10am.
They left us the bed and the PC but that was about it - we spent the night in a flat full of boxes!
The next morning they were back at 7.30am as they’d said. The container was due to arrive at 10am, but actually turned up at 8.45! One of the guys had told me yesterday that this might happen; they have 3hrs to pack the container from when it arrives, but quite often it arrives earlier than scheduled but that doesn’t change the amount of time they have to pack it. Seems a strange way to work, because in our situation they weren’t ready to fill the container at 8.45am, so they ran over their 3hrs (but only just). The container packing process was rather like giant tetris, but it all went in with room to spare (I wanted to rush off and buy more furniture). And then, at about 12pm, it drove off down the road. Very odd to see it go, all our worldly goods, in someone else's hands....
We spent 4 nights camped out in the flat before heading to the airport. I was waiting for John at MP to provide me with tracking details, but in the end I gave up and did it myself! I knew OOCL were the shipping line and I had our container number (it's written on the side of the container - I photographed it) so I went to OOCLs website and tracked it; it was reassuring to see it there, logged in to their system
We did get the tracking info by email, but only after we'd left for Canada. About a week after we arrived the company in Canada (Tippett World) got in touch regarding our delivery. They checked my details, and asked me to get in touch with the company in Halifax handling the delivery - Guardian Transfer. I didn't rush to get back in touch - things were a bit hectic and I thought we had a lot of time. The website said arrival was due to be June 7, and I'd been told to expect 1-2 weeks at customs. When I did get in touch I was surprised to find that they were hoping to deliver on June 11! Container arrives Friday... good to deliver by Tuesday! That threw me, because I hadn't expected it and we weren't ready - we didn't have a long term rental lined up. Thankfully they could hold off delivery for a week, and so a frantic search for a rental ensued. Thankfully I found somewhere!
Organising the delivery was the only point where MP almost let me down. When we'd signed up they'd asked for a delivery location. I told them we didn't know the town, but I could give a general area (Wolfville). I made it clear that it was unlikely to be in the town of Wolfville, and they said that was fine, that I could supply the actual address once I had it. When Tippetts got in touch my delivery was referred to as 'to Wolfville'. I asked them to clarify, explaining the situation, and they said that delivery had been paid for to Wolfville. I started to get concerned, because there was no way our house was going to be *in* Wolfville. I emailed Matthew and John, slightly disgruntled, saying I had told them several times that I didn't know exactly where we would be staying, and explaining that the area was made up of many very very small towns. Matthew was helpful but said he wasn't sure if there would be any extra cost for delivery outside of Wolfville. I replied again, still disgruntled, didn't hear anything but did hear from Guardian Transfer who seemed happy to deliver to our location in Canning. When Matthew did get back in touch he said the situation seemed to have resolved itself. He was very apologetic, but it was a bit of stress I could have done without. At least it worked out fine!
We arranged for delivery on Monday 17th. I was expecting the same container to arrive, but instead it was all in the back of a lorry. I was disappointed at that - I wanted our stuff to be moved around as little as possible, particularly when I wasn't there to see it - but I guess it was necessary with the week delay from arrival to delivery. 3 guys did the unloading, at super speed. They unwrapped all the furniture and put it in the rooms we wanted, and put all the boxes in the rooms we wanted too. We decided not to get them to unpack the boxes because the place is not massive and it would have led to ridiculous clutter. One bit of damage was discovered as they unwrapped - our most expensive bit of furniture (typical!) had the central supporting leg split and break. Thankfully it's not essential and you can't see it. This is where the excess kicks in... The piece is worth £300. Not worth paying the £250 excess for a new one, but had there been no excess....
As we've been unpacking I've discovered a few other small things - a bolt and foot missing from our metal bed frame, the computer is not working (I guess it didn't like the travel). I mentioned about their packing *everything*, I've found several bundles of kitchen drawer contents that really shouldn't have been packed (I don't need squashed matchboxes and loose cocktail sticks, I really don't!). However overall I'm pretty pleased with how everything has gone.
So to summarise. Moving Partnership - I would recommend to others. Shipping was very quick - faster than their estimate and so much quicker than some of the other estimates we had. Only a couple of things were broken, and all the removal guys were great. My main bits of advice would be throw away *everything* you don't want to take (start this process several days before the removal guys arrive), think carefully about what you'll need in Canada before your container arrives, and be ready for faster shipping than you've been quoted! I think if we'd taken delivery out of the container our chest of drawers probably wouldn't have ended up with a broken leg...
Sorry for the epic post, but I hope it's helpful
We (or should that be I) took a looooong time deciding on a shipping company. In the end we went with the Moving Partnership, because they offered one of the cheapest prices, plus I liked Matthew, the guy I dealt with on the phone. He seemed a lot more switched on than the other people I spoke to. Some of the reps from other companies were too 'salesman' and I didn’t really like that… one of them said when they came to estimate that their service would ‘hold our hand the whole way’. Not the right thing to say to me lol – no one had held our hand this far and we were doing pretty well! So we booked with MP and the removal company they used for our goods was Hamiltons.
We went with Letton Percival for our insurance. The MP quote was cheaper than most of the other shipping estimates we had (2.3% compared to 3.3%) but I decided to shop around having read posts on here, and LP had a cheaper quote as well as including more as standard than the Moving Partnership did. The guy I spoke to at LP was very chatty and friendly as well. The only downside was there was no excess with MP, and a £250 excess with LP. More on this later!
We had a small flat crammed with stuff plus some things from my family’s house, so we used a whole 20ft container at a cost of £3765, full pack and unwrap. Once we had paid MP I then stopped dealing with Matthew and instead was passed to John, one of their sale guys. He was not quite as on the ball, I have to say. He phoned the day before the packers were due to come and told me they were on their way (driving up from Norfolk), would likely be there for 9am, but they’d phone me themselves that night. I waited… no one phoned. It was past 8pm and too late to phone the MP office....
Next morning I got up early to tidy up some bits and pieces before they arrived. Thankfully the first thing I did was have a shower and get dressed because at 7.45am I got a call from the packers saying they were here but couldn’t quite find the address! Cue much rushing about and feeling totally unready for them when they arrived – there was still stuff all over the place.
There were 2 guys doing the packing, and I’ve never known anyone drink as much tea as they did. If at all possible make sure you are not packing the kettle and have a supply of teabags, sugar and milk because you’ll need it! They flew through our possessions, reducing each room into a stack of white boxes. They must have worked until after 6pm with barely a break; say 2 x 15min tea breaks and 1 x 30min lunch. We were very impressed.
The main thing (apart from the tea supply) that I learned from the packing experience was that it’s *really important* to take time to think about what you want packed into the container and what you want to take with you in your luggage. We had several things that I remembered about too late, and a couple of things that we actually had to open and rummage through boxes to find. It would have saved a lot of hassle if, early on, I’d made a more thought-out pile of things we didn’t want packed! Similarly, put anything you don't want to take with you at all somewhere they know not to pack it - ideally out of the flat! This is something I didn't really think about, until I realised they'd packed everything under the sink, everything from the kitchen drawers, and so on.
There was still more to do and they left saying they’d be back at 7.30am the next morning, because the container was due to arrive at 10am.
They left us the bed and the PC but that was about it - we spent the night in a flat full of boxes!
The next morning they were back at 7.30am as they’d said. The container was due to arrive at 10am, but actually turned up at 8.45! One of the guys had told me yesterday that this might happen; they have 3hrs to pack the container from when it arrives, but quite often it arrives earlier than scheduled but that doesn’t change the amount of time they have to pack it. Seems a strange way to work, because in our situation they weren’t ready to fill the container at 8.45am, so they ran over their 3hrs (but only just). The container packing process was rather like giant tetris, but it all went in with room to spare (I wanted to rush off and buy more furniture). And then, at about 12pm, it drove off down the road. Very odd to see it go, all our worldly goods, in someone else's hands....
We spent 4 nights camped out in the flat before heading to the airport. I was waiting for John at MP to provide me with tracking details, but in the end I gave up and did it myself! I knew OOCL were the shipping line and I had our container number (it's written on the side of the container - I photographed it) so I went to OOCLs website and tracked it; it was reassuring to see it there, logged in to their system
We did get the tracking info by email, but only after we'd left for Canada. About a week after we arrived the company in Canada (Tippett World) got in touch regarding our delivery. They checked my details, and asked me to get in touch with the company in Halifax handling the delivery - Guardian Transfer. I didn't rush to get back in touch - things were a bit hectic and I thought we had a lot of time. The website said arrival was due to be June 7, and I'd been told to expect 1-2 weeks at customs. When I did get in touch I was surprised to find that they were hoping to deliver on June 11! Container arrives Friday... good to deliver by Tuesday! That threw me, because I hadn't expected it and we weren't ready - we didn't have a long term rental lined up. Thankfully they could hold off delivery for a week, and so a frantic search for a rental ensued. Thankfully I found somewhere!
Organising the delivery was the only point where MP almost let me down. When we'd signed up they'd asked for a delivery location. I told them we didn't know the town, but I could give a general area (Wolfville). I made it clear that it was unlikely to be in the town of Wolfville, and they said that was fine, that I could supply the actual address once I had it. When Tippetts got in touch my delivery was referred to as 'to Wolfville'. I asked them to clarify, explaining the situation, and they said that delivery had been paid for to Wolfville. I started to get concerned, because there was no way our house was going to be *in* Wolfville. I emailed Matthew and John, slightly disgruntled, saying I had told them several times that I didn't know exactly where we would be staying, and explaining that the area was made up of many very very small towns. Matthew was helpful but said he wasn't sure if there would be any extra cost for delivery outside of Wolfville. I replied again, still disgruntled, didn't hear anything but did hear from Guardian Transfer who seemed happy to deliver to our location in Canning. When Matthew did get back in touch he said the situation seemed to have resolved itself. He was very apologetic, but it was a bit of stress I could have done without. At least it worked out fine!
We arranged for delivery on Monday 17th. I was expecting the same container to arrive, but instead it was all in the back of a lorry. I was disappointed at that - I wanted our stuff to be moved around as little as possible, particularly when I wasn't there to see it - but I guess it was necessary with the week delay from arrival to delivery. 3 guys did the unloading, at super speed. They unwrapped all the furniture and put it in the rooms we wanted, and put all the boxes in the rooms we wanted too. We decided not to get them to unpack the boxes because the place is not massive and it would have led to ridiculous clutter. One bit of damage was discovered as they unwrapped - our most expensive bit of furniture (typical!) had the central supporting leg split and break. Thankfully it's not essential and you can't see it. This is where the excess kicks in... The piece is worth £300. Not worth paying the £250 excess for a new one, but had there been no excess....
As we've been unpacking I've discovered a few other small things - a bolt and foot missing from our metal bed frame, the computer is not working (I guess it didn't like the travel). I mentioned about their packing *everything*, I've found several bundles of kitchen drawer contents that really shouldn't have been packed (I don't need squashed matchboxes and loose cocktail sticks, I really don't!). However overall I'm pretty pleased with how everything has gone.
So to summarise. Moving Partnership - I would recommend to others. Shipping was very quick - faster than their estimate and so much quicker than some of the other estimates we had. Only a couple of things were broken, and all the removal guys were great. My main bits of advice would be throw away *everything* you don't want to take (start this process several days before the removal guys arrive), think carefully about what you'll need in Canada before your container arrives, and be ready for faster shipping than you've been quoted! I think if we'd taken delivery out of the container our chest of drawers probably wouldn't have ended up with a broken leg...
Sorry for the epic post, but I hope it's helpful
Jun 21st 2013, 2:25 am
#2
BE user by choice
Joined: Oct 2010
Location: A Briton, married to a Canadian, now in Fredericton.
Posts: 4,854
Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
My only complaint with your post Izzi is that you posted it after I arrived in Canada! A truly excellent post, and very true of my relationship with the Moving Partnership. We had a 40 ft container and we packed a lot of boxes some weeks prior to their arrival, but when they came they were like a band of two man whirlwinds....they attacked our home with a zeal that made me giddy, at one point we had to go out and I came back to find they had packed our immigration papers, passports and address book! Other than that, they were great, hard working and terrifyingly indefatigable...even when out batteries had long ago wound down. I too found the contents of the bottom of drawers I had no intention of taking, these lads didn't judge...they just packed!
Thank you for such a great post, it brought it all back, it's nearly a year since they arrived..never, never again
Thank you for such a great post, it brought it all back, it's nearly a year since they arrived..never, never again
Jun 21st 2013, 8:32 am
#3
Pondering a career change
Joined: May 2012
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Posts: 2,595
Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
OK I hope you're sitting comfortably because this is going to be a long post! When I was researching which company to use to ship our belongings to Canada I read a lot of posts on here, so I'd like to return the favour with our experience. Quick summary - sole use of 20ft container, 2 bedroom flat from Glasgow Scotland to Halifax Nova Scotia and then delivered to Canning.
We (or should that be I) took a looooong time deciding on a shipping company. In the end we went with the Moving Partnership, because they offered one of the cheapest prices, plus I liked Matthew, the guy I dealt with on the phone. He seemed a lot more switched on than the other people I spoke to. Some of the reps from other companies were too 'salesman' and I didn’t really like that… one of them said when they came to estimate that their service would ‘hold our hand the whole way’. Not the right thing to say to me lol – no one had held our hand this far and we were doing pretty well! So we booked with MP and the removal company they used for our goods was Hamiltons.
We went with Letton Percival for our insurance. The MP quote was cheaper than most of the other shipping estimates we had (2.3% compared to 3.3%) but I decided to shop around having read posts on here, and LP had a cheaper quote as well as including more as standard than the Moving Partnership did. The guy I spoke to at LP was very chatty and friendly as well. The only downside was there was no excess with MP, and a £250 excess with LP. More on this later!
We had a small flat crammed with stuff plus some things from my family’s house, so we used a whole 20ft container at a cost of £3765, full pack and unwrap. Once we had paid MP I then stopped dealing with Matthew and instead was passed to John, one of their sale guys. He was not quite as on the ball, I have to say. He phoned the day before the packers were due to come and told me they were on their way (driving up from Norfolk), would likely be there for 9am, but they’d phone me themselves that night. I waited… no one phoned. It was past 8pm and too late to phone the MP office....
Next morning I got up early to tidy up some bits and pieces before they arrived. Thankfully the first thing I did was have a shower and get dressed because at 7.45am I got a call from the packers saying they were here but couldn’t quite find the address! Cue much rushing about and feeling totally unready for them when they arrived – there was still stuff all over the place.
There were 2 guys doing the packing, and I’ve never known anyone drink as much tea as they did. If at all possible make sure you are not packing the kettle and have a supply of teabags, sugar and milk because you’ll need it! They flew through our possessions, reducing each room into a stack of white boxes. They must have worked until after 6pm with barely a break; say 2 x 15min tea breaks and 1 x 30min lunch. We were very impressed.
The main thing (apart from the tea supply) that I learned from the packing experience was that it’s *really important* to take time to think about what you want packed into the container and what you want to take with you in your luggage. We had several things that I remembered about too late, and a couple of things that we actually had to open and rummage through boxes to find. It would have saved a lot of hassle if, early on, I’d made a more thought-out pile of things we didn’t want packed! Similarly, put anything you don't want to take with you at all somewhere they know not to pack it - ideally out of the flat! This is something I didn't really think about, until I realised they'd packed everything under the sink, everything from the kitchen drawers, and so on.
There was still more to do and they left saying they’d be back at 7.30am the next morning, because the container was due to arrive at 10am.
They left us the bed and the PC but that was about it - we spent the night in a flat full of boxes!
The next morning they were back at 7.30am as they’d said. The container was due to arrive at 10am, but actually turned up at 8.45! One of the guys had told me yesterday that this might happen; they have 3hrs to pack the container from when it arrives, but quite often it arrives earlier than scheduled but that doesn’t change the amount of time they have to pack it. Seems a strange way to work, because in our situation they weren’t ready to fill the container at 8.45am, so they ran over their 3hrs (but only just). The container packing process was rather like giant tetris, but it all went in with room to spare (I wanted to rush off and buy more furniture). And then, at about 12pm, it drove off down the road. Very odd to see it go, all our worldly goods, in someone else's hands....
We spent 4 nights camped out in the flat before heading to the airport. I was waiting for John at MP to provide me with tracking details, but in the end I gave up and did it myself! I knew OOCL were the shipping line and I had our container number (it's written on the side of the container - I photographed it) so I went to OOCLs website and tracked it; it was reassuring to see it there, logged in to their system
We did get the tracking info by email, but only after we'd left for Canada. About a week after we arrived the company in Canada (Tippett World) got in touch regarding our delivery. They checked my details, and asked me to get in touch with the company in Halifax handling the delivery - Guardian Transfer. I didn't rush to get back in touch - things were a bit hectic and I thought we had a lot of time. The website said arrival was due to be June 7, and I'd been told to expect 1-2 weeks at customs. When I did get in touch I was surprised to find that they were hoping to deliver on June 11! Container arrives Friday... good to deliver by Tuesday! That threw me, because I hadn't expected it and we weren't ready - we didn't have a long term rental lined up. Thankfully they could hold off delivery for a week, and so a frantic search for a rental ensued. Thankfully I found somewhere!
Organising the delivery was the only point where MP almost let me down. When we'd signed up they'd asked for a delivery location. I told them we didn't know the town, but I could give a general area (Wolfville). I made it clear that it was unlikely to be in the town of Wolfville, and they said that was fine, that I could supply the actual address once I had it. When Tippetts got in touch my delivery was referred to as 'to Wolfville'. I asked them to clarify, explaining the situation, and they said that delivery had been paid for to Wolfville. I started to get concerned, because there was no way our house was going to be *in* Wolfville. I emailed Matthew and John, slightly disgruntled, saying I had told them several times that I didn't know exactly where we would be staying, and explaining that the area was made up of many very very small towns. Matthew was helpful but said he wasn't sure if there would be any extra cost for delivery outside of Wolfville. I replied again, still disgruntled, didn't hear anything but did hear from Guardian Transfer who seemed happy to deliver to our location in Canning. When Matthew did get back in touch he said the situation seemed to have resolved itself. He was very apologetic, but it was a bit of stress I could have done without. At least it worked out fine!
We arranged for delivery on Monday 17th. I was expecting the same container to arrive, but instead it was all in the back of a lorry. I was disappointed at that - I wanted our stuff to be moved around as little as possible, particularly when I wasn't there to see it - but I guess it was necessary with the week delay from arrival to delivery. 3 guys did the unloading, at super speed. They unwrapped all the furniture and put it in the rooms we wanted, and put all the boxes in the rooms we wanted too. We decided not to get them to unpack the boxes because the place is not massive and it would have led to ridiculous clutter. One bit of damage was discovered as they unwrapped - our most expensive bit of furniture (typical!) had the central supporting leg split and break. Thankfully it's not essential and you can't see it. This is where the excess kicks in... The piece is worth £300. Not worth paying the £250 excess for a new one, but had there been no excess....
As we've been unpacking I've discovered a few other small things - a bolt and foot missing from our metal bed frame, the computer is not working (I guess it didn't like the travel). I mentioned about their packing *everything*, I've found several bundles of kitchen drawer contents that really shouldn't have been packed (I don't need squashed matchboxes and loose cocktail sticks, I really don't!). However overall I'm pretty pleased with how everything has gone.
So to summarise. Moving Partnership - I would recommend to others. Shipping was very quick - faster than their estimate and so much quicker than some of the other estimates we had. Only a couple of things were broken, and all the removal guys were great. My main bits of advice would be throw away *everything* you don't want to take (start this process several days before the removal guys arrive), think carefully about what you'll need in Canada before your container arrives, and be ready for faster shipping than you've been quoted! I think if we'd taken delivery out of the container our chest of drawers probably wouldn't have ended up with a broken leg...
Sorry for the epic post, but I hope it's helpful
We (or should that be I) took a looooong time deciding on a shipping company. In the end we went with the Moving Partnership, because they offered one of the cheapest prices, plus I liked Matthew, the guy I dealt with on the phone. He seemed a lot more switched on than the other people I spoke to. Some of the reps from other companies were too 'salesman' and I didn’t really like that… one of them said when they came to estimate that their service would ‘hold our hand the whole way’. Not the right thing to say to me lol – no one had held our hand this far and we were doing pretty well! So we booked with MP and the removal company they used for our goods was Hamiltons.
We went with Letton Percival for our insurance. The MP quote was cheaper than most of the other shipping estimates we had (2.3% compared to 3.3%) but I decided to shop around having read posts on here, and LP had a cheaper quote as well as including more as standard than the Moving Partnership did. The guy I spoke to at LP was very chatty and friendly as well. The only downside was there was no excess with MP, and a £250 excess with LP. More on this later!
We had a small flat crammed with stuff plus some things from my family’s house, so we used a whole 20ft container at a cost of £3765, full pack and unwrap. Once we had paid MP I then stopped dealing with Matthew and instead was passed to John, one of their sale guys. He was not quite as on the ball, I have to say. He phoned the day before the packers were due to come and told me they were on their way (driving up from Norfolk), would likely be there for 9am, but they’d phone me themselves that night. I waited… no one phoned. It was past 8pm and too late to phone the MP office....
Next morning I got up early to tidy up some bits and pieces before they arrived. Thankfully the first thing I did was have a shower and get dressed because at 7.45am I got a call from the packers saying they were here but couldn’t quite find the address! Cue much rushing about and feeling totally unready for them when they arrived – there was still stuff all over the place.
There were 2 guys doing the packing, and I’ve never known anyone drink as much tea as they did. If at all possible make sure you are not packing the kettle and have a supply of teabags, sugar and milk because you’ll need it! They flew through our possessions, reducing each room into a stack of white boxes. They must have worked until after 6pm with barely a break; say 2 x 15min tea breaks and 1 x 30min lunch. We were very impressed.
The main thing (apart from the tea supply) that I learned from the packing experience was that it’s *really important* to take time to think about what you want packed into the container and what you want to take with you in your luggage. We had several things that I remembered about too late, and a couple of things that we actually had to open and rummage through boxes to find. It would have saved a lot of hassle if, early on, I’d made a more thought-out pile of things we didn’t want packed! Similarly, put anything you don't want to take with you at all somewhere they know not to pack it - ideally out of the flat! This is something I didn't really think about, until I realised they'd packed everything under the sink, everything from the kitchen drawers, and so on.
There was still more to do and they left saying they’d be back at 7.30am the next morning, because the container was due to arrive at 10am.
They left us the bed and the PC but that was about it - we spent the night in a flat full of boxes!
The next morning they were back at 7.30am as they’d said. The container was due to arrive at 10am, but actually turned up at 8.45! One of the guys had told me yesterday that this might happen; they have 3hrs to pack the container from when it arrives, but quite often it arrives earlier than scheduled but that doesn’t change the amount of time they have to pack it. Seems a strange way to work, because in our situation they weren’t ready to fill the container at 8.45am, so they ran over their 3hrs (but only just). The container packing process was rather like giant tetris, but it all went in with room to spare (I wanted to rush off and buy more furniture). And then, at about 12pm, it drove off down the road. Very odd to see it go, all our worldly goods, in someone else's hands....
We spent 4 nights camped out in the flat before heading to the airport. I was waiting for John at MP to provide me with tracking details, but in the end I gave up and did it myself! I knew OOCL were the shipping line and I had our container number (it's written on the side of the container - I photographed it) so I went to OOCLs website and tracked it; it was reassuring to see it there, logged in to their system
We did get the tracking info by email, but only after we'd left for Canada. About a week after we arrived the company in Canada (Tippett World) got in touch regarding our delivery. They checked my details, and asked me to get in touch with the company in Halifax handling the delivery - Guardian Transfer. I didn't rush to get back in touch - things were a bit hectic and I thought we had a lot of time. The website said arrival was due to be June 7, and I'd been told to expect 1-2 weeks at customs. When I did get in touch I was surprised to find that they were hoping to deliver on June 11! Container arrives Friday... good to deliver by Tuesday! That threw me, because I hadn't expected it and we weren't ready - we didn't have a long term rental lined up. Thankfully they could hold off delivery for a week, and so a frantic search for a rental ensued. Thankfully I found somewhere!
Organising the delivery was the only point where MP almost let me down. When we'd signed up they'd asked for a delivery location. I told them we didn't know the town, but I could give a general area (Wolfville). I made it clear that it was unlikely to be in the town of Wolfville, and they said that was fine, that I could supply the actual address once I had it. When Tippetts got in touch my delivery was referred to as 'to Wolfville'. I asked them to clarify, explaining the situation, and they said that delivery had been paid for to Wolfville. I started to get concerned, because there was no way our house was going to be *in* Wolfville. I emailed Matthew and John, slightly disgruntled, saying I had told them several times that I didn't know exactly where we would be staying, and explaining that the area was made up of many very very small towns. Matthew was helpful but said he wasn't sure if there would be any extra cost for delivery outside of Wolfville. I replied again, still disgruntled, didn't hear anything but did hear from Guardian Transfer who seemed happy to deliver to our location in Canning. When Matthew did get back in touch he said the situation seemed to have resolved itself. He was very apologetic, but it was a bit of stress I could have done without. At least it worked out fine!
We arranged for delivery on Monday 17th. I was expecting the same container to arrive, but instead it was all in the back of a lorry. I was disappointed at that - I wanted our stuff to be moved around as little as possible, particularly when I wasn't there to see it - but I guess it was necessary with the week delay from arrival to delivery. 3 guys did the unloading, at super speed. They unwrapped all the furniture and put it in the rooms we wanted, and put all the boxes in the rooms we wanted too. We decided not to get them to unpack the boxes because the place is not massive and it would have led to ridiculous clutter. One bit of damage was discovered as they unwrapped - our most expensive bit of furniture (typical!) had the central supporting leg split and break. Thankfully it's not essential and you can't see it. This is where the excess kicks in... The piece is worth £300. Not worth paying the £250 excess for a new one, but had there been no excess....
As we've been unpacking I've discovered a few other small things - a bolt and foot missing from our metal bed frame, the computer is not working (I guess it didn't like the travel). I mentioned about their packing *everything*, I've found several bundles of kitchen drawer contents that really shouldn't have been packed (I don't need squashed matchboxes and loose cocktail sticks, I really don't!). However overall I'm pretty pleased with how everything has gone.
So to summarise. Moving Partnership - I would recommend to others. Shipping was very quick - faster than their estimate and so much quicker than some of the other estimates we had. Only a couple of things were broken, and all the removal guys were great. My main bits of advice would be throw away *everything* you don't want to take (start this process several days before the removal guys arrive), think carefully about what you'll need in Canada before your container arrives, and be ready for faster shipping than you've been quoted! I think if we'd taken delivery out of the container our chest of drawers probably wouldn't have ended up with a broken leg...
Sorry for the epic post, but I hope it's helpful
Thanks for the update
Jun 21st 2013, 8:42 am
#4
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Izzi -- Stellar post. I read the whole way.
Thankyou, how generous of you. May the rest of the move be great also!
I started contacting some shipping companies but can someone tell me how much 20 foot actually holds. Are there sites for this?
Thanks,
F
Thankyou, how generous of you. May the rest of the move be great also!
I started contacting some shipping companies but can someone tell me how much 20 foot actually holds. Are there sites for this?
Thanks,
F
Jun 21st 2013, 8:59 am
#5
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Location: Airdrie, Alberta
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Izzi - thanks for the great post, we're moving in August and it's a good heads-up for us.
20 x 8 x 8 = 1280 cubic feet.
You can't really say it'll hold x sofas, y chairs and z wardrobes, if that's what you're after - everyone has different sized stuff. You need to get a guy from a shipping company to come and look at your stuff, and they'll tell you how many cubic feet you've got.
As ever, google is your friend, as is BE. They combined to produce this as the #1 search result for "how much does a 20' container hold":
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=665948
You can't really say it'll hold x sofas, y chairs and z wardrobes, if that's what you're after - everyone has different sized stuff. You need to get a guy from a shipping company to come and look at your stuff, and they'll tell you how many cubic feet you've got.
As ever, google is your friend, as is BE. They combined to produce this as the #1 search result for "how much does a 20' container hold":
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=665948
Jun 21st 2013, 9:02 am
#6
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Posts: 992
Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
20 x 8 x 8 = 1280 cubic feet.
You can't really say it'll hold x sofas, y chairs and z wardrobes, if that's what you're after - everyone has different sized stuff. You need to get a guy from a shipping company to come and look at your stuff, and they'll tell you how many cubic feet you've got.
As ever, google is your friend, as is BE. They combined to produce this as the #1 search result for "how much does a 20' container hold":
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=665948
You can't really say it'll hold x sofas, y chairs and z wardrobes, if that's what you're after - everyone has different sized stuff. You need to get a guy from a shipping company to come and look at your stuff, and they'll tell you how many cubic feet you've got.
As ever, google is your friend, as is BE. They combined to produce this as the #1 search result for "how much does a 20' container hold":
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=665948
The reason why I ask is because I contacted Whites and asked them for a quote but they said they wouldnt give me one without me specifying what size.
I in turn have no idea how to estimate
They didn't suggest any other options. Guess I'll talk to some other companies.Appreciate the input
I'll have a look at your link now! Cheers
Jun 21st 2013, 9:05 am
#7
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
(post thread link)
Oh wonderful! Thanks a million, Bucks_Family!
Oh wonderful! Thanks a million, Bucks_Family!
Jun 21st 2013, 10:46 am
#8
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Location: A Briton, married to a Canadian, now in Fredericton.
Posts: 4,854
Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Just for info, I am reliably I formed...by the packers, that Hamiltons, and The Moving Partnership...and another company down in Norfolk are all one and the same, and you can use the quote from the one to negotiate the price of the other.
We had a lot of stuff, certainly 4 sofas and one wardrobe and 140 boxes and it would have gone into a 20 footer, we only needed the 40 foot when we decided to add the car.
We had a lot of stuff, certainly 4 sofas and one wardrobe and 140 boxes and it would have gone into a 20 footer, we only needed the 40 foot when we decided to add the car.
Jun 21st 2013, 11:41 am
#9
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Joined: May 2012
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Posts: 2,595
Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Thanks so much Bucks_Family!
The reason why I ask is because I contacted Whites and asked them for a quote but they said they wouldnt give me one without me specifying what size.
I in turn have no idea how to estimate They didn't suggest any other options. Guess I'll talk to some other companies.
Appreciate the input I'll have a look at your link now! Cheers
The reason why I ask is because I contacted Whites and asked them for a quote but they said they wouldnt give me one without me specifying what size.
I in turn have no idea how to estimate
They didn't suggest any other options. Guess I'll talk to some other companies.Appreciate the input
I'll have a look at your link now! Cheers
Jun 21st 2013, 12:13 pm
#10
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Location: Nova Scotia (from Scotland)
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
glad it was helpful! This probably doesn't help but we had 205 'packages', and our container ended up about 3/4 full. Some companies estimated we'd need 900cuft, and some 750cuft. The lower quote was from. A company that sent out someone who did removals to estimate, and he was more accurate...
Jun 21st 2013, 1:08 pm
#11
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
I had read all over the forums about 20 footers but didn't really understand what that meant.
I asked what type of ranges they offered and prices, she said I would have to tell them the size I needed first.
The reason I asked though was because I was trying to see what price differences there are to consider what to realistically take (which would be worth the cost). i.e. Should I dump the bike or not etc.
When it comes down to moving ahead, I will ask them to do the estimates more reliably for quotes. Thanks, Mike.
Jun 21st 2013, 1:08 pm
#12
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
glad it was helpful! This probably doesn't help but we had 205 'packages', and our container ended up about 3/4 full. Some companies estimated we'd need 900cuft, and some 750cuft. The lower quote was from. A company that sent out someone who did removals to estimate, and he was more accurate...
Jun 21st 2013, 1:12 pm
#13
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Yes, just 205 'things' in the container. Ranging from a 3 seat sofa to a small box! As I said we had a small 2 bedroom flat but it was very full because we had some stuff from my mum and dad's house as well. I would say get a few companies out to estimate for you - even if you might not be considering them as shippers! Once you've had 2-3+ estimates you can get a good idea for what the average will be and use that.
Jun 21st 2013, 1:14 pm
#14
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Yes very true, we haven't got to that stage because I was trying to figure out what was worth taking etc. I know there is also groupage, but we were thinking whether to take the car which would fill a 20 footer I susupect.
Hope the unwrapping is going smoothly
Cheers!
floatsy
Hope the unwrapping is going smoothly
Cheers!
floatsy
Jun 21st 2013, 1:46 pm
#15
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Re: Our shipping experience - The Moving Partnership
Urgh the unwrapping.... There is so much stuff! I would think. A car would have to go in a 40ft container, but are you sure you want the hassle? I thought it had to be over 15 years old, and it'll have to be really cleaned so they don't freak out about soil coming in to the country? I don't know how it works in detail because we never considered it, but it sounded more hassle than its worth (depending on the car really).
We're currently packing up our stuff from the holiday rental to move to our long term lease... To say I'm rather fed up of packing and unpacking would be an understatement!!
We're currently packing up our stuff from the holiday rental to move to our long term lease... To say I'm rather fed up of packing and unpacking would be an understatement!!