recent shipping experiences?
Feb 16th 2014, 8:06 pm
#31
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 992
Re: recent shipping experiences?
Good price. Thx for sharing. Ditto to what TJ says
Feb 18th 2014, 4:32 pm
#32
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 49
Re: recent shipping experiences?
My advice? Avoid John Mason's from Liverpool, useless at packing and don't give a monkey's when you complain, we had lots of damaged goods we can't replace, never again!!
Apr 8th 2014, 3:15 pm
#33
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2009
Location: Blackpool
Posts: 220
Re: recent shipping experiences?
I chose my removal companies based on information on this forum so I thought I’d give feedback on our shipping experience. We have just had our furniture successfully delivered intact with absolutely no breakages or damage whatsoever.
I called White and Company, GB Liners and Pickfords to give quotes for a 40 foot container from Blackpool, UK to Southampton, Ontario. They all quoted similar cubic feet, similar delivery times and Whites and GB Liners were very similar in price. There were two things that made Whites stand out for us. Whites were located very close to us and offered to bring back any items that wouldn’t fit in the container. Whites also didn’t insist that we use their insurance, the other companies did.
I’d read on the forum that Letton Percival in Liverpool were very competitive for marine insurance, they quoted 1.4% as opposed to the 2.5% quoted by the other companies. As it happens, we don’t need to claim so that was a good saving we made.
Once we’d made our decision, Whites were excellent at communicating and answering our many email enquiries. Whites work with Tippet in Canada but I’d read such horror stories on the forum so we went with another company, Brytor. The packing in the UK went well and took about 3 days. In the end they managed to make everything fit into the 40 foot container.
The furniture took about 4 weeks to get from Liverpool to Montreal and then just over a week to get to Toronto. We went to Toronto to pay the duty on the alcohol we’d declared (we had 16 bottles of good wine and paid $30) and then went to customs to have the container released. We paid for a full day parking as we didn’t know how long it would take and we were finished in 30 minutes. It was very quick and easy. The furniture was delivered the next day and it only took one day rather than the two quoted.
I can’t recommend Whites and Brytor highly enough. The packers in the UK and Brytor in Canada were professional, they listened to what we wanted and they did the job very quickly and efficiently. I thought that the shipping would be one of the more stressful parts of this move and Whites and Brytor both made it stress-free.
I called White and Company, GB Liners and Pickfords to give quotes for a 40 foot container from Blackpool, UK to Southampton, Ontario. They all quoted similar cubic feet, similar delivery times and Whites and GB Liners were very similar in price. There were two things that made Whites stand out for us. Whites were located very close to us and offered to bring back any items that wouldn’t fit in the container. Whites also didn’t insist that we use their insurance, the other companies did.
I’d read on the forum that Letton Percival in Liverpool were very competitive for marine insurance, they quoted 1.4% as opposed to the 2.5% quoted by the other companies. As it happens, we don’t need to claim so that was a good saving we made.
Once we’d made our decision, Whites were excellent at communicating and answering our many email enquiries. Whites work with Tippet in Canada but I’d read such horror stories on the forum so we went with another company, Brytor. The packing in the UK went well and took about 3 days. In the end they managed to make everything fit into the 40 foot container.
The furniture took about 4 weeks to get from Liverpool to Montreal and then just over a week to get to Toronto. We went to Toronto to pay the duty on the alcohol we’d declared (we had 16 bottles of good wine and paid $30) and then went to customs to have the container released. We paid for a full day parking as we didn’t know how long it would take and we were finished in 30 minutes. It was very quick and easy. The furniture was delivered the next day and it only took one day rather than the two quoted.
I can’t recommend Whites and Brytor highly enough. The packers in the UK and Brytor in Canada were professional, they listened to what we wanted and they did the job very quickly and efficiently. I thought that the shipping would be one of the more stressful parts of this move and Whites and Brytor both made it stress-free.
Apr 8th 2014, 3:43 pm
#34
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,159
Re: recent shipping experiences?
I chose my removal companies based on information on this forum so I thought I’d give feedback on our shipping experience. We have just had our furniture successfully delivered intact with absolutely no breakages or damage whatsoever.
I called White and Company, GB Liners and Pickfords to give quotes for a 40 foot container from Blackpool, UK to Southampton, Ontario. They all quoted similar cubic feet, similar delivery times and Whites and GB Liners were very similar in price. There were two things that made Whites stand out for us. Whites were located very close to us and offered to bring back any items that wouldn’t fit in the container. Whites also didn’t insist that we use their insurance, the other companies did.
I’d read on the forum that Letton Percival in Liverpool were very competitive for marine insurance, they quoted 1.4% as opposed to the 2.5% quoted by the other companies. As it happens, we don’t need to claim so that was a good saving we made.
Once we’d made our decision, Whites were excellent at communicating and answering our many email enquiries. Whites work with Tippet in Canada but I’d read such horror stories on the forum so we went with another company, Brytor. The packing in the UK went well and took about 3 days. In the end they managed to make everything fit into the 40 foot container.
The furniture took about 4 weeks to get from Liverpool to Montreal and then just over a week to get to Toronto. We went to Toronto to pay the duty on the alcohol we’d declared (we had 16 bottles of good wine and paid $30) and then went to customs to have the container released. We paid for a full day parking as we didn’t know how long it would take and we were finished in 30 minutes. It was very quick and easy. The furniture was delivered the next day and it only took one day rather than the two quoted.
I can’t recommend Whites and Brytor highly enough. The packers in the UK and Brytor in Canada were professional, they listened to what we wanted and they did the job very quickly and efficiently. I thought that the shipping would be one of the more stressful parts of this move and Whites and Brytor both made it stress-free.
I called White and Company, GB Liners and Pickfords to give quotes for a 40 foot container from Blackpool, UK to Southampton, Ontario. They all quoted similar cubic feet, similar delivery times and Whites and GB Liners were very similar in price. There were two things that made Whites stand out for us. Whites were located very close to us and offered to bring back any items that wouldn’t fit in the container. Whites also didn’t insist that we use their insurance, the other companies did.
I’d read on the forum that Letton Percival in Liverpool were very competitive for marine insurance, they quoted 1.4% as opposed to the 2.5% quoted by the other companies. As it happens, we don’t need to claim so that was a good saving we made.
Once we’d made our decision, Whites were excellent at communicating and answering our many email enquiries. Whites work with Tippet in Canada but I’d read such horror stories on the forum so we went with another company, Brytor. The packing in the UK went well and took about 3 days. In the end they managed to make everything fit into the 40 foot container.
The furniture took about 4 weeks to get from Liverpool to Montreal and then just over a week to get to Toronto. We went to Toronto to pay the duty on the alcohol we’d declared (we had 16 bottles of good wine and paid $30) and then went to customs to have the container released. We paid for a full day parking as we didn’t know how long it would take and we were finished in 30 minutes. It was very quick and easy. The furniture was delivered the next day and it only took one day rather than the two quoted.
I can’t recommend Whites and Brytor highly enough. The packers in the UK and Brytor in Canada were professional, they listened to what we wanted and they did the job very quickly and efficiently. I thought that the shipping would be one of the more stressful parts of this move and Whites and Brytor both made it stress-free.
Apr 9th 2014, 7:39 pm
#35
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Montreal
Posts: 651
Re: recent shipping experiences?
I chose my removal companies based on information on this forum so I thought I’d give feedback on our shipping experience. We have just had our furniture successfully delivered intact with absolutely no breakages or damage whatsoever.
I called White and Company, GB Liners and Pickfords to give quotes for a 40 foot container from Blackpool, UK to Southampton, Ontario. They all quoted similar cubic feet, similar delivery times and Whites and GB Liners were very similar in price. There were two things that made Whites stand out for us. Whites were located very close to us and offered to bring back any items that wouldn’t fit in the container. Whites also didn’t insist that we use their insurance, the other companies did.
I’d read on the forum that Letton Percival in Liverpool were very competitive for marine insurance, they quoted 1.4% as opposed to the 2.5% quoted by the other companies. As it happens, we don’t need to claim so that was a good saving we made.
Once we’d made our decision, Whites were excellent at communicating and answering our many email enquiries. Whites work with Tippet in Canada but I’d read such horror stories on the forum so we went with another company, Brytor. The packing in the UK went well and took about 3 days. In the end they managed to make everything fit into the 40 foot container.
The furniture took about 4 weeks to get from Liverpool to Montreal and then just over a week to get to Toronto. We went to Toronto to pay the duty on the alcohol we’d declared (we had 16 bottles of good wine and paid $30) and then went to customs to have the container released. We paid for a full day parking as we didn’t know how long it would take and we were finished in 30 minutes. It was very quick and easy. The furniture was delivered the next day and it only took one day rather than the two quoted.
I can’t recommend Whites and Brytor highly enough. The packers in the UK and Brytor in Canada were professional, they listened to what we wanted and they did the job very quickly and efficiently. I thought that the shipping would be one of the more stressful parts of this move and Whites and Brytor both made it stress-free.
I called White and Company, GB Liners and Pickfords to give quotes for a 40 foot container from Blackpool, UK to Southampton, Ontario. They all quoted similar cubic feet, similar delivery times and Whites and GB Liners were very similar in price. There were two things that made Whites stand out for us. Whites were located very close to us and offered to bring back any items that wouldn’t fit in the container. Whites also didn’t insist that we use their insurance, the other companies did.
I’d read on the forum that Letton Percival in Liverpool were very competitive for marine insurance, they quoted 1.4% as opposed to the 2.5% quoted by the other companies. As it happens, we don’t need to claim so that was a good saving we made.
Once we’d made our decision, Whites were excellent at communicating and answering our many email enquiries. Whites work with Tippet in Canada but I’d read such horror stories on the forum so we went with another company, Brytor. The packing in the UK went well and took about 3 days. In the end they managed to make everything fit into the 40 foot container.
The furniture took about 4 weeks to get from Liverpool to Montreal and then just over a week to get to Toronto. We went to Toronto to pay the duty on the alcohol we’d declared (we had 16 bottles of good wine and paid $30) and then went to customs to have the container released. We paid for a full day parking as we didn’t know how long it would take and we were finished in 30 minutes. It was very quick and easy. The furniture was delivered the next day and it only took one day rather than the two quoted.
I can’t recommend Whites and Brytor highly enough. The packers in the UK and Brytor in Canada were professional, they listened to what we wanted and they did the job very quickly and efficiently. I thought that the shipping would be one of the more stressful parts of this move and Whites and Brytor both made it stress-free.
Brytor is one of the companies that has been round to quote. Unfortunately they have come out at $2000 more than the others so although I would like to use them not sure I can justify that much more money! I have asked them if they can come down at all, will have to wait and see.
Apr 9th 2014, 7:57 pm
#36
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 992
Re: recent shipping experiences?
We had a poor experience with White Company so I suggest you check your local branch and don't go via the online reviews online. Very unprofessional, didn't follow through on promises. Caveat emptor. 
Jun 7th 2014, 8:51 pm
#37
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 29
Re: recent shipping experiences?
We're about to ship with GB Liners having also had quotes from White & Co and Sandersteads. In terms of the sales end in the UK they have impressed us the most. GB Liners guy came to quote, the paperwork was sent out the next day and he called a week later to check we'd received it and see if we had any questions.
White & Co seemed competent when doing the site visit but we would have had to use Tippets on the other side which makes me nervous after reading the forums here! They also sent the quote out the next day but to the wrong email address and never phoned to follow up, it was us phoning them to find out where things were.
Sanderstead left me wondering why I'd contacted them. I made initial enquiries by telephone and was sent out a spreadsheet for my completion to base the estimate on. I struggled to find time to do this but no site visit was possible without me completing the form. Nobody followed up when I hadn't completed the forms 3 weeks later and communications were generally less professional than the other two companies (which isn't a deal breaker in my mind for a removals firm but didn't help!). I did do the forms and the quote came back promptly but I had to request more information to make sense of it and I seem to have overestimated by 50% in comparison to the professionals so obviously Sanderstead comes out looking very expensive at first.
With each of the quotations I had to make a separate request to be told how many cu ft the quote was based on which was pretty important information for evaluating the quote imho (esp given my over-estimation!). No problems getting the information once requested though. So we're going with GB Liners and we'll see what happens next...
White & Co seemed competent when doing the site visit but we would have had to use Tippets on the other side which makes me nervous after reading the forums here! They also sent the quote out the next day but to the wrong email address and never phoned to follow up, it was us phoning them to find out where things were.
Sanderstead left me wondering why I'd contacted them. I made initial enquiries by telephone and was sent out a spreadsheet for my completion to base the estimate on. I struggled to find time to do this but no site visit was possible without me completing the form. Nobody followed up when I hadn't completed the forms 3 weeks later and communications were generally less professional than the other two companies (which isn't a deal breaker in my mind for a removals firm but didn't help!). I did do the forms and the quote came back promptly but I had to request more information to make sense of it and I seem to have overestimated by 50% in comparison to the professionals so obviously Sanderstead comes out looking very expensive at first.
With each of the quotations I had to make a separate request to be told how many cu ft the quote was based on which was pretty important information for evaluating the quote imho (esp given my over-estimation!). No problems getting the information once requested though. So we're going with GB Liners and we'll see what happens next...
Jun 8th 2014, 6:30 pm
#38
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 858
Re: recent shipping experiences?
Everyone differs but we found White to be inconsistent with their messages, promising but not following through, and to be thoroughly unprofessional in stance.
Jun 9th 2014, 3:15 am
#39
Pondering a career change
Joined: May 2012
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Posts: 2,595
Re: recent shipping experiences?
We're about to ship with GB Liners having also had quotes from White & Co and Sandersteads. In terms of the sales end in the UK they have impressed us the most. GB Liners guy came to quote, the paperwork was sent out the next day and he called a week later to check we'd received it and see if we had any questions.
White & Co seemed competent when doing the site visit but we would have had to use Tippets on the other side which makes me nervous after reading the forums here! They also sent the quote out the next day but to the wrong email address and never phoned to follow up, it was us phoning them to find out where things were.
Sanderstead left me wondering why I'd contacted them. I made initial enquiries by telephone and was sent out a spreadsheet for my completion to base the estimate on. I struggled to find time to do this but no site visit was possible without me completing the form. Nobody followed up when I hadn't completed the forms 3 weeks later and communications were generally less professional than the other two companies (which isn't a deal breaker in my mind for a removals firm but didn't help!). I did do the forms and the quote came back promptly but I had to request more information to make sense of it and I seem to have overestimated by 50% in comparison to the professionals so obviously Sanderstead comes out looking very expensive at first.
With each of the quotations I had to make a separate request to be told how many cu ft the quote was based on which was pretty important information for evaluating the quote imho (esp given my over-estimation!). No problems getting the information once requested though. So we're going with GB Liners and we'll see what happens next...
White & Co seemed competent when doing the site visit but we would have had to use Tippets on the other side which makes me nervous after reading the forums here! They also sent the quote out the next day but to the wrong email address and never phoned to follow up, it was us phoning them to find out where things were.
Sanderstead left me wondering why I'd contacted them. I made initial enquiries by telephone and was sent out a spreadsheet for my completion to base the estimate on. I struggled to find time to do this but no site visit was possible without me completing the form. Nobody followed up when I hadn't completed the forms 3 weeks later and communications were generally less professional than the other two companies (which isn't a deal breaker in my mind for a removals firm but didn't help!). I did do the forms and the quote came back promptly but I had to request more information to make sense of it and I seem to have overestimated by 50% in comparison to the professionals so obviously Sanderstead comes out looking very expensive at first.
With each of the quotations I had to make a separate request to be told how many cu ft the quote was based on which was pretty important information for evaluating the quote imho (esp given my over-estimation!). No problems getting the information once requested though. So we're going with GB Liners and we'll see what happens next...
Jun 9th 2014, 10:52 am
#40
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 29
Re: recent shipping experiences?
Keep on eye on GB Liners packing as they did not properly wrap some of our ceramic pots and then put garden stuff in a box with china. The result a fair few breakages. Check with the furniture thats wrapped well and keep eye on the people on the Canadian end. Some furniture was damaged in transit and for example our sofa was cut on the underneath by over zealous unpacking at this end.
Jun 9th 2014, 1:37 pm
#41
Pondering a career change
Joined: May 2012
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Posts: 2,595
Jun 9th 2014, 9:42 pm
#42
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2014
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 29
Re: recent shipping experiences?
I'm sorry you had to go through the bad experience first though Mikeypm. I hope you were compensated and that you didn't lose items of too much sentimental value.
Jun 10th 2014, 5:04 am
#43
Pondering a career change
Joined: May 2012
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Posts: 2,595
Re: recent shipping experiences?
