pollyb

Can you let me know as well who you are using.

paul090971

if anyone fancies doing the packing themselves and wonders how much they could save then feel free to pm for more info

KJM

Paul

Put it on the thread, we would all like to know.

K

paul090971

only thing I can really add is removal companies are great when moving abroad, they do everything for you, it takes away a lot of the stress but its expensive & I'm sure people wish they could get it done cheaper.

If you are prepared to pack & load the container & get involved then its possible you could save yourself a lot of money.

Where do I help, well I own my own transport company and book containers all the time.
These companies offering £300 reductions are only reducing their profit, my company has no such margins (I WISH) and so I feel that if you want to do it yourself & save some money then I would welcome helping you guys.

KJM

Thanks Paul

Now we know what is in for you. Paul I would consider you if I had the time to pack etc but I don't. I am sure there is many people on this site who do have the time to pack and would be interested in getting a competitive price.

Good luck

K

Monkey Puzzle

Just to add some more info for you all, based on recent quotes we have received.

20ft container door-to-door from Leicestershire to Vancouver Island, BC ....price to include packing/wrapping of larger items only. (Smaller items are already packed as our household items and furniture have been in storage for 2 years.) Quotes also took into consideration that there is 50 metres from storage barn to where container can be packed up and that it all must be done in one day. No real unpacking required, just unloading into house.

I got 3 quotes online as there wasn't any need to visit to quote. Prices ranged from $4015 to $4550. I've gone with Robinsons as I was impressed with them and I'm sure I read on here somewhere that they had provided a good service. (Oh, eck, don't correct me if I'm wrong there! ) Anyway, they weren't the cheapest (in the middle) but they bettered my best quote so I was very happy with that. (Insurance is 3% of insured value.) Thanks to advice on here I checked out that they will use a reputable third party this end. There are weekly sailings from the UK and apparently it takes 17 days from UK port to Vancouver terminal. (We'll see )

Also, they were able to tell me that the Fast Track Customs Clearance at Vancouver is no longer in operation (a very recent development) and that I'll need to go in person. I might find that quite exciting! (I'm sad, I know...)

Good luck to everyone organising shipping. It'll be so nice to have our things again (especially after 2 years).

Sharonanana

That's interesting Monkey Puzzle- I always assumed the packing would make up a bigger chunk of the cost, but by your prices it's not that much cheaper to pack your own. The quotes I had for about the same volume but packed by the companies came out only a few hundred pounds more.
Thanks for the info.

That's interesting, too, although the self-packing version priced by Monkey Puzzle looks like I wouldn't save very much money after all.

Or am I just not understanding it properly?

Monkey Puzzle

The quotes did take into consideration that furniture items are to be wrapped by them (3-bed house worth) and everything taken down a 50m lane at the English end to where the lorry can park. They reckon they can do that in a day, but it will be long day, just to give you an idea of how much time it will still take to pack/organise container on site. The price also reflects that the container is to be delivered door-to-door just about as far west in Canada as you can go, including a ferry ride to Vancouver Island once the container has cleared customs in Vancouver. The third party Canada-side is vetted and a member of the FIDI regulatory body, apparently...

I wouldn't have wanted to be organising all the elements myself and am happy to pay a wee bit extra to have the help/peace of mind.

Fingers crossed for its safe arrival, of course!!


Good luck with whatever option you go for..

The Ross Family

hi all

Well now have 5 quotes ranging from £6k down to just over £5k. Don't seem to be able to get much off by trying to barter them off one against the other. Wondering maybe that as we are not going until Feb '09 they aren't that fussed!:curse:

Wouldn't mind but don't have that much stuff left now anyway.

Tracie107

We used Robinsons, sole 20ft container arrived exactly 5 weeks later with only a table leg broken. Didn't worry about making a claim as I was just pleased the rest of my furniture arrived intact.

Robinson's were great not a single problem- well worth £6,000

KJM

Hi RF

Is it because you have a lot of items to be boxed?

My fav company sent me a letter on Tuesday telling me that due to currency rates they have increase my price by £175.00. I am now working on the company to drop the price by £75....WE WILL SEE and to confirm that this is the final price.

K

treehavn

We've got the quotes people from Robinsons, GB Liners, Fox, and Bournes coming around next Wednesday (depending on price, hopefully moving the week after that). It's for a 2 bed leaving behind a lot of junk - I'll let you know how the prices compare. Methinks we'll get hit for being on the second floor of a period building with teeny-weeny windy stairs and no lift (and then a 30 yard unpaved alleyway to the street).

paul090971

My fav company sent me a letter on Tuesday telling me that due to currency rates they have increase my price by £175.00. I am now working on the company to drop the price by £75....WE WILL SEE and to confirm that this is the final price.

Strange of them to do that, on Monday it was $1.48 yet today its $1.54, based on $4500 thats a decrease in costs of £118.47. I know back in October it was $1.73 so maybe they are averaging out their losses. It may have gone up £350! Also the shipping lines set the seafreight & fuel surcharges at the start on each month so everyone is waiting to see if the fuel surcharge drops again like last month. If it was me moving, then I would ask when you finally say right I need a container, whats the current cost of all of this!

gillevans

Hi

We packed cosmetics and showgel, plus my favourite cleaning product which was just as well as those items are expensive over here? It might just be they are worried incase the spill!

gillevans

Hi

We packed cosmetics and showgel, plus my favourite cleaning product which was just as well as those items are expensive over here? I just could not pack items that were likely to spill! We wished we had marked on the boxes what had been packed and not the packers as they did not mark what room the items were from and the markings were very basic. Also, we wished we had not booked storage until the cargo ship had left as our goods did not finally arrive until a month later and we wasted a months rent. In addition we were told we had to be there at the port of entry when our goods arrived in Vancouver and which was a nuisance as we were in Penticton a 6 hour drive away from Vancouver. However on contacting our shipping agents we only had to go to the customs in Penticton to receive our goods. Meanwhile, We had booked a hire car which we had arranged to be dropped back in Vancouver, as were expecting to have to go back there. When we asked the car hire company if we could drop it off at one of their brances near us they wanted C$800.00. All in all our moving experience was not a good one and we are still wading through our boxes in storage to see what is in them, as our present accomodation is furnished!