Posidrive

We're somewhat overwelmed by the number of companies that do international removals, so who has had good/bad experiences with particular companies?

CDNReturner

I used Allied-Pickfords to Toronto this past summer, the packers were superb and I had no doubt that everything would arrive here as it left....and it did! Via their groupage it took just over 7 weeks to get here.

Yes, they were a bit pricey but with other peoples recommendations that I had from this site I decided to go with a company I felt most comfortable with. The admin part on the UK end though I did feel was a bit lacking.

Pretty Flowers

I had a quote from Allied Pickfords yesterday at £1750, which has so far turned out to be the cheapest. And at least they do the packing for you too.
Also a friend of mine moved to Montreal with them, and had a hassle free move!

stepnek

We used Allied Pickfords who packed our stuff on the 16th September and we are still waiting for it to arrive so I'm beginning to feel a little less impressed with them. We also have now been told that we'll have to go and sign some forms at Customs when the stuff arrives which was a surprise because we thought we were paying for a service which promised to take care of everything including all paperwork.

Rhodes

Our quote from Allied Pickfords was the most expensive. We will probably use Robinsons. I had a good feeling about them. We also got quotes from Anglo-Pacific, Dolphin and Britannia. Dolphin were the cheapest, but their estimated volume was 440 cubic feet, where the highest, from Britannia, was 670 cubic feet. Robinsons estimated 630 cubic feet, the second highest, and I thought that would give us a bit of leeway.

In fact, we'll want to move our stuff as soon as possible after we exchange contracts on the house, and we'd be happy to use any of the above if they can get here quickly, so it might come down to that.

farmgirl

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we got quotes from britannia and robinsons, britannia was slow to put it in writing and it was about 30% dearer than robinsons
robinsons were really great we dealt with oxford and they arranged things at short notice and the packers were professional and went to,length to cover carpet etc , it was 5,500 pounds 20ft container uk to regina
we paid them topack as we had some expensive oak furniture that wouldnt have been insured if we had
HOWEVER it then all fell to bits they arrange things in canada via williams in calgary who delegated it to rays in regina
williams were USELESS they didnt tell us our cheque for extra storage hadnt arrived and stopped our delivery , we were waiting at the house like lemons in the snow and they would only take a written credit card details so we had to drive 30 mins to our rental home that had a phone line unpack find fax find paper send fax still no removal van next day which was a bank holiday in uk , upon ringing williams they said it was because they had to clear it with robinsons who were closed for BH
why didnt thay say that before we had all that hassle unpacking to find a fax!!! we neednt have rushed and what on earth dd they have to check with robinsons , they had a cheque for our money 3 months previous finally sorted out and then the local delivery firm said too late missed your slot not coming!!
had to wait a week , i also got the impression williams really squeezed rays for price and it affected the service we got
we had some small breakages and at that point robinsons didnt want to know and robinsons didnt return any of my calls or written complaint about williams
the damage was minor but irritating , we went to buy hay for animals last week and it was from a yorkshire couple who had robinsons boxes piled high
surprise surprise , i said how did it go and they said williams were useless and the local company demolished so much guttering etc they ordered them off the premises after 30 mins
they had a lot more broken , ornaments , surf boards and it was all put on them to get quotes , they were supposed to send the china to alberta for quotes , pay costs of appraisal etc and there was no garantee it wouldnt get more smashed whilst being delivered , and try getting quotes for damaged surf boards in land locked sask! our impression is the insurance is only worthwhile if the boat sinks or you loose the lot somehow
our container was opened by customs for a search , we had been over cautious and left all garden equipment , whicker etc but they still opened cabinets that had keys taped to them and didnt put the keys back ! lucky we had spares , so we were charged $35 for losing our keys , thanks guys

we are really glad we brought our stuff , its great to see our furniture in our new home and we look forward to using our collection of xmas decorations , like most families collected over the years and 50% bits the kids made , wouldnt be the same without

warning though dont put anything sentimental in the shipment , some frineds of our lost wedding photos etc in the ware hopuse fire after it landed before delivered to them , so we packed that and kids baby photos in our hand luggage

the-smiths

We used PSS, and they were very efficient, delivering everything to our doorstep intact. Others that we tried a quote from, include:


http://www.shipit.co.uk/
http://www.alliedpickfords.com/
http://www.bishopsmove.com/
http://www.britannia-movers.co.uk/
http://www.excessbaggage.com/
http://www.johnmason.com/int_home.html
http://www.martells.co.uk/international_removals.html
http://www.pss.uk.com/

red rabbit

Hi the smiths.
What made you choose PSS?
Where in Canada have you settled?
Did you have a whole container?
What were the costs like?
Red Rabbit