Arty

Hi All,
looking for good removal companies to transport our belongs to Canada,have been advised that a 20ft container would be adequate.Also does anyone know of removal companies that let you pack your own goods ?

cheers
Art

ascouser

I got a quote from pss. Just over half a container £2k

Arty

Hi ascouser,was that half of a 40 foot container or 20 foot,forgive my ignorance what does PSS stand for ?
cheers for your quick reply

GrandmaLynn

we used upakweship, cost us £1700
if your interested in going down that route, your welcome to read my post on this.
whatever you decide, good luck, exciting times ahead.
Regards
Lynn

ascouser

PSS is the moving company. Based in Croydon I think. Quote guy was nice with lots of useful information. Telesales follow up has been 'keen'.

They've quoted on just over half a 40ft container but told me they will charge on what is used - so I ship less I pay less. That contains their costs for them doing the packing & materials and an estimated 3 - 7 wk ship door to door. The cost of them storing it is 172CAD per month if we don't have anywhere to put it as soon as it arrives.

I thought it was quite a good price for what they're doing - was anticipating almost double that.

the purge of my stuff begins!

happyhammers

We are using PSS as well , our quote is £1200 for personal items and our bikes

prairiechicken

We have sole use of a 20ft container with White & Co. Shipping Scotland to Vancouver Island. Price included their guys packing our possessions (2.5 days), all packing materials, 8 weeks of storage, shipping, and then unpacking the other end too. About £4800. We bought insurance separately.

Bear in mind that quotes will vary based on your location, how easy your house is to access, and obviously where you are going.

We wanted sole use of a container because it meant:
- Fixed price - no messing around with them telling our stuff would be x amount of cubic feet when actually it turned out to be more. So no nasty surprises for us (hopefully). Our container should be pretty much full when all our stuff is loaded in, but actually we have fitted more stuff into the available space than the estimator thought we could (and actually than any estimator from any of the companies I had out to quote thought).
- It'll get there faster once we give them the go ahead to ship - we aren't waiting for a groupage shipment. This should make it easier for us once we get a house there.

I had several companies out to quote:
White & Co - we chose them because their quote was best, they were the most efficient at answering all the questions I had, and because I had read good reviews of them packing in Scotland (not far from me so would be the same office) and acceptable reviews of unpacking near me on Vancouver Island.
PSS International - very nice to deal with, keen (but not pushy) follow up. Spent time looking up answers to some questions I had re customs clearance. Unfortunately a bit pricey in the end, and I was a bit put off by the fact that they had no office anywhere in Scotland - even their estimator had to come up from England to quote. Felt I was going to be paying extra for the additional transport within the UK.
GB Liners - very helpful estimator, but VERY slow to get back to me with any questions. They quoted, then dropped the price by over £1.2K when I told them what White & Co had quoted.
Crown - least helpful estimator. Spent a lot of time telling me that they are the only company that have their own people in Canada (the rest use agents), but the nearest office is Calgary, so I wasn't sure how much difference that would really make to me in the end. I had to chase their quote as it still hadn't arrived after a week (even though I was told next day). And they were quite a bit more expensive.
Pickfords - estimator was really helpful and knowledgeable when he came out, but again I had to chase the quote. Twice. And it was (I think) the most expensive.

You will find positive and negative reviews for most companies on here. Ultimately it would appear that there is an element of risk in shipping your stuff whoever you use. I took the approach of reading up on others' experiences, and then made my selection based on who I felt most happy dealing with.

Re packing your own - I think you'll need to ask the companies individually what their policies are on this, and also check whether this will affect insurance. The shipping companies' insurance policies are usually more expensive than using an independent company (I went with Letton Percival - very helpful man there will talk you through that process without any obligation and let you know whether owner-packed makes any difference to insurance).

On a personal level, I was REALLY glad I got the shipping company to pack - packing it myself was a stress I really didn't need on top of everything else those last couple of weeks in the house. We have yet to see how well it's travelled (won't be in Canada for some time yet as it's still in storage right now), but they were fast and efficient, brought all the materials with them, packed out of drawers and cupboards, and off shelves, and created an inventory at the same time. That was well worth the money as far as I was concerned.

Arty

Hi Guys many thanks for your replies ,have contacted the companies above and will let you know how they all pan out .
cheers
Arty & Co

ascouser

good luck