Excess Baggage Company - Opinions, Advice
Jul 17th 2002, 1:20 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Excess Baggage Company - Opinions, Advice
Going from the UK to NZ in September, will be shipping a few items around 30 Cubic
Feet to NZ.
Thinking of using the Excess Baggage Company, Door to Door Sea Freight Service.
Because of circumstances, need to arrange for goods to follow 2-3 months later, they
offer a service of supplying packaging material at a small deposit (store packed
items with family member for a few weeks/months) then arrange for goods to be
Collected(UK) and Shipped(NZ) at which point payment in full is due.
Most other companies I have spoken to insist on collection within a 28 day period of
commencement of contract or require up to 33% deposit of total cost up front
Anyone had experience, advice, horror stories etc. using them or shipping in general.
all opinions appreciated
many thanks
Huw
Feet to NZ.
Thinking of using the Excess Baggage Company, Door to Door Sea Freight Service.
Because of circumstances, need to arrange for goods to follow 2-3 months later, they
offer a service of supplying packaging material at a small deposit (store packed
items with family member for a few weeks/months) then arrange for goods to be
Collected(UK) and Shipped(NZ) at which point payment in full is due.
Most other companies I have spoken to insist on collection within a 28 day period of
commencement of contract or require up to 33% deposit of total cost up front
Anyone had experience, advice, horror stories etc. using them or shipping in general.
all opinions appreciated
many thanks
Huw
Jul 18th 2002, 12:20 pm
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Excess Baggage Company - Opinions, Advice
Try the removals firms (e.g. Pickfords) - we shipped a container using a company
called Robinsons - they are all over the UK. It cost us around £3000 for a 22 ft
container, that was packing everything, loading it into the container and delivery to
our house (we paid about NZ$40 for a weeks extra storage and another NZ$100 or so for
customs inspections this end). This included insurance too (estimate 3% of what you
send) - the 22 foot container did an average 3 bed house, and our kids had lots of
toys. We were told that you can't get insurance unless you are professionally moved,
but this probably isn't true.
Everything went reasonably well - we had the odd broken thing - a couple of vases,
picture frames (apparently the glass nearly always breaks) and the wheels on the
Dyson vacuum were damaged (we think probably by customs, as they had that out of the
container). The agents this side (Conroys) were supposed to do a full unpack; they
helped assemble the beds, but certainly didn't do as much as the Robinsons guys did
in packing. They did however come back and remove the 150 boxes!
I know you can get part container loads, they will consolidate the load (we later
found out our stuff and another family who moved from Bristol to here had 2 x 22 ft
containers merged into one 40 footer). It took six weeks door to door.
"T.H.F.C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news
[email protected]...
> Going from the UK to NZ in September, will be shipping a few items around 30 Cubic
> Feet to NZ.
>
> Thinking of using the Excess Baggage Company, Door to Door Sea Freight Service.
>
> Because of circumstances, need to arrange for goods to follow 2-3 months later,
> they offer a service of supplying packaging material at a small deposit (store
> packed items with family member for a few weeks/months) then arrange for goods to
> be Collected(UK) and Shipped(NZ) at which point payment in full is due.
>
> Most other companies I have spoken to insist on collection within a 28 day period
> of commencement of contract or require up to 33% deposit of total cost up front
>
> Anyone had experience, advice, horror stories etc. using them or shipping in
> general.
>
> all opinions appreciated
>
> many thanks
>
> Huw
called Robinsons - they are all over the UK. It cost us around £3000 for a 22 ft
container, that was packing everything, loading it into the container and delivery to
our house (we paid about NZ$40 for a weeks extra storage and another NZ$100 or so for
customs inspections this end). This included insurance too (estimate 3% of what you
send) - the 22 foot container did an average 3 bed house, and our kids had lots of
toys. We were told that you can't get insurance unless you are professionally moved,
but this probably isn't true.
Everything went reasonably well - we had the odd broken thing - a couple of vases,
picture frames (apparently the glass nearly always breaks) and the wheels on the
Dyson vacuum were damaged (we think probably by customs, as they had that out of the
container). The agents this side (Conroys) were supposed to do a full unpack; they
helped assemble the beds, but certainly didn't do as much as the Robinsons guys did
in packing. They did however come back and remove the 150 boxes!
I know you can get part container loads, they will consolidate the load (we later
found out our stuff and another family who moved from Bristol to here had 2 x 22 ft
containers merged into one 40 footer). It took six weeks door to door.
"T.H.F.C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news
[email protected]...> Going from the UK to NZ in September, will be shipping a few items around 30 Cubic
> Feet to NZ.
>
> Thinking of using the Excess Baggage Company, Door to Door Sea Freight Service.
>
> Because of circumstances, need to arrange for goods to follow 2-3 months later,
> they offer a service of supplying packaging material at a small deposit (store
> packed items with family member for a few weeks/months) then arrange for goods to
> be Collected(UK) and Shipped(NZ) at which point payment in full is due.
>
> Most other companies I have spoken to insist on collection within a 28 day period
> of commencement of contract or require up to 33% deposit of total cost up front
>
> Anyone had experience, advice, horror stories etc. using them or shipping in
> general.
>
> all opinions appreciated
>
> many thanks
>
> Huw
Jul 18th 2002, 6:20 pm
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Excess Baggage Company - Opinions, Advice
On Thu, 18 Jul 2002 23:21:43 +1200, "Ian Guy" <[email protected]> wrote:
[msge snipped]
>This included insurance too (estimate 3% of what you send) - the 22 foot
>container did an average 3 bed house, and our kids had lots of toys. We were told
>that you can't get insurance unless you are professionally moved, but this
>probably isn't true.
PBO [packed by owner] is covered only if the pack is a total loss. It is something
one should have clarified before packing anything.
>Everything went reasonably well - we had the odd broken thing - a couple of vases,
>picture frames (apparently the glass nearly always breaks) and the wheels on the
>Dyson vacuum were damaged (we think probably by customs, as they had that out of the
>container).
Um, sounds like things weren't packed as well as they could have been. The glass
on pictures shouldn't break if packed properly. Did they use 'picture corner
blocks'? They are styrofoam blocks a frame sits into to keep them seperate from
the next picture.
I've had 3 international moves and only on my last move, from New Zealand back to the
US, was there any damage. In all 3 instances, moves were based on partly PBO and
partly packed by moving companies.
All damages were the result of the moving company's packing and the material they
used to wrap the furniture. You don't pack two glass and brass curo cabinets into a
box [each about 3 foot tall x 2 ft wide] back to back and use clothing as box fill].
[Nothing PBO in all 3 moves broke].
>The agents this side (Conroys) were supposed to do a full unpack; they helped
>assemble the beds, but certainly didn't do as much as the Robinsons guys did in
>packing. They did however come back and remove the 150 boxes!
Did they give you a choice as to unpack or not? My moves have been on the basis they
will unpack what I want which is usually only furniture. However they have always
been good at putting boxes where I want ie: kitchen, bedroom 1/2, garage etc.
Cath
[msge snipped]
>This included insurance too (estimate 3% of what you send) - the 22 foot
>container did an average 3 bed house, and our kids had lots of toys. We were told
>that you can't get insurance unless you are professionally moved, but this
>probably isn't true.
PBO [packed by owner] is covered only if the pack is a total loss. It is something
one should have clarified before packing anything.
>Everything went reasonably well - we had the odd broken thing - a couple of vases,
>picture frames (apparently the glass nearly always breaks) and the wheels on the
>Dyson vacuum were damaged (we think probably by customs, as they had that out of the
>container).
Um, sounds like things weren't packed as well as they could have been. The glass
on pictures shouldn't break if packed properly. Did they use 'picture corner
blocks'? They are styrofoam blocks a frame sits into to keep them seperate from
the next picture.
I've had 3 international moves and only on my last move, from New Zealand back to the
US, was there any damage. In all 3 instances, moves were based on partly PBO and
partly packed by moving companies.
All damages were the result of the moving company's packing and the material they
used to wrap the furniture. You don't pack two glass and brass curo cabinets into a
box [each about 3 foot tall x 2 ft wide] back to back and use clothing as box fill].
[Nothing PBO in all 3 moves broke].
>The agents this side (Conroys) were supposed to do a full unpack; they helped
>assemble the beds, but certainly didn't do as much as the Robinsons guys did in
>packing. They did however come back and remove the 150 boxes!
Did they give you a choice as to unpack or not? My moves have been on the basis they
will unpack what I want which is usually only furniture. However they have always
been good at putting boxes where I want ie: kitchen, bedroom 1/2, garage etc.
Cath
Jul 19th 2002, 3:44 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 127
Re: Excess Baggage Company - Opinions, Advice
We used excess baggage.
They came to the house for 2 days, packed everything really well, loaded the container (sole use) and away they went.
The goods arrived on time (early actually) nothing missing or broken and were delivered to the house, unpacked and positioned and boxes taken away...
All in all a good experience.
They were cheaper than Crown but interestingly they used Crown for the delivery and unpacking in NZ (despite there being an excess office in Wellington!!)
They came to the house for 2 days, packed everything really well, loaded the container (sole use) and away they went.
The goods arrived on time (early actually) nothing missing or broken and were delivered to the house, unpacked and positioned and boxes taken away...
All in all a good experience.
They were cheaper than Crown but interestingly they used Crown for the delivery and unpacking in NZ (despite there being an excess office in Wellington!!)
