Hi,
We are on our way back to the UK! Very excited but so much to figure out..
I am looking for a good international moving company and would love to hear some stories, recommendations and any advice you may have on the subject.

Who is the best out there?

Who to avoid?

What to watch for?

What to expect in terms of prices?

Sharing containers? How to? I would be open to that.

Insurance advice?

Who protect the customer? I know movers are notorious for being bullies once they have your stuff..

Shipping advice on Tax for new purchases?

Tax advice - entering unwraped goods to the UK and exporting new goods from Toronto?
We are considering buying some furniture here before we leave. I heard that if you buy new goods and get them shipped directly to the movers wearhouse stamped "Import Only" you don't need to pay Ontario taxes! Is this true???

So far I met with one company - "Taylor".
The guy made good impression and seems knowledgeable but than they all are when they bid for your business... Anyone worked with Taylor and have an opinion?

Please share. Needs help and want to book someone soon.
Many thanks.

We are moving in July from VA to Yorkshire.....I have booked a 20' container with upakweship for $4005 USD. So far they have been good with quotes, forms, emails.
Cheers
Nigel

We are also using Upakweship, from Edmo to Devon at the end of next month. Our decision was made partly on the recommendation from members of this forum.

We are getting a 20' container and hiring a moving company to do the loading. It works out much, much cheaper than the option of hiring international movers.

Our quote from Upakweship is $6750, which includes the unloading on arrival (we didn't have to book that ourselves). We are paying the company who do the loading $1,000. That's for two guys and they provide their own ramp.

You have to add to that the cost of packing materials. We will have spent around $500.

It is a lot of work packing, and you have to prepare a packing list numbering and describing every item (a box is one item). But, when we moved here in '06 we hired a well known and very expensive firm, which made a mess of packing our stuff, resulting in breakages, so we prefer it that we are doing it ourselves this time.

I moved from Calgary to Scotland in 2012. Used Starline and they were excellent. We shared a container and it cost $7712 for 370 cu ft. The downside to sharing is that you have to wait until the container is full so it can take longer. However, if we had been in a position to ship a few weeks before we did our stuff would have arrived before we did. We moved in August and received our shipment in Oct. Movers did all of the packing and everything arrived intact, including some antiques and art work. The price included crates made for the art and antiques.

I also used Starline to ship some household goods to a relative in Oz and that was another successful shipment.

Can't help on the tax situation other than I declared the items that were less than six months old and paid the appropriate tax.

Best of luck with your move.

I think Starline only operate in Calgary and Edmonton. They are the firm doing our loading for us.

Thanks everyone. I think you are right about Starline, they don't operate in Toronto.

So far I was only looking at FIDI registered companies and found:
Taylor
Brytor
AMJ Campbell International

I think Armstrong prefer only corporate moves and are the most expensive.

Has anyone had experience with any of the above?
Forum search by name was partily helpful as I only found very old posts.
If you had a recent experience please let me know. Much appreciated.

With regards to Upakweship, I found that their quote was not that cheap compare to the Door-to-Door service the others provides. You will need to factor in the packing at home and loading, which more likely be done by a second party which you will pay as well. I think I prefer one point of contact and one date for all the trouble.

Keep it coming please for any thoughts.
Cheers

Maybe it depends where you are. I haven't kept the quotes, but I got them from several international movers, and Upakweship came out thousands of dollars cheaper on every one.

Just editing this because I've found the quotes I got. Starline were the best, but even they came in at just under $17,000, so we are saving around $9,000.

Editha, that $6750 is US dollars, right?

CAD

Okay, feeling shafted here. CAD 6750 from Edmonton to Devon, yet Pete Nash quoted me USD 9000 (CAD 9768) from Kamloops, B.C. (surely closer to the coast than Edmonton is?!) to Spain. I realize the destination is different but they're both across the pond. I'm surprised at quite such a big difference. Especially as the full-service moving companies were coming in at just below $17,000, which is what Editha said she had been quoted. Go figure...

If I were you, I'd phone him and ask him about the price difference.

As an afterthought: I wonder whether you can ship direct from Canada to Spain. it is possible that it is a 2 leg sea journey, putting the price up.

It's possible that it goes through the UK first but it begs the question why? There must be ships going transatlantic directly into the Med to service all the Mediterranean countries. And, besides, our quotes for full-service movers were similar.

Anyway, I've just applied for a quote from Europack so I'll see what they say and then I will call Pete.

You could try Suddath that others on here have recommended. They're based in Florida but their quote for me came in at around CAD 13,500 (from B.C. to Spain), while others were quoting around CAD 17,000.

Upakweship quoted me USD 9000 (CAD 9824 today's rate). And, Editha, Pete Nash insists that all his quotes are in US dollars so the quote you mention on here of $6750, I guess you had already converted it to CAD for us. (Either that or you, perhaps, may want to take a closer look at your quote.)

I also asked him to quote from Kamloops to Devon for me (because I'm not entirely sold on Spain yet, hence my lurking around in this forum as well). Bearing in mind Kamloops is closer to the port of Vancouver than Edmonton is, I was surprised to receive a quote for USD 7310 (or CAD 7979). His explanation was that a truck makes a round trip from Vancouver to Kamloops and back with the container for me, whereas in Edmonton, a truck delivers a container to you from a nearby yard and it is then transported by train to Vancouver, which apparently is cheaper. Which doesn't make any sense to me when that same train will pass right through Kamloops. Hmmph! Still feeling shafted...

OK. Thanks for that deepcpearl. I had noted down the price as CAD. Oops! Not a lot of difference though, and still much below the quotes I got from other international movers.

I didn't get a quote from Suddath. They weren't mentioned when I asked for recommendations on the forum.

I have just received a quote for shipping a 20' container from B.C. to Spain (self-pack and load) for USD 5882.

Lingga (Fannie) Margosutjahjo
Allegro Freight Services Inc.
225 Main Street E., Ste 4,
Milton, ON L9T 1N9
Main Tel: 905-875-9977
Fax: 905-822-2460
Website: www.allegrofreight.com

Fannie was extremely helpful and patient, answering all my questions quickly and fully. If the service I received just obtaining the quote is anything to go by, I feel like I'm going to be in good hands. Has anybody here used them?