I have been away from this forum for a couple of years as we have been enjoying our life here in Florida. Unfortunately the time has come to move back to the UK as the parents are not getting any younger and need some care.
I have been trying to contact removal companies and feel as though I am going round in circles. I have now had 2 quotes which are completly diff and I am hopng someone out there can tell me if either are any good. We are moving from Florida (Orlando) to close to Gatwick. So far I have had quotes from Stirling ($11.315.00 !!! YIKES this is for a full packing service as they tell me you cant pack yourself ??? I know this was the case moving here, but does anyone know if that is still true moving back to the UK ? and the other quote I have had is from INTL Move. This guy has been most persistant !! almost to the annoying point, but he says we can pack and quoted about $6500 for us packing and $8300 for them to do a full pack. INTL overs just did an assesment over the phone whereas Stirling came out to assess. Both came out saying we needed a 20ft container.

Any help or advice on chosing a shipping company would be gratefully recieved as I really need to book this YESTERDAY !

One of the reasons they do not like self packing is the insurance. Ask for a detailed breakdown of the service they provide. The basic container should be around $3300 the rest is the service they provide. There is very little difference in the cost of a 20' to a 40'

Hi there
We are moving from L.A. in July and got 4 quotes with quite different results. One of the quotes was from Suddath International which is based in Florida, we worked with a guy called Chris Jenkins who was helpful. We have pretty much decided on a company based out of LA so that we don't have to deal with the time difference, but perhaps you could contact this guy in Florida? Our quotes were in the region of $11K-$12K but for a 40ft container with packing services, so I would have thought you would be paying less than that for 20ft and from FL rather than CA (no Panama canal I'm assuming).

Hope that helps! I also liked Cathy from Nelson Westerberg out of Chicago. The company we will likely go with is called Schumacher, they seem very good and offer competitive pricing.
Good Luck!!

Thank you for your reply. I have also been working with Suddath but through Stirling. I was all happy to go with them as there price seemed about right but then they realised they had mixed our quote up with another and the price went up 4000 ! so I have lost my confidence with them at the moment. Our quote out of Florida with them now stands at $11.500 for a 20ft container which seems so high.
currently my best bet is with INTLmovers but cant find anyone who has used them to ask. All the others seem to 'forget' to call back which is very annoying. I will try the other company you suggested.