pippalonghorn

Crown were my favourites until I got their quote $4,180.

Pickfords came in at $3,600 We need 302 cubic feet or 8.55 cubic metres.

I emailed Crown and they are going to try to give me a better deal so Im just waiting on them getting back to me. Will be Monday at the latest. All companies need only 2 weeks notice of a removal date.

I liked Crown and Conroys. Basically they were very professional and they took the time to explain my options and gave me tips on how to save money off insurance etc. I am going to get a quote for insurance from Letton Percival as I have been advised to off this forum.

I will keep you all updated.

ble

Thanks for the update.

We had our first open home, with four groups through and another two lots booked to come though in the next week. So things are moving this end.
But I will be honest, I am doing this one step at a time. First sell house, then organise shipping. Break it into small steps and it seems less daunting.

pippalonghorn

You're doing the right thing. Don't fill your head with thousands of jobs. One step forward at a time. good luck with the house.

davros1984

Pippa, hows it going? Whats it looking like for you i.e. shipping.

I have had the following back from Conroy's, I have to say that they have been no nonsense and quick to respond.

ORIGIN
Beach Haven, Auckland
DESTINATION
Brighton, East Sussex

QUANTITY
OPTION A) 1 cubic metre of cartons
OPTION B) 1.5 cubic metres of cartons
OPTION C) 2 cubic metres of cartons
OPTION D) 3 cubic metres of cartons

PRICE
OPTION A) NZ$710.00
OPTION B) NZ$749.00
OPTION C) NZ$849.00
OPTION D) NZ$1065.00

SERVICE
Door-Door

PACKING
All goods packed by you. (we can supply free quality second hand cartons and tape if you pack yourself)

TRANSIT TIME
Approximately 8 - 12 weeks from door to door

pippalonghorn

Hi Davros. I have sent you a PM.

Its going good at the moment. Im waiting to hear about a revised quote from Crown. I was really impressed with Conroys too. It was Laura who came out to the house and she was lovely.

Have you any ideas who youre going to go with?

davros1984

Hi Pip, I'll check your PM - thanks. Do share r.e. Crown.

If Conroys stick to those prices, probably them! We will be shipping 1.5-2 cubic metres back. My only concern is who they use on the UK side. Its go-go-go for us at the moment, trying to flog everything possible on trademe.

janeyk

Hi Pippa
Just to warn you when we went home in 2010 we had a really bad experience with Crown the salesman were lovely the crew on the ground were understaffed, untrained and did not complete packing in time so loads of our stuff was literally thrown in the van, when we got the other end crown had contracted out the job, they had renumbered every item on the packing list so out list did not correspond, (we had packed unbreakables as agreed, they repacked these pack at the depot mixing items up and to this day I still can not tell you if we have lost anything.
When the guys unloaded we were several big items missing including dinning table top, beds etc after several conversations with the Crown HQ (as they did not believe us) they found most of our stuff still sitting in NZ
we have now moved a few times and to be quite frank the sales people can say anything but what happens on the day is so different and its the luck of the draw what crew you get and the standard of service you recieve.

janeyk

PS I am on the North Shore and have lots of UK Plugs and gang planks if anyone wants them feel free to PM me

we used NZ vanlines to go home last time and they were brilliant! the stuff was so well packed far better than when it came this way!

pippalonghorn

Thanks so much for the info JaneyK. Crown came back with a revised quote of $3600. I think I will stay clear of them now. The salesmen can say anything but id rather get the info off the people who have actually used them. Think I may go with Conroys.

davros1984

Hi Pippa, let me know if you go with Conroys, I think we are just going to go with them and will be shipping our stuff in the next 2-3 weeks!

Lynda63

We returned to UK March 2011, we used Conroys for moving.

Sadly I can not recommend them,they under estimated the amount of furniture we had, so we had to pay more.

They lost our washing machine and wardrobe. The boxes which we packed ourselves had been repacked very badly. For instance we had kitchen items mixed in with tools. We had broken items as well. Luckily we had taken out insurance and were able to claim for the missing and broken items.

marooned5

Anyone tried Seven Seas for sending boxes? We are going back in April (hooray!) but are selling almost everything here in NZ before we go (we won't be staying in Blighty for more than a couple of months before the next move), so we are just sending some personal things back. Seven Seas seem quite cheap - around $160 for a largish 30kg box, prices vary according to how many you send - it's by sea with a door to door service. Has anyone used them?

davros1984

I have asked Crown and Pickfords for a quote for the following today:

QUANTITY
OPTION A) 1 cubic metre of cartons
OPTION B) 1.5 cubic metres of cartons
OPTION C) 2 cubic metres of cartons
OPTION D) 3 cubic metres of cartons

I'll let you know what they come back with.

davros1984

OK, I now have a series of quotes from Conroys, Pickfords and Crown to do a door-to-door service from Auckland to Brighton.

We are insuring our goods to a value of $6,000.

Conroys:
Option A) 1 cubic metre of cartons + Insurance =$920
Option B) 1.5 cubic metres of cartons + Insurance =$959
Option C) 2 cubic metres of cartons + Insurance =$1059
Option D) 3 cubic metres of cartons + Insturance = $1275

Pickfords:
Option A) 1 cubic metre of cartons + Insurance =$1090
Option B) 1.5 cubic metres of cartons + Insurance =$1324
Option C) 2 cubic metres of cartons + Insurance =$1558
Option D) 3 cubic metres of cartons + Insturance = $2041

Crown:
Option A) 1 cubic metre of cartons WITHOUT Insurance =$1200
Option B) 1.5 cubic metres of cartons WITHOUT Insurance = $1350
Option C) 2 cubic metres of cartons WITHOUT Insurance = $1500
Option D) 3 cubic metres of cartons WITHOUT Insurance = $1750

Crown insurance is an additional $690 for each quote.

So based on the above, we have ruled our Crown but are torn between Pickfords and Conroys.

We used Pickfords to ship here and they did an excellent job. Conroys are the cheapest, and also I have read some fairly damning reviews of Conroys.

Thoughts people? Am struggling with this, so input would certainly be welcome!

pippalonghorn

Dont ask me for advice on this one Davros. Im in the same boat and cannot decide myself.