plastics

Hi All, my wife and kids are returning from USA to the UK end of March, I will stay on with work for a bit and then also relocate back home to by end of the year. Getting quotes from a range of shipping companies but the size of container required seems to be varying too much and therefore a wide range in quotes for full packing door-to-door service - going from around $11,000 for a 1000cft/7000lb 20ft container (one company said we are just shy of that) to around $14,000 for 1300cft/8300lb taking up close to most of a 40ft container. This was based on description of major furniture items and then video survey - but puzzled as to why they cannot more accurately confirm whether this would need a 20ft or a 40ft. The above quotes are 'base' price with other variables/extras on top which makes planning a budget for this very difficult. They have also said we cannot provide a final quotation until the stuff is all palletized and in warehouse to be weighed and measured, so even if one company's video survey suggests it could squeeze into a 20ft container, by the time it is in their warehouse and they get the final measurements, we would then pay extra per cft and lb over the above container limit and then extra if it needs a 40ft rather than a 20ft container and then of course all the other potential extras such as port fees, demurrage, storage, warehouse handling etc etc..
Anybody had a similar experience - not sure whether these are tactics to hook you in for the lowest quote by saying they can confidently get you into a 20ft but cannot 'guarantee' it and so once it is already loaded in the warehouse the extra charges will then kick in anyway....
I am assuming all shipping companies provide the same process of not providing a 'finalised quote' at the time of survey, and leave scope to increase charges once it is all fully loaded?
Any recommendations for reputable companies would be most welcome!
Thanks....

SkiBoySpouse

We have been playing the same game with shippers from the west coast of the USA to the UK (to Kent) and wanted full service, packing, door to door. there were a number of variable, most specifically if they used a 'lift van' to package stuff in. The lift van essentially is a large crate where they put your boxes and furniture, and then put that into a container. Unless they are VERY good at tetris, there's likely to be a lot of empty space per lift van, which you would still be charged as your cubic feet being shipped. We had four companies doing the video assessment, and actually decided to leave a LOT of our stuff behind due to the cost per cubic foot to ship (vs purchasing similar over in the UK) and are now pretty bare bones. the basic price I found for a 20 foot container with packing and door to door service was around $12,500, with the company using the lift vans. Insurance for your items is also a consideration. It's a complicated and convoluted process.

I would look for a company which will 'palletize' your items as this will be a more accurate assessment of the cubic feet needed. As far as insurance goes, decide what you would replace, and how much it would cost to replace NEW in the UK for the value to be sure if something were to happen you would be covered.

The Lift Vans are more protective, but each hold a specific amount of cubic feet (ours were 200cubic feet each - so if we had 402 cubic feet of stuff, we would have to pay for a third lift van and pay 600 cubic feet) so are not necessarily the most efficient way to travel.

Happy to share the companies we got quotes from if you wish.

plastics

Thanks, very helpful - not heard the 'lift vans' mentioned before from the current companies, so if you could share the companies you received quotes from, that would be great...$12,500 for the 20ft 'base' price without potential extras seems around the same ball park that I am getting - I guess my issue is more whether I should expect them be able to tell whether it needs a 20ft vs 40ft from a video survey - I get that they cannot provide an exact size/weight evaluation until packed and in warehouse ready for container, so cft/lbs over the initial estimate from video survey would be paid extra, but surely they should be able to assess whether it is likely to fit into a 20ft or more likely to end up needing a 40ft....so that I can budget accordingly and even then consider whether it is a few larger items pushing it over the 20ft limit, and decide to get rid of those before the packing day, rather than get a nasty surprise once finalised in the warehouse, and then too late...

plastics

Also - how long before the 'packing up day' did you submit the TOR process online for HMRC - it sounds like I need to submit an inventory, but apart from the major furniture pieces, how accurate/exact do you need to be for the rest of the things that are going to go in boxes e.g. clothes, kitchenware, books, toys....do you itemise by exact number of objects, or by number of boxes - I won't really know the latter until the actual 'packing up' day - so can it be amended after that or does it just need to be a guesstimate e.g. >100 books, 40 toys ...
'

SkiBoySpouse

Lift Vans are wooden shipping crates.....

We got quotes from Laser International, Schumacher Logistics, Rainier Overseas Removals, and Alpha Marine

From where we are the average price was around $20 per cubic foot, plus insurance. They all have software where they input your specific info and it gives a cubic foot measurement, which all has a general weight. We originally had plans to bring a lot more but the overall cost of some of the items we were originally going to bring ended up more than purchasing new in the UK so we cut way back.

We have filled out our TOR for HMRC but havent submitted it yet. Our scheduled packing date is April 24th and it's expected to take 12 weeks or so to get to our home in the UK. I think we plan to submit the TOR around 1st April. We are following a suggestion from our chosen shipper, so have a list, like : clothing items: 250, cooking utensils: 40, pots&pans 30 etc. nothing too specific. For the insurance we have listed our items more specifically if we want them covered.

I hope this helps.

Pollyana

My TOR (last year) was a list very like that - 300 books, 40 soft toys, 100 cutlery items, 20 cushions etc. and was approved in about 3 days. As long as its approved and you can provide the number to the shippers before the goods arrive in the UK, then its OK.
The TOR is more about number of items than number of boxes, so I had one list for the TOR, itemised, and then another for the shippers with number of boxes/furniture items, plus a third for me, so I knew what was in each box!