Hi! I posted about a month ago asking for feedback on shippers. I found a lot of information, and have now made the arrangements to have my stuff shipped back to the UK, namely London, in August. I found a recommendation for Doris Bourne of Premier Worldwide LLC. Doris was amazing. She responded quickly to my emails, even though I have a very small amount to ship. She encouraged me to call her on her cell over the weekend, which I did, and we had a long conversation. She really worked hard. In the meantime, I set up an in-home inspection with Ranier International. Brandon from CalRelo (their L.A. agents) came to my apartment early in the morning before I had to leave for work to give me an estimate. For 100 cu ft minimum, they quoted me $12.50 per cubic foot, door to door inclusive, except for customs duties or taxes. When I sent the quote to Doris, she told me that she could not possibly match the price, and that Ranier is an excellent company and she has known Doug Wiviott for years and I could be confident my shipment would be in great hands.

For her honesty, I would highly recommend Doris, particularly if you have pets. I don't, but from what I understand, she is terrific in this area too. Doris' website is www.premierworldwidesfo.com (I have no idea how to post a link). Her phone no. is 650-292-3845. Tell her Barbara from L.A. recommended her.

I hope this helps someone, because looking for shippers is a complete minefield. When I get back to the UK and finally receive my stuff, I will post as to how it all turned out.

All I have to do now is pluck up the courage to tell my boss of 20 years that I'm leaving....not being bigheaded, but I know it's going to be a shock of seismic proportions. Not easy, but family wins this game and I'm lucky enough to have family living slap bang in the middle of London, about 10 mins walk from Big Ben.

This is really helpful - thanks so much. I had this exact question.

But I have a stupid question - how much is 100 cubic feet? Is that a houseful of stuff? An apartment? Just a few pieces? We're trying to get a rough idea of costs to take some stuff back with us. I did try searching the forum but didn't seem to be able to find what I needed.

Best of luck with the move - how exciting to be on your way back home to family!!

Does anyone have any other shipping recommendations? I received a quote from echo trans world, yet after googling, have found enourmous problems with them.

Hubby wants to bring back more than I, and it's looking like 500 cubic feet is going to be $4k. From Florida to London. We can pick it up at the port, which saves several hundred.

100 cubic feet is quite a lot - from what I gather, it's about equivalent to two large refrigerators. You can search it out online to get a better idea. I have about 60 cubic feet, but once everything is palletized, the volume is bigger. Run a search under shipping on the internet for cubic footage and you will find what you need. I would check with Ranier International, they are all over the US, and will send someone out to give you a free inhome estimate.

I am really excited to be going back, but my stomach is in knots figuring out how to tell the boss. But the airfare is paid, the shipping deposit is paid, so that's the last step.

Check with Ranier International - they deal all over the US. They will send someone to your home for a free estimate, and they're honest and reliable.

Did you have your items already in boxes before they came out? I am not moving any furniture back except for a wardrobe, bed, and vanity table. But the rest are boxes, two trunks, and hubby wants to take the lawnmower back and blower as he says a good gas powered is expensive

I went to intlmovers.com where you can do an itemized list and they send it into several companies. Echo came back for about $2500 and he most expensive was $4500. Yikes.

We have our dogs to fly back as well from Sanford so I'd like to save as much as possible.

Thank you for the info!

We had 200 cu ft. That is about the back of a Transit van (UK) A bit less than an (Econoline)

Good luck!

If you think about cardboard boxes that are a foot high (most are about 15 inches tall), crammed together in one layer on the floor of a 10' by 10' room - that's 100 cubic feet.

A "houseful" for a 2-BR house would be about 1,000 cubic feet, or enough to fill a 20 ft shipping container (they are about 8ft wide and 7ft tall, so 8 x 7 x 20 = 1,120 cu ft).

No, nothing was in boxes, although I had a couple of banker's boxes purloined from the office and told them I expected to have about 8 of them. I actually am taking back several large pieces of artwork, one or two suitcases of clothing, a couple of electronic items and miscellaneous papers. The agent from CalRelo was easily able to give me an estimate just by looking.

If you're taking your dogs, I would strongly recommend Doris. I found out about her on a forum called UKYankee. After talking with her for about 30 minutes initially and plenty of emails, I would definitely have gone with her had she not been honest enough to tell me Ranier were offering me a better deal. I think Doris deals all over the USA, not just California.

I hope this helps!