DeepThought

Hi,

Further to my previous post about my insurance with OSS Worldwide, they are flatly refusing to honour the claim, so my advice to anyone taking out (non)insurance is to make sure you know exactly what is covered. This will relate to any shipping firm not just OSS.

Small items, ornaments, furniture etc, is probably not worth insuring unless it is worth alot, the packaging is usually very thorough, and the amount of paper and bubble wrap they use is usually on the excess, so it is unlikely these things will get damaged.

If your taking TVs, PCs electrical stuff, then investigate the Mechanical/Electrical derangement option on the insurance as they probably won't mention it. If anything goes wrong with anything under this category and you don't have this, then you have no chance of pursuing a claim. My Pc was totally defunct when I got it, and my less than 6months old Sony Tv is damaged (cost of repair £800:scared: ), and although the damage is visible on screen, they just don't want to know , so beware !!

It's tempting to insure everything, but it is absolutely not worth it. Keep your money rather than throwing it down the nearest insurance drain!!

bromleygirl

Thanks - that's good to know as I am shipping my PC etc.

Where did you move from and were you there when they packed your stuff?

All these stories of shipping problems is really making me worried. I think I'm going to pack all my important stuff like photos, documents etc in my hand luggage.

DeepThought

Moved back from Brisbane to UK. OSS is a company used by John Mason in Oz. I have no complaint against the packing, both companies were absolutely fine, you just have to be careful how much you spend on the insurance, as if their a reputable firm, they pack everything v.well, so breakages are unlikely. I brought 3 TVs back, and unfortunately only 1 had a problem, which was the newest and most expensive one (that's life).

My PC needed a new motherboard and processor, but again werent covered as no physical damage. You must specifically ask about taking out electrical and mechanical derangement to cover these items, otherwise, unless they drop them and cause physical damage to the exterior you have no chance !!

loubol

I have to say I had no trouble shipping my stuff back from the Netherlands. I used AA Verhuizers - they offered a very competitive quote and a first class service. Everything arrived intact and in full working order, including my precious PC and TV. I would recommend them to anyone shipping back from NL.

Maybe it was because they are a small family firm. Certainly I was warned against using bigger, more global companies.

The lads that packed up the lorry and then delivered at this end were fantastic - I tipped them well both times and it was worth it.

bromleygirl

I'm looking at going with Allied in the States to ship back to the UK who are actually Allied Pickfords in the UK.

Has anyone heard anything bad or good about Allied?

Maggs

Hi

I used Allied Pickfords twice from UK to US. Once last year and once this year. They were excellent. They packed everything up very well. A whole Wedgewood dinner service arrived here no problems along with some antique furniture. They either wrote to me or phoned me every step ofthe way on both occasions. Both shipments were delivered to my house in the US exactly 8 weeks after they were packed in the UK which was what they said they would do. They were a bit more pricey than another quote I got but well worth it.

Good luck.

Maggie

Glaswegian

We used Allied to ship from the Uk to Canada. They were very professional until they had our stuff in their container on the way to the port. At that point we got a phone call saying they had made a mistake in the quote and wanted an extra GBP1200 - and it wasnt cheap to start with. My wife dealt with this so after about 30minutes of talking they backed down - I think only because she knew enough about contract law to argue back!

They did break a couple of things but the insurance paid over the whole GBP43 we claimed!

The company delivering in Canada was very good. They were selected by Allied .

My only warning would be to watch each packer during the process - we had empty space we could have filled.

Rosy

We used Allied Pickfords to move back from Brisbane to the UK last year. I would NEVER use them again. They lost our car (!!!), put our goods on a different ship to the one they had told us it was going on, so everything was delayed by weeks, and caused £000's of damage, but we had so much trouble trying to get anything back from the insurance claim...

someone has mentioned electrical/mechanical derangement - we didn't take this out and they refused (at first) to pay out for our computer, until we took a photograph showing damage to the tower unit housing and eventually got the claim passed, they also refused to pay out on a brand new dining suite as we hadn't paid for "sets" coverage, despite the fact that they completely smashed the table (4 inch thick Tasmanian wood).

The allied Pickfords packers in Oz were useless, and the staff in the UK didn't really want to know when we complained.

We used PSS to move from UK to Oz and they were brilliant.

aich

Hi Again
I got quotes from a number of companies - including the UNIWORLD that another member of this forum has had difficulty with! Allied visited my home and did a very thorough survey and quote. I have in fact picked Mayflower to use for the simple reason their follow-up, letters of reference and attention to detail impressed me most. Allied were great but the agent acting on their behalf let himself down on his follow-up and depth of knowledge on customs regulations and paperwork etc. Mayflower have agents throughout the US and seemed to have more experience in shipping overseas than anyother company I talked too. They have a website - don't have specific address at hand but just do a search for Mayflower Movers and see what you think.
I read the thread regarding shipping PC's TV's etc. A little concerned now with regard to PC as we also intended to take ours back - as far as the TV's go? Would they work there? We were told that the screen lines are different and could not be modified? Have I sold our big screen for nothing!!

DeepThought

Depends where your coming from or going to. If your TV was under 18months old and you were going to/coming back from OZ, then I doubt you would have had a problem as ours worked fine. If it's another country then possibly wouldn't work.