rick78

Ok, I know this has definitely been a thread somewhere but...

I've contacted the HR and they said you can go with Crown and they'll pay the first chunk or I can find alternative arrangements and they'll reimburse me when we arrive.

So my plan is to call Crown for a quote... and then call a couple more and choose the most competitive (and the one with the best rep!).

So guys, who do you recommend? All I've really heard about is Crown!

Also is it possible, if we get a container (which we are almost certainly will do) can I put my motorcycle in it? Will the shipping company be used to doing this?

Also, approximate costs... 3k? 4k? all in with insurance?

Thanks in advance... oh, and tonight is EOI submission night!

theRices

We had Crowns round, they are impressive but unfortunately their quote was just too high... we need a 40ft high cube so we can fit all our belongings and our Ford Galaxy and so far the quotes range from £5600 to £7900 excluding insurance, maf, unexpected customs fees and the cost of getting the car on the road.

It is worth getting a few companies round to get best value for money.

Wessa

Rick, Il be keeping an eye on this thread as i will need the same thing as you, along with the bike thing.

perdieacres

We will shortly be shipping our household goods over to NZ and may be using Crown. My husband will be including his motorbike within the container. Crown have been great with their advice - they have measured the bike and are building a seperate crate to hold it within the container. The Crown reps were very good at answering our questions - the only hurdle we seemed to have was getting a certificate for steam cleaning.

theRices

We have been advised by a few other removals not to bother having our car steam cleaned as MAF are likely to want to steam clean it regardless if you have a certificate or not. We are going to make sure the car is spotless but not pay out for a steam clean here as we are likely to have to pay for it to be done again..

I was very impressed with Crowns and all the information they provide in their pack but their quote is nearly £2000 more than Robinsons... we've had 6 companies round now and we got a short list of 2, Robinsons and Anglo Pacific. Pickfords quote was £30 less than Anglo Pacific but they are far too pushy... agreed for their pension and foreign exchange people to contact me and they keep calling and I have said not to bother as we are not moving until Jul/Aug (like to have our visas first...) also my husband is only home at weekends if he is in the country..

Good luck with your move

BEVS

Get them all in and have them quote. Choose the one you are most comfortable with and then play all off , one against the other, to get the best deal. That is how it works.

Check MAF for what you can and cannot bring - not the shippers. You can email MAF and they will get back to you.

Check for 3rd party delivery people at the NZ end. Ask if there will be extra 'service charges' and 'fees'. Make sure you understand what extras can be added if it is not a totally door to door service.

MAF inspection charges are on their site for all to see.

Shop around for marine insurance.

rick78

Thanks for the info guys.

I have Robinsons, Anglo Pacific, Crown, GB Liners and Pickfords on my list... will sort out visits soon.

Ta muchly

Debbie2NZ

Our belongings should have gone through the Suez Canal last Thursday....

BEVS

Are you saying they haven't?

Container tracking

rushmere

We sent two containers over with Pickfords. We had a car in with the household goods in a 40ft container, so I would expect a motorcycle to be no problem.

For us, the quote was well below all the others we got, and the service in the UK was excellent. Their insurance was unbelievably expensive though, so we used Letton Percival instead. However, the service has fallen apart at the NZ end. Our containers arrived almost a month ago, and there is still no sign of anything being delivered. I would go as far as saying that the person dealing with it at this end is totally incompetent. Unless I call her at least once a day, everything seems to just stop.

We may have just got unlucky with the specific person dealing with our shipment. From what I've read on here, it all seems a bit of a lottery, so shop around, haggle like crazy (they will probably all reduce their initial quote when challenged), and cross your fingers!

Chris-Napier

We emigrated over here in 2007, just cannot think of the company we used but they were efficient. But........think about the insurance part of it.....we insured both our containers and it cost a fortune. When we received our goods, there were a few breakages and damage to a washing machine. When we sent a claim in it took so long and in the end the items I claimed for were too old to claim for except for a cabinet that had a 6 inch break at the back and I only got a very minimal payout. My daughters washing machine looked like something had been dropped onto the top of it, completley caved in but she was told to try and get it repaired first. She explained that it was completely unrepairable and after lots of emails etc they eventually paid her out........ not a lot and not enough to cover the cost of a new one here. We always say that we would never bother to pay insurance again, it just isn't worth it! Ok, it the container goes over the side of the ship, you have lost everything but how often has that happened? Just one word of advice.....take everything you own from the UK and bring it here, even if you THINK you won't need it. We so regret giving things away before we came out. People over here will buy anything, things that most of us throw away, they are not such a throw away society here and make use of things that we think are of no value. Just a thought but it may help!

gazmfc

I have a slight advantage in that I work in the shipping industry. However, I have had 4 quotes in now, PSS, Anglo Pacific, Excess and Pearson's with prices ranging from £4,500 (Pearson's) to between £5,500 to £6,000 for the other three.

A word of advice, check which shipping line the agent is using, Pearson's are quoting Mearsk but the other three were quoting MSC who are one of the cheapest but in my opinion are also one of the most unreliable shipping lines on the sea, so the most expensive agents were using the cheapest and most unreliable line! I thought all four gave good advice when doing the survey with PSS and Pearson's the most knowledgeable.

I also bench marked the insurance quotes, all of the above were quoting 3% of value (I used a value of £50K) to get "like for like" quotes, so got somewhere in the region of £1,500. I requested an independent marine quote from my business insurer (Hendersons -Emma Simpkins 01642 659300) who gave me a figure of £450! I also received a policy of "New for Old" "All Risks" from Henderson's as apposed to "old for old" "damage NOT included" from the agents.

Also question the customs clearance fees, are they covered in the shipping price (UK and NZ) including document charges etc.? and question the storage fees, weekly storage, handling fees, any one off fees and request "free time" again UK and NZ.

Best of luck everyone!!

rick78

Ok first quote in from Crown... 20ft container sole use... this price includes:

UK:
Coming to our place, new packing materials & packing, loading, delivery to terminal, preparation export and shipping documentation, payment of UK freight and terminal charges.

NZ:
Import documentation to clear customs (MAF inspection fee), payment terminal charges, delivery to house with 50kms of port, unpacking and taking waste away.

This doesn't include insurance - but does include crating my motorcycle.

Grand total of 4737... I reckon I could haggle that down a bit (the guy who cam here said just call the manager and see what she can do!).

gazmfc

I would definitely go back again, I got all of the above for under £5K on a 40' !! you should be looking at £3.5

rick78

i have four more quotes to come in and then the haggling will begin!