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Too good to be true???

Too good to be true???

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Old Aug 19th 2011, 3:56 pm
  #1  
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Default Too good to be true???

Ok just got back quotes from 3 companies and am after a bit of advice on the whole 'if it looks too good then maybe it is so whats the catch front........'

Anglo Pacific came in at £5350 for 65% of a 40ft container
Pickfords came in at £4750 for 70% of a 40ft container
White & Co came in at £4150 for 55% of a 40ft container

They were all shown the same amount of items, all were told of extra items to be purchased including 4 bikes, all were asked to quote for a large wooden crate (treated of course) to store 2 pictures that we would be totally gutted if anything happened to them as they can't be replaced.

So questions : why difference: Anglo, Pickfords very close and White & Co much cheaper and seem to think we'll use way less space.....Does anyone know if White & Co are better at packing boxes and don't use excessive amounts of packing materials or is it just that once it comes to the crunch they will end up costing more coz the guy who came out was totally unrealistic about the number of boxes we will actually full. Unlike Anglo & Pickfords the White & Co guy had spent 11yrs as a packer (or so he told me ).

Is it just that Anglo and Pickfords err on the side of caution and like to end up charging less to make them look good.

On the face of it want to jump all over White & Co (especially since they also will store stuff for 8 weeks in UK for FREE which we might need as house could be sold way b4 we can go) - but the Scot in me is screaming stay away its way to good to be true......

Any tips or advice (especially if anyone has had experience of White & Co) would be gratefully received.

BTW insurance is all pretty much the same 2.8% value White, 3% for the others.

Laura
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Old Aug 19th 2011, 7:30 pm
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Default Re: Too good to be true???

Hi

We just finalized ours and ended with £4900 for 40th high cube with Hoults.

Our quotes where £5300 Pickfords and £5100 Hoults Houts are owned by Pickfords too

the prices are alowing for negotiating it would seem, so when you have a shortlist play them off each other..

Oh and the insurance will add quite a bit to the price, we took others advice and went independent with Letton Percival saved us quite a bit of money @ 1.25%..
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Old Aug 19th 2011, 11:58 pm
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Default Re: Too good to be true???

Originally Posted by Lejamez
Ok just got back quotes from 3 companies and am after a bit of advice on the whole 'if it looks too good then maybe it is so whats the catch front........'

Anglo Pacific came in at £5350 for 65% of a 40ft container
Pickfords came in at £4750 for 70% of a 40ft container
White & Co came in at £4150 for 55% of a 40ft container

They were all shown the same amount of items, all were told of extra items to be purchased including 4 bikes, all were asked to quote for a large wooden crate (treated of course) to store 2 pictures that we would be totally gutted if anything happened to them as they can't be replaced.

So questions : why difference: Anglo, Pickfords very close and White & Co much cheaper and seem to think we'll use way less space.....Does anyone know if White & Co are better at packing boxes and don't use excessive amounts of packing materials or is it just that once it comes to the crunch they will end up costing more coz the guy who came out was totally unrealistic about the number of boxes we will actually full. Unlike Anglo & Pickfords the White & Co guy had spent 11yrs as a packer (or so he told me ).

Is it just that Anglo and Pickfords err on the side of caution and like to end up charging less to make them look good.

On the face of it want to jump all over White & Co (especially since they also will store stuff for 8 weeks in UK for FREE which we might need as house could be sold way b4 we can go) - but the Scot in me is screaming stay away its way to good to be true......

Any tips or advice (especially if anyone has had experience of White & Co) would be gratefully received.

BTW insurance is all pretty much the same 2.8% value White, 3% for the others.

Laura
It will also be the amount of labour and packing materials they allow. Ours woefully underestimated, we told them when the assessor came to the house and on the phone - but they didn't listen and were short by about 100 boxes and needed another two men to complete in time to make the shipping deadline at the port.

Also, if you use hanging wardrobes it takes up more space and you can fit less in than if you just fold your clothes into boxes and stack them - so that could be the difference as well.

One question to ask is if they're going to be using their own staff or if they contract for day labour - in which case they're just paying muscle to come and hump & dump your gear. The quality of the packers at the departure end makes a world of difference to the way your things travel/survive and how easy life is when you arrive.

We've moved internationally many times and learnt some things the hard way unfortunately!

Also, it depends on the shipping schedule - we went for the longest possible crossing time to give ourselves more time at this end to sort out accommodation etc, it also reduced the cost considerably.

With regard to insurance, we sourced ours ourselves through Letton Percival who underwrite a huge percentage of shipping companies - we saved ourselves around 700 pounds by cutting out the middleman. That was a few years ago though and the recession etc has all hit since then, so I don't know if they are still around or if there is a better company. Worth googling though.
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Old Aug 20th 2011, 12:33 am
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Default Re: Too good to be true???

White & Co are a franchise . They will always undercut if they can. We used White and Co ( Curtiss/Portsmouth) and had no problems at all with our goods.

White and Co will use a third party carrier this NZ end. The Moving company or White Van Lines. You will have to watch out for the third party company charging you an extra so called 'service fee' for you filling in you own MAF forms & them being present at inspection.

Ref. Marine Insurance. You don't have to go with the packers. There is alternatives out there but I can;t remember the name of one off-hand at the moment.
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Old Aug 20th 2011, 7:34 am
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Default Re: Too good to be true???

Originally Posted by Lejamez
Ok just got back quotes from 3 companies and am after a bit of advice on the whole 'if it looks too good then maybe it is so whats the catch front........'

Anglo Pacific came in at £5350 for 65% of a 40ft container
Pickfords came in at £4750 for 70% of a 40ft container
White & Co came in at £4150 for 55% of a 40ft container

They were all shown the same amount of items, all were told of extra items to be purchased including 4 bikes, all were asked to quote for a large wooden crate (treated of course) to store 2 pictures that we would be totally gutted if anything happened to them as they can't be replaced.

So questions : why difference: Anglo, Pickfords very close and White & Co much cheaper and seem to think we'll use way less space.....Does anyone know if White & Co are better at packing boxes and don't use excessive amounts of packing materials or is it just that once it comes to the crunch they will end up costing more coz the guy who came out was totally unrealistic about the number of boxes we will actually full. Unlike Anglo & Pickfords the White & Co guy had spent 11yrs as a packer (or so he told me ).

Is it just that Anglo and Pickfords err on the side of caution and like to end up charging less to make them look good.

On the face of it want to jump all over White & Co (especially since they also will store stuff for 8 weeks in UK for FREE which we might need as house could be sold way b4 we can go) - but the Scot in me is screaming stay away its way to good to be true......

Any tips or advice (especially if anyone has had experience of White & Co) would be gratefully received.

BTW insurance is all pretty much the same 2.8% value White, 3% for the others.

Laura
white and co are not cheaper

Anglo Pacific came in at £5350 for 65% of a 40ft container = 202 per ft
Pickfords came in at £4750 for 70% of a 40ft container = 169 per ft
White & Co came in at £4150 for 55% of a 40ft container = 188 per ft

they should work it out on volume tho

km
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Old Aug 20th 2011, 8:32 am
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Default Re: Too good to be true???

Originally Posted by kmthor
white and co are not cheaper

Anglo Pacific came in at £5350 for 65% of a 40ft container = 202 per ft
Pickfords came in at £4750 for 70% of a 40ft container = 169 per ft
White & Co came in at £4150 for 55% of a 40ft container = 188 per ft

they should work it out on volume tho

km
Ok smarty when you put it like that (I never thought of breaking it down per ft)....Just think its funny that the same amount of stuff takes up different amount of space. Must be packaging etc thats already been mentioned.

Will be going to Letton P for an insurance quote as well, as quite a few people have used them and they seem to be alright.

I suppose at the end of the day no matter who you go with its pot luck - at least I have a few months to go through all details of each quote to check what I get for my money....

Thanks for all your responses BTW, always helpful

X
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Old Aug 21st 2011, 11:54 am
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Default Re: Too good to be true???

Tell each of them you have had a better price for the same volume of container
and ask if they can beat it. You dont have to tell them who with.
I did this and saved a wedge, I also got upgraded insurance for nowt as well.
Their prices aren't fixed and they WANT your business
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