between two worlds

Welcome home indeed! Best of luck for the new phase, and I look forward to reading you on the Back Home forum.

windsong

Hooray!!!!

So glad the cats love it there already - and it's clear they do.

Hopefully, your house as recovered from the recent flood and you feel at home.

Gozit

Welcome home Editha!

feelbritish

Welcome home Editha, looking forward to updates from you in the Back Home forum. Perhaps some other people who are on the short stretch homeward bound will take up this thread. I found it very informative with lots of positive advice and of course the negatives you encountered someone else can avoid. Thank you for taking the time to keep it so well updated! Good luck back in Devon eventually!

vienna_nic

Congratulations, Editha, on a successful overseas move! I'm happy for you and your cats, too. Slightly envious of your pearly car...but public transport in Vienna, plus the absurd amount of one-way streets, make it easy to go without a car.

If you are popping over to Vienna before April, please let me know. (That's me being forward again). Perhaps we could meet for a quick coffee and talk about everything but lavatories

Have a lovely Sunday.

Nic

Editha

No, OH is spending September in Vienna, but I'm not going with him this year. Too many other things to do here. All the best for your own move to the UK.

Editha

An addendum on the cost of using Upakweship:

Upakweship did, in fact, charge us for the extra waiting time on loading. Our container is due to arrive at Southampton this Friday, 25th July and will be delivered next week. We are being charged £325 plus VAT for the fact that there is a more than 20 metre walk to the house from the nearest spot the container can park.

Nevertheless, adding all the costs together -- Upakweship's charges, packing materials and hiring men to load the container, the total cost comes to around £5,330 which still compares well with the £9,300 (CAD $17,000) that we were quoted by a reputable international moving company.

between two worlds

Thanks for this, Editha. I am trying to decide right now between Upakweship and a big international company (international sea and air) to ship some things--not a whole houseful--and the thing about Upakweship that puts me off is that you have to load and unload.

I see you hired men to load the container in Canada--or did upakweship arrange that for you?

And since they are charging you this money for those 20 metres between container and house, are they hiring men to do the unloading in UK as well?

Our flat in UK is up quite a few stairs, so I was keen on going with a company where end-point delivery into the residence, if the residence is second floor or lower, is included.

Editha

We hired the guys who did the loading.

We used Starline which was one of the international moving companies. They had a set rate for just loading a container. I'd recommend using a firm with some expertise. They provided their own ramp and, most importantly, were able to show the truck driver where he could best park for them to load.

Upakweship are providing the unloaders at this end. I suggest talking to Upakweship about it.

between two worlds

Thank you, Editha. A great help.

Editha

Our shipment was delivered on Wednesday. Upakweship's performance at this end was not stellar. The container arrived at Southampton on 25th July, but delivery was delayed because of a 'problem with the bill of lading', which I interpret to mean that Upakweship (aka Eurolines) had not paid the bill. The later delivery suited me, however, because it meant that the container was not arriving while OH was away at a conference and it enabled me to get another room decorated before the tsunami of books arrived.

Our house in Devon is on a narrow road which is a dead end. I supplied Upakweship with two Google maps, one showing where an artic' could park and where it could turn, then on the advice of neighbours I sent another showing a route to our house that did not involve taking an artic' through the village's twisty one way system.

I was told that the lorry and the team who would unload it would turn up at 8 am. Since we are at least a three hour drive from Southampton, I questioned the early start, but was told there was no problem.

On the day the first thing I saw when I looked out the window was a team of road surfacers closing off the road. Their gaffer said he'd let the lorry through. Their presence turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since the gaffer was an ex-HGV driver with 30 years experience, whose expertise came in useful later on.

Then I got a call from the moving team, who had set out from Swindon, saying they wouldn't arrive until 9.30. I assumed this meant the lorry as well, but it turned up at 8 am -- an artic' with two links carrying two 20' containers! None of the information I'd provided had been passed onto the driver and unaware of the difficulties, he had our container and another for delivery to a nearby town later in the day. He'd had extreme difficulty getting through the village and was now a little panicked about whether he could turn round. This was where the road surfacing gaffer became hero of the hour, showing the driver how to do it. The driver was a good guy though; he quickly regained his temper and helped the moving team unload.

After that things went without a hitch. We did have one breakage: one of the removal team put his foot through the back of a Billy bookcase. The moving guys moaned about the book boxes stacked high in the container; one of the loading team in Edmo had looked like Vin Diesel but neither of the movers at this end had his reach or physique.

Despite these difficulties I remain a fan of Upakweship. Our move went a lot more smoothly than when we went to Canada in '06 with Pickfords.

Editha

A note on customs. I've seen that some people report having to pay duty on booze, perfume, etc that was in their container. I had opened bottles in our container but for the customs form I put the value as nil. In my opinion that is correct: even if it cost £100 new, an opened bottle of Chanel No.5 has no resale value. HMRC clearly had no difficulty with this because I haven't been charged duty.

between two worlds

Thanks for the update on your delivery and experience with upakweship. Reviews across the internet do often mention problems at the UK end. (I thought the UK arm had the same name as their parent company, EuroUSA, but it is all confusing....)

I have been considering using their Ucube, or 2 cubes, for a small shipment but have now decided we will do the shipment at a later date and maybe get a full service company instead. We don't have a whole container full--like you we have lots and lots of books!--and we just have a couple of bits of furniture...so it's a cube or a lift-van or a shared container...

The "bill of lading" hold-up is one I have heard about before. I was also concerned by having read that self-packed shipments are more prone to customs search and hold-up. And then the lack of communication you
experienced at the UK end re the driving route etc is very bad.

Oy vey. The more I research shipping options, the more complex it all is...

However, your experience overall was better than many have when they move internationally...which is disheartening!

Editha

Actually, yes they are EuroGroup, not Eurolines.