eatfish

I was wondering if anyone has any recent experience with this company? (There are a number of older threads but not in the last 12 months)

jukes

I was thinking to use them too, so interested in feedback too!

avanutria

We used them, but not in the last 12 months; it was December 2009. No complaints on the UK side; the receivers on this end were a bit shite but that's not 1st Intl's fault.

Bob

Who ever you use, ask them who is contracted on the other end and then check them out against the scam moving website.

mrsyoung

I'm currently in the process of trying to cancel my order with them and get a refund. God only know how long that's going to take. They gave me a rough, but supposed to be fairly accurate, quote after we told them how many boxes we were using and their size, but then tried to stick us with a bill for more than double the amount!! We've already moved tot he U.S and have had to try to find someone else, in between finding a house, a car a new school, and starting a new business. Our stuff was supposed to be here in a week but it's not even been booked on a ship yet.

I'm now looking at Crown Relocation. Their fees seem a LOT cheaper and their import/customs charges are a fraction of the price, and they say they can deliver door to door. REALLY hope they live up to what they're saying. Even though they say it'll take longer (not the 19 days 1st move promised) I'd be happy to give my cash to someone who can deliver when they say they can.

Obviously I'm not having a good experience with these guys, the amount of paperwork is incredible, and I'm being given the runaround something rotten, but maybe you'll have better luck. . . ?

washsaint

Similar to Mrsyoung, we used 1st Move last year and when the bill finally arrived it was over double what we were expecting.

Service was OK but price was far from OK!

eatfish

Thanks everybody. I have been searching other forums too and I guess if something sounds too good to be true then it usually is...Pity, as I really like the concept of all my things being bundled together. My next option so far is Britannia.

Brat1

We used Doree Bonner who were okay although it took 13 weeks door to door. the unpackers here were good, and we only had a couple of things damaged which Bonner's replaced with a check promptly. Good luck, I know how stressful moving is, without an extra hassle like this

the_deep_end

I'm trying to get a rough idea of price for shipping a three-bedroom house full of stuff (two sofas, double bed, bunk beds, kitchen table and chairs, shelving units, lots of boxes of books, kitchen ware etc). Apologies for not getting more specific (it would take too long!). I'm trying to work out if it will be worth dumping most of our stuff in the UK and buying new/second hand when we get over there...

Any advice or insight from other peoples experience would be very much appreciated...

Thanks in advance!

GeoffM

We're about to sign up to Pickfords. They have a reasonable reputation here and the price was one of the lower. They were also the only ones who would commit to an agent at the US end (themselves); names of agents being one of those things to check for their reputation and if you don't have a name... well, it could be Fred and his dodgy white van.

However, we've decided we're only moving a part load. In most cases we either have to buy new anyway (electricals) or it costs more to move it than to buy new (beds, sofas). So it's mostly kitchen stuff (crockery, utensils), paperwork, CDs (will be the first to be left behind if we overfill), trinkets of sentimental value, pictures (most without frames), clothes, and very limited bedding/towels.

As for quotes, £750-£1200 for 125 cubic feet from half a dozen companies, from UK to southern California.

Bob

If you're paying. Sell it all. Only really good quality furniture is worth bringing as that'll be expensive, other wise, if it's Ikea range stuff, flog it. Beds are pricey here, but it'll be a hassle getting stuff to fit them in the US as they're different sizes.

If you're not paying, then don't worry about it, but ditch the white goods.

lansbury

We used Pickfords when we came over, a few years back now. Our container landed at LAX and come up to Portland. The Pickfords agent was really good at the US end.

Wibblypig

We have just used GB Liners. I cannot praise them enough for the fantastic service. They packed our things in the UK over 2 days (2 wks apart as requested by us), everything went into storage in the UK till we gave them the go ahead to ship it over here. When we gave them the go ahead, they ordered the container, re-packed the bulky items for 'international shipping', packed the container once it arrived, emailed us with the container number, lock details, which ship it would be on, the date of sailing, when it was expected to dock in Miami and an estimated date of when it could be delivered. They estimated it would take 8wks in all from when we first advised them but it took 5wks!!! We weren't due to get our things till a week before Christmas but got them on the 23rd November The only additional fee we had to pay was $195 for customs to x-ray the container (would have loved to have seen that x-ray ). The company this side were excellent, as soon as the ship docked they kept us up to date with what was happening with our container (e.g. what customs were doing with it and when), they accommodated our delivery date, arrived at 7:30am which meant they had to leave Miami at 3am!! Unpacked everything except things we said we would do (some of the boxes where we weren't sure where we were going to put the things!), they also inspected everything as they were unpacking it for any damage and pointed out anything suspect, they put everything where we asked, they also took away all the packaging (LOADS of it!!).

Sorry to waffle on but I cannot praise them enough as they certainly made things a lot easier.

Vicki

jukes

Can i ask what you paid, was it for 20ft container? We have quotes in for just over £5,000 for sole use 20ft container, plus 3% insurance, isle of wight to north carolina. Thanks!

Wibblypig

It was around the £4000 mark for everything and yes it was a 20ft container. We got lots of quotes, about 6 from memory, and got GB Liners to price match the parts that they were higher, we didn't mention that they were a lot cheaper on storage Also regards to insurance, haggle with them, we did and got it down to 2%.

HTH

Vicki