JessicaKate

I am definitely liking GB Liners. Was told I'd have the completed quote Tuesday but it came in the post yesterday! I love the promptness.

200 sq feet including packing, all documentation, etc etc for £1190. I think that's pretty reasonable.

JessicaKate

I had a call back from Pickfords on Friday to schedule the quote. I think my main issue is that for the most part we know what we're taking and what's bein sold before the move. However, it's not exact. That's why I'm a bit worried about if we go over- or under as we'll take some stuff when we visit the US in the summer- how the amount paid gets adjusted.

JessicaKate

Did you have any problems with customs searching your boxes since you packed them yourself?

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check them out.

GeoffM

We went slightly over what they quoted - but to be fair I forgot to show them a few things - but no extra charge. But they said slightly over or slightly under doesn't matter much. Only if you're way over or under do you receive a bill/refund. I think they use bands, eg 200cu ft, 250, 300 etc so you have a fair amount of leeway. Also, as they pack, they might not be the most efficient in filling the boxes, maybe because something is too big for a small box but too heavy to fill a large box with it and other items.

We paid it all up front - but literally the day before the packers arrived! I think you only pay a deposit up front and then the remainder a week before (with Pickfords). By that time you'd probably know whether your original quote was about right.

lorenei

When my boxes got here none of them looked like they had been opened so I guess not! Our total fee for customs was $35 extra on top of what we payed for our shipment which was ~£450 for 7 large to medium size boxes. I wrote a very detailed list of every single thing that I packed in the accompanying paperwork so perhaps that played a role, not sure though

JessicaKate

Well that's fair enough. I just didn't want to get charged loads of extra money if I end up being a little over my 200 square feet.

I know GB Liners asks for it 2 weeks in advance. I will definitely be setting up an appointment with Pickfors hopefully for this upcoming week.

JessicaKate

Good to know. The guy from GB Liners had said that if we packed it on our own that we would need to do the inventory like you said but then a copy needs to be sent to customs first. He also said that if we pack on our own the boxes are more likely to be searched.

To be fair, I wouldn't mind someone else packing for me... one less thing I have to do.

GeoffM

Just be aware that if you did self-pack then you're unlikely to be insured for damage for those boxes. Reason being they don't know whether you've smashed your china before putting it in the box.

We did pack a load of stuff in unsealed boxes simply to get it organised into one room in the house and garage. A neighbour had recently moved in and offered his empty boxes. Pickfords simply unpacked everything and repacked into their own boxes. Then I went down the recycling centre with a pile of cardboard!

JessicaKate

oh I hadn't even thought of that! I think our conservatory is going to become my dumping ground.

FinnDiego

I have a bunch of good-quality plastic moving crates, and used them similarly for organizing things before the move. The packers then repacked all of the items in the crates and wrapped the empty crates in cardboard for good measure!

On the original question: I used Crown London-Toronto and United Van Lines Toronto - San Diego. I can highly recommend Crown and they also had their own staff at both ends (London and Toronto) but I have no idea about the cost. United Van Lines seems to be all about francise operations and different local companies - the folks I dealt with at both ends were good, but the shipment had been repacked somewhere on the way and various bits of furniture disassembled resulting in some damage and additional reassembly.

Dazey

Has anyone used Atlantic Relocation (the one based in Walton On Thames, Surrey, as there are other companies with similar names)? They were the nicest and most on-the-ball people who've given us a quote, and had the most competitive quote so far (though more are coming in). This is for a move from England to the USA.

However, I sort of found them by accident because I had seen a good review of a company with a similar name located elsewhere and got the two confused. I can't find a single review or comment about this particular Atlantic Relocation, good or bad, other than on their own website. I just wonder if there are problems with that, as there are always loads of comments about moving companies? We did find notice online that there is a proposal that they be struck from the Register (which is bad news for a company), but I knew this can happen if a company fails to file an annual report and can be cleared up once they file. On asking them, they said that is in fact what happened when they switched auditors and they have an extension to file the report.

What to do? Anyone used them? Is there anyway to find out if it's safe to entrust our things to them? My worst fear, I guess, is that they do end up getting their assets frozen whilst they have our things. We will have already paid them, but would probably have to pay again to the shippers/movers they contracted with in order to get our stuff back. From the reassurances they gave me, this won't be happening.

ryanayr

DO NOT USE ANGLO-PACIFIC

Noorah101

Please be specific. What did they do wrong?

Rene

ryanayr

I will post more detail when I actually get my things. They were picked up on July 11th. There are multiple things that have gone wrong, some that may be down to customs and fate; but I am at least able to confirm that ************** literally ignore you once you pay the bill; the people they hire in the US (Schumacher) are equally communicative, except funnily enough now that they have a cost to pass to me. In a nutshell they grossly understated the lead times, held my goods in the uk until they could cram the container with more goods; our goods arrived in the US on August 16th. Since then all I know is that customs have billed them for a full search, damaged and lost some of my shipment, they want $733 for that service, Schumacher have had my goods for three weeks sitting idle. EVERY step of this process has involved me calling several times only to be told about these things having happened a matter of days previously. My family have been "camping" at home with no furniture since August 28th - the timing of their arrival was based on A-P's conservative estimated lead times. Schumacher's "tracker" has had the same incorrect information since the day it shipped. There is more.

lorenei

Oh wow that's terrible... My husband and I used Excess Baggage Company and didn't have any of these problems. They also provided us with free boxes and bubble wrap in the UK to pack our stuff. The company they partner with in the US only charged us $35 processing fees and we got our stuff, nothing was missing and they were the cheapest company we found as well.