Spider1971

I am also looking for recommendations for a good shipping company. I looked at Britannia's Facebook page but the reviews are not good at all.

I have seen on a google search that the company needs to be a member of FIDA but a lot of the U.K. Companies are not and are member of BIFA instead. Also quotes seem to range from £650 up to £2,500 so I am also concerned about who to go with that is reliable and cost effective. Any ideas?

ottotheboar

If that price includes warehousing, customs clearance and transport to the final destination in the USA ask for the name of the company who will handle the shipment and verify it with them.


Many people especially with part loads have been hit with extra charges in the USA.

Asg123

In 2005 we shipped some boxes to California by Anglo Pacific, there were no problems. We sealed the boxes ourselves, none of them were opened by customs.

Harveyspecter

Just for information. Icelandair has a checked baggage allowance of 2 x 23kg bags in economy which is handy and we will be using them when we fly out in June. I have bought 2 big suitcases each for my wife and I that were only about £25 in Argos and they hold a lot.

Deltarix

Is that's 2X 23kg each? If so that's extremely good. Were flying Thomas Cook for the first time as they are going direct from Manchester. Previously we had no choice but to have at least one stop when we flew virgin. The Thomas cook flights were unbelievably cheap and for the time of year

Harveyspecter

Yes 2 x 23kg each. London to Seattle is about £600 in June at present (one way obviously)

Harveyspecter

I looked up Thomas Cook, and I'd save about £150 but it would be a lot of piggybacking, so I think I'll stick with the 1 stop .

Deltarix

What dyou mean by piggy backing

markcst

My company used Galleon for air freight, they do sea as well. They, like most, use a local shipper from port to home and ours in Dallas were excellent.


Everything arrives in one piece and I got a real person to deal with in the whole process.


I don't know their cost because my company paid.

Harveyspecter

Sorry, It meant I'd have to fly from heathrow to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to portland, then Portland to Seattle. So I figured it was more hassle than it was worth, plus with Icelandair we get a 46kg extra allowance which would cost probably £120-£150 anyway.

Deltarix

After many quotes, and going back and forth with many different shipping companies, reviewing them, speaking to them, emailing them with all our requirements etc as well as the support weve gotten here I can say that we finally rounded them down to three companies to ship our boxes from Manchester to California: Britannia, PSS, and Pickfords. We found Britannia were very professional. Gave us a brochure as well and told us things other companies had not mentioned so they seemed to cover all basis on the "the do" list meaning less surprises, then we compared them to PSS who we also found very pro. We liked PSS because they only deal in international shipping which we felt meant they had some expertise there. They came in more expensive than Britannia though at almost £800. Britannia were £658, both by sea. But the winner was the last comp we came across and that was Pickford. Its was the best and were really pleased. We had requested a quote and then got a tel call. After we explained that we were only taking boxes they immediately told us we only required the excess bagging quote and transferred us to their bagging shipping line. No other shipping company had told s this and it seems we were being charged at the same rate as whole house loads. Britannia had quoted us for 10 boxes and all the other companies except PSS (who had quoted us for 10) had previously quoted us for less boxes (just 8 medium size boxes) and the prices for these shipments ranged from£450. to £850. Pickfords quoted us for 16 boxes including extra items that can be carried on. Unlike all the other shipping companies they were also the only one who offered any price for inspection as being already included in the price and the total price door to door was under £450.00. Pickfords have been around for centuries and they have a well stocked website with lots of info. We are really pleased so were saying a special thanks to the tip we receive here earlier from the person who recommended Pickfords and UPS for people just carrying boxes. Well Pleased!!

Pulaski

If that is an important criteria for you, perhaps you should have considered using the Shore Porters Society.