BrockleyKipper

I am planning my move to the US in August or September 2015 and i am starting the process of looking at what to ship and how to ship it.

we are moving from a 3 bedroom house in London to Iowa and we are not taking furniture with us so only personal items - clothes, laptop, sentimental items etc.

Can I ask the forum for any recommendations on shipping companies. I estimate 20-25 tea crate size boxes, collection from south east london and shipping to Des Moines Iowa.

I have seen a couple that take the boxes and place them on a pallet before shrink wrapping them into a single sealed 'weather proof' unit.

I'm happy to wait for my boxes between 30 and 90 days so I'm not interested in the express services. Generally the services I have seen give a mix of weight and volume so a tea crate with max weight of 30 KG which seems reasonable for general domestic shipping purposes.

If anyone has any advice on packing/shipping/pitfalls/things they wished they knew before shipping I'd be grateful.
Thanks

alternageek

top; need this help as well.

Moving a couple of large items (a folding table that I inherited, my bicycle, plus boxes of clothes, records, cds, books, stand mixer and food processor)

Moving from Sheffield to the Treasure Coast in Florida

sir_eccles

movingscam.com is a good resource for naming and shaming.

Jerseygirl

Quite...plus members who join BE with the sole intention of naming and shaming will have their posts deleted.

Bob

One thing coming from a member who has been around a while, but for a first post, then no, it's not allowed.

Sure, it might be genuine, but often as not, it's also a competitor bad mouthing.

Can't be bothered dealing with the hassle.

alternageek

Thanks mods.

Anyways - who can recommend me someone who can ship some basic things?
Again, theres a table ive inherited from a family member that cant be left behind, a bicycle, records (about 100 or so?), cds, books, clothes, some kitchen items and a few other things. The largest item will be the bike and the heaviest will probably be my records. Not 100% certain on how many boxes there will be, possibly about 30 or so?

Pulaski

I just used Yellow Pages /yell.co.uk to look for freight forwarders covering my local area, and called them to ask for quotes. I found one that covers London and the SE when we moved a small house full of stuff, and I found another when I shipped over some tools and books from my parent's house after my father died.

alternageek

Thanks... Will try that.

Jerseygirl

I have removed the disruptive posts from this thread.

Spalex...please do not post the companies's name, initials or anything that could identify the company. Please note abusive comments in posts will not be tolerated. If you continue your posting privileges will be terminated.

Any further irrelevant posts will be removed. Time to get the thread back on topic. Thanks.

Pulaski

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the concept of a forum moderator?

When you've read that, here's some more reading.

alternageek

Not having much with super local shippers... Sheffield has its own forum, so when looking for reviews and they all seem to be negative.

I am so lost in all of this :/

Pulaski

In my experience whether shopping for a toaster, a hotel, or a shipper, around 10% of on-line customer reviews will be negative anyway, so I take reviews with a generous pinch of salt.

alternageek

Thanks...

Jerseygirl

Agreed. People usually post reviews/comments because they have had a bad experience. Those that haven't are getting on with their lives. Same with expats...those that are happy in their new country are normally enjoying life not posting on an interest forum.

excpomea

We used Allied shippers when moving to the States.
From Plymouth to Miami.
Great service, they came into the house with a team of men an packed it all up.
We actually used half a container, maybe more than you need.

Only issue we had was this side, our property went into storage for 3 months whilst we decided where we would like to live.

We ended up moving North in the State we chose a known company (Not Allied).
Our load was part of a whole load being moved to NY. They were dropping off our on the way.
The cost was as much as the move across the ocean, then the guys in the van decided we needed to pay another $1000 if we wanted our belongings or they would drive direct to NY and hopefully get us on the way back to Miami.

It was blackmail plain and simple.
A few phone calls to the company and it was resolved. The two drivers were non too happy and basically dropped our belongings off on the side of the road.

Left a bad taste in my mouth to see such blatant scam attempt.

My advice, use a company to get your belongings delivered direct to your final destination.