Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Hello All,

Have been looking at quote for shipping Container to the USA and would like to know views/opinions and recommendations for PSS. I notice they advertise on this site so assume they are a safe bet but wonder what other people's experience is for example:

1) How easy it is to make contact once quote had been agreed (ie customer service UK)
2) Approach to wrapping and packing and condition of goods on arrival
3) Timings for shipping (East Coast) - has been advised 4-5 weeks door to door (South Carolina)
4) Experience of PSS USA shipping Agents - Jordan River at the other end (Customer Service USA)
5) Value for money
6) Anything else not considered

All fair and balanced opinions gratefully received?

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

We didn't use them, but we did get them in for a quote. The guy who visited to quote arranged an appointment for 5pm and turned up at 8pm. He implied it was quite common for him to have too many appointments to fit into a normal working day. He was professional and fairly accurate in his assessment of the volume of stuff but it took a while to get the quote and we did have problems contacting them to clarify some points, so we went with another company.
From experience it really depends on the individual packers you get. We used one moving company that had a great reputation, but they had so much work on they hired contract packers who did a really bad job. Sure if we got their own staff we would have had a better experience.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

We are going ahead with them in a move mid Feb - choosing the, cheaper, shared container option so I should hopefully be able to give a full and frank review in a few months time.
All contact so far has been fine but we haven't had any packing done yet.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

hello - thanks for update and feedback, good to know progress to date has been ok and hope the move goes well - would be great for some feedback after the move.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Same here - got PSS literally doing the removals and shipping via a shared container to California this Friday and next Monday.
Will let you know how it goes.
The guy who came out to us initially was great - very detailed inventory taken, and very professional.
One comment I would make is that since we paid our full fee the move manager they have passed us to has been a bit less responsive, always busy when you phone, although to be fair they do respond fairly quickly to emails.
Price was pretty good - circa £4K, they pack and unpack as well as ship, and insurance has come in at around £600.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Just to update: we are now in the States and our shipment via PSS has arrived. Happy to give feedback if anyone is in need.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Feedback would be great. We have had online consultations with a number of removal companies and we are now just comparing prices and time frames etc. Any first hand feedback is always good.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

No problem.

Initial meeting & quote was great
Packing guys were fine: got everything done quickly.
(we didn't pack anything fragile due to some of the horror stories I had read on here: so we brought over furniture, books, clothes, toys, soft furnishings etc and left anything breakable i.e. crockery/glasses/kitchenware in storage in the UK)

When we arrived we had to wait for the shipment to arrive in NYC (we are in Chicago) and received an email from PSS letting us know an arrival date and giving us details of the receiving company in NY who would be sending it on to us.

We had to wait longer than expected for the delivery to set off from NY - allegedly not covid related but I couldn't ever get a straight answer. I got in touch with PSS as I was constantly chasing NY for updates and being fobbed off. When I did speak to them they weren't particularly helpful, didn't take any ownership of the issue, certainly didn't apologise and we were basically left to our own devices.

Once our things were eventually on the road we were told the day before that we had to pay $300 dollars for it to be delivered (as the things were delivered in a massive lorry that wouldn't fit down a normal road - so you have to pay for them to hire a smaller van). We had waited for months for our things and were essentially held to ransom.
Once our things arrived there were a few chipped corners of furniture but nothing major (as we didn't bring anything fragile).
There were 2 delivery guys - one of whom didn't wear a mask etc which is compulsory in our state - and they had come from corona hotspot of NY..

We contacted PSS and asked them to reimburse us for the $300 dollars which had never been mentioned as a potential additional cost.
They said no. We emailed them with a list of issues, including all the above, and they haven't even bothered to reply.

Sorry for the essay but hope it helps: everything on the UK side of the journey was fine, things this side definitely not so great, even with a caveat for weird corona times.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Hi UKtous19 - thanks for the feedback on your experience.

It seems to fit in with a lot of what I have read elsewhere (with numerous companies) - that service in the UK is good, if not great, but then the service once in the states is a let down. The additional $300 is unfair, as part of the UK side they spec out where you live to ensure they can fit the lorry there etc, you would think they would do the same at the other end.

I hope that you get your issues answered and hopefully get a refund!

I am a bit of a pessimist and always plan to get charged for something that wasn't stated, so we have budgeted extra for this.

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

No worries. Happy to share as I trawled this site for info for months before we moved!

We had to pay the chassis fee this end which had been mentioned so make sure you budget for that too.

Good luck with the move! I just hope we get to stay now given current economic circumstances!

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Hello All,
Since adding the original post and despite Co-Vids best efforts we have finally packed out and container on its way to a boat
I agree with the previous updates that the the experience UK side to date has been positive and relatively straightforward
PSS
1) Responded quickly to all queries;
2) The guys that turned up to wrap and pack were great;
3) We checked first with PSS and took the liberty with their agreement of pre-packing some content in some "wham" blue boxes which the packers just checked and sealed - big help
4) Although we had the benefit of sole use of 20ft container (recommended) we had to "tweak" the inventory in places to add some goods not originally listed and remove some that we (due to Cov-id) were not able to get from storage etc.

That said some FYI's below for anyone who is interested:
As with any purchase there is an element of making sure that the "small print" is checked.
1) We had to send original inventory back as items had been missed off
2) Despite choosing a 20ft container we had to contact PSS when we found out that even if the container was never going to be full they said that the price quoted would not cover any "extra's" that were added (ie they priced for sole use of a container and if we had anything extra even if there was space they were going to charge us...)
3) Insurance percentage charge agreed at time of quote was not the % on final invoice - we had to return and have changed
4) Listing every item and its value was a right royal pain in the a**e but absolutely essential as the PSS std insurance is not new for old - ie smashed TV if not listed with value would be compensated based on a "suitable" replacement - ie £500 tv if broken would mean £50-£100 payout

So in summary as long as you follow the instructions / keep an eye on the small print PSS for us have been value for money; helpful and supportive - especially during these challenging time - I would recommend.

Next post when we get stateside...

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

Hi Robgdunn,

Thanks for the update, some really useful information.

We got our quotes a few weeks ago, and I know these quotes are valid for around 30 days, so once our visa is sorted we will go back to them I am going to make sure we get an updated quote and make sure that they have not underestimated our volume/items.

We will also be doing the sole use 20ft container, even though they estimated we will only use 50% of it it is good to know about the extra charge for adding anything 'extra'.

I hope everything goes well in transit and stateside, looking forward to your update!

Re: Shipping UK - USA Views and Recommendartions - PSS
 

This seems to be the latest thread on shipping contents to USA.

We used uPakweship the other year for some stuff USA or UK with sole use 20ft container. Paid $2.5k.
They want £4.8k to come back and that is with us loading the container and unloading ourselves !

anyone else had quotes recently ? Ideally with help packing as I will be working hard in the USA :)