removal firms-help!

[jen&ian]

Hi all,

Can any one recommend any good removal/ shipping firms there are so many to choose from and I'd much rather get my own recommendation than trust their testimonials. Just as important are there any firms we should avoid!

Thanks Jen & Ian.

[Lea]

Can't help too much as haven't made the move yet.

We have contacted Whites, Anglo Pacific, John Mason and Doree Bonner for quotes and will see how we get on. They all seem to have good reputations. Although there are always some horror stories.

Lea

[donna T]

Had Doree Bonner to quote already and Bishops Move are coming tomorrow - I'll let you know what the quotes were like

[betty22]

Hi we used white and Co . very proffessional. Door to Door in 8 weeks

Liz

[Bex & Nick]

Has anyone used Migrate Global? (We were recommended them by our agent.)

Bex

[Damms]

we received out last removal quote today and I have to say the prices really vary :? we had 5 quotes (I think I was bored that day :shock: ) unfortunatly I cannot get it down to a 20ft container we have about 1600-1800cuft they say BUT I think we could probably flat pack a few things anyway the quotes varied from £4900 (Overs International) to £7300 (Allied Pickfords) with PSS around £5300 and the rest Robinson, Bishops being around £6400. From what I can make out this desnt include insurance...
After thinking about this I am going to try to get it down to a 20Ft container as its sooooo much money and really regarding furniture do you think it will be cheaper down there??? well it might be fun shopping for it anyway :D
Hope this helps

[jen&ian]

Hi Damms,

We've had PSS out today, got Pickfords coming tommorrow, need to get in touch with a couple more. John Masons are supposed to be reasonable, might give them a go. We've decided not to bother bringing most of our large furniture as its all only cheap and cheerful stuff anyway. Currently agonising over whether to bring our restored 1972 Bettle (I love that car :( ).

Jen & Ian

[Damms]

Hi Jen

Yes we have been thinking about our car we had a look on auto trader in SA and it seems most cars are quite a lot more expensive down under for the same make and year??? I dont know why this is but in our case it looks about £2k more expensive so we may think about this one... :? Im told they last longer down there than here and this may be the reason.
If you love it just put it in the container is my motto :shock:

[Jane.Mason]

Hi

We've had a company out called IRC Ltd (no charge) Tel 01452 714932 they have contacted all shipping companies and come back with several options for us to choose. They also advise the one they recommend (not the most expensive)
One of the stipulations they have is that you have not already recieved any quotes. They seemed very good and the prices were reasonable.

Jane

[dglamoore]

We have just booked our shippers, We had quite a few in for quotes and these are the prices we had -

John Masons £4200 (by phone would not come out for survey)
Dorree Bonner £4400
White & Co £3800
Bishops Move £3700
PSS £3458
Allied Pickfords £4331

The prices as you can see vary a lot and for some reason our quotes were always more than the same companies quoted friends further north :shock: . The prices are for full use of 20ft container with approx 1100 cu ft.

Allied Pickfords came across the best and dropped their quote down to £3700 to match Bishops Move so as they have offices both here and Adelaide and seem to come across well on forums we are going with them.

For anyone having shippers in there is a list of companies to contact and a list of questions you can print (shippers questions download) to ask here - http://www.adelaidebound.com/migrating.htm

All booked for 16th April :?

Lisa :D

[Damms]

Wow Lisa I think I will be reviewing what we are taking as these are a lot cheaper than my quotes so I think I really should try to get it down to 20ft container :?

Its just so difficult trying to leave things behind, too many memories and probably being too sentimental as well..

Tough times but it will all be worth it :D

Kim

[dglamoore]

Hi Kim

I know what you mean - originally we planned to take a 40ft and we are still slightly over a 20ft so more clearing down to do :D

We decided not to take some of our furniture as the difference between a 20ft and 40ft was more than the cost of replacing the items we are not taking.

All our personal bits are going including heaps of photos etc so it came down to which bulky stuff to leave :D

Lisa

[Angela]

Hi Everyone
Just a question - yep another !

If you only want to ship cartons rather than containers, basically personal stuff, toys but no major furniture like beds or sofas - do the companies you listed come out to give you a quote?

I would have no idea how many cartons it would take to shift some of our stuff :? so will they come out & quote? Is it that simple ?

Jane, I'm interested in your shipper as I live in Nottm to - where abouts are IRC I don't recognise the STD No 01482 ?

Still early days for us but we do need to think about it sooner rather than later :)

Thanks
Angela

[dglamoore]

Hi Angela

Not sure on that one - it may be worth asking them if they deal with part loads, think they probably would and should be able to tell you roughly how much space etc it would be.

A lot of the shippers do part containers or you could just box it up and price sending it over using someone like Excess Baggage. Just get some advice on the customs paperwork as if you pack yourself you would be responsible for this!!

Lisa :lol:

[Jane.Mason]

Hi Angela

Their based down south. They came out to us last year. They obtained quotes for Shared containers, 20ft containers and 40ft containers dependant on what we eventualy decide to take. They got quotes from about 10 different companies. They were recommended by our broker. They pack and are fully aware of what you need to take, don't take and can't take.

Jane

[Angela]

Thanks Lisa & Jane

I read some not so good things about shared containers :!: not sure what to do now, will need to get some quotes & look into more seriously when the visa's here 8)

Angela

[likesshopping]

Hi Angela

Noticed that your case officer final date is 12th feb - ours is 22nd feb......its a killer isnt it!! Everyday I keep thinking....its gonna be soon, the wait is alwful.

Anyway, back to the subject in hand....we only want to take over cartons as decided to start a fresh with new furniture etc. I called Excess baggage and they were very good and professional - they charge persize of box and all the info is on their website - I think we ordered about 12 or so boxes and were quoted £570 to ship to adelaide....theres a weight restriction - (cant remeber how much, but it is quite heavy) You can also used your own boxes and Excess baggage can either store away for you or will collect from you (ours are all packed up away in my mums garage) if you have extra then the 12, then they just add on the extra box...........

Hope that helps a bit - sorry for the mumbo jumbo language(know theres alot of teachers on this site!!)

Hope you hear about your visa soon!

sarahx

[Angela]

Hi Sarah

Thanks for the tips ! I am surprised its still much more than I thought, but it is what it is - what can you do :)

If you could post the tel no for Excess Baggage I will make a note to ring them.

Yes we are very close with CO's I noticed recently that the TRN screen has been updated on the 2nd Feb, just really says everythings received. It does have an additional detailed screen per applicant which has not been updated, but my main concern was ensuring that they had everything !

Our 3 buyers are still marketing their houses, no-one has been back to me yet with any update :cry: but I guess worse case we have to pay an EA once the visa arrives then so be it. The potential buyers will have marketed then for about 8 weeks, we will just have to wait & see.

Good luck
Angela

[likesshopping]

Hi angela

....got the number for excess baggage 0800 783 1085, we found them really helpful.

Fingers crossed on your visa and house - looks like we might be going out the same time.

speak soon

sarahx

[Angela]

Hi Sarah

Yes it does like we will heading out at about the same time, fingers crossed !

A friend came round today with her 2 boys & asked me why we had not yet put the house on the market, I explained about the 3 families who have shown interest & she said I was mad to wait but to get a board up with an EA ASAP - am I mad ? Just trying to save some money, seems madness to me to pay an EA if 1 of the 3 end up buying it, I will have paid a whacking 1.5 - 1.8% fee for nothing :cry: it would not be as if they had help market or sell the property after all ..........hmm feel I need a chat with my OH on whether we should be waiting. All advise welcome !

Why doesn't this process get easier.............. :?:

Angela

[likesshopping]

Hi Angela

Really understand where you're coming from about your house.......EA get a massive whack for doing next to nothing...couple of adverts in the paper etc..........Its was heartbreaking handing over £5k!!

I suppose we have taken a risk selling our house before we get our visas......its horses for courses.........Im glad we sold when we did - its enabled us get rid of loads of junk, and we only have a few bits to sell before we go now..

At this stage of the application, its more than 99% certain that you're gonna get it - what about speaking to the 3 families interested and give them a deadline (in a nice way) for them to start the ball rolling, failing that, put it on with an EA...

If these other families have houses to sell as well, then it could be a while before the sale can go through....

Hope all goes to plan - keep me posted!

sarahx

[Damms]

Hi Angela

We were in a similar situation so we spoke to the estate agents and gave them the names of the people interested they agreed that if these people did buy the house then we would not have to pay their commission (get it written into the contract. I also would negotiate hard on the commission % as I find they invairably come down if you say other agents have agreed!!!

Good luck with everything :D

Kim

[Angela]

Great tip Kim thanks !

2 of them are with the same EA so me & Ash thought if we had to market it we could use the same but tell them exactly that, if either sell we won't pay their fee however if its another buyer then we would agree 1.5% max - time will tell........our visa is due March some-time

Sarah, have you checked the progress against your TRN no? Our says everything received all dated 02/02/2007 but still heard nothing...it would be a nightmare to find that they wanted more supporting docs of some kind, I hope not, our agency said they won't make contact until mid/end March :roll: so we really do have to wait...........& wait..........

Angela

[Libby1971]

Hi

Regarding shipping of effects, I used to work at Bishops Move while I did my degree before becoming a teacher. That has so helped when it came to getting quotes.

We had 2 agents yesterday (slightly embarassing as I double booked myself and then one had to go back and sit in his car!) but we had Bishops, White & Co, Anglo Pacific and PSS so far.

We are taking just a sideboard and then a mirror, mostly books, folders, toys and photos. No other furniture and not even a cooking pot. By the time it gets there I will have needed to buy some more anyway so why bother.

I prefer to use a company that has its own staff like Anglo Pacific and Bishops as if there are any issues with claims, the company can't pass the buck and say not our fault. I don't see what difference it makes to know who the boat company is as my contract will be with the shipping company, not the boat. We are going with a part container which is fine. I like the fact that it will probably take slightly longer to get there so that I have more time to get a long term /permanent place sorted.

Will let you know prices as soon as I get them.

Libby

[Libby1971]

Update on quote for removals.

Quote from Britannia but the company don't have their own offices etc around the UK so they hand over to company 2 who delivers to company 3 which deliver to docks - there was too much opportunity for people to deny responsibility and delay processing if it came to making a claim. I don't want to assume problems but it needs to be considered.

Doree Bonner were objectionable when they came out (the bloke kept telling me 'you do the maths'. In the end I got really cross after 15 mins of this so I told him I was an RS teacher not a maths teacher and that he could do the maths as that was why I had called him) and the quote is largely a back patting exercise with far too many testimonials from others and copies of various certificates. Ridiculous presentation and far too little content or detail on which to base a decision. When they came out, they were very quick to slag off the competition whereas most of the others were confident enough in their own services to just say what they did, rather than what others don't. Doree Bonner also said they wouldn't ship until they were notified of an address in Australia where we could be contacted and that isn't necessarily easy. Or certainly not for a few weeks.

Anglo Pacific quoted the highest £1913.00 but also said 350 cu ft whereas everyone else said approx 250. Quote was good but they also said they were supplying boxes for us to pack which meant they hadn't listened to me as I told them I wasn't packing anything to minimise problems at customs. That annoyed me.

Bishops Move were good and it came down to between them and Whites. Small differences in quotes - Bishops said 250cu ft and £1430 while Whites said £1350 and 265 cu ft but Whites include 8 weeks storage which none of the others do.

I hope this helps others of you about to start this. I appreciate everyone has their preferences but this is our experience.

[dglamoore]

Talking of removals - haggle!!!!!

We have decided on Allied Pickfords out of 6 companies we had come in for quotes on sole use of a very full 20 ft container.

Our original quote from Allied was £4331 + 3% insurance

We have got them down to £3700 + 2% insurance so worth playing a few off against each other as we saved over £850 ( for some bizarre reason every single one of our quotes was much higher than same company quoted to people further north :? )

It was close between a couple and we chose Allied in the end due to them having offices both local to us and in Adelaide plus dealing with their insurance in house so no third parties to wrangle with should anything go wrong :shock: All booked to arrive on 16th April for packing and container comes to be loaded 18th April !!

Lisa :lol:

[Django]

Just seen this on BE. Might be worth investigating.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443561

[BJF]

If Brittania were the ONLY removals company to use then I'd have sold EVERYTHING, they moved us once (we're military so move often) they only had to move us 60 miles up the road and they were the biggest bunch of cowboys we've ever come across.

Pickfords have moved us about 5 times, once from UK to Germany and we have NEVER had any problems with them. They were our first choice to move us from UK to Oz and we managed to get them. I would use them anytime.

[dglamoore]

Can now talk from experience - Allied packed us up this week and they were fantastic!!! Cannot recommend them enough and they were brilliant with our 4 year old too - found here plenty to help with so she did not get bored or in their way :lol:

Theye even rejected the first conatiner that turned up due to a small hole in the top so turned it away for another.

Lisa

[Angela]

Hi Lisa

For some reason Allied are not replying to any of my emails? If you or anyone else have a direct link for their website I'd appreciate it, thanks.

Want to get an appt soon for a quote. Had Whites in at £900, thought it was pricey but to be fair I can't compare it yet 8)

Excess due on the 1st May. Doree Bonner are local for us & coming next week.

Angela