Shipping Help Pleaseeee!

[Guest friends4life]

Hi All,

Well it's not long now before we go and we have started packing all of our belongings but not sure which shipping company to use.

We will probably need a 20ft container but have no idea as to which shipping company to use.

Could anyone tell me who they have used and would recommend and are there any do's and don't such as i did hear once that you cannot take anything with wood, is this correct as I have some family picture frames that I would love to take.

Also does every single item have to be listed (apart from my own list) and will clothes be okay just boxed up or will they get damp?

I really look forward to any advice you have to offer and thank you for your time.

 

Friends4Life x

[Guest Nicky&Andy]

hi, wood picture frames are ok, its wood thats been in contact with soil like outside furniture, garden tools ect, were just starting to get quotes for removals, so will watch your post with interest.oh you cant take anything wicker, thats a no no

 

nicky

[Les&Babs]

Hi there are lots of info on this question , type shipping furniture to oz in the search+ on the top line of this page and you will find the answer.

 

Good luck

Les

[Riponian]

Hi

 

I have had 5 companies round to quote and they all have said that they will pack for insurnace and customs reasons :-)

The companies I have had quote, Robinsons international, Angelo Pacific, Excess International, Britannia and Bishops. Some have been recommended some not. Have not decided on who to go with yet as need to work out the value of our goods for insurance purposes.

But they are between £3600 and £3900 for a 20ft contanier and door to door service and pack as well. Best thing you can do is get them round to get a survey and quote.

 

Picture frames will be ok as they are treated wood. It is untreated wood i.e drift wood etc that they don't like. Also you have to clean all shoes and any garden equipment you plan to take. We have some wicker wash baskets and bins that we have decided not to take. You can take them but you have to declare them and it will probably cost us more than they are worth.

 

I would have a search on the forums on here and see what people have said it's where I got all my information from.

 

Also have a rough idea when you want to go out to as the insurance forms can take ages unless you get a lump some policy. Again dpends on the shipping company you use. You can get seperate insurance policies to you don't have to use the one that the shippers use.

 

Good luck

Michelle

[Guest guest3462]

Hi, we used Brittania and didn't really have much of a problem with them. We did have some randoms things missing when we unpacked and our vac pac bags had been slashed with a knife, but that was by customs in Melbourne not the shippers!

We brought a new wicker picnic hamper and loads of wooden photo frames and bookcases and didn't have a problem with any of it.

I think most quotes are much for muchness in price, so its up to you who can offer you the best deal or quickest sail time. Our load didn't leave England until 2 months after it left our house which meant the we didn't get it for over 4 months!!! It was really nice to get it at this end though :-).

 

Good luck with everything and see you on the other side!!!

[sueoc]

Hi,lots of people on here(including ourselves)used John Mason of Liverpool.They are absolutely superb,and competative.ATB.

[Guest friends4life]

Thank You I will certainly give them a try.

[Guest friends4life]

Hi Michelle,

Thank You very much for all of your info.

I have spoken to one company and they said to me pack everything myself and give them the measurements, but roughly it should cost about £4,000 for a 20ft container.

Hope you don't mind me asking but did you have to list every indivisual item?

Also they said you couldn't take anything new and it had to be 12 months old but how thorough are they as I wanted to buy some items from here to take with us?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Friends4Life x

[Riponian]

Hi

 

All the companies I have used will wrap and pack everything for us included in the price. They came round and just looked at what we had and estimate the volume those items will be once in crates. They hgave said that really you should own the item for 12 months but how are they to know if it is all out of it's orginal packaging! We are flat packing most of our furniture so they wil never know.

 

Sounds odd that you would have to pack it yourselves but each company is different. I know I did not need to get 5 quotes but I had three done and then had two recommended.

 

For the insurance you either have to list all clothing items, all dvd or how much stuff would be to replace in Oz or work out how much stuff is in total to work out the premium. One company said if we do a whole house policy say for £30k then the premium would be 2.5% but if we list the premium is 3%. So I have to list all the majot items and find comparisons on Oz websites and then roughly work out clothing and toys etc. Going to try and get this done tonight and then try and haggle with the shippers.

 

When are you coming out? Personally John Mason's did not return any of my calls so they have not quoted which is weird as I know they have been recommended. Maybe it's because they don't have a rep down in the south west who knows.

 

So far I think it is a toss up between Robinsons and Britannia....

 

Good luck with your plans

Michelle

[Guest friends4life]

Hi

 

All the companies I have used will wrap and pack everything for us included in the price. They came round and just looked at what we had and estimate the volume those items will be once in crates. They hgave said that really you should own the item for 12 months but how are they to know if it is all out of it's orginal packaging! We are flat packing most of our furniture so they wil never know.

 

Sounds odd that you would have to pack it yourselves but each company is different. I know I did not need to get 5 quotes but I had three done and then had two recommended.

 

For the insurance you either have to list all clothing items, all dvd or how much stuff would be to replace in Oz or work out how much stuff is in total to work out the premium. One company said if we do a whole house policy say for £30k then the premium would be 2.5% but if we list the premium is 3%. So I have to list all the majot items and find comparisons on Oz websites and then roughly work out clothing and toys etc. Going to try and get this done tonight and then try and haggle with the shippers.

 

When are you coming out? Personally John Mason's did not return any of my calls so they have not quoted which is weird as I know they have been recommended. Maybe it's because they don't have a rep down in the south west who knows.

 

So far I think it is a toss up between Robinsons and Britannia....

 

Good luck with your plans

Michelle

 

Hi Michelle,

I definately want to get a few more quotes done and I will try Britannia and Robinsons.

We may have the same problem with John Masons as we live in Dorset.

I think my hubby wants to pack everything himself so he knows it's does properly but the company that gave us that quote was called EVL and they are based in Staines, Middlesex and they said all we had to give them was 2 weeks notice with the measurements and if we were happy with the price they would come down and pick it up for us.

We are flying out on 10th November staying in Singapore for 4 days and arrive in Adelaide on 15th. When are you going?

Look forward to hearing from you

Sam x

[Mel.R]

We had 3 companies in for quotes and are usinf the company that we felt most comfortable with - Dorree Bonner. They also have a lot of recommendations on the forums. To date they have been really helpful with quuestions etc so I am confident it will go smoothly (touch wood!!)

 

They are based in Dartford but i think they work all over the UK.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Can't help you with prices though as we are sharing a container

 

Mel

[Riponian]

Hi

 

Good luck getting more quotes it is good to compare. You fly out a month after us so you have a little more time. We fly on the 10th Oct, 2 days in Singapore arrive Adelaide on the 14th! We are staying down in Woodcroft for six weeks - after that who knows.

I personally can't wait for the packers to move in... we only moved about 8months ago and it took us ages. We will pack all our computers and stuff but then the moves will re-wrap it anyway.

 

If I can help with anything else let me know

 

Michelle

[Guest Lisado]

Hi there

 

We used European Van Lines (EVL) They charded us £1500 for a shared container - we eneded up with 60 plus boxes and bulky furniture! If we used less room we would have money discounted and vice versa

 

They wrapped and packed everything themselves from plates to sofa!

 

THey came at 10am and left by 2pm. We have since heard when our stuff arrives and they vessle it is on. Once there they store it and deliver it direct toour new home

 

Lisa

[Guest ReadyPenny]

We used John Masons, they were fantastic start to finish. They do have depots down south, so don't let the location put you off, give em a whirl you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

All treated wood is ok too, so if the picture frames are varnished, no problem at all.

 

good luck

Mandy

[jim and adel]

Obviously you can have problems with whoever you use, so this isn't designed to put anyone off, just share our experience. We used John Mason and had no end of problems, from them arriving on the wrong day, to items being really poorly packed and subsequently breaking, some things going missing, rude customer service, duff advice and our belongings still being in the UK more than two months after being packed up.

 

Jim

[Guest Team 'W']

Hi

 

We had PSS around today packing all our stuff. Can't fault them up to now, great guys seemed to pack everything well and didn't skimp on the padding for the more delicate items. Container arrives tomorrow so we'll take it each day at a time but so far so good!

[Guest MarkIngram]

HI there

 

We have gone for Crown (£3300 for a 20ft container)...we had several come round and give us quotes ranging from £3300 upwards....all of them said they would do the packing/boxing etc....we also got 2 months free storage as we had sold our house and needed to store it for that time...Crown have been superb so far - fingers crossed it all gets to us in one piece.

[Guest Mrs DizzyRascal]

Hi All

We used Bishops move and they were great, they charged us £2000 but don't forget to haggle on price,we brought over all our cane furniture lawn mower, washing machine all my husbands work tools anything with rust on he just painted black. All our pine furniture we brought over and bikes and much more, we did'nt have any problems at all, we filled our 20ft container right up we wished we had brought more like a pool table for rumpus room,quite pricey out here.

Sarahxx

[Guest D&LA]

hi , hope you don't mind me asking but how did you manage to get it for £2k, everyone else seems to be paying £3-£4k . Any tips would be brilliant !

[Guest joolz]

Hi

 

 

Personally John Mason's did not return any of my calls so they have not quoted which is weird as I know they have been recommended. Maybe it's because they don't have a rep down in the south west who knows.

 

So far I think it is a toss up between Robinsons and Britannia....

 

Good luck with your plans

Michelle

 

We have John Masons coming to us on Thursday...they got back to us straight away? We live in Aldershot, Hampshire.

 

I'll keep you posted on the quote and what they will do...

 

joolz :cute:x

[sailorrae]

Sam ,

give pickfords a phone they were the cheapest by far for us , thats the full house contents packed & un packed in oz into a 20ft container from my front door to a house in north brighton in adelaide , very good we thought . Try them before you go with anyone else ,hope this will help.