[Caven]

I’m trying to get an angle on who’s doing the best shipping quotes for the Jan/Feb period. I saw this thread elsewhere and would appreciate any input into the “form”.
Please improve it if you think it needs it. Below is an example.

Shipper : PSS
From: Nottinghamshire
To : Christchurch
What : 40' Hi-cube Container
How much : £5062 (not including insurance)
Insurance : 2.5% (1.8% car)
Notes : I.E. self-pack, storage, door to door, etc

Thanks.

[Daniel Park]

Hi there,

Have just organised our shipping so here's another to start you off:

Shipper : Michael Gerson (an overseas removal company based in North Finchley)
From: North London
To : Christchurch
What : 20' sole use container with 566 cu ft in it (about half full)
How much : £2295 not including insurance
Insurance : 1.53 % (Letton Percival, Liverpool)
Notes : We also tried Crown, Curtiss (division of Whites based in Portsmouth), John Mason, Anglo Pacific and Whites themselves but none could match this price and although they were all very helpful, we decided to go with the local firm who seemed to offer the best packing service and could meet our dates ok. NB: it was worth haggling - they knocked about £650 off the initial quote at a stroke.

Of the others, Crown were way more expensive than Masons or Curtiss, and Anglo Pacific didn't bother with a home visit to assess our stuff, so we discounted them early on.

Hope that helps people...

See you there!

Dan

[Jules]

our shipping cost £2500 for 600 cu ft in a shared container with £400 for £20,000 worth of insurance cover, this was with Allied Pickfords, full pack and unwrap service from Nottingham to Rotorua.

We are still waiting for it to arrive so cant tell you if anything broken or how the delivery and unwrap goes but the packing was good and the packers were happy to be kept watered with tea and coffee.

Jules

[Wannaway]

Hi all,
We paid about GBP3500 for a 20 cubic fot container which included them packing everything ( incl taking beds etc apart) and unpacking in NZ and reassembling furniture etc. We used Atlantic who we found to be very professional in the UK. I wasn't so impressed with the big guys from The Moving Co. in Auckland who took over once the crate arrived here. I got the distinct impression they wanted to get off as soon as possible. In fact they even had the cheek to ask me if I wanted anything unpacked before they left! Oh Yes I said. They did unpack and put beds etc together but felt I was pushing them to do it all the way! I think it's a different work ethic! I've never come across lazy removal guys before but maybe I have just been lucky!

[toots]

We used PSS and they were fine.

Just a word of caution though on the MAF Fees. The delivery/moving companies over here can sometimes overcharge for the MAF inspection fee - some by as much as £300, which is a lot to find when you first arrive.

Just check when you're getting your quotes in: ask the packers if their NZ agents here charge a standard MAF inspection fee based on the size of the container or will you have to pay for what MAF actually charges.

I can supply more info if you're interested.

[Diny]

We're using White & Co and after alot of negotiating we're being charged 3050.00 for a sole use 20ft container. They are doing all the packing and wrapping. It's a door to door service with them doing the unpacking and putting the beds etc back together .... well - that's what we're expecting, whether it will actually happen remains to be seen.

We got quotes as high as 4950.00 for the same service so it pays to shop around.

Diny

[RoadRunner]

Does anyone have any recommendations for shippers from the US?

[Caven]

Thanks very much everyone,

They all seem around the same ball-park (except that 4950 Diny :eek ). The quote we're going with is almost the same as Diny's, with the same services, with PSS. Then again it should be really, being from roughly the same place in the UK to roughly the same place in NZ. Yeah toots, I remember when you posted that Maf fee scamming and it has lodged firmly in mind :nice1

Is it me, (with toots'es post in mind) that no matter which way you look, wether it be at estate agents, landlords, removals, immigration agents, shippers, jobsearch firms, etc. etc. that there is a well honed, slick fleecing machine aimed at migrants?

[veronica]

Fact the world over, the whole idea of business is to make money. After all, we choose to sell our house (could do it ourself), landlords (hmm), packing (can be done ourself) immigration agents (don't need them) shippers (yep do need them) job search (could go through the papers). Some of the costs can be kept down but it all comes back to choice, its easier/less time consuming to pay someone to do these things for us. And hopefully it will be all worth it in the end so regard it as a life investment. (no gain without pain)

[Caven]

Nah, what I mean is that in all the job-types I mentioned above there's accounts of migrants being fleeced because they are migrants, I don't mean normal profit making. Toots'es Maf fees being an example. As ever though, there's as many good guys as bad guys so I guess it's luck as well as healthy suspicion that'll see you through.