[holland]

Hi all,

Just asking for a little advice...shipping company are coming to pack house up...but how much organising did you all do before hand...If it was left to my hubby the house would just stay as it is and they would just come and sort it all, but I'm thinking I maybe need to organised things into neat piles to make it easier for packers ( and me at the other end??). I know we have to collapse all furniture and stuff.

Also, we only have to do a list for insurance purposes and Masons have said they make a detailed list, am I being too much of a control freak thinking I should catelogue everything using a colour coded system???:D Have other people just used what the shippers have noted down for their inventory???

Am I panicking too much??? Probably...I have been known to be a bit of a 'Monica'....should I be taking a phoebe approach!!!!!:laugh

j xx

[tigerlily]

Maybe a somewhere in between approach-

There are lots of things that you really don't want the packers to take (whole spices, open breakfast cereal, jewelery, your passports and luggage, etc...) that just walking out seems a bit dangerous. I'd pack up everything that you want to stay with you on the airplane or that you are going to need after the container goes and stick it in your car (provided that's not going in the container too!).

I can't think how your catalogue system could work if you are not packing the boxes, you'll have no idea how your catalogue relates to the actual packing list. Though if you want a really detailed list for insurance that includes the title of each book and the brand name of each item that would make sense I guess. For me, it would be much easier to take photos of everything rather than write it down.

If the Monica in you needs something to do, how about cleaning all the sports equipment/lawn mower/garden chairs? I'm currently throwing out lots and lots of things that I wonder how I ever have held onto for so long! That's another very fun task.

[kiwidebs]

My suggestion is to move everything out of one room and use that room to store things you don't want packed (passports, kids precious bedtime blankies etc) and put a sign on the door saying nothing in here is to be packed. In our case they packed over two days so we kept the kids beds intact until the second day, packed our suitcases and had them in the kid's room but moved out toys, furniture etc so most of the packing could be completed. I was amazed at the speed the packers moved - similar to watching locusts swarming and consuming a field of grain!!! By the end of the first day most of the house was in boxes, and they pack EVERYTHING - including an unopened bottle of medised (yay, cos you can't get it here) and a bottle of Calpol (my kids took ages to get used to Pamol).

Good luck.

Debs

[holland]

do they just take medicines that are unopened?? What about shampoos and stuff, did you take them?? I plan on cramming stuff into chest of drawers and stuff...what about body lotion and stuff??

J xx

[kiwidebs]

I don't think they're meant to take medicines etc at all - but they just cleared out my cupboard where they were and packed the lot!! They refused to pack my unopened spices though.
As for shampoos etc. I had a big clear out and threw out loads of stuff. I thought I'd start our new lives with uncluttered bathroom cupboards - well, 18 months in and our cupboards are as cluttered as ever. Even at the price of personal hygiene items over here!!!

[Jo Jo]

We're getting ready for the shippers too! I am currently typing up an inventory of items for insurance purposes (to try to work out how much I should insure for - it's pretty scary!)

[holland]

Oh my gosh....think thats my weekend Job Jo Jo, How are you getting on? Do you have a 20 ft container?? Are you taking shampoo's and stuff?? I have LOADS of body shop body butters I love them, hope I can take them?? Are you taking any food items, we have been told to take nothing at all???
At the moment, if you wanled into my house you wouldnt know we were emigrating in 7 weeks, think I maybe need to start doing more!!!!

J xx

[Jo Jo]

Yup, we do have a 20' container. I'm not packing any shampoo or anything in the container - I am going to take what I can when we fly and that's it. Though I did take a load of toiletries over with me to NZ in August so know I have nice stuff waiting there for me. We're not taking any food either. I am going to stock up on contact lenses and eye drops, though.

Our shippers come to pack next Tuesday and we have SO much to do before then!! Aaaargh!

[mgbridges]

I think I've rambled but hopefully this will help...

ORGANISING - we started quite a long way in advance going through stuff. e.g: filing or throwing out all the paperwork that was lying around the house, finding out exactly what was in the garage, getting stuff down from the loft. Firstly we put on Ebay quite a few computer related bits that my OH no longer wanted. Then a fortnight before the removal company came I hired a skip to clear a lot of stuff in the garage we weren't taking. It was very handy - as I found stuff I wanted to chuck I simply chucked it rather than having to have a million and one black bags waiting for the dustbin men!

One thing we could have done but ran out of time to do was go to a car boot sale. Our local charity shops did rather well out of us as did some family and friends when I cleared the loft of all my son's old baby clothes, equipment and toys.

The other thing I'd suggest is using Freecycle as there were some items we didn't want to take but I was loath to throw away.

REMOVAL MEN - I tried to gather things together, e.g. all our pictures off the walls (removing hooks where possible to avoid other things getting damaged when moving past them). I put all our wooden ornaments together for MAF purposes. Putting stuff in the car is a great suggestion, I did and it helped to reduce my stress levels. I don't think you necessarily need to group stuff I just figured that at least that way when I came to unpack similar items would be in the same box. I stuck labels on the cupboard with all the food in it and the one with all the cleaning products in it saying 'don't pack contents'. The other thing I did was pack our suitcases and make sure all the men that came to pack knew they weren't to go.

As an aside before you start dismantling all your furniture check with your removal company whether you need to do so. We used Allied Pickfords and they dismantled our beds and anything that was too big or cumbersome to get down the stairs. They even came equipped with their own screwdrivers and alan keys etc. They were very conscious of the fact that I still needed to live in the house whilst they packed over 3 days, fortunately son was on hols with grandparents and OH was already in NZ. Also be careful about overfilling chests of drawers etc. It can make them too heavy to move and the contents of each draw will end up having to go in a seperate box.

INVENTORY - the removal men will do an inventory but its not very detailed. Its a very basic description of what's in each box. If you need an inventory for insurance purposes I'd suggest doing one yourself, especially as you need to put a value on everything. You don't normally need to go down to the detail of individually valuing each shirt or sock but being able to detail 40 x harbacks and 40 x paperbacks for your books puts a more realistic value on them. We were offered the option of insuring on a per cubic meter of stuff at a set rate and once I started adding everything up it worked out about the same so thats what we did. I'd done the international moving thing before and found doing the inventory one of the most time consuming and stressful things to do so good luck with yours! Taking photographs sounds like a good idea to me too then at least you can sit down at the PC and type up a list.

Thats about all from me, sorry for rambling yet again, its a bad habit of mine. Good luck and remember to have the odd glass of wine at the end of each day - helps with the stress!

Anneliese

[holland]

Good Luck Jo Jo!!!! We have three quarters of a 20 footer, but Im paranoid they've under estimated...are you filling chest of drawers and stuff before they come? or are you leaving the stuff out so they can see it and then pack it themselves??

J xx

[mgbridges]

Jo Jo - don't do what I did when packing shampoos etc....

I put a lovely new bottle of bubble bath in my suitcase which I will admit was packed rather tightly. Picked up the suitcase to move it out of the removal mens way and noticed it was leaking something!! Yep - bottle had broken and I had bubbles all along the bottom 'seam'. Fortunately it didn't get on too much of the stuff in the suitcase but the case was trashed and I had to go out and buy a new one at the 11th hour.

The silver lining to the black cloud was that I ended up with a great, lightweight suitcase with wheels. Inside which all my 'liquids' were double 'bagged'.

[holland]

Anneliese,

Thankyou so so much for your advice...taken it all on board, and thinking I maybe need to start the inventory!

We do need to dimantle everything....we are with John Masons, maybe its different for them??? It would be good if they did flatpack stuff as it would save strain on my hubbys back!

Thanks again

J xx

[Jo Jo]

We're using John Masons too and I'm not dismantling anything - they're doing it for me. Mind you, I don't have much to dismantle, just two bookshelves and two beds.

Ooh, I must get on, but will be back later.

[holland]

The cheek!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im going to ring them tomorrow!! We have a tv unit,a double bed, a shelving unit, glass table and dining room table, which isnt that much in the grand scheme of things...Im ringing them tomorrow!!!

Thanks!!

j xx

[Aussie Pom]

When we have moved before we usually pack thing that aren't valuable ourselves, the moving company just drops off boxes for you, that way you put in all your cosmetics etc, books, cds. Anything that is unbreakable or expensive. All the fragile stuff the packers have to pack for insurance purposes but other stuff you might be able to do yourself and that might also help you know what is in the boxes.
Gina

[IanW99]

We're using John Masons too and I'm not dismantling anything - they're doing it for me. Mind you, I don't have much to dismantle, just two bookshelves and two beds.

Ooh, I must get on, but will be back later.

John Masons dismantled our stuff for us as well, wasn't much though i.e. bunk beds and dining room table.

Ian

[thezorbster]

You do need to be careful if you're filling chests of drawers & stuff as the men need to be able to safely lift it and possibly load it at the top of a container. Be sensible in what you put in there. I loaded a chest of drawers with all sorts of bits & bobs but it ended up so heavy that they then had to repack all the contents anyway.

Most companies will dismantle things for you - eg our bed & dining table were done. They were not allowed to touch anything electrical though so if there are any light fittings etc you want to take you would have to remove those yourself. Also they said they would not have been able to do a full height bunk bed (health & safety issue!) but our daughter has a mid height bed that they agreed to do. Things will not be reassembled for us here though so we will have a bit of DIY to do NEXT WEEK!!!!! (yippee - it's nearly here!).

Re shampoos etc, I took some unopened bottles of stuff which I put in bags inside a bathroom drawer unit we had and they just packed it.

[Mickstim]

John Masons also told us they would dismantle everything and put it back together at the other end. We are relying on that as totally useless at assembling furniture!

Has anyone shipped a Tempur mattress? We have just bought a superking and it says it mustn't be stored on its side - so a bit concerned about it being stuck in a container for 10 weeks as it probably wouldn't be laid flat.

[marcia]

John Masons also told us they would dismantle everything and put it back together at the other end. We are relying on that as totally useless at assembling furniture!

Has anyone shipped a Tempur mattress? We have just bought a superking and it says it mustn't be stored on its side - so a bit concerned about it being stuck in a container for 10 weeks as it probably wouldn't be laid flat.


Tell the packers about your mattress needing to be laid flat and they should be able to pack the container with that in mind and possibly put it on top of other boxes of things - at the end of the day they won't realise it's a special one unless you tell them - and keep an eye on it when they pack the container just to make sure!

Make sure the packers label the bags with the parts for each item of furniture they dismantel (i did it for them and provided plastic freezer bags for each set of stuff!) You may end up reassembling stuff yourself if your container arrives early or stuff has to go into storage for whatever reason, so make the job easier by labelling stuff, and make sure they have a 'bits/parts' box, which goes in last thing - so its the first to come out and you have all the odds and bobs to hand straight away!

[Mickstim]

Thanks Marcia. Isn't it great to have people around who have already done this sort of stuff!

Barbx

[holland]

I rang John Masons, and they said that the cost is based on whether or not you are dismantling the stuff yourself. Anyway,despite that, I managed to wangle them taking apart my glass rotating coffee table, as we nearly had a divorce putting it together...so goodness knows what would happen taking it apart!!!!:laugh

Not long now.....Im scared!!

Who have you all sorted out for insurance, I haven't even sorted that yet, I must do some research on that later

j xx

[thezorbster]

You could try Letton Percival for insurance - they were half the price of the removers insurance - 1.5% I think. Just do a web search for them and give them a ring. We have used them following advice from others on the forum. Saved us quite a bit.

[Jo Jo]

We went with John Mason's insurance. It's more expensive than Letton Percevel, but the latter had a much higher excess so would have cost more if we had to make a claim in a worst case scenario situation (i.e. if our container ended up washed ashore somewhere). But, to be honest, if we had had more time to sort it out, we might have chosen differently, but I'm glad to know that should the worst happen we are fully covered.

[holland]

We've been quoted 1.6%..I asked if it was negotiable and the answer was 'no'.>..I rang up to ask a few questions, and felt like they weren't really that helpful ( at first)...they seemed to warm to me as the conversation went on!!! I asked about what would happen if 1 of my 6 dining room chairs was damaged...he said we would try and fix it, and I said 'what if you couldn't'...he said 'we would try and find a replacement', I said 'what if you couldn't find a match'...he said 'we would have to look into that'....I didn't seem to get any reassurance...and to be honest it put me off a bit...if I am struggling getting the answer I want before anything has broken...what is it going toi be like if I have to claim??

Anyone made a claim through Letton??

J xx

[Smiler]

Holland

Yes we had to claim through Letton's. Have a search for some of my old post's from Dec/Jan 2005 if you want the gory details. Our car was badly damaged and the motorbikes too. We also had breakages in the household stuff, mainly due to poor packing by the removal co.

But LP were brilliant. They immediately sent a loss adjuster round and handled the whole thing very professionally and efficiently. I had very little to do as they sorted it all out. They also sent the cheque to my sister in the Uk to put in my bank account. :nice1

We found it easy to fill in the insurance forms and also sent photo's of valuable pieces and the vehicles, with the forms. This way they had a record of condition before the move. I must have had a premonition for that one. :laugh

I can't recommend them enough. :clap

[holland]

Thanks Smiler, thats a relief!!!

I would send forms off if there wasn't a blinking postal strike!!!

J xx

[Familyofmonkeys]

My advice for doing an inventory is to list everything you possibly can (time permitting). The packers working for shipping companies do not list every item, and you may have problems with insurance if things are not listed.
We had a few things damaged, nothing serious luckily, but the insurers try it on. For example, our step ladder went missing. It was in a box labelled 'Garden Items' by the packers. It was opened by MAF, and then repacked....minus the stepladder (we saw it being packed UK end). Insurance company said that as it was not individually listed on the packing list, they would not pay out. We also had a couple of chipped saucers in a box labeled 'glass & crockery', which again they argued about. But at the end of the day, the stuff was 'professionally packed' and therefore covered, so they had to pay up. I mean, it's not like packers are going to list every pair of socks in a box of clothes, or it would take them several days to pack up a house.

Other advice, is that packers will pack at lightening speed. We were told that they often arrive and people are just not ready e.g. they have not drained and dried things like washing machines, they they have to stand around waiting, as people do not expect them to be so quick at packing. They are also very inventive with their use of space. If there are things you want to be packed together....tell them and place them together before the packers arrive. Make sure anything that MAF will need to look at is also kept separately.

As for Tempur mattresses, make sure you say IN WRITING that it has to be laid flat, before the packers arrive. That way, if it is damaged, there will be no arguments other end. Plus, make sure it is properly insured. In NZ they start at about $4500 and Tempur pillows are about $200.....we just got a nice new mattress, but I wasn't allowed to spend that much money :o

[Graham Cross]

Can you pack the drawers with clothing and stuff so that you will know where they are when you get there. I have got a room full of craft stuf and have packed my stamps and card and paper in metal drawers and plastic containers 7 metal drawers. 8 plastic drawers and must have at least a dozen plastic boxes. That is before we start on the rest of the house. Am I taking too much?

[Myrkk]

How much packing can you do yourself before the packers arrive? We have a lot of books/CDs and Vinyl which is easily packed but would be nice to have packed away just now before we put the house up for sale. Would the packers be ok with that or would they want to see inside the boxes for themselves and so repack them?

[Smiler]

How much packing can you do yourself before the packers arrive? We have a lot of books/CDs and Vinyl which is easily packed but would be nice to have packed away just now before we put the house up for sale. Would the packers be ok with that or would they want to see inside the boxes for themselves and so repack them?


Anything we'd already packed before the shippers arrived had Packed by Owner or PBO, written on the inventory. MAF looked in a couple of the boxes but not all of them.

I'd pack them now, it's a job done and a little bit of pre sale decluttering sorted too! :clap

[Familyofmonkeys]

Anything 'Packed by Owner' on shipping inventory is not usually covered by insurance....check small print very carefully, as you may be covered for total loss but not damage. Owner packed stuff also is more likely to get checked by both customs and MAF, which can cost more this end.
We packed about 50 boxes ourselves...books, CD's and DVD's. But we left the boxes unsealed. The packers checked each box (to see if sensibly packed) and sealed with their own companies tape, so they could go on inventory as professionally packed. They do not do this automatically, we had to negotiate this with them, plus check they had remembered to write 'professionally packed' on inventory before they left. Also, if you do pack boxes yourself, we were advised to use lots of same size, acid free, regular shaped boxes that could stack easily, or they could be more at risk of damage while shipping.
Lastly, you can sometimes leave stuff in drawers..we did, but the packers still moved some of our stuff around in order to reduce weight and balance load of furniture. Don't assume stuff will stay where you left it. I found some of my jumpers packed with TV as there was space in the box, and it acted as extra padding.