[Karoline]

Hello all, does everything in a seacontainer get wet and moist when it is shipped?
Or is that depending on the quality of the container?
Is it always recommandable to wrap the carton boxes in plastic?
Thanks!
Best regards,
Karoline

[Dave & Sandra]

Hi Karoline

Our shippers didn't wrap the boxes in plastic and they were OK when they arrived. I suppose if the container has a big hole then it might be a problem :no but I'm sure they wouldn't use a container that had a big hole in it. :hopeso

[Moorf]

Hmmmm you might want to ask Tanya and Richard about big holes in containers :uhoh

[Tanya]

Yes, Our container arrived with a big hole in it which wasn't there when it left us! :eek Luckily, everything was okay except, so far anyway, 1 broken wine glass, 1 picture broken(glass) and somehow a lot of the white plasticware from the kitchen and childrens toys have turned yellow :( Just the side that was towards the outside of the box, the inside is still lovely white)

I know it gets very hot in the container and I would have thought(and it is only my opinion) that if you wrapped your boxes in plastic then condensation would form and cause more problems than without. We had 266 packages and a car in our container and even though it left us at the end of October and got left in Singapore for 3 weeks due to incompetance of the company we used, then 2 weeks in Lyttelton so we didn't get it until last week(Feb!) I have to say that the damage is incredibly minor. Even the linen smelt nice and fresh like it had been in a linen cupboard all the time!

Tanya

[sarahw]

Tanya you're exactly right - any form of plastic will cause condensation - our container had paper wrapping and cardboard boxes. A few things rusted even in those nothing major but my visual dry scales for the kitchen & a couple of lightbulbs - must have been the type of metal - but the stuff that they wrapped in bubble-wrap was damp (luckily no damage apart from the stereo equaliser which won't work at all). Don't let anyone shrinkwrap anything - it'll be wet as hell when it arrives! :no

[acisman]

We spoke to shippers at a New Zealand expo in London last year and PSS stated they do not use plastic in any form as it does lead to condensation. PSS visited us last week to give us an estimate and confirm that this is the case. In fact the bubble wrap they use is a special type, with air holes to allow things to breathe.

Incidently, if anyone is interested, our quote from PSS door to door Cambridge UK to Cambridge NZ via Auckland is £2250 for a sole use 20 foot container, with insurance at 2.5%. We got the quote in writing today and it looks like we will be using PSS, who seem very professional. In fact, because we must now move very quickly as a result of a quick house sale, I phoned PSS to ask, if I accept their quote can they pack and ship on 1st March. No problem was the response.

Dave

[acisman]

Further to my previous comment and before any one asks how I got such a low quote, the figure should have read £3250 not £2250. I wish they would make keyboards with bigger keys !!


Dave

[sarahw]

PSS were very good - did a great job of the packing - I would certainly recommend them. I don't know about the bubble wrap having holes - I've just put it all outside to be collected with the boxes & it looks the same as normal bubble wrap to me - there was condensation on the things wrapped in it! :?

NZ Vanlines at the NZ end were good too - delivered when they said they would & were all pretty helpful - just found the Welly office a bit difficult to talk to anyone to give them our details so dealt by e-mail at first but as soon as the container went through Customs they were pretty hot on the case.

:nice1

[Diny]

Have just received our quote back from PSS. They have quoted us
1.00 GBP more than White & Co.

Having read through all their 'pitch' they do indeed seem to offer a very good service.

I think my next step will be to contact them and see if I can 'play them off' against White & Co. It's worth a try.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Diny

[Karoline]

hmmm we wrapped a number of things in plastic, inside of the boxes, like the computer....can't change that anymore.... :?
We'll see what happens...thanks for your advice :nice1

[veronica]

we wrapped most of our stuff in linen, towels and clothes. although we did use bubble wrap on some stuff and that all turned up ok. I think as long as its not completely sealed with tape the plastic has a chance to breathe a bit . Still I would think its best to not wrap and seal the boxes though.

[lindajax]

Hi All
I can only comment on White and Co ...and thier wrapping.
Books etc were in cartons and not wrapped in anything else in or outside the box and some were or had been wet and had some mould on them we did loose some cheap pictures, from ikea that were sort of chip board painted pictures, with mould and they were individually wrapped with waxed paper then put in a carton.
It was only about 3 boxes that looked like they had been wet at some point so I can't really say if it was the packaging method or what it was because all the others ( we had 169 cartons in total ) were fine.

All other stuff was okay no mustiness with towels or anything just books and paper type stuff smelled a bit musty but I suupse no amount of wrapping can stop that?!?

I know this probably isn't much help.

I believe silica gel is the best stuff to put in cartons to combat damp and mildew etc but it can be very expensive

love Linda xxx

[veronica]

One thing someone else mentioned and if you see your container its worth checking, holes in the walls or ceiing of the container. Our one had a hole about as big as a mobile phone punched in the side of it. we didn't notice it in the uk cos the place it was packed in was dark but when it was unloaded in the daylight in Chch it was very obvious. The shipper tutted about it and as everything was ok said we were lucky, the container must have been in the centre of the pile because if it had been on the edge there was a fair chance that sea water would have got in it.

[jan]

From the 5 or 6 qoutes that we have had , they have all said that when the 20ft container arrives outside my door, the packers will go into it and close the doors on themselves. This to check for light coming inside the container. If this happens another container will be ordered and the packers don't move until it arrives.

Perhaps it can get a knock in transit after its left our house?

Jan xx

[Tanya]

Perhaps it can get a knock in transit after its left our house?

Jan xx

Yes you are right - Hubby went into our container in the UK and no sign of light coming through in it but when we went into it here in Christchurch after they had unpacked it there was a rather large hole in the top where(I assume) another container had been dropped onto it :eek

Fortunately for us, nothing was wet,(must have been in the right place on the boat) but it does happen.

Tanya