[Kirst&Kev]

Thanks in advance to those that reply, because I am sure I am not the first one seeking your opinions on this!

My first question is do I have to be in NZ to receive the goods? (I have had conflicting info from various companies on this). And I kind of need to know for sure! :laugh

Our needs are: storage in the UK (about a month) and NZ (don't know how long yet) for a 20ft container.

I got quotes from :

- Burke Bros

- EVL (European Van Lines)

- Robinsons

- Anglo Pacific

Can anyone tell me if they have heard of, know about or used any of these companies? Feel free to PM me. I'm in a pickle about which one to choose!

Also, what kind of questions should I be firing at them about how things are handled in NZ?

And for your insurance I have seen Letton Percival come up several times (in a good way)...did the majority of you NOT go with who your shipping co recommended?

Again, loads of thanks in advance for any tips/advice!! I'll go now...:exit

[dusk]

most people don't go with the insurance the shippers offer as it's generally a much higher rate than say letton percival

as for which shipping company to use, if you have a quick look you will find both positive and negative stories about most of the major companies, so it's hard to make a recommendation really. depends if you are paying yourself, having a full container or groupage, making a simple or complicated journey (storage, destinations etc)

Sorry that doesn't really help a lot.

We got a quote from AP and EVL but went with John Masons in the end as they came in about the same range of prices as the others and we liked the man who came round to do the quote more, felt the company was more approachable and so on.

[marcia]

Its a huge minefield this one - get several quotes and go with your gut feeling (as well as reading all the good and bad experiences from fellow members on here!)

One piece of advice I would offer is to look into the cost of self storage once in NZ - we were quoted MUCH higher prices from the shippers/removals than we got ourselves at a self store. The shippers will also charge an extra one off handling fee for having to move the goods twice (from the container to storage and then out of storage to you!) And there is more chance of things going missing the more times they move it!

The other advantage of self store is you can access your goods and take out any items you want when you need them.

Good luck!

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Nothing to add other than I completely agree with the points raised by Dusk and Marcia.

If it's of interest we used Whites and found them to be very good - their quote included a period of storage in UK for free (think it was 2 weeks).

[chocolate cake]

Be careful re: separate insurance as insolvency is usually specifically excluded, unless you add it separately which is well worth doing as unfortunately i found out.