[Diny]

OK Folks, had the third quote through today.

1 x 20 ft sole use container, packing, loading, collection/delivery door to door ... all the usual stuff.

White & Company
3175.00 + 3% insurance

Britannia
3480.00 + 3% insurance

Crown
3890.00 + 3.5% insurance

I don't understand why there should be a 715.00 difference between highest & lowest quotes. I also don't understand why some folks (using these companies) have received much lower quotes than these.

Time to haggle I guess. I'll keep you posted.

Diny

[Michelle and Richard]

Diny

Crown

2990 including insurance for mechanical, sets and mould. Took a bit of haggling but got there eventually Go for it !

Michelle

[Diny]

Heck Michelle - that's 900 difference. I haven't seen any quotes as high as the ones I've had. Can't help being abit untrusting. I dealt with all the reps myself as hubby is away. Wonder if there's abit of 'woman alone - let's rip her off' going on.

Hhhhmmmmnnnnnn I wonder.

Don't worry - haggle is my middle name !

Diny

[Michelle and Richard]

I dealt with them as well, initial quotes were up at 3000 plus insurance. One other factor might be packing material although still not sure how it accounts for such a difference though. Could the area play a part, transport costs etc ???? we were in Yorkshire.

Michelle

[sarahc]

Hi - you can cut cost of insurance by not using the shippers own - We used Robinsons to ship our goods to Oz - they were very good & only charged 2.75 % insurance but I have since heard of people insuring with other agents - one called Letton Percival (phone no 0151 236 4568) has been recommended - they only charge 1.5% ! May be worth investigating,

Good Luck!
Sarah

[Diny]

Thanks for that info Sarah. I'm a woman on a mission now so will definately give that number a call.

Michelle, we're in Staffordshire - not particularly remote, only 5 mins off the M6.

Watch this space ladies .......

Diny

[richard]

You need to keep an eye on the small print of these policies. There was something in the Letton Percival one that made me discount it. Can't remember what it was now but I think it was a massive excess.

Some others impose a 30% uplift if a high proportion of your goods are high value (over £750).

Also beware of averaging. I think it means that if you insure an item with a replacement value of £2000 but give its value as £1000 they will only give you 50% of the insured value i.e. £500. It is also the replacement value in NZ not the UK that counts. Some seemed to average it per item others over the total contents you are shipping.

We are getting quotes for 2.5% to 2.69% with some giving 1.8% for the car. Our insurance costs should be around £820.

[Diny]

Have had another quote today too.

Curtis Moving & Storage - 3200 plus 3% insurance.

Chap from White & Co called me today to see whether I found thier quote acceptable. I told him I thought it was too high. He then mentioned something about a more 'economic' quality of packing ??????? He said if I decide to take that option the quote would be more in line of what I was expecting.

My first reaction was 'great' - now we're getting somewhere.

My second ..... Why wasn't I offered this when he called to see me, is it normal practice to quote the 'deluxe' service and hope the customer won't haggle?

He's coming again next week to re-quote. I shall shame him into a large discount (hopefully).

Diny

[Michelle and Richard]

Diny

This sounds a bit suspicious to me, I had whites ring up a couple of times about their quote not once did they mention a different type of packing.

Also its the packing that protects your stuff from moisture etc, I would ask to see both types of stuff.

Michelle

[Diny]

Don't worry - I'll ask plenty of questions.

I still believe that these company reps tried it on 'cos they were dealing with a 'mere woman'. They know that hubby is home now and will want to go through it with a fine tooth comb. Maybe the 'quality of packing' story was just some back pedling cock and bull.

Diny

[bbq]

Just wanted to thank you for posting all this stuff Diny

cheers

alex :nice1 :nice1

[Diny]

No worries Alex

We've got the bloke from White & Co coming back to see us next week. Have told him that if he reduces the quote to a more realistic level they have the job. He was eager to come for another meeting.

Just goes to show that it pays to shop around and then do abit of playing one company off against another.

Diny

[veronica]

on this packing thing. What we brought over with us in the way of personal things we packed ourselves, as well as a shop load of ski gear.
None of it was packed in anything special
Most of the personal stuff was packed in towels and linen from the airing cupboard, a few things had bubble wrap round them and most stuff was in cardboard boxes or wrapped in flat cardboard. It all got here safe and sound, no mould or anything, and that was in a container that we discovered had a hole in the side of it! just glad it wasn't put on the edge of the shipload :? Packing isn't rocket science. just wrap stuff and pack it with no gaps. Where you leave gaps or space you have movement of things and that is the most likely cause of crushing or breakages, just fill everything up.

[Lil]

Diny, I had White's in on Tuesday so will let you know how much it comes in at as soon as I get it. Another quote came in today at £2929, so I think anything over £3k is way over the mark. I cannot see why the prices vary so much and don't see why you should accept "inferior" packing to get the price down. I suppose where you live and where you are going in relation to the nearest docks plays a small part in the price variances, but for £700 difference I'd drive the lorry myself :laugh

[Diny]

Veronica & Lil

Thanks for your replies. I've set a price in my mind of 2900 which I'm going to do my best to achieve, as long as my furniture (sofa, dining table etc) are well packed with the 'proper stuff' - I'm more than willing to wrap and pack the other stuff myself to save a few hundred quid - like you say Veronica - it's not rocket science. We've moved house several times (once from Oz to UK) and we did all the packing for that ourselves, not that we had much in those days.

I'll let you know how we get on.

Diny

[Lil]

As promised the quote I got from White's today for 20' Container Door to Door, Kent to Auckland was for £2540. So maybe Diny you could haggle a bit more, £635 is a big difference in % terms - I just wonder how they can justify that.

[Diny]

Lil

Thanks for that ........ and there was me thinking I'd got an 'ok' deal in the end.

This really is annoying me - the same company charging over 600 quid more for the same service.

I think I will send the Whites rep the link to this thread and see what comments he comes back with.

635.00 would be a nice chunk towards airfares.

Onward and upward.

Diny

[leslie]

when agreeing price keep in mind that ships return to nz empty (they are there to pick up mostly foodstuffs) so you are practically doing them a favour by taking your things. make them beg...

[Radders]

Wow that seems an awful lot, but we don't have a full house of stuff.
We are being charged basically £475 for the first 25 cubed feet, then £5 per cubed foot after that. The only odd items are a water ski for £30, and two sets of golf clubs at £15 each.
I would have thought this works out to be more expensive per cubed foot than what you are paying as we have much less stuff, so you should really be getting a discount!!

[Diny]

Thanks for that info guys. I'm still haggling !!

Diny

[bevsere]

Hallo Diny.
I used the haggle technique with White and Co also. Each White and co is a seperate entity and thats why the price from one White and Co in one area differs from another White and Co in another area.
I simply got the permission from the person with the cheaper White and Co. price to quote them!
I went back to "my" White and Co. and asked them to match that price - in the end , they did!

Then - I discovered Curtiss , in Portsmouth - another White and Co actually - they were cheaper still and so we went with them.

One other point to mention - if you do pack some of your stuff yourselves , you may find that it is not covered by any insurance you decide to take out.
when you see your packing list - you will see the packers are careful also to point out what has been packed by you - and that the content and condition is unknown.
dont forget MAF also are keen to know whats inside your container.

Also remember the $370 odd NZ dollar change from MAf at the NZ end for quarantine and inspection charges.

[Diny]

Bevsere

Thanks fo that. I think that we'll not do any packing ourselves - simply because I realise it will cock the insurance up if we do.

It's interesting to know that all the White & Co branches quote their own prices, you'd have thought it would be a uniform charge across the board. I think that we'll use them in the end. They've offered us a good service and with everything else that's going on I'm kind of losing the will to haggle too much.

Diny

[Wiggles]

Hi Diny

Just posted on another thread - we are going with Curtis Removals. We were quoted:

20ft sole use £2,400
40ft sole use £3395

Kent - Christchurch door to door. 3% marine insurance. This was done through their Portsmouth office 023 9265 0576

Wiggles :mrgreen:

[Diny]

Hi Wiggles

I've been in touch with Curtis myself, but they told me that they don't actually have a branch up here (Staffordshire) so they would have to bring in a 3rd party to come to my home and do all the wrapping and packing and then road freight the container down to them in Portsmouth.

Taking all this into consideration, the quote was just over £3500 us.

With the service they offer I 'think' we'll be OK with White & Co.

Diny

[Yogi]

Diny, what deal did you eventually get?

Cheers,

Yogi.

[Diny]

Hi Yogi

We've eventually decided on White & Co. They are charging us 3050.00 plus 3% insurance for a sole use 20ft container.

Door to door delivery, wrap, pack, unpack, remove packaging. Price also includes all standard customs and import taxes.

We feel this is a fair deal, after reading through their brochures and having them come to house to give an estimate we thought they offered the best service for us.

Diny

[lindajax]

Diny,
Just in case it is of interest and pm me if it is - you don't have to have thier insurance and leton percival in liverpool do it for 1.53%
love linda xx

[haggis4U]

Hi there
All the talk seems to be on 20ft containers. Removers tell us we need a 40ft container. Anyone had quotes on the 40ft container door to door full packing service etc... from UK to Wellington.
The other idea is Mrs Haggis4U gets rid of her shoe collection and we are down to a 20ft container!! :laugh
Any thoughts most appreciated.
:cheers

[Timbo]

Hi Haggis. Not Wellington I know, but a start. Have you tried the search facitlity at top of page? I found the following using it. Posted by Caven in case you want to follow it up.

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

[haggis4U]

Thanks Timbo looks like my quotes are not alot different from the one you give.

[leslie]

diny

your entire move for £3000??? we expected a self-pack container should be at most half that (incl) yet prices coming in are quite a bit higher. am tempted to jack in container and just ring whites - prob is we found packing therapeutic, hassle-free and useful in long run. am going to ring your whites to see about container. will post anything useful.

[Diny]

What you need to bear in mind Leslie is that each different branch of Whites seem to quote different rates.

They say it all depends on how much there is to pack, where you live in the UK and where your delivery point is in NZ. I guess all this makes sense.

On the 'up side' of this subject, All the Whites quotes that other people have told me about are actually lower than mine, so you never know - they may even become more tempting.

Can't really comment on the actual service 'cos we haven't left yet but up to this stage we have no complaints about them at all. Long may it continue :hopeso

Diny