lynniep

We used http://www.excess-baggage.com/ to ship our stuff from Edinburgh to Sydney, although it was purely boxes - we sold any furniture we had beforehand. They do do full household removals if you require it though. I'd give them 7/10. They only deliver and pick up on a weekday (although it depends on your location - if not living within 25 miles of London thats the case) and TNT (sub-contractors) initially forgot to deliver one of the boxes (we only ordered 10 tea-crate sized cardboard boxes so it wasnt that hard) but there was always someone available at Excess Baggage to speak to with any gripes or questions (I had one main point of contact who was very good - I always asked to speak to him and he'd ring me back if he wasnt around). You can get a quote off their website which should be easy if you've already packed up your stuff. I thought it very reasonable - around 450 quid. My shipment went by sea (door-to-door), which is less expensive obviously, and I had it stored for one month in London which is an option if you want it. It arrived at port 5 weeks after shipping. The quote I had for door-to-door by air was about 700quid and is apparently 3 to 14 days delivery time. We paid extra for insurance. Its think it worked out at 5 % of the estimated value but I can't really remember . You have to give them a fairly comprehensive inventory of whats in your boxes and approx values. There was no problem at this end - I got an email telling me my boxes had arrived, and shortly aftwards the delivery documents which I faxed back to them. They rang me a week or so later to say someone had cancelled a delivery and did I want my boxes which was yes obviously. Almost everything was in one piece (I lost a few mugs and stuff) although they are REALLY rough with it. I think that happens whoever you settle with - these delivery guys have too much to lug about to be gentle. No notice was taken of my 'Top of Box' signs. Its a good job I wrapped the electricals (dvd, ps2 etc) with thick towels. All in all I'd recommend them although I have nothing to compare it to. They did what they said they'd do with fairly little hassle. The problem at the beginning with the wrong number of boxes was their mistake and they rectified it straight away at no extra cost to me. I would say check your bill thoroughly though. My initial invoice was wrong due to human error. I initially had my quote changed (to a lower rate) and rather than creating a new order and scrapping the first, they changed the first - but not sufficiently to avoid confusion for people processing further down the line. It meant my first bill was based on my initial quote. It only took a call or two to sort out and they were apologetic and re-billed me but it could have gone smoother. It was handled well though which I why Im not saying avoid them - they werent deliberately trying to rip me off. That lot of rambling may or may not be useful. Good look with the move though!!