Chess Removals - Perth to London - A++

Hi All,

Just a quick note to anyone that may be looking for some recent experiences with shipping companies. Yesterday we had our 20ft container packed up and taken away for shipment from Perth back to the UK which we are returning to on October 12th permanently.

We had many companies come out to us and quote but i couldn't recommend highly enough the services of Chess. Obviously only half of the shipment process has completed with the arrival and unpacking back in the UK still to commence but i will provide an update when that happens and do not envisage any changes to my positive feelings of the this whole process so far.

Chess were by far the cheapest and although sometimes cheaper is not necessarily better i was very confident that these guys would deliver on my expected service. I think even if they had been more expensive i would have gone with them because of how comfortable i felt about the whole process and the vibe i got from the very first day i contacted them, being the cheapest was just an added bonus to the whole process!

From the moment Paul came out to quote on our freight to the freight being collected it was smooth, hassle free, easy and enjoyable. The quote was based on a measurement estimate of 28 cubic metres. I do not think he could of been anymore spot on with that measurement if he had tried. Everything we wanted to take was included and packed into the container so precisely. Paul was fantastic, down to earth and did not try to sell anything, it just naturally happened because of how comfortable we felt dealing with him. None of this cheesy pushy sales pitch. Once i said i would sort my own insurance out that was it. no more on the matter and no pushing to get me to take up the insurance through the freight company which would have been about 3 times the price based on quotes from other company's. I didn't even need to ask Paul for a quote because i took the fact he asked once and after i said i have done it myself he didn't mention it again and said good job! BTW for freight insurance, Letton Percival were bang on for price and service. And to top it off the shipment will take just 4 weeks from Perth to London. I was under the impression 8 weeks was the minimum so that was an added bonus as we have a rental property already secured when we get there in mid October!

The guys who collected our freight were brilliant, funny, professional and easy to be around. Everything just felt right and when you are upping and moving to the other side of the world those moments of feeling comfortable and not worried are welcomed with open arms.

As i mentioned above i do not expect the second half of the process to be any different even though its Chesses UK partner Britannia who delivery our furniture.

Give them a go, i think you will be pleasantly surprised at the cost and service compared to a number of other company's. Just incase anyone is interested we paid $7200 for full shipment and delivery of our 20ft container.

Cheers,

Thanks for the information - I recently posted a question about shipping Perth to England and this has helped me a lot. Didn't think about getting my own insurance - is there any issue / risk with the insurance not being done by Chess? i.e. insurer then putting blame back on you etc (besides costs - was there any driver for you to seek your own insurance?).

Was the price you quoted for them to pack in Australia and unpack in England? For one 20ft sea container?

Appreciate the information, cheers

(4 weeks is good turnaround - I had expected 8 weeks too)

You may want to change your ***** to ++++ if you're happy with them. I thought you were calling them arseholes haha

You may want to change your ***** to ++++ if you're happy with them. I thought you were calling them arseholes haha

Me too!:laugh:

@suesmalls Independant insurance is probably far less hassle should you need to make a claim

Shipping companies insurance is more likely to drag their heels or dispute it. I'd get independant over shipping companies own any day.

You may want to change your ***** to ++++ if you're happy with them. I thought you were calling them arseholes haha

Hahaha i just re read it and thought exactly the same. I will have to try and edit it!

Re the insurance i just assumed that the insurance offered from the freight company was similar to finance offered at a car yard (high rates, high set up fees etc) and i went and got a quote from an independent insurer and found them soon much cheaper than the freight company. The guy from chess pretty much said to continue doing what i was doing as if to say its cheaper and better.

The price was for us to pack our items, so they dropped loads of boxes of different sizes a month (allowed us to pack at our own pace and not have to do it frantically at the end) before the collection and we just packed anything that could fit in a box. They also provided paper to wrap items. All the big stuff (couches, furniture, beds, pictures, mirrors) was left for them to wrap. They then packed it all into the container and it was done. Easy as that.

Great thanks for the update @vinnie3004 and @snifter - definitely something I hadn't considered and will be looking into this. I'll go back through and get the name of the insurer you mentioned.

It does also tell me from your last post you took back all your big items - couches etc - perhaps you have home already sorted etc and know they will fit. Still grappling with this decision to be honest. Now we've told a few family members of cause the 'help and advice' is starting and they're telling us don't bother, costs of moving, won't fit, storage until we know where we're going to stay etc. Probably all valid reasons as we do have very large furniture as we have a very big home - well most Australian homes even at the low to mid entry are bigger (on average).

Just knowing we're going to be selling our furniture for near nothing and buy again at other end with little money to start with is probably my biggest bug bear - starting again at 48. But hearing how others have done it and it can be done is reassuring, thanks for updating with details. Appreciated.

Good call @snifter re the claiming direct - definitely agree and hadn't thought about this either, thank you.

Me too!:laugh:

Me three!

Great thanks for the update @vinnie3004 and @snifter - definitely something I hadn't considered and will be looking into this. I'll go back through and get the name of the insurer you mentioned.

 

It does also tell me from your last post you took back all your big items - couches etc - perhaps you have home already sorted etc and know they will fit. Still grappling with this decision to be honest. Now we've told a few family members of cause the 'help and advice' is starting and they're telling us don't bother, costs of moving, won't fit, storage until we know where we're going to stay etc. Probably all valid reasons as we do have very large furniture as we have a very big home - well most Australian homes even at the low to mid entry are bigger (on average).

Just knowing we're going to be selling our furniture for near nothing and buy again at other end with little money to start with is probably my biggest bug bear - starting again at 48. But hearing how others have done it and it can be done is reassuring, thanks for updating with details. Appreciated.

 

Good call @snifter re the claiming direct - definitely agree and hadn't thought about this either, thank you.

We managed to sort a rental out from here so we purposely looked for properties that we new we could fit our furniture into and within our budget. Once we found one, we asked family at home to go and look and check it out. Once we got the thumbs up we got it sorted. We thought about selling furniture but we would seriously get next to nothing for it and then have to fork out again for it. Plus our furniture is what makes up our home and its nice knowing we will have some home comforts following us. Thats my view anyway, lots do sell and start completely again, but we worked hard to buy decent furniture and my wife and i really like it so didn't want to part with it. the little things i guess :-)

When are you thinking of moving? we started the freight process about 2 months prior to our date and that seems to have been ample time for us.

Me too!:laugh:

Me four!!

Hi @vinnie3004 reading your message is exactly my thoughts and opinion re furniture etc - when I have this discussion with husband he doesn't agree as we're thinking shipping costs were going to be exorbitant. But they're somewhat reasonable based on what people are advising - that said we do have large furniture and king size bedroom suite. But I have worked all my life and taken me so long to acquire nice things (yes they're material but they are all I own). It really is quite a philosophical dilemma as well I guess (you know material possessions owning you - some would say).

We haven't put house on the market and this is a big ticket for us - we need to sell the house as it is extremely high maintenance and not going through the rent saga again (been there done that and cost of dearly) - we have about 6 weekends left of repairs, fix ups, tidy ups before we can list and then I have knee replacement surgery in late November. We were aiming for Jan 17, but not sure how the house will go and I'm not pinning my hopes on it selling quick (well at the price we hope for).

We are going to be driven by work to determine where we're going to live - I've got to be open to getting a decent job in England, so we will move to Peterborough (Whittlesey) to stay with family and then look for work. I am going to hit the agencies & websites from December (have informed my current agency one who is international).

But will be calling Chess & Kentz soon to get heads up and quote and see what they can offer. When I told husband about the 4 weeks shipping last night he was impressed.

Thanks for feedback - did decide one thing last night definitely taking my Marri dining suite and Entertainment unit - just such nice wood and Australian. Things like that hold memories and mean something to me.

But good idea about sending family around to look at rentals - we were talking about that if I can manage to get work in whatever location before we go would get straight into looking for rental in that location and try to get it all set up. Did you go through rightmoves.uk to look for rentals?

Side question - out of interest - were you originally from England and wanted to return home - this is new for me moving to England so curious for how people got on, reasons etc to help me out - don't mean to pry and if too personal completely understand.

Thank you

Yeah i get what you are saying regarding the property taking a while to sell. Ours was relatively quick but we took a hit on it (big time) as the perth market is diabolical compared to when we purchased the house 3 years ago. Ashame really but the ongoing costs and my wifes employment opportunity with her old job was to good to turn down so we just accepted the offer. I believe if we have waited we could have lost more anyway, i think the saying goes 'your first offer is always your best offer' especially in a market like this.

Yes we are both originally from England. i have been here 12 years now and my close family (parents, brothers) all live here in perth but my wife has no one and all of our close friends and connections are at home and it just turned out that all of our friends at home had children the same time our son was born (2015) so that was also another massive pull back as our friends here are in very different stages of life.

We did use rightmove yes, we found an abundance of properties on there and ended finding what we were after, albeit on a slightly busier road than expected but you cant have everything.

We are leaving Perth October 12th so hopefully all does go well but i guess its what you make of it. England is a cracking place to live so i don't see any additional dramas that you wouldn't face if coming the other way.

Good luck :-)

I'll be moving back soon too - own insurance is something I didn't consider either. Thanks

We used Chess back in 2010 after my Dad had passed in the UK he left me some items back then it was around $400 but Johnathan was just great and everything arrived safe. If I go back home I wouldn't hesitate using then, over the years we have used a few companies and down the track we have realised stuff missing it is surprising how you forget what you have until you want it then oops gone, I think they have a box for them and take what they fancy easy to do if you have ever watched them before anyone shouts at me not all are like this just a few bad eggs.

@vinnie3004 Coming close to your departure date hope everything going good with the packing and preparation - best wishes for safe travels and good luck setting up. Would be interested to hear how setting up goes.

Hi All,

 

Just a quick note to anyone that may be looking for some recent experiences with shipping companies. Yesterday we had our 20ft container packed up and taken away for shipment from Perth back to the UK which we are returning to on October 12th permanently.

 

We had many companies come out to us and quote but i couldn't recommend highly enough the services of Chess. Obviously only half of the shipment process has completed with the arrival and unpacking back in the UK still to commence but i will provide an update when that happens and do not envisage any changes to my positive feelings of the this whole process so far.

 

Chess were by far the cheapest and although sometimes cheaper is not necessarily better i was very confident that these guys would deliver on my expected service. I think even if they had been more expensive i would have gone with them because of how comfortable i felt about the whole process and the vibe i got from the very first day i contacted them, being the cheapest was just an added bonus to the whole process!

 

From the moment Paul came out to quote on our freight to the freight being collected it was smooth, hassle free, easy and enjoyable. The quote was based on a measurement estimate of 28 cubic metres. I do not think he could of been anymore spot on with that measurement if he had tried. Everything we wanted to take was included and packed into the container so precisely. Paul was fantastic, down to earth and did not try to sell anything, it just naturally happened because of how comfortable we felt dealing with him. None of this cheesy pushy sales pitch. Once i said i would sort my own insurance out that was it. no more on the matter and no pushing to get me to take up the insurance through the freight company which would have been about 3 times the price based on quotes from other company's. I didn't even need to ask Paul for a quote because i took the fact he asked once and after i said i have done it myself he didn't mention it again and said good job! BTW for freight insurance, Letton Percival were bang on for price and service. And to top it off the shipment will take just 4 weeks from Perth to London. I was under the impression 8 weeks was the minimum so that was an added bonus as we have a rental property already secured when we get there in mid October!

 

The guys who collected our freight were brilliant, funny, professional and easy to be around. Everything just felt right and when you are upping and moving to the other side of the world those moments of feeling comfortable and not worried are welcomed with open arms.

 

As i mentioned above i do not expect the second half of the process to be any different even though its Chesses UK partner Britannia who delivery our furniture.

 

Give them a go, i think you will be pleasantly surprised at the cost and service compared to a number of other company's. Just incase anyone is interested we paid $7200 for full shipment and delivery of our 20ft container.

 

Cheers,

Got Paul coming out to do our quote on Monday. Hope it is like yours then it will be much better than the others we have had!

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Hi @Martinbjulieb would be interested to hear how you get on as sounds like you've had a few quotes? When are you thinking of moving? Assume you're in Perth (just curious to see if different locations get different levels of service). Hope all goes well.

Hi @Martinbjulieb would be interested to hear how you get on as sounds like you've had a few quotes? When are you thinking of moving? Assume you're in Perth (just curious to see if different locations get different levels of service). Hope all goes well.

Hi @suesmalls, yes we have had 3 quotes, although only 2 have been to do a house visit, the other one I just requested a quote based on the volume of belngings that the other companies said we had! The first quote was for just over $14k for a 40ft container, the second came in at just over $11k. The third was based on a 20 ft container which was around $8k. Also we have had a quote for just taking personal possessions which would be based on a shared container for around $4k. I am hoping that Chess will come in with a quote like the OP had and then we can take most of our furniture, even the big stuff with us! Yes we are in Perth and we are moving ASAP, when the house sells really! Home open this weekend! I will let you know how the Chess quote goes.

Hi @Martinbjulieb thanks for update, your post interested me about taking back the furniture etc. We're still having debate on what to take back, we also live in Perth (south of) and have a big house so have big furniture etc. As we don't know where eventually the work will take us we're undecided. I'm hearing from husband's family in England not to bother and just buy it over here, of cause that's great if you're flush, which after the sale of house we're not going to be.

We haven't put house on market as we're still trying to fix and pretty it up (just lost 32m of fence and 6 trees with the storms, thank you we needed that). Good luck with the sale of the house - this will also be our determining factor when we can go.

Are you a returning Brit? Just curious to hear why people are moving back or for first time - our decision is based on Husband's family being in England and mine passed on (and never had my extended family as all back in UK). We are in our 40's so it's going to be hard to restart but I've been reading so many posts and you can get caught up in it all (the pros and cons) guess you've got to do what is right.

Anyway I've bored you to death - really hope you get good interest on the house

Hi @suesmalls, yes we are returning Brits and for all of the reasons that people usually post here, I won't go into detail as I know you read a lot of the posts so will understand what I mean. We are the same age as you so starting again is somewhat daunting. Especially with a 13 and 11 year old! With regard to furniture we are going to get this next quote and then decide if we could buy new furniture with the money we would save on either shipping the lot or just our personal belongings if you understand what I mean! I will let you know about Chess.

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Thank you @Martinbjulieb - would really appreciate update as it sounds like we're going through very similar decision making. Good luck with it all

I'm lucky that all my family is English but I was born here (so the token Aussie); I have british passport and rights - so that has made the decision to move back a lot easier. Only been for visits and like what I saw and trying to take in info etc from this forum.

just wondered how its all going suemalls

, were moving back in august, to our house we are renting out (just down the road in whittlesey!)

we need to get some quotes. would i need to get them out? we've only just moved here and hardly bought anything. it all arrived in 20ft container o it should go back in it , plus ill be packing it , so i know there wont be wasted space and breakable stuff well protected!

did you end up around Peterborough?

Thank you @Martinbjulieb - would really appreciate update as it sounds like we're going through very similar decision making. Good luck with it all

 

I'm lucky that all my family is English but I was born here (so the token Aussie); I have british passport and rights - so that has made the decision to move back a lot easier. Only been for visits and like what I saw and trying to take in info etc from this forum.

Hi There

We are still in Perth and house just going on market. I had knee replacement late November 16 and with the bad / long winter we have been delayed.

We will probably be using Chess to move our goods.

We also will be going to Whittlesey as that's where my husband's family live. What a small world.

I've read on other posts if you pack yourself UK customs are more inclined to inspect & there will be costs & potential delays. Now if that info is coming from removalists than could be a bit trumped up. But recent posts under Moving To UK Forum seem to confirm that. I'd check that out & get a few quotes. I'm reading that getting your own insurance is the way to go. Cheaper & easier if you need to claim.

Are you in Perth? Seems like you weren't here long? Sorry it didn't work out.

We'll be going based on sale of house.

Good to hear from you. Will wait for update

Sue

ive not read up much about sending stuff from oz to Uk, but i did read soemthing somewhere that its quicker due to customs in uk. however i dont know how strict they are on stuff like shoes ,garden and wooden items ect. i need to find out . i was hopeing it would be much more straight forward and easy , as moving to here was hell on earth.

we've not been here long , we were suppose to be living in brisbane , but despite my friends saying youll get a job when you get here, it just didnt work out that way , so in desperation we moved to melbourne on a confirmed job offer. the job worked out luckily, but we're finding it too expensve to live. house prices are running into the million mark, which would mean (if they would give us a mortgage for at least 600,000, that we would be heavily in debt for the rest of our lives, in uk we will be nearly mortgage free)

it's not just the house prices for us, lots of factors are pricing us out. im finding it impossible to get a job with having no experience. ive spoken to local young adults and one girl had 2 part time jobs working in retail, it took her months to get the first job and most of her friends dont have jobs and one of her fiends has never had a job at the age of 21. we've considered everything and our kids would be better off where we lived. if you have kids i would look at spalding as a base as there are free grammar schools there which are very high on the best in the uk. my daughter went there and my son was due to go there last September. luckily i can get them back in in September .

I have just got 3 quotes from Chess, Pickfords and Crown. They were similar between $3330 and $4100, 2 quotes were almost identical and 1 was more expensive. GST is extra as is insurance. Insurance costs 3.5% -4% of the value of the belongings with a minimum value of $30,000 so about $1000 for insurance. In total will come to $5k with insurance. ( I am going with one of the cheaper quotes). I am taking 2 rooms worth of furniture, a sofa a queen bed, a chest of drawers 2 bedsides tables, a TV cabinet and a very large coffee table plus 35 packing boxes of books and kitchen stuff plus 5 hanging rails of clothes. I can be precise as I have sold my house and moved into temporary accommodation.

The costs are quoted on cubic meters and I have about 10, or visually about 2/3 of an 8 ton removal truck.

Quote is for Sydney to Birmingham.

My advice: get a consultant round to quote and work out before exactly what pieces of furniture you want to take. They will then do an accurate inventory for you. I also recommend getting the removalists to pack as the cost of the actual packing is negligible and it is less likely to get stopped by customs. If you pack yourself and it is checked the customs charges will exceed the packing charge.

Hope this helps