lilypop

I take back what I said with my recommendation of shipping company. I went with them as their price was good at the time. However when they came to pack up they did not consolidate and my volume ended up being way over. I did express my concerns to the packers at the time but they just kept saying it would be fine. They clearly where not working towards the volume given in my quote and hence when they took my belongings away I got an email the next day saying my volume was way over what they where expecting. I told them exactly why this was.......original boxes for things such as printers, games consoles, dvd players where being packed empty and our items where going in their boxes!! Items where not dismantled to make smaller and compact......the list goes on. I then got a new quote sent to me for $800 more than the original one on the day I flew back to the UK!! I did not have this extra money and I still do not. I am currently trying to resolve my issue with the shipping company however they just ignore me and keep sending me requests for payment. it is so out of order, companies should not be allowed to behave like this. I am very worried about my stuff as I don't even know if it has left Australia! Be very careful who you choose and make sure you will be paying the quote you are given many. From my experience the initial quote meant nothing to them but everything to me!

Hi everyone, very interesting read this thread. I have experienced the same issues with my shipping company coming back to England! It is so unfair how you accept a quote then when the shipping company pack your stuff up then they send you a new one completely different to that one they gave you initially when they have taken your things. i am wondering what you can do about this as surely this is just not allowed it is a complete case of ripping the customer off. The whole point of having a quote is so you know what the price will be that you pay. I am currently trying to complain however the shipping company seem to just want to ignore me. I have paid the full amount of the initial quote but I am no way prepared to pay the extra as the shipping company took the mickey when packing and did not consolidate at all. I do not know what is going to happen with my stuff and to be honest I am very worried as I am now in England and I do not have the extra $800 to pay that they are wanting. Can anybody offer any advice?? I am being ripped off and others will also get ripped off by this company. It is out of order.

Wow I cannot believe my luck......it was certainly a long shot. Where abouts exactly is your home (the area). would be great to talk more I will personal message you my email address find it easier to communicate that way. Thanks for getting in touch

I find it really strange how everybody recommends different companies when it comes to shipping. You would expect the cheapest company's name would come up more often yet everyone recommends different companies each time. Hmmmmm maybe it comes down to how they are feeling on quote day lol. Anybody reading this who is looking into shipping things back I would seriously just get your own quotes from the big names out there because it seems answers vary so much from person to person. I actually got 5 quotes and Conroys where the most expensive for me by far. Where as somebody else on here found them to be the better option. It is definitely worth doing your own research and having the companies come visit you to do a personal quote.......you have nothing to loose and best of all it's FREE! Its always good to share and research the service experienced by customers of shipping companies but if you are looking for information based on price I would seriously get the quotes in and compare them yourself when you have them at hand :-)

Hello i am moving back to the UK and looking for a rental in preston and surrounding areas in lancashire. I know it's a long shot to find somebody on here who can help me out but I thought I'd give it a try. Maybe you are coming here and finding it difficult to sell your house and renting it could be an option, or you are in the business of property rentals or you know of a friend or relative who has a house. If you think you could help me please get in touch. house must have 3 bedrooms minimum, be modern with fitted kitchen, bathroom etc and have a garden. Thank you in advance

CHESS MOVING cheapest and service brilliant! I wouldn't recommend any of the other companies as they came in higher (considerably too).....Wridgways, Pickfords, grace removals

​Hi, 35,000 for the mercedes 5,000 for the Holden commodore

Hi Gordon what would you like prices for? any help would be much appreciated these cars are keeping us here......they must go!!

Hi Victoria we are hoping to leave in July could still well be here in August at the rate things are moving for us!! Message me nearer the time hun ​Thanks

If you put your request in writing to your employer for them to book your flights back to the UK they have to oblige regardless if you are made redundant or leave on your own accord. I have actually been looking I to this myself and have spoken with immigration. Your employer is also not allowed to try to recover from you any of the costs related employing you and sponsoring you. We have to pay for our shipping as it was our choice to ship our stuff over here. We are trying to sell up and take as little as possible back. No surprises that it is way more to ship back than it was to bring! Australia for you hey ha.

hi sorry for all the questions I just really need to get this right as there seems so much variation in people's prices. do you know what your entire consignment measured in terms of m3??

Hi we are moving back to the UK and have for sale many items. Most purchased December 2012. I have a beautiful princess carriage bed and mattress, 32 inch black soniq hd tv, soniq blu ray player, steam mop, vacuum cleaner, wooden outdoor setting, x2 white drawers for bedroom (fit great inside wardrobes), single bed and mattress, black leather office chair, Holden Commodore Wagon 2002 white 6 months rego, Mercedes Benz c220 CDI SPORT AMG sports pack, Manual, Black very rare in Australia with 9 months rego. for further details on any item please contact me. I can send pics via mobile or email. Many Thanks

i had 58 boxes when I arrived and will be taking the same if not less back. Please could you send me into on your price you are paying. many thanks

hi please could you send me the names of the cheapest shipping companies you have found from your own research. thanks

I am in the process of selling a lot of stuff. what I'm wanting to ship really is just personal things, clothes and kid toys and kitchen contents (would defo get next to nothing selling them) the only big items I'm taking is my washing machine and a queen mattress. spent a $1000 on my washing machine 3 months ago there is no way I'd get near that for it so that's why I think I should ship it. I am on selling sites on Facebook and Gumtree and I find that people here don't want to pay hardly anything for second hand stuff even when it's in immaculate condition and even when buying it brand new costs an arm and a leg.

Hi Ginger how re you getting on? we will need to claim super back too just wondering then is this done when you are back in the UK or can you claim it as soon as you finish working? Also how do you go about doing your tax rebate if you leave before the end of the tax yer. could really do with these extra bits of cash but is it likely you only receive them once back in the UK? Also I have had a quote for 9.50m3 plus a washing machine at $2790. this seems expensive to me! What do you think?

Lol Perthbum I have just sent an email Chloe at outline tv. partner knows nothing about it haha I'm sure he will be thrilled if we end up on the tv haha.

Thank you for sharing this info. I have just had a quote from somewhere for just under $3000 for clothes, toys, all kitchen stuff and personal bits. no furniture though apart from my washing machine. I'm thinking this is rather expensive........thoughts anybody please???

Miight I add my partner is a highly qualified/skilled worker in his field and was actually approached by the Australian firm he currently works for. Not really sure where all this meat packers,meat workers, tyre fitters comes from but as northshorepom says the majority of 457 visa holders brought here are highly skilled individuals who work very hard putting a huge amount of money into the Australian economy. I have many friends here on PR who claim childcare payments, baby bonuses, family benefit and we have taken not a single dollar out of tax payers money only paid a very large sum of taxes every fortnight!! so how do you come to the conclusion us 457's are the leeches!!?

My tale which you refer to flag of convenience comes down to discrimination and being treated unfairly. People do not come to this country to put all they can into it to be treated differently to anybody else in the firm that they work for regardless of what visa they are on. The whole point of what I am saying is your are pretty screwed if you are on a 457 and you have issues with your employer because it is highly unlikely you will get away from the company who has sponsored you simply because you are on 457.

Thanks :smile: I hope so too!! Must admit i am pretty excited to be heading back to the UK. So glad we came here though and gave it a try!!

Hi Victoria, i should not really have put stuck because you are never stuck really there are always ways around getting flights booked back home. Really what i meant to say is we are in trouble if we have to pay ourselves. The funny thing is we have always been told the company pay the flights back.....I do not know why but employees at his work have said this and most recently immigration have said this to us! Surely immigration say the right thing don't they?? But now everybody on here is saying you pay yourself for fares if you resign yourself. I am very confused obviously this is needed to be looked into more. The company booked our flights and they stated they only book and pay for one way and with this flight we got the extra baggage allowance (which we defo needed!!)

Yes agreed. It is not ideal for a family at all in my opinion. The insecurity of it is huge. We spent so much money getting over here as well that it pretty much ate into all our savings to be honest. When you uproot your entire family like that you really do need that extra security. To me it seems the 457 visa is really all about benefiting Australia and does not really have many benefits for the actual 457 holder. (That is how we feel its seems to always have been take take take). Yes you get to come to Australia (a lot of Brit's dream) but its not the be all and end all especially if when you get here you have to deal and work for a not very nice company who just seem to take advantage. I understand everyone's experience with this visa is different and there both positive and negative. But my advice to any Brits reading this before coming to Oz on this visa make sure you have spoken with your employer about evertything and are totally clear with what they are offering and saying and that you fully understand the implications of being a 457 visa holder.

Thank you for your reply Gordon. Sorry for hijacking your thread im just at a real loss at the moment and thought i could get some help being on the topic of 457's. Well we certainly have something in common we both dislike the 457 visa ha. I posted more details to my experience hope you get the chance to read it.

We came here on the 457 as that was our only option at the time. I will be honest when i was back in the UK i did not do enough research on the visa i just trusted that we would be ok on it and that my partner had secured a great working opportunity with a good company. Unfortunately its pretty hard to research the company fully when you do not know anybody who works for them and you have never been to Australia. The only information available to us was the company website really. Presumption can be your worse enemy i guess and now we are paying for the consequences. I guess its easy to think that companies who sponsor you and spend all that money on recruiting you will look after you. After a few months of arriving here my partner was moved location and as a result had a drop in pay and an increase in travel costs which put our finances into quite a big mess. We had just worked out all our spending and found a rental in area where we could afford and then all these changes where sprung on us and everything just came undone. At the new location my partner was then continuously swapped and changed around making planning a head very difficult (ie booking flights in advance to save some money) Although he is in the business where necessary changes are needed to be made to staff according to workload and productivity he was the only one out of everybody who was put here there and everywhere. Making life very difficult for him and making him feel very isolated and treated differently. He then applied for a job with another company in the same field advertising for the the 457. He had interviews tests etc and the job was pretty much in the bag but then when he went into work one day his boss called him and asked him about him seeking new employment elsewhere. His boss had made sure he did not get the job!! In a way he admitted this to him. Again this is appalling behaviour but nothing could be done about it. If we wanted to stay here he has to stay working for them and that is one of the main reasons why we are heading back to the UK. He is so unhappy there and its not worth staying here for all the unhappiness and stress he goes through. The latest thing to happen is he has just this month passed his 1 year service and was due a review and pay rise. Everybody he works with always has this and gets their pay rise each year. He has been told by his supervisor that the boss has told him not to do the review as he is not having a pay rise because he is looking for a new job!!! Now this is just the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard and i am pretty sure that this is unacceptable, but the thing is they seem to do what they want there. We have spoken to immigration and they have said if you request for your employer in writing to book your flights back home then they must do so. This is one of the obligations of the 457 including that they cannot try to retrieve any money from you for the recruitment and relocation costs of bringing you from the UK to Oz. I know gordonsmith you have said this is not this case but you contradict what Immigration advice. Please does anybody else know anything about this? As this is a real big concern not knowing whether we need the flight money as this is going to cost 1000s.