Savitar Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Having read so much about the move cube my partner and I decided to go with the small move cube for our stuff from Edinburgh to Melbourne. Before we signed up we marked out the space in the spare room and did a dummy pack (empty boxes) just to see what would fit, its actually surprising how much you can get in there. How much can you get into one of these anyway and what can you bring???? So that is the big question that most people ask. The easiest way to find that out it to get some masking tape and a corner of the room, mark it out and then get some empty boxes and start stacking. You will be VERY surprised how big a small cube is, if you don't have furniture that is. These two photos show only about half to 3/4 of the hight you can go to : In terms of what you can take, basically anything. Here are some highlights of the things people always ask questions on : We purchased about 300 pounds of toiletries (face creams, shower gel, deodorant (non aerosol) etc) as its about half the price of Aus. We had two large boxes of food (BBQ sauce, hot sauce, jams, biscuits, candy etc). Nothing fresh and all long life, none of it was removed by customs We bought a thermomix about 6 months earlier and did not declare it as under 1 year old, it was not touched and we did not have to pay anything We had lots of Xmas decorations, all plastic / glass etc and none of it was taken Lots of wood stuff, mirror, frames etc, all passed no problem. The pre-site visit, AKA the start of the incompetence So when you book the move cube SS (SevenSeas) organizes for a pre-site visit. This is to check the area for parking restrictions and to provide you with some packing materials should you wick to use them (you can just hand them back if you don’t use them, which is what we did). Now we rang up to book, they took out deposit and told us they would call back to organize a time. This was early December, for an early Jan cube pick up. I ended up having to call them 3-4 times to get them to organize a pre-site visit, they either did not show up when they said they would OR they just did not get back to me when promised. When the guy did arrive, he was “a contractor” who knew very little about the process. When I asked him about permits for parking he said, “Don’t worry, it will be sorted out”….. The day of the packing, AKA the storm is on its way So the day of the packing arrives we are ready to go having done and almost complete pack to ensure things will fit. The guy turns up and says “Where is your coned off area and parking permits”. Now if you have been reading you will know we were told not to worry. So long story short, we don’t have the permits and there is no space anywhere near our house to get the cube parked. You could argue that we should have been more awake to this but having been assured by the previous driver that it would be taken care of, it was just something we did not think about. The unfortunate part of the pack was that it was POURING rain (Hey, it was Jan in Scotland) and the cube was 70 meters away from our house, and to top it off, it was parked without a permit so the driver was giving us the hurry as he did not want a fine. We packed, and left it to him to take away (see next photo). Here is a photo of what it looked like packed, we used EVERY inch of this thing : And with the front on (it took the driver and myself to FORCE it on before it would fit) : The transit time, AKA Around the world in FIVE months So early March, about 2 months after they picked up the cube, I call up to find out where the cube is, I am told its 1-2 weeks away…..Wow, amazing, that would be 2-3 weeks early. So two weeks later (now mid March), I call back, as I have not heard anything, and am told its actually 2-3 weeks away still (so late March, early April). So two weeks later (now early April, I call back again, and am told its due early MAY…..At this point I get so fed up that I resort to Facebook and their “customer service” emails to try to get a response. The short answer of around 15 LONG emails back and forwards with their customer service is this : - They don’t know where the cube is at any point. - They have no idea why its late - They have no idea when its going to arrive - They have no idea what the condition of the cube is. In the end, it arrived towards the end of May, nearly FIVE MONTHS after they picked it up. To this day they still cannot tell me where it was at any point I the journey, how many ships it has been on as, according to them “it can change ships along the way” or the condition it has been left in at any point. The delivery – AKA taking a day off work as SS don’t work weekends So after much back and forwards with SS customer service our cube was “prioritised” for delivery after it arrived in Melbourne. They booked in a window of time in the morning, during the week, as they don’t work weekends, so if you work, you will need to take a day off to sort this out. To our surprise they actually turned up on time and we were unpacked in about 15 minutes. The cube had been taken apart by customs and put back together very well it must be said by the SS team. Lucky for us we only had a couple of minor breakages, luckily nothing expensive. So when it arrived it looked very much like we left it, but if you look carefully you can see some of the boxes have moved indicating that this was repacked at some point : The verdict – AKA Prey nothing goes wrong Would I use SS and the move cube again, no. From my experience, they were incompetent, unorganized and unprofessional. They did nothing when they said they would do it, they had no clue where the cube was and each person you talk with will give you a different story as to where it is and when it will arrive. I am guessing that for the majority of people, you will live in an area with no parking issues for pick up so that site visit will be smooth, as long as it arrives give or take when they say it will you will not have to deal with the incompetence as you will be living in ignorant bliss that SS knows what is going on and are looking after your goods, when in fact they have no idea and just hope it arrives roughly when they think it will….I don’t know about you, but when you are talking about tens of thousands of pounds of your goods, I would like to have a company that takes some pride and care in the shipment of my goods. P.s. Some of you might think I am being a little harsh on them, this report is as kind as I can get, I really did want to use far more four letter words in there but realized that this should be as subjective as I can be based on a very unpleasant experience that has left us stressed, confused, angry and exhausted over the last 5.5 months. SevenSeas has really dropped the ball on our shipment bringing out the true nature of their operation, well, true in our case. I am happy to answer any questions on my review or the process in general Edited June 9, 2014 by Savitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for your honest review of the movecube. We are looking to use one for later this year to ship from London to Adelaide and I always like reading good/bad stories about people's experiences. It is a little distressing to find that SS dont actually track your cube and kinda just hope on a wing and a prayer that it turns up on time, but for us we arent shipping anything that is time sensitive but hopefully it doesnt take 5 months when their normal quote is around 3 (just so I have peace of mind that our personal stuff isnt lost!!!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic1171 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Always good to have both sides of a story. Have to say my experience was great from start to finish, delivered within the time frame, very fortunate not to be disturbed at customs, good experience at both ends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvesaussie Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 We had a good experience as well, and they do track them, I remember they told us the name of the ships they were loaded on and I had a lot of fun checking the ships progress on some maratime website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savitar Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for your honest review of the movecube. We are looking to use one for later this year to ship from London to Adelaide and I always like reading good/bad stories about people's experiences. It is a little distressing to find that SS dont actually track your cube and kinda just hope on a wing and a prayer that it turns up on time, but for us we arent shipping anything that is time sensitive but hopefully it doesnt take 5 months when their normal quote is around 3 (just so I have peace of mind that our personal stuff isnt lost!!!). That was the key problem for us, the did not know where it was along the way. So the key stress was that they could not tell me what ship it was on or when it would arrive. We asked for piece of mind, like "Just tell us the ship and I will track it myself" and got the response "We can't tell you right now, these containers change ships".....Given it was 5 months, we were all but convinced it had gone missing....but lucky for us it had not... Now its not about the money, we had insured it so would have received payment, it was the personal belongings that we had that were the issue. You will probably be OK, this is just our experience and as the others here have said, its not always like that. Always good to have both sides of a story. Have to say my experience was great from start to finish, delivered within the time frame, very fortunate not to be disturbed at customs, good experience at both ends Great to hear. I am sure there are lots of examples of arriving on time and without hassle. My issue is that from start to finish it was incompetence and complete lack of any tracking that was the key issue for us. When you are told less than 3 monts door to door, when it hits 4.5 months and you are still being told they don't actually know when it will arrive, the stress levels were very high....alls well that ends well I gues.. We had a good experience as well, and they do track them, I remember they told us the name of the ships they were loaded on and I had a lot of fun checking the ships progress on some maratime website Interesting. Not sure why then they could not tell us then. From what we can piece together it sat at the docks in Newcastle for 4-6 weeks (again, they have NO idea why) before being loaded then changed ships a few times, but they lost track of which ship it was on. I am sure there are lots of examples of straight forward pick up and one ship delivery, unfortunately ours was not......I can understand delays and changing ships, but when you get 5 different stories from 5 different people, each COMPLETELY different to the last, and they have your file open, it begs the question how much real control they have.... Also, on the website, where you can "track your shipment" it stayed blank (no information to report) from the day we booked it till after it was delivered....completely unacceptable for a company that prides itself on being a shipping professional.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehtid Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I have found the tracking page will only load for me in Internet Explorer. If I attempt to open it in Chrome I just get "Please wait..." which isn't very handy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ltrain Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Yikes! I am using a small move cube also. I have the site visit this Friday, and the move cube itself is coming next Friday. My experience of booking it did not inspire confidence. It took almost an hour on the phone with a guy who seemed to have absolutely no idea what he was doing and was painfully slow. I was hoping the experience would get better from there. Fingers crossed! It is pretty amazing how much you can fit into the move cube. I'm a little worried I may not be able to fill all the space. Glad your stuff made it safely, despite the time and stress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese please Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 We didn't have a good experience with MoveCube either. Ours left Edinburgh late January an arrived at the end of May - probably on the same ship as yours, Savitar. The pick up was a horrible experience. The local guy that was meant to come and collect our stuff called in sick, so they sent someone up from Newcastle. This meant that we had less than 3 hours to get everything in, as apparently the driver would be stacking up too many hours on the road coming to and from England to wait around any longer for us. Had we had known we would have had this restricted time we would have been a bit better organised. We would have enlisted some help too, as we were hauling our stuff down from a seventh floor apartment block. We also found that the website was very unhelpful in tracking our cube, and it was only through persistence and nagging that we finally got an answer to what was actually going on - the ship got unexpectedly delayed in Singapore, apparently. We'd backpacked in Thailand on our way over to Oz, so just had a few items when we arrived and had to go and purchase lots of things to get by in that first month. Thankfully we have all our stuff now. We too got 'prioritised' when it arrived into Melbourne and by the last part SS were a lot more responsive with us, so things happened when they said they would. I would find it hard to sincerely recommend them due to the stress and hassle. But our things did arrive in reasonable nick and we didn't have any issues with customs, which was a massive relief after rushing through the forms on pick up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savitar Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 Yikes! I am using a small move cube also. I have the site visit this Friday, and the move cube itself is coming next Friday. My experience of booking it did not inspire confidence. It took almost an hour on the phone with a guy who seemed to have absolutely no idea what he was doing and was painfully slow. I was hoping the experience would get better from there. Fingers crossed! It is pretty amazing how much you can fit into the move cube. I'm a little worried I may not be able to fill all the space. Glad your stuff made it safely, despite the time and stress! How did your loading go? As for not filling the space, I am sure you made the most of it. If you don't have that much you can always fill the remainder of space with pillows, blankets etc to keep everything else safe... We didn't have a good experience with MoveCube either. Ours left Edinburgh late January an arrived at the end of May - probably on the same ship as yours, Savitar. The pick up was a horrible experience. The local guy that was meant to come and collect our stuff called in sick, so they sent someone up from Newcastle. This meant that we had less than 3 hours to get everything in, as apparently the driver would be stacking up too many hours on the road coming to and from England to wait around any longer for us. Had we had known we would have had this restricted time we would have been a bit better organised. We would have enlisted some help too, as we were hauling our stuff down from a seventh floor apartment block. We also found that the website was very unhelpful in tracking our cube, and it was only through persistence and nagging that we finally got an answer to what was actually going on - the ship got unexpectedly delayed in Singapore, apparently. We'd backpacked in Thailand on our way over to Oz, so just had a few items when we arrived and had to go and purchase lots of things to get by in that first month. Thankfully we have all our stuff now. We too got 'prioritised' when it arrived into Melbourne and by the last part SS were a lot more responsive with us, so things happened when they said they would. I would find it hard to sincerely recommend them due to the stress and hassle. But our things did arrive in reasonable nick and we didn't have any issues with customs, which was a massive relief after rushing through the forms on pick up. Sorry to hear you had the same experience. I too had the guy from Newcastle come to collect ours. Seems the person that is local for Scotland has been sick from November through January, you would think they would hire a new person in that time???? I would agree with your summary also, in the end ours arrived, it was just the hassle and stress of each step that was the concern for us. Given it took 5 months for us, and just a bit less for you, when they quote less than 3, its just not good enough. Now if they had tracking on where it was, what it was doing etc that would have eased the stress as at least we would know they were on top of it.....Something like "Sorry Mr Savitar, there was a boat breakdown and its taken us 6 weeks to unload and re-distribute the cargo so we expect your arrival around week X of May on ship 1234"....Rather than "Let me put you on hold.....Sorry, we don't actually know where it is, which ships its on or when it will arrive, but we expect it in the next few weeks"....Hmmmm....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ltrain Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 How did your loading go? As for not filling the space, I am sure you made the most of it. If you don't have that much you can always fill the remainder of space with pillows, blankets etc to keep everything else safe... Pretty well thanks! It was quick and easy and the driver was very professional. So the experience so far is not bad. Just hope it gets there in one piece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thanks so much for this informative thread. I'm sure there are many other people who've had good experiences with Movecube, but it's good to know the downsides. The thing that I find especially useful is the timeframe to load up your belongings. I had noticed that they won't leave the Movecube overnight - they warn you that you've only got a day to pack. However I hadn't thought about transit time being included in that "day" - I was assuming it would be delivered at 9 and picked up at 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thediggler Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I think you could have packed it tighter......:cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thanks so much for this informative thread. I'm sure there are many other people who've had good experiences with Movecube, but it's good to know the downsides. The thing that I find especially useful is the timeframe to load up your belongings. I had noticed that they won't leave the Movecube overnight - they warn you that you've only got a day to pack. However I hadn't thought about transit time being included in that "day" - I was assuming it would be delivered at 9 and picked up at 5. I always thought they were quite clear on how long you would have. They told us over the phone when we booked the T&C's and all that and also we got an email. Then the guy who came out to do an on site visit to check the cube would fit etc told us exactly how long the cube would be left and when he would return. We had a good 4 hours to load it and were done within the timeframe given (this was for a large cube). You do need to be organised and know how you want to stack and fit things in. Hence a dry run beforehand or having boxes of same size so as to work out the space to fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karenbfam Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Our experience was excellent. We had a large movecube and was quoted I think 83 days. We worked out roughly when we would need it and sent our stuff exactly 83 days early, thinking we could manage by borrowing easier in the UK than in Adelaide. We sent beds, units, personal things, clothes, golf clubs etc etc. Filled it within an inch of its life. It was made very clear we had 3 hours to pack it. Customer service was excellent. We were concerned we would exceed our weight limit but received an email the day after collection telling us our weight which was within limit. We were told what ship it was on and was able to track it. Arrived in Adelaide and found our long term rental. Contacted seven seas and was told it was still on track to arrive after 83 days. We got the keys for our rental on Thursday. Movecube came Friday (the day we requested) and we moved in Sunday. Excellent and everyone we spoke to or dealt with was great. Not one thing was damaged although shoes and golf clubs had been checked, which we had packed last as advised. We would definitely recommend them. Oh and naughty as it was we didn't bother with insurance as it was mainly stuff that couldn't be replaced. karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misstatt Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I think we may need a large move cube, has anyone used this size and did you get much furniture inside? Any photos would be useful please. I phoned to ask movecube about their service and the lady I spoke to was very faint and hard to understand, quite unhelpful so it hasn't inspired me with confidence combined with some of the stories on here! However I like the concept and think it could be the right size for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I think we may need a large move cube, has anyone used this size and did you get much furniture inside? Any photos would be useful please. I phoned to ask movecube about their service and the lady I spoke to was very faint and hard to understand, quite unhelpful so it hasn't inspired me with confidence combined with some of the stories on here! However I like the concept and think it could be the right size for us. We used a large one without problem. Never had any issues with calling them on the phone, always clear and concise. You get plenty in. Check for older threads as lots of people have posted pics and written feedback. I have no complaints with the service, it was great for us. Arrived on time, easy to track etc. As for what you get in, look at the dimensions and measure what you want to put in. Same with boxes. Work out sizes and cubic feet etc and you should be fine. We got a king size bed, 2 sets of drawers, a chair and more plus 30 or so boxes in 2 sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dannii28 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Hi, we are about to book the medium cube for our move later in the year. Here are some of the terms and conditions: 2. The above quotation does not include any customs duties or quarantine treatment charges at destination. 3. All relevant payments must be made in full before any goods can be delivered. 4. Our Terms and Conditions of business are shown on our website (http://www.sevenseasworldwide.com) and must be read in conjunction with this quotation. On acceptance of our quotation, you agree to abide by our standard trading terms. 5. Parking permits can be arranged in UK only and are chargeable at the local council rate. For all other countries, it is your responsibility for arranging the parking licence. 6. All additional packaging purchased is not returnable and non refundable. Could anyone clarify number 2 please. Will we have to pay for the container which our Cube travels on to be cleaned when entering Australia like you have to with a larger container shipment ? Sorry if this is a silly question :-) thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 It means if Australian Quarantine investigates your shipment and finds that there are things in there needing cleaning (shoes, work tools, bikes etc) and/or treatment (see items you are not allowed to import such as wood etc) then you will be charged for them separately by Aust Quarantine and you have to make that payment before your shipment will be released. In relation to customs duties its the same kind of thing - if Australian Customs investigate your shipment and find that there are new goods which have not been owned by you for 12 months then there is a likelihood that they can impose customs duties/taxes and you will have to pay those before your shipment is released. Basically if you stock up on new goods and plan on shipping everything new then you will get hit with a large customs charge, but if most of your items are almost or over 12 months old then you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dannii28 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks for the reply amdaloia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rheia Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Our medium MoveCube is getting delivered in about a month's time so we're just starting to pack up our things. So far the SevenSeas people have been great, I have to say - quick to reply via email and always very helpful on the phone. The site visit (and sundries delivery - we ordered a few boxes) went well too - the driver walked down the street with us and helped us select which of the on-street car parks would be most suitable (we had to apply for a parking suspension). He took photos of the car parks as well & explained the process. Now fingers crossed that the delivery, pickup & actually shipping will go as smoothly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco2810 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Quick question on movecubes - if you put a chest of drawers in, are you then allowed to fill the drawers with stuff?? Or does it have to be able to be lifted out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misstatt Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 You can stuff it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7cdb Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Does anyone have an up to date cost for a large move cube from Nottingham the Perth WA ? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary and Jenny Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 About £1000 plus between $400-$700 otherside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7cdb Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 About £1000 plus between $400-$700 otherside many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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