The day our container arrived, and reality dawned on us

[LucyHose]

I thought I'd share my experience of PSS and our house move in order to help others in a similar place to us. 

In July 2017 we booked our tickets to Sydney. No jobs, no home and no schools for the kids - but somehow, I'd managed to get my 190 perm resident visa (still didn't believe it until we arrived at the end of Jan!).

From that point on I was in planning overdrive. We used movehub.com to get quotes for our container, I needed to downsize a 4-bed house into a 3-bed house and do some major de-cluttering.  I'd already listed in an excel spreadsheet what we wanted to take, keep, leave or new tenants, trash, sell, recycle etc. This helped when getting the quote from movehub as you need to enter in what you will be taking for them to quote.

The quotes came thick and fast and I decided to see PSS and John Mason.  They both organised home visits to assess our house.  In the end we went with PSS, no major reason, perhaps the sales guy seemed a bit more genuine and nicer, it wasn't price, as they were very similar. My husband had also been tracking PSS on social media for the last few years and they seemed to have a good rep.

We booked a 20ft container at approx. 85% capacity. 

We paid for them to pack and spray everything (your outdoor items will need major cleaning and disinfecting).  

The week before they turned up was probably one of the most stressful and emotional of my life. Saying goodbyes, packing up etc.  We'd already de-cluttered loads before Christmas, but we still had sooooooo much stuff and many items (baskets, candles, rope-based items) that we couldn't take.  I sold so many storage baskets on Facebook I lost track!

Anyway, by the time the removal guys turned up we were just about ready, my kids were still in school the day they arrived which was good.  They were like machines, one upstairs, one downstairs, packing like crazy in return for tea and biscuits  

They packed everything on day then, then on day 2 our container turned up - our very own container! We ended up 5% over our original capacity so paid the extra to PSS afterwards.  The boxes were packed into the container by lunchtime and off it went - we're hoping to get it mid-end March once its cleared customs.

Defo recommend PSS, they are obviously used to people being a bit all over the place and were a calming influence; on me at least!  They even spotted a few things we couldn't take, e.g. aerosol cans or some old cough medicine I had, which I'd forgotten about.

We took our vacuum, 3 bikes, some garden tools, camping stuff, kids scooters etc - I'd jet washed everything beforehand, then used vinegar and a wire brush to scrub off rust etc from tools/bikes.  I put my vacuum parts in the shower / dishwasher.   The PSS guy said they were some of the cleanest he'd ever seen (maybe he says that to everyone, but I really went to town on the cleaning!).

Some pics attached if useful!  

I'm thinking of turning our little adventure into a blog, so if anyone is interested in more info on how I've got this far, and our perm 190 visa let me know.  It's been a hectic first week - looking at lots of rental places and having job interviews. I'm thinking I'll do my next post on rentals.

[MAKhan]

Hi LucyHose,
It is really very interesting to know about shifting of household luggage. It is very informative. I would like to suggest a few more things about transporting the cntr from one place to another which are as follow:-
1. You must under stand that 20’ container can carry about 28 M3 or 20 tons of weight.
40 ‘ cntr 56 M3 / 25 tons of weight
Price wise 40hc rates are cheaper, if we compare volume and weight of 20’ and 40’ but depends what is your volume.
Does it suits to carry LCL or FCL
What are the items to be carried.?
Any restriction on ban items destination port.
Fumigation policy.
For 20 feet cntr
Mark a line 20’ long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet high. Same can be done for 40and 40 hc.
Pack your items tightly, breakable thing should be packed in boxes and crates
Start placing your stuff in between the lines you have marked, this will give you clear idea what cntrs you are required for you luggage.
Prepare a packing list
Copy of invoice
Weight and dimension of each box.
Call the shipping line, get the all in rates from them.
Check the destination charges.
Are you going to despatch your cntr as FOB or CIF?
You want store door delivery.
Normally try to get Master OBLs. If you get House BL there are many hidden charges are involved, ask the agent to provide you OBLS ON WHICH ALL THE RATES ARE PRINTED.
Ask for the direct vessel.
Get the allin rates from shipping lines and agents.
There are certain agents which has filed there rates, they might be cheaper than the rates provided to you direct by the shipping lines.
Where do you want to stuff the cntrs.
What arrangement do you need to take the cntr in shipping yard,
What vessel you are going to use?
Is there any transshipment?
How many free days at port of destination.
Before the arrival of the shipment at destination port, submit your documents to the shipping line or his agent to issue you the delivery order.
If you don’t know the customs rules and regulation than it is advisable to select a good clearing agents to avoid demurrage, detention and correct filing of the documents.
I feel these are the few points which I know and passed over to you.

[Guest]

Nice post. 

I'd add to investigate 3rd party shipping insurance over the shipping companies own. Mainly as if there is a claim the independent company is far better at settling the claim and paying out than any shipping company I've ever read about. Most people spend months arguing their case when claiming off a shipping company insurance and it often causes lots of stress and upset. Not forgetting the financial aspect. 

 

[MAKhan]

I think if you read the details on back side of BL. It is very difficult to read and shipping lines has kept every minor points to cover up. You are right, it is very difficult for you to recover the insurance amount from them. They have thousands and one point to justify that you are wrong in doing some thing so claims stand null and wide, unless or otherwise you are very smart to recover the amount.

[LucyHose]

4 hours ago, snifter said:

Nice post. 

I'd add to investigate 3rd party shipping insurance over the shipping companies own. Mainly as if there is a claim the independent company is far better at settling the claim and paying out than any shipping company I've ever read about. Most people spend months arguing their case when claiming off a shipping company insurance and it often causes lots of stress and upset. Not forgetting the financial aspect. 

 

Yep - we used Letton Percival - they were cheaper, and because it's what they do, I felt they were more expert in providing insurance than perhaps the shipping companies. The shipping companies are experts at moving goods.

[RandL]

Great pictures and to share your experience, we are thinking of using PSS to move back, does PSS use paper to wrap your items that don’t go into a box ?  When we came from OZ the company we used was using isolating bubble plastic, like flexible core flu? Called it export packing ?

[LucyHose]

Hi,

They just used cardboard, they advised me beforehand to put toiletries etc in plastic tubs. I had a few so packed potentially leaky things in there as well as some other items I wanted to pack myself - kids school work, memories and photos etc.

thanks.

[unzippy]

On 13/02/2018 at 00:58, RandL said:

Great pictures and to share your experience, we are thinking of using PSS to move back, does PSS use paper to wrap your items that don’t go into a box ?  When we came from OZ the company we used was using isolating bubble plastic, like flexible core flu? Called it export packing ?

PSS used lots of thick brown paper to wrap irregular shaped items - our bikes, chairs and sofas.  I think they had a special mattress bag for the mattress.

Big regular shaped things like chest of drawers and storage units got done with disassembled cardboard boxes.