Best Shipping / Removals Companies

[Robin’s Emigrating]

Hey Folks! Any advice/guidance on best shipping/removals companies for the move to Australia? We've moved overseas and back before to the States, however it was on an expatriate assignment to the whole business was managed by my company. I believe it was with a company called Allied International. Any guidance or pointers warmly received! Moving from near Southampton to Melbourne.

[J9London]

We have had a quote and home visit from PSS. So far they have been very good and competitive. Unfortunately with current climate we need to make sure we arrive within 6 months of the shipment arriving in Australia...something no one can guarantee at the moment! 

[Robin’s Emigrating]

That’s great! We had a quote from PSS too and are just waiting on an equivalent quote from John Masons. 
 

Do you know what happens if you don’t arrive within 6 months of your shipment? We’re planning to arrive a couple of weeks before it does, so that it’s ready when we get out of quarantine, although obviously as you say it’s all predicated on flights still running.

[J9London]

Did you choose a removal company? We are still getting quotes in and the price has gone up a fair bit following increase shipping cost in March. I believe if you arrive more than 6 months after your goods then you are up for import tax on them. 
 

[Robin’s Emigrating]

Yes, we’ve gone with PSS. Got quotes from both, but PSS were slightly more competitive and we were really impressed with their customer service and non-pushy/non-salesy approach. Just struck us nice, genuine people which is important to us.

We should arrive about the same time as our goods unless we get into big issues with flights.

[Jon the Hat]

I've got PSS coming out to survey end of March.  Planning to contact John Masons next.

Edited March 17, 2021 by Jon the Hat

[J9London]

I’m tied between Doree Bonner and PSS...just can’t make a decision! 
The freight charges have gone up a fair bit since first quote as well. 
 

[Jon the Hat]

56 minutes ago, J9London said:

I’m tied between Doree Bonner and PSS...just can’t make a decision! 
The freight charges have gone up a fair bit since first quote as well. 
 

I shall email DB as well!  Thanks for the suggestion.

[J9London]

We would like to have used Crown Relocations because they are Crown at the other end as well so just makes it all a bit cleaner. However they are significantly more expensive but claim that you don’t have to pay anything more ie the fees incurred at the other end and the other bit and pieces that seem to come up. 
 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I used Britannia twice and each time is was an excellent experience.   I note the point on having the same company at each end and it making it cleaner - I'm not sure that's always the case.  Britannia for example are a franchise model, so it's not really the same company - well technically it's not a franchise, it's a cooperative comprised of lots of family removal businesses, but you get my point.

I do feel with things like this that the true measure of a company is how they react when things go wrong.  I didn't have that experience so cannot comment, but I note that the online reviews for Britannia are strong, whereas Crown seems to have a lot unhappy reviewers commenting on poor service after there was a problem.

 

Good luck with your decision and with the move.

[calNgary]

5 hours ago, J9London said:

We would like to have used Crown Relocations because they are Crown at the other end as well so just makes it all a bit cleaner. However they are significantly more expensive but claim that you don’t have to pay anything more ie the fees incurred at the other end and the other bit and pieces that seem to come up. 
 

We used Crown many years ago because its Crown here and there and although a tad more expensive we had only a small charge this end as we settled in a regional area so had a delivery charge. Everything we sent (in a shared container) arrived, on time and intact. Communication was pretty good too. I would use them again if necessary.

 Cal x

[Robin’s Emigrating]

Folks - have any you had experiences with variances in the final bill versus the original quote and payment made? This hasn’t happened to us yet, with the exception of the increases in freight rates which I know a number of people have experienced recently, but it has become clear that the amount we’ve paid so far is contingent both on freight, forex and other variable costs remaining the same, as well as the shipping companies virtual inventory being aligned with the cubic footage they encounter on the move date. I.e. your final bill could be significantly higher, or potentially lower too - assuming they pass any savings on which I’m told they do, but you won’t know until the final bill arrives. 

Our anxiety here comes from a feeling of lack of control, and perhaps a need for greater transparency, over the final bill. Sort of feels like we’ve signed a blank check and the final bill could be very difficult to challenge with the minimal transparency we have into the various sub costs. It’s sort of all baked in with an expectation of trusting the final bill.

We’ve raised this and they’re responsive and understand our concerns, but interested in others thoughts and experiences. We’re sort of used to agreeing a final price for something and then pulling a trigger. In this case we may end up agreeing on a price with one vendor, when another’s final bill would have ended up being lower in the long run. Perhaps that’s the risk of doing business in a game like this with so many moving parts, subcontractors and forex challenges, as companies don’t feel able to commit to fixed quotes, but interested in others opinions.

[Marisawright]

3 hours ago, Robin’s Emigrating said:

Folks - have any you had experiences with variances in the final bill versus the original quote and payment made?

If they turn up and you have less to pack than they expected, they won't usually charge you less.  They've already allocated space based on what you have and probably can't sell that space to someone else, so you have to pay for it even if it's empty.

[Robin’s Emigrating]

15 hours ago, Marisawright said:

If they turn up and you have less to pack than they expected, they won't usually charge you less.  They've already allocated space based on what you have and probably can't sell that space to someone else, so you have to pay for it even if it's empty.

They added some cost when we increased the square footage of our shipment recently, even though we were still staying within the same dedicated 40ft container. On reflection this makes sense as their folks are still having to pack, load and unload more items on either end. Would hope that they reduce the price for these activities if we decide to cut a few further items out of our shipment, but agree that the overall freight payments and other charges beyond the contents of the container will remain the same, regardless of how much we bring.

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, Robin’s Emigrating said:

They added some cost when we increased the square footage of our shipment recently, even though we were still staying within the same dedicated 40ft container. On reflection this makes sense as their folks are still having to pack, load and unload more items on either end. Would hope that they reduce the price for these activities if we decide to cut a few further items out of our shipment, but agree that the overall freight payments and other charges beyond the contents of the container will remain the same, regardless of how much we bring.

They might reduce it if you notify them in good time.  However if it's last minute, they've already allocated staff to that job who'll get paid the same even if they finish early, so again, it won't change.

The big unknowns are things like customs and port charges, which can't be predicted accurately.

[AliQ]

On 24/03/2021 at 03:33, Robin’s Emigrating said:

Folks - have any you had experiences with variances in the final bill versus the original quote and payment made? This hasn’t happened to us yet, with the exception of the increases in freight rates which I know a number of people have experienced recently, but it has become clear that the amount we’ve paid so far is contingent both on freight, forex and other variable costs remaining the same, as well as the shipping companies virtual inventory being aligned with the cubic footage they encounter on the move date. I.e. your final bill could be significantly higher, or potentially lower too - assuming they pass any savings on which I’m told they do, but you won’t know until the final bill arrives. 

Our anxiety here comes from a feeling of lack of control, and perhaps a need for greater transparency, over the final bill. Sort of feels like we’ve signed a blank check and the final bill could be very difficult to challenge with the minimal transparency we have into the various sub costs. It’s sort of all baked in with an expectation of trusting the final bill.

We’ve raised this and they’re responsive and understand our concerns, but interested in others thoughts and experiences. We’re sort of used to agreeing a final price for something and then pulling a trigger. In this case we may end up agreeing on a price with one vendor, when another’s final bill would have ended up being lower in the long run. Perhaps that’s the risk of doing business in a game like this with so many moving parts, subcontractors and forex challenges, as companies don’t feel able to commit to fixed quotes, but interested in others opinions.

Hi, we've done two international moves, and each time those "possible" charges turned into mandatory charges. The "possible Quarantine Inspection", based on our experience, has had to be paid, could be our bad luck that they picked OUR container to inspect, but late last year that cost $275.00.

We paid for storage for about five weeks as well, that included a handling fee of $150.00 and storage was $24.00 a week. We had a shared container.

It's really hard to compare between companies, but I'd advise you, if you can, to get a set price of that quarantine inspection fee, and see if you can do a deal on storage this end, if you need it that it.

[rammygirl]

Few companies include inspection/cleaning costs as they have little control over them. Those that do effectively sell you insurance so charge you more than the average costs and you get no refund if it actually costs less.  If you see what I mean. 
Some will include a few weeks storage at either end.

Additional costs can include delivery costs if like us you end up renting somewhere with restricted access!

Do get independent insurance.

Inspection/quarantine fees are a few hundred dollars often less than 300 unless they find something amiss..............

Having said that with move cube the costs did not vary from original quote. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by rammygirl