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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Author
Shipping from England to Aus
raven
7-Aug-2009
8:01:39 AM
I am looking to ship some of my belongings from England to Aus (around 5 cubic metres). I know there is plenty of info and companies out there but was wondering if anyone had any first-hand personal experience? Horror stories? Companies to avoid?

Cheers
StuE
7-Aug-2009
8:28:49 AM
I used AngloPacific to ship a ton of stuff from the UK when I moved here. Some people don't rate them but they were great for me and everything turned up on time and in one piece.

http://www.anglopacific.co.uk/

Desk Monkey
7-Aug-2009
9:57:17 AM
On 7/08/2009 raven wrote:
>Horror stories? Companies to avoid?

This turned out a bit longer than I expected.... But it made me feel good to write it.
I used Allied Pickfords, they're the worst bunch ever.
The edited of highlights of my story, minus swearing and exasperated sighing.

To start with when I was packing my stuff in the UK they didn't send me the right number or size of boxes that I'd asked for to pre-pack some of my stuff. Despite agreeing to, and charging me for the boxes, the full number never showed. So with departure dates looming and loads to do I bought some archive boxes and set about packing;
Then when pickup day arrived they didn't show. This was 3 weeks before I get on a flight (Good planning so that I won't be without my stuff for too long). They didn't show. Somehow they had managed to mix up the date I had pre-arranged and had in writing from them. No apology, just a new date for well after I'd have left the UK. Nothing I can do as the Allied was the approved shipper that the company I work for use. Not enough time to change things so my stuff gets put in my parents garage and I leave for Australia.

Then when pickup date finally arrives from the UK, I was told (by my folks) that the extra boxes I'd used were the wrong size and needed repacking. Fair enough on this point, I can see the need for standard size boxes in shipping containers. So the Pickfords guys needed to 'professionally re-packed' my stuff as this is the only way its covered by insurance. They re-pack, and drive off with my stuff.

A month or 2 passes and by this point I'm in Australia minus all my stuff, including furniture, and getting a bit annoyed. The agreed due date sailed by with no notification as to why, and no apology. So I began a regime of calling at the beginning and end of each week to check on the due date, which by this point was slipping further and further.

Then one day I get a letter telling me my stuff is stuck in customs and providing me with forms I must fill out ASAP to release it. Only thing is this letter is dated a week ago and I had called these guys 3 times over that period. The response each time was "Your shipment is still in transit, goodbye".
So I fill out the forms, send them off and the next day get a call from customs.

======This bit is nothing to do with Allied Pickfords but is a tirade against customs======

My mountain bike and mountain board in the shipment were apparently 'Dirty' and needed to be steam cleaned for quarantine reasons. My choice was either pay $225 for the cleaning, have them destroyed (WTF??), or pay for their return journey to the UK. I fully understand the need for quarantine, especially when coming from the CJD ridden, Foot and mouth infected UK, so I'm not moaning about this bit. The thing is, I understood that before I packed them and that's why I'd stripped them both, installed brand new tires and cleaned them till they shone (and smelled of lemon disinfectant). Feeling like I had just been totally stuffed, I paid the money.

Anyway, after all this it takes a further 2 weeks to release my stuff. It is delivered, I am happy man.
And then I start to unpack.....
The first few boxes are ok, but them I get to the 'professionally re-packed' ones. The 'Professionally Re-packing' seems to have consisted of upending one box into another. My nicely packed CD's & DVDs had been stuffed in a box, cases cracked, CD's scratched, some even broken in half. Books had the same treatment and were stuck in boxes any which way. Many were bent, some were split down the spine. My bike, which was in a transport case to protect it, had a bent chain ring and somehow the rear hub had been pushed right through and forced off its bearings (Which must have taken an almighty force). It was a horror show. I took photos of each box as I opened it and, fortunately, I had it all insured. But Allied Pickfords didn't offer a partial re-fund or even an apology, Even when presented with the photographs and a list of all that went wrong with dates and calls. They just didn't care.

Long story short, don't ever use Allied Pickfords and make sure anything that could have mud on it is clean (though customs will probably still charge you to clean it).




Climbing pom
7-Aug-2009
12:02:33 PM
I've used Anglopacific to move from Uk to Aus, really helpful, fast, good price and nothing broken!! As I was living in london they picked my stuff up for free which was really useful.
raven
7-Aug-2009
3:00:26 PM
Thanks all for the stories and advice (Desk Monkey - your post sounded a very cathartic experience!). Much appreciated.
climbingjac
8-Aug-2009
7:01:09 AM
I used PSSremovals just a few weeks back. They were excellent. They also have a special on at the moment, so it was cheap (relatively speaking). Also when we were unable to locate a passport at home and wanted to eliminate the possibility it had been packed in a shipping box by accident, they pulled the boxes out of the warehouse, let us open then and go through them, and and did so "with a smile". 100 points for customer service. They were also very obliging with having the driver call me an hour before he arrived for collection so I didn't have to wait around all day. They seem to have a good system for delicate items too. They have a whole special racking system for snowboards, for instance, to stop them having other luggage falling on them.
raven
9-Aug-2009
4:59:22 PM
Cheers for the reply climbingjac.

climbingfool
10-Aug-2009
9:27:56 AM
when i shippend mine from canada i did all the packing myself, as much as i wanted to pay for the "professional" version. then brought it to an international shipper.

it was all in plastic tubs, each labelled. every item in every tub was listed down to loose pens and pencils and attached to the tub and a complete list given to the shipper to give to customs.

it was not held up in customs for longer than normal, and quarantine had no comments about the 2 tents and numerous pairs of shoes and boots. i brought my bike with me and at the airport they just confirmed it was a bike in the box, but did not have a look.

however customs did confiscate my slingshot and sent me a letter stating i could take the matter to court to get it back!!

Desk Monkey
10-Aug-2009
7:17:27 PM
On 7/08/2009 raven wrote:
>Thanks all for the stories and advice (Desk Monkey - your post sounded
>a very cathartic experience!). Much appreciated.

Oh yeh, it helped a lot.

jkane
10-Aug-2009
11:31:28 PM
Also used AngloPacific about 6 years ago. Had no problems with them at all.

Also no problems with customs but they did open some of the boxes. I scrubbed all my mountain bike tyres etc before I packed them.
Dave C
12-Aug-2009
7:52:09 AM
I'll give another good word for Anglo-Pacific. When I moved back here hauling the mrs along they sent 4 blokes and emptied our house into a 20ft container and then sent the same to disgorge it all into my folks garage in Little River at this end. When we finally unpacked it all at our own place there was not a single item damaged; we were pretty impressed!

BoulderBaby
19-Aug-2010
5:25:04 AM
Has anyone used All Freight .co.uk?


Anyone have any good reviews??

Sarah Gara
19-Aug-2010
5:06:34 PM
On 12/08/2009 Dave C wrote:
>I'll give another good word for Anglo-Pacific.

ditto. were v. good and helpful esp when I changed my address after I shipped no probs. x
maxdacat
20-Aug-2010
11:12:34 AM
I used Excess Baggage to ship 7 tea chests from london to Oz and they were fine....picked up free within the M25 and dropped off for free at the other end (rural area but close to canberra).

MonkeyBoy
20-Aug-2010
11:17:08 AM
Any one know about shipping TO england ?


salty crag
20-Aug-2010
2:23:47 PM
Your going the wrong way sunshine.

There are 16 messages in this topic.

 

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