Yes!! It's another shipping thread

[doghandler 2]

I had a bad experience with John Mason. I paid £2500 for a full service, a few bits of furniture and about 20 boxes. As I was leaving the UK the day before as I had to travel with my dogs, I had arranged for a friend to be at my house to receive the crew from John Mason. I paid for a full packing service as I did not want my friend to be inconvenienced. When I asked my "international move manager" at John Mason (who was useless, could barely speak on the phone, it was always like drawing teeth, she was like a shy child), how long the packing would take, she said "not long, they are very fast".

When I arrived at Newark Airport, and in the immigration line at "soft processing" awaiting to see an immigration officer at my POE, my phone rang. It was a removal company I had never heard of asking me "how much stuff do you have for the move tomorrow?". John Mason had not bothered passing on this information.

John Mason had contracted out my job without telling me. When the contracted company arrived at my house they told my friend they had been told by John Mason that this was not a packing job, the stuff was packed and they just had to lift it. They guy said, before he spoke to me at Newark Airport they were only going to send 1 man with a small van!

My friend had to argue with them and they then had to pack it and took 6 hours (in my opinion "not long" doesn't mean 6 hours, and I didn't have that much stuff). However, the contractors were 3 elderly men. If you hired them independently, they would not cost as much as John Mason as they are not in the same league. I just feel ripped off.

I complained to John Mason. They then stated their policy is NOT to inform the customer if they are contracting out a job. So, beware of this, if anyone else is thinking of hiring John Mason.

[nickandkayte 0]

Just for a review, I used Excess Baggage and their shipping contacts in the USA were horrible. I got a cheap rate, but my boxes arrived 2 months late and some of them hanging open after being COMPLETELY covered in black extra strength duct tape. My boxes were not stopped at Customs, I just think its from some really bad wear and tear on the boats.

So after getting about 4 different dates from them for when the boxes would be transported down, I wrote a long complaint to the UK and the whole thing eventually got sorted.

Here is a copy of my complaint if anyone wants more detail...

"I originally shipped my packages through your company and was dealing with Mr *****. However after emailing him on the 22nd of February, he has not emailed back. I sent my package at the end of November with your company, I was advised my package should be here by the end of January. I am getting really sick of dealing with the US shipping company, they don't seem to know what to do or give me a accurate date for when my baggage should be here.

I have been told "End of Jan" ,"Mid Feb" , "Late Feb", And now "Mid March" for when to expect my boxes. I am really thoroughly annoyed as I keep being told by them that I will be called in the "following week" and never seem to get that call.

I have had to make over 10 phone calls to them to find the whereabouts of my items. And now they have told me I will be given a call this week to organize a date where they will be dropping it off. I don't know if this is a company you deal with often but its starting to really get annoying to be told to wait for phone calls and have to chase them up when they don't follow through.

They also had my email address in wrong and were emailing *************@hotmail.com which is never a email address I have mentioned for my husband because it does not exist! And I am sure it wasn't written on any forms I gave in. My contact email is this one and my husbands is **************@yahoo.com

It has just got to the point where I am doing Make up for a wedding in 2 weeks and I need some of my items in the boxes and I doubt they will be here by the 18th of March.

Your company was very helpful and reliable and I just feel really let down by your partners in the USA.

If you could provide any insight as to what is going on I would be really grateful. I have included the email below with the info, and my new shipment reference with them is SG24093. I have attacked all the information below in hopes this will be resolved. I would love to ship with your company again but feel so upset that I cannot seem to access my items.

"

While I think of it, in the UK the man came to pick up the boxes from my house, and was told there was only one box to pick up...Not 6. So I had to call Excess Baggage from work and ask what was going on and get them to sort it out. Eventually 2 days later all the boxes got picked up.

Another problem was when I got contacted when my items were in Customs for a packing list, which I had submitted at the start of the process and they apparently got "Confused" between my shipment and another. Slightly worrying.

Edited July 27, 2010 by nickandkayte

[Ricky+Vanessa 43]

I posted the below as a response to someone else elsewhere but thought it might be better to keep everything in one thread:

I used Sevenseas Worldwide. I'm in two minds about the experience. but overall I guess it was good.

They provide you with the boxes but you have to pay a £50 deposit. They have a calculator on the website and that is actually the price you pay (unless your box(es) are over weight (as mine were!)). I sent 5 of their book boxes and I that would be approximately £250 (I think). So you can choose a date for the delivery of the boxes. They recommend ordering more just in case which is what I did. I also requested 2 tea chests but decided against using those. As well as getting the boxes they give you packing tape, pens and bubble wrap. The £50 deposit comes off of your bill at the end. Along with the packing things comes all the forms with FULL instructions as to how to complete these.

You then schedule the pick up. I scheduled mine for the day before I left. They were very prompt with delivery and collections (they give you a window of time closer to the date). The driver that collected my boxes was great.

The issues I had were:

I didn't fill something out on the form (the part about employment as I thought it wasn't applicable - turns out it was). So I called and the guy on the phone said to fax back the completed form. We went to Kinko's and for some reason for the fax number didn't work. While I was there I placed another call to sevenseas and got a lovely lady who told me not to fax it to the UK as it would be expensive for me and that I should fax it to the US number since they have a central system. I did this. When I got home I checked my email and i had an email response from a query telling me that I could actually give the details via email. Oh well.

Second issue was that I never received a tracking number even thought I enquired.

I have to say they reply to emails very quickly and appart from one person all the people I dealt with were friendly and efficient.

My boxes were actually sent UPS Saver and the could feasibly have given me a tracking number because I looked it up on the UPS site after I received. But nevermind.

So they picked the boxes up on 3rd August and it looks like they went to UPS on 9/10 August and I received them on 12th August I really wasn't expecting them because the site said they would arrive on 20th August and to allow at least 2 weeks for customs. 2 of the boxes were opened for customs inspection but everything was fine.

[mcclapa 0]

For anyone interested, I got the best quote from Transglobal Express (www.transglobal.org.uk/) so we are most likely going to go with them. We got a quote of 7 boxes for £200. They also recommended an Insurance Broker (www.the-insurance-broker.com) since they don't insure the shipments themselves and we will probably use them. I will update when we know more!

[Dodi 69]

I think Peter has decided to go with UpakWeShip.com. They're quoting him £3.85/kg, which is the best he's gotten so far. He's not shipping much, barely 75kg if that, so it makes sense to go with a weight-based shipper. He's going to have a local removal company pack everything for him to make sure it's all done right. (And so his mother won't nag him.)

24 days till his interview!!!!! It's all down to the wire now!!!

[Leenie 15]

For anyone interested, I got the best quote from Transglobal Express (www.transglobal.org.uk/) so we are most likely going to go with them. We got a quote of 7 boxes for £200. They also recommended an Insurance Broker (www.the-insurance-broker.com) since they don't insure the shipments themselves and we will probably use them. I will update when we know more!

My fiance ended up shipping with Transglobal Express, and it turned out to be a pretty good experience. You pack the boxes and they take care of everything else door to door. My fiance shipped a few large boxes, but nothing too large/expensive. One of the boxes did get beat up a bit, which did affect the contents, but that much is to be expected with most any service. He didn't end up insuring any of the boxes.

My fiance did have some slight delay because the contents were accidentally mistaken as commercial goods. But a Transglobal rep contacted him by email and was able to sort it out pretty quickly once my fiance explained it was personal property.

Edit: spelling.

Edited August 24, 2010 by Leenie

[arwilson80 0]

After going with Seven Seas i'd say that i'll not use them again. They stated a 14 day delivery time. I've already been in the USA for 4 weeks and the items haven't even arrived stateside. It'll be a further 2 weeks once until i get them once they do.

[Ricky+Vanessa 43]

After going with Seven Seas i'd say that i'll not use them again. They stated a 14 day delivery time. I've already been in the USA for 4 weeks and the items haven't even arrived stateside. It'll be a further 2 weeks once until i get them once they do.

That's terrible. Did they at least give you a tracking number? I didn't get one at all. I hated not knowing where all my stuff was. I don't think it took weeks to clear my boxes - the longest part seemed to be them actually shipping the boxes. Don't know if it has anything to do with where you are.

[arwilson80 0]

That's terrible. Did they at least give you a tracking number? I didn't get one at all. I hated not knowing where all my stuff was. I don't think it took weeks to clear my boxes - the longest part seemed to be them actually shipping the boxes. Don't know if it has anything to do with where you are.

No. No tracking number here either. I did 'follow' it on their website with the little details they give there. The estimated arrival date changed at least twice. I agree on the part about shipping the boxes... it took about 3-4 weeks before they appeared to have left the UK. Their people stateside seem nice though. I had a call (Fri 9th) from them when they couldn't e-mail me (they missed out a 0 in my e-mail address) and said they'd ship it out in a few days, and i got the e-mail yesterday to say it be arriving tomorrow.

[Trishabelle 0]

My fiance' used transglobal express (who shipped thru DHL) and he had no problems. In fact, he is shipping two more boxes through them this Saturday. Cheap and cheerful

[Going Green 5]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share my experience of shipping my things over from the UK to the US.

Like everyone, I was a little intimidated by the number of agents out there. Not only that, but the spectrum of people’s experiences seemed pretty broad. In the end, I chose to go with Excess Baggage; their website seemed professional and people’s opinions seemed mostly positive. Plus, they supplied all the boxes I’d need and provided a door to door service.

Their website shows all the various sizes of container you can request. Basically, you mentally box all your possessions up, then e-mail them for a quote. I wound up needing 18 boxes (most were small ones for books and DVD’s), with a couple of larger boxes for clothes and one big bike container for my framed movie posters.

Once you are ready to proceed, you give them the go-ahead and they’ll take an initial fee and arrange for a day to deliver all your boxes. The only niggle was that the courier could come at any point during the day. Not ideal if you work all day and live alone. So I had to leave a note on my door asking the courier to call me when he arrived, as I worked just a couple of minutes from my flat. Fortunately, he did, so I got my flat-packed boxes, along with four HUGE rolls of bubble wrap and eight rolls of parcel tape.

I never thought I’d use all that bubble wrap, but I ended up using every bit!

It was hard work packing everything, labelling the boxes (your name, ref, item number and destination) and noting the contents of each box on the forms without error. Took me a good 8 hours and the knees of my jeans were literally worn away from all the kneeling, but I got there in the end.

The courier came the next morning and took everything away. It’s shocking how bare your place looks afterwards! I then finished off the customs forms and faxed them to Excess Baggage. They billed me for everything and that was pretty much that.

Subsequently, I quit my job, moved out, went for my K1 visa interview, was approved (thank God), made the jump across the pond and got married to my good lady. With all those life-changing events, I’d virtually forgotten about all my stuff til I got a call and an email to inform me of its impending delivery. I had to pay $20 to the delivery company and the van pulled up a few days later. All the boxes were intact and the contents undamaged. In total, it took about 10 weeks for them to arrive (they say 12 max).

All in all, it cost me around £900. Sounds a lot, but that’s for EVERYTHING, and a door to door service from Leeds, UK to Appleton, Wisconsin.

I’d definitely recommend Excess Baggage. They supplied all I needed, their processes were straightforward and their fees reasonable. Their website made it very clear what forms I had to complete and even contained a helpful guide for doing so. As for their service, I have nothing but praise for them. The lady who handled my move was called Jade and she was polite, went out of her way to assist me whenever I had a problem and was ALWAYS contactable. Seriously, I don’t think she ever left the workplace.

So, whoever you decide to use, I hope your move goes as smoothly as mine did.

Nick

[rallybug 17]

Do you have to list every single item separately, or, say, 50 books, 75 CDs, etc?

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Do you have to list every single item separately, or, say, 50 books, 75 CDs, etc?

I just put '50 books' or '75 DVDs' and had absolutely no problems!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Do you have to list every single item separately, or, say, 50 books, 75 CDs, etc?

Nick did on his music collection, but he's like that. I helped him. I suppose it depends on if you are insuring things and all. You have to give valuations if you're insuring and it's all a pain and expensive to insure. Read the fine print. Then have it explained and you still won't get it.

Customs doesn't care if you name itemize for that form. 50 books, 20 shirts..... the list can be a little more streamlined.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Nich-Nick

[hamtaro 4]

It was hard work packing everything, labelling the boxes (your name, ref, item number and destination) and noting the contents of each box on the forms without error. Took me a good 8 hours and the knees of my jeans were literally worn away from all the kneeling, but I got there in the end.

It's worth noting here that if you have a LOT of very small possessions that collating all the info couriers want for customs is not really worth your time. I checked with couriers and would have saved money, but not time. I had all the remnants of my home electronics business. Thousands of small electronic parts to count and pack.

I opted for weighing them into 2kg packages and shipping the lot out Royal Mail surface mail with simply "misc electronic parts" on the customs labels. Just going to see if that causes any trouble receiving them. If not then oh well, I can live with losing them.