Yes!! It's another shipping thread

[ZedbraGuy 6]

I'm going to be using fox moving and storage, they came up cheaper than sevonseas and they seem to offer a more comprehensive service. Been good responding to emails so far too.

[little_g 35]

We are thinking of using Parcels2Go.com

We have used them a lot for shipping when it came to selling stuff on eBay and since we don't have much to send it seems like this might be the cheapest way.

[LeedsUK 4]

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

Hi Nick,

Thanks for posting your story. I am from Leeds & am stressing about finding a reliable shipping company that will give me a reliable door to door service that also won't break the bank. I know your experience was a while ago & I am hoping that Excess Baggage are still reliable!

[sara80 17]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for posting your story. I am from Leeds & am stressing about finding a reliable shipping company that will give me a reliable door to door service that also won't break the bank. I know your experience was a while ago & I am hoping that Excess Baggage are still reliable!

Hi LeedsUK, I am planning to use them as well, I dont have loads of stuff (5/6 boxes) and I already got an estimated quote. So far, customer service is really good as they have been answering my questions promptly. I did read more recent reviews about them on here and they seemed good.

[photomile 101]

Hi LeedsUK, I am planning to use them as well, I dont have loads of stuff (5/6 boxes) and I already got an estimated quote. So far, customer service is really good as they have been answering my questions promptly. I did read more recent reviews about them on here and they seemed good.

Every time I've been quoted by them it's been expensive. I can't see what else they do other than help fill out the 3299 form which, I am pretty sure I can do myself so I've been getting quotes from P4D and transglobal express. I'm just trying to get the specifics down of this!

[LeedsUK 4]

Haven't gotten a quote from them yet VJers but some of the negative reviews in this thread about them freaked me out! I don't think there's a single company out there that at least one VJer hasn't had a horrendous experience with! It's very troubling as I just don't know who to go with. I haven't got a huge amount of stuff but it's not small either, about 10-15 boxes I reckon. I got a quote of about £515 with Anglo-Pacific but the reviews have put me off now...

[photomile 101]

Found this for instructions on the CBP3299. So looks like I'll have no problems airfreighting things with P4D or Transglobal.

4x 20inch cubes at 20 kilos each comes to about oh, 230 quid.

http://www.wilcan.com/us_3299.pdf

[LeedsUK 4]

Found this for instructions on the CBP3299. So looks like I'll have no problems airfreighting things with P4D or Transglobal.

4x 20inch cubes at 20 kilos each comes to about oh, 230 quid.

http://www.wilcan.com/us_3299.pdf

Hi Photo,

Wow that's a lot isn't it? I am still learning about all of this so I really have no idea, but 4 boxes & over 200 quid does sound a lot...Thanks for posting that link to the customs form with instructions too.

I think I have realised over the past few days with looking round my house that I am going to have rather a lot. Doing it by air is not going to be cheap for me so I will be going the shipping route. Anglo-Pacific have started to hound me with emails & calls since I asked for a quote. Although it was reasonable, as I live out of their depo areas, I will also have to pay a hefty pick up charge which I think they said was £14 per box...am going to keep looking for companies local to my area. I think this is most certainly the most stressful part of the the whole K1 process

Edited August 10, 2012 by LeedsUK

[photomile 101]

Hi Photo,

Wow that's a lot isn't it? I am still learning about all of this so I really have no idea, but 4 boxes & over 200 quid does sound a lot...

How much are you considering packing up? I think I have realised over the past few days with looking round my house that I am going to have rather a lot. Doing it by air is not going to be cheap for me so I will be going the shipping route. Anglo-Pacific have started to hound me with emails & calls since I asked for a quote. Although it was reasonable, as I live out of their depo areas, I will also have to pay a hefty pick up charge which I think they said was £14 per box...am going to keep looking for companies local to my area. I think this is most certainly the most stressful part of the the whole K1 process

230 quid is basically the single cheapest price I've found. And even better, that's a price by AIR freight, in three days. Cheapest anyone else seems to do like the big names is nearer 500 quid and that takes 4 to 6 WEEKS. So 4 20 inch cubes would be good for me I think

[LeedsUK 4]

230 quid is basically the single cheapest price I've found. And even better, that's a price by AIR freight, in three days. Cheapest anyone else seems to do like the big names is nearer 500 quid and that takes 4 to 6 WEEKS. So 4 20 inch cubes would be good for me I think

3 days is brilliant, you can't go wrong I suppose for only a few boxes. Good luck with it

[photomile 101]

Thanks! Considering it's with UPS and door to door, I'm wondering just what I'm not getting if I do the CBP3299 myself compared to allfreight or excess baggage or something

[LeedsUK 4]

Thanks! Considering it's with UPS and door to door, I'm wondering just what I'm not getting if I do the CBP3299 myself compared to allfreight or excess baggage or something

Hmm I am sure you'll be fine but I do know what you mean, passing all your worldly possessions on & then just praying they all get to the other side in one piece is rather stressful! What's the weight limit on your boxes for UPS?

[photomile 101]

Hmm I am sure you'll be fine but I do know what you mean, passing all your worldly possessions on & then just praying they all get to the other side in one piece is rather stressful! What's the weight limit on your boxes for UPS?

So long as one of them isn't over 45 kilos... no problem.

[LeedsUK 4]

So long as one of them isn't over 45 kilos... no problem.

Wow that's generous! So do they have a limit of how many boxes you can send? I guess it's good if you don't have any fragile stuff right? As it's going regular postal service I assume? And if it is then do you even need to fill out a customs form? Aren't you just going down to your PO & sending it to your fiance with her name & address on the boxes? You just tick "personal items" on the customs sticker that the PO person will stick on the boxes & then your fiance shouldn't get charged duty I believe.

[photomile 101]

Wow that's generous! So do they have a limit of how many boxes you can send? I guess it's good if you don't have any fragile stuff right? As it's going regular postal service I assume? And if it is then do you even need to fill out a customs form? Aren't you just going down to your PO & sending it to your fiance with her name & address on the boxes? You just tick "personal items" on the customs sticker that the PO person will stick on the boxes & then your fiance shouldn't get charged duty I believe.

No no, the quote is individual. It's with UPS or Fedex etc. You can pick as many boxes as you like, but the price goes up. They just wont take a box if it's 45 kilo or more. Just a health and safety thing. They don't give like a maximum allowance. It's X price per box at this weight.

The prices I got were

24 inch cube x 4 @ 30 KG each = £400

20 inch cube x 4 @ 30 KG each = £264

20 inch cube x 6 @ 30 KG each = £398.14

That's door to door, no further costs (bar X rays or something), like a regular UPS courier shipment. All I do is fill out the CBP3299 and hand it to the driver. Same as any other parcel pickup.