# Removal company advice required from uk to nz



## wraggles

Hi there

I wonder has anyone who has moved from the UK used either PPS International Removal Company or Anglopacific and if so what was your opinion on how they handled your move?

Many thanks for any thoughts you can give.


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## escapedtonz

We used PSS International.
Decent price. Cost GBP 5000 for a 40ft container and an airfreight package (so we got this sooner) from Preston UK to Wellington. 
Door to door service with them packing/unpacking.

They were fantastic. No complaints. The guys who turned up and packed our house away were excellent and so fast. 
Just got to make sure that anything you don't want packed isn't left lying around or they'll just grab it and wrap it 
Better to put all this in a specific pile with a note over the top stating what it is for or don't pack these yet!
Didn't really have to lift a finger other than making cups of tea!

We also had Anglo Pacific around giving us a price and a couple of the other large international removers but we liked the PSS sales guy's attitude and knowledge of the job better than the others. They're all about the same price. Steer clear if you get a quote from a company that is a heck of a lot cheaper than the others. They will just cut corners to give you this price in the hope they get your business.


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## wraggles

Thanks so much for that. I have only had a quote from Anglopacific guy so far and it was £3750 for a 20ft container. I asked him if their insurance covered condensation damage in the hold and he told me 'condensation' wasn't part of his vocabulary - not something they suffer from because they package things so well. I went on line last night to read reviews for both firms as I have PPS coming next week. There were no reviews at all for PPS (a good sign that no problems with them?) and lots of terrible reviews for Anglopacific - their guys broke so many items and it seemed impossible to claim back for these. So although the salesguy promised us the earth and said everything we wanted to hear I am not feeling much more cautious. So many bad reviews. I will wait and see what PPS say - they were the ones I contacted first because of a review on a forum like this. So I just wanted to see what other peoples experiences might have been of the two. And your reply really helps. Thanks so much. Its such a big decision when it is all your worldly goods in that one container. Sounds great that they do the door to door as they say.


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## nykkie07

Hello
I only sent boxes and had a part of a container and used imove international. They were very good came and picked and packed everything very quickly - yet to have it delivered so cant comment on that bit at the mo. Price was very competitive.


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## wraggles

Thanks for the feedback nykkie07. Good to know.


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## escapedtonz

wraggles said:


> Thanks so much for that. I have only had a quote from Anglopacific guy so far and it was £3750 for a 20ft container. I asked him if their insurance covered condensation damage in the hold and he told me 'condensation' wasn't part of his vocabulary - not something they suffer from because they package things so well. I went on line last night to read reviews for both firms as I have PPS coming next week. There were no reviews at all for PPS (a good sign that no problems with them?) and lots of terrible reviews for Anglopacific - their guys broke so many items and it seemed impossible to claim back for these. So although the salesguy promised us the earth and said everything we wanted to hear I am not feeling much more cautious. So many bad reviews. I will wait and see what PPS say - they were the ones I contacted first because of a review on a forum like this. So I just wanted to see what other peoples experiences might have been of the two. And your reply really helps. Thanks so much. Its such a big decision when it is all your worldly goods in that one container. Sounds great that they do the door to door as they say.


Hey wraggles,
Just so you have prior knowledge, none of the quotes you receive include any insurance.

This is an additional extra and usually considered after you have chosen the international removals company and you know all items that will be making the journey.

The international removers offer this but it is something they wont get involved in. 
You must total up yourself and decide how much cover you actually want considering all the items you are shipping.
You fill out an individual inventory for this and the premium is around 1 - 1.5% of the total covered cost you want covered so can add a few hundred quid onto the total costs.
Plus there are rules to be considered for over/under insuring. Read the small print.
If I remember they only cover for accidental damage / breakages or damage caused by condensation during the shipping process although the quality of their packing should mitigate this risk.
They also did not seem to cover total loss - say if the ship capsized.

If you pack yourself, the insurance cover will be reduced as they have not been involved in the packing process thus the quality of the packing isn't considered to be as good which increases the risk of a claim.

I looked at getting cover from a 3rd party and not the removals company.

A company in Liverpool - Letton Percival offers shipping container cover - including total loss etc - everything you need really for a fraction of the cost the removals company would charge.

Also, before we came and before I paid the premium to Letton Percival, I mentioned the issue of container insurance to my new employer in NZ and they put me in touch with their legal department who covered the whole shipment door to door, total loss, damage by packing, movement, condensation etc etc for big fat £ 0.


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## wraggles

EscapedtoNZ - wow that was great of your employer to cover the whole shipment - such a weight off your mind. 

I had thought about taking out insurance with Letton Percival - I assume they would pay for the loss if the ship capsized? So much to think about. 

Thanks so much for all your advice. It will all be taken on board!


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## escapedtonz

wraggles said:


> EscapedtoNZ - wow that was great of your employer to cover the whole shipment - such a weight off your mind.
> 
> I had thought about taking out insurance with Letton Percival - I assume they would pay for the loss if the ship capsized? So much to think about.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your advice. It will all be taken on board!


Yeah it was kind of lucky. I only mentioned it in passing to my soon to be senior manager and immediately he said the company would insure everything as part of the relocation package offered.
I was only a day away from paying the premium to Letton Percival!!!
Was a massive weight off our minds that no matter what, the whole shipment and every item in it was covered for any eventuality.
Luckily didn't need it.
We had one earthenware dish that was broken when we opened the packing - wasn't worth much and I kind of smashed a very large driftwood mirror when unpacking. Well I unpacked it fine and stood it up against the inside of the garage door, then completely forgot about it till I pressed the garage door opener and heard the smash.....whoops!!! Wife not impressed, me smashing a new mirror on the day we move into a new house!!!

Yes LP covers for total or part loss however it occurs. You just have an excess for each and every claim - max £250 so at least you know if you make a claim it won't cost you any more than £250.
They also cover mildew damage and anything that happens from water ingress / condensation or extreme temp changes - warping etc.
Plus it's door to door cover and covers for packing by the removals company or the individual.

http://www.lettonpercival.co.uk/media/images/Summuray_Policy_Cover.pdf


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## wraggles

EscapeedtoNZ - oh my god. A mirror smashing in your new home - so silly to be superstitious but you just can't help it can you. We have a large mirror in our dining room and I really am torn as whether to bring it as I can't help think it might not make it in one piece. 

The Letton Percival cover sounds a lot better than cover AngloPacific were offering. I don't know what the PPS people offer yet as I don't meet them until next week. 

How long did your removers take to pack up your stuff? Oh, and can I ask do you remember did you have to pay up front the total cost and when you had to pay the final amount if you only paid a deposit?


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## escapedtonz

wraggles said:


> EscapeedtoNZ - oh my god. A mirror smashing in your new home - so silly to be superstitious but you just can't help it can you. We have a large mirror in our dining room and I really am torn as whether to bring it as I can't help think it might not make it in one piece.
> 
> The Letton Percival cover sounds a lot better than cover AngloPacific were offering. I don't know what the PPS people offer yet as I don't meet them until next week.
> 
> How long did your removers take to pack up your stuff? Oh, and can I ask do you remember did you have to pay up front the total cost and when you had to pay the final amount if you only paid a deposit?


Yeah the wife was a bit superstitious after the mirror incident but all has been good.
I went to a glass shop nearby and replaced the mirror the next day.

The PSS cover was good from what I remember but didn't cover everything and was still a 1% plus premium. It's new for old so when calculating the cost to replace stuff it's the cost of it in NZ as that's where it will be replaced so you can add 15% on to the cost of equivalent goods just for that.

Letton Percival was way cheaper and you didn't have to give an inventory - just a total amount needed.
I think you had to specifically list expensive items though - maybe things above £500 / £1000 each ?

Packers took 3 full days. They were brilliant and never stopped for a moment other than to drink tea & lunch break.
They also stayed in the wagon nearby just so they could be back fist thing to start again.
We couldn't get the container near the house since it was so big - 1 mile away on the main road so they transferred everything using a van. Made the job harder for them but they didn't show it to be difficult.
It was so funny watching them pack everything as they just wrap everything up like presents ha ha. Even the washing machine!!!

May be a good idea to pay extra for delicate items to be packed in their own bespoke made fixed box.
We did this for our LCD TV and our glass top table.

We paid in full up front as its the only way they work. Can't remember paying a deposit first.

Regards,


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## wraggles

Thanks for all that. Will help in the coming weeks for sure.


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## Lsung

Hi Wraggles just wondering how you got on with getting a quote from PSS removals? I am currently in the process of looking at various shipping companies...waiting on the call backs so dont have a quotes from anyone as yet.


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## wraggles

Hi LSung

Well, I just searched the forums, saw that this company seemed quite well thought of, went on their website and hit the 'request a quote' button, gave them my details and then they contact you. They send out a rep to go round your house to see how much you have to take - its a very rough estimate. Then they send you the quote. We knew roughly that we would probably be a 20ft container - although we thought a possibility of a 40ft so were relieved when it was a 20ft. They told us they thought we would have some extra and would need to send that in a shared container. I informed them that i would just get rid of stuff, no shared container, just don't like the idea and read to many bad things about them. Now that I have finally booked a date with them for moving and paid them they have sent me a full inventory form that I have to fill in. I am going to do another 'cull' on all my stuff before listing finally what I am taking. It feels quite a lot of pressure as I am doing it all myself - the selling of the house, the sending of the cat, the organising myself and my daughter and the shipping as my husband is already out in NZ. I have decided not to take their insurance but am going through a company called Letton Percival I think. They are based in Liverpool. Seem again to be a company well liked. Oh and I did get another quote from a company called Anglo Pacific and they really talked a good talk. The guy told me everything I wanted to hear but then I read up on reviews about them and they were just awful. My gut told me to go with the people I had first wanted but at the end of the day, only time will tell, when in 5 or so months from now our stuff arrives in NZ!
Hope that helps. 
Regards


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## Lsung

Thanks wraggles...was it pss removals you ended up going with? If u don't mind me asking, how much were u to ship it all? 

Thanks


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## wraggles

Hi. Yes it is PSS we are going with and it is costing us £3628 for a 20ft container from Scotland to New Plymouth - originally we thought we might end up in Auckland and the quote was slightly less - around the £3500, but we have ended up going to New Plymouth. It was around the £5000 mark if we had wanted the 40ft container. 
Regards


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## Fuzz

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but how long has it typically been for the door-to-door shipping time? We're looking at possibly moving from London to Ashburton (~1 hour south of Christchurch) in 4-5 months.


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## escapedtonz

Fuzz said:


> Don't mean to hijack the thread, but how long has it typically been for the door-to-door shipping time? We're looking at possibly moving from London to Ashburton (~1 hour south of Christchurch) in 4-5 months.


Around 10 weeks. Since it's such a long way and the ship stops so many times there's all manner of things can slow it down so don't be surprised if it's 12 weeks.
We were quoted 10-12 weeks and it took 12 weeks to the day then around a week to clear customs and be delivered to our chosen address.


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## Fuzz

escapedtonz said:


> Around 10 weeks. Since it's such a long way and the ship stops so many times there's all manner of things can slow it down so don't be surprised if it's 12 weeks.
> We were quoted 10-12 weeks and it took 12 weeks to the day then around a week to clear customs and be delivered to our chosen address.


Thanks for the info. Fortunately we don't have a lot of stuff we'd need to ship. Given the long transit time, it might be worthwhile to mail some parcels ourselves.


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## Staniel

Hi 

Just to add to the opinions about PSS, we have just used them to move from London to Auckland. The London end was excellent, couldn't fault the packers or the office staff dealing with us. We had a booking in place and then a delay with our visas and were left with only a week to sort out the container, PSS were very good at getting everything sorted basically on a day's notice.

HOWEVER - At this end they use a company called NZ Van Lines to deliver and this company is completely different (only have knowledge of the Auckland branch obviously). They will ignore all your requests for info until you basically turn up at their offices, they are horrendously understaffed and we waited nearly a month after our stuff cleared customs for them to arrange a delivery date. Then when they did deliver they had mislaid four of our packages, including an entire wardrobe and the frame for our sofa. When I eventually got hold of someone at their office to complain he said he would look into it immediately and let me know when they could deliver. Two days later I called back for the 4th time having not heard a thing (you get used to leaving messages on their ansaphones) and was finally told that they had found our stuff but that were too busy to deliver it before Xmas (this was Monday 16th). Three further phonecalls to complain and several left messages later I was told it would be here today (19th) at 3pm. The reason I have just joined this forum is to warn people about them as one guy turned up at 8pm, left the packages, picked up the empty boxes that have been sitting in my driveway and then refused to assemble the wardrobe or sofa (that we have paid for). I don't blame the poor guy as he had been lied to at work and told a)it was just a dropoff and b)it was near his home as he had finished for the day. So now i have four big packages sitting still packed in our lounge.

As I say, I have no idea if the other NZ Van Lines offices will be this bad, but I have already advised three people that were looking to use PSS not to because of them, and will continue to do so for people moving to Auckland


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## topcat83

Staniel said:


> Hi
> 
> Just to add to the opinions about PSS, we have just used them to move from London to Auckland. The London end was excellent, couldn't fault the packers or the office staff dealing with us. We had a booking in place and then a delay with our visas and were left with only a week to sort out the container, PSS were very good at getting everything sorted basically on a day's notice.
> 
> HOWEVER - At this end they use a company called NZ Van Lines to deliver and this company is completely different (only have knowledge of the Auckland branch obviously). They will ignore all your requests for info until you basically turn up at their offices, they are horrendously understaffed and we waited nearly a month after our stuff cleared customs for them to arrange a delivery date. Then when they did deliver they had mislaid four of our packages, including an entire wardrobe and the frame for our sofa. When I eventually got hold of someone at their office to complain he said he would look into it immediately and let me know when they could deliver. Two days later I called back for the 4th time having not heard a thing (you get used to leaving messages on their ansaphones) and was finally told that they had found our stuff but that were too busy to deliver it before Xmas (this was Monday 16th). Three further phonecalls to complain and several left messages later I was told it would be here today (19th) at 3pm. The reason I have just joined this forum is to warn people about them as one guy turned up at 8pm, left the packages, picked up the empty boxes that have been sitting in my driveway and then refused to assemble the wardrobe or sofa (that we have paid for). I don't blame the poor guy as he had been lied to at work and told a)it was just a dropoff and b)it was near his home as he had finished for the day. So now i have four big packages sitting still packed in our lounge.
> 
> As I say, I have no idea if the other NZ Van Lines offices will be this bad, but I have already advised three people that were looking to use PSS not to because of them, and will continue to do so for people moving to Auckland


We also used PSS, and NZ Vanlines this end - and didn't have any problems at all! Mind you, that was 7 years ago...


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## escapedtonz

Staniel said:


> Hi Just to add to the opinions about PSS, we have just used them to move from London to Auckland. The London end was excellent, couldn't fault the packers or the office staff dealing with us. We had a booking in place and then a delay with our visas and were left with only a week to sort out the container, PSS were very good at getting everything sorted basically on a day's notice. HOWEVER - At this end they use a company called NZ Van Lines to deliver and this company is completely different (only have knowledge of the Auckland branch obviously). They will ignore all your requests for info until you basically turn up at their offices, they are horrendously understaffed and we waited nearly a month after our stuff cleared customs for them to arrange a delivery date. Then when they did deliver they had mislaid four of our packages, including an entire wardrobe and the frame for our sofa. When I eventually got hold of someone at their office to complain he said he would look into it immediately and let me know when they could deliver. Two days later I called back for the 4th time having not heard a thing (you get used to leaving messages on their ansaphones) and was finally told that they had found our stuff but that were too busy to deliver it before Xmas (this was Monday 16th). Three further phonecalls to complain and several left messages later I was told it would be here today (19th) at 3pm. The reason I have just joined this forum is to warn people about them as one guy turned up at 8pm, left the packages, picked up the empty boxes that have been sitting in my driveway and then refused to assemble the wardrobe or sofa (that we have paid for). I don't blame the poor guy as he had been lied to at work and told a)it was just a dropoff and b)it was near his home as he had finished for the day. So now i have four big packages sitting still packed in our lounge. As I say, I have no idea if the other NZ Van Lines offices will be this bad, but I have already advised three people that were looking to use PSS not to because of them, and will continue to do so for people moving to Auckland


We also had NZ Van Lines this end in Wellington and they were great.
Booked us a delivery slot within the first week of the container passing through customs. Delivered bang on time and there was 4 of them turned up. 40ft container unpacked and all beds etc erected for us without question - granted not erected as good as I would have done but all I had to do was tighten all the nuts/bolts and screws up.
They even liaised with Maf to clear all the goods that needed inspection by them.
I would recommend them here in Wellington.


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