Which Container company did you use?

[tyde]

Don has just been to me too, what a lovely man, after reading this forum I really don't want to use anyone else.

He has quoted me R43 000 for a 3/4 of a 20 foot from Durban to Dunsborough (3 hours south of Perth) or R49 000 for a full container.

Anyone else have great service from Durban to Perth? If a couple of grand separates nightmares from good service I am really not keen to look elsewhere!

Thanks so much!

[Settled]

My third quote was Britania. The cheapest, and gave me the best sense of trust....

We will go with them.

J

[Kit]

We're sukkeling to get people to come and give quotes. So far not impressed with Elliott - they emailed hubby a scan of a fax for him to print+fill in and send back to them to do a quote. No mention of anyone coming to our place to check out our stuff.

We've had AGS Frasers and Execu-move in so far... AGS Frasers loses a point by not saying when we can expect our quote... and also they came Wednesday and there's been no quote yet. Execu-move came today and we should get our quote by Wednesday. Hubby was home both times and he's more impressed by Execu-move.

We submitted an online-quote request to Magna-thomson but no reply... Pickfords we got an appointment but they phoned (left voicemail) to postpone it the afternoon before and just haven't got back to us to reschedule.

is this like hens' teeth or something? *insert tumbleweed rolling by here*

[Linda S]

Getting a bit worried now that I have briefly read the previous posts - we got quotes from Elliotts, Biddulphs, Brittania and Kings, all were pretty much the same as far as price was concerned but we have decided to use Kings on the recommendations of friends and the fact that we felt there was a personal touch to their service.

Doesn't seem to be much positive feedback on them so holding thumbs all will go well with our move. They are packing our container on the 18th October, then the kids and I will be camping out on this side until we leave 27 November. Hubby already in Sydney, trying to find a rental in the Hills District, as long as the travelling for him to Sydney CBD is not too bad. Decided to take all our furniture in a 20ft container, except potentially difficult things like lawnmowers, outdoor furniture etc.

Anyone with good feedback on Kings?

Suppose all companies have good and bad days. Thankfully we dont have lots of "valuables" just the usual stuff.

We have stocked up on things like towels, bedding (esp as we have been told their bed sizes are different to here), tupperware and lots and lots of clothes and shoes. Anyone with tips on other things that would be better to buy here?

Good luck to all the other families who are moving shortly, I wish you all a safe and stressfree journey.

[clairebear]

I got quotes from 5 moving companies (Elliots, Magna-Thompsons, Brittania, Pickfords and Biddolphs)

We narrowed it down last night to Pickfords and Biddolphs. From what i have about biddolphs, we are thinking we will go with Pickfords. The quote from biddolphs is cheaper but not by a great margin.

Elliots and Magna were the most expensive. They are both R10 000 more than the other companies.

We are sending our stuff in a shared container so we have to wait until there is a container going to perth before our stuff can be sent. We were going to just send over our boxes and leave our furniture and get my parents to bring it over when they eventually move over but we spoke to someone from NAB at the oppurtunities expo and he said its better to take it over with us as it will be expensive to replace or rent stuff until ours eventually arrived.

Need to start getting my butt into gear and get this finalised as we only have less than 3 months before we leave. Exciting times ahead!! I cant wait!

[Johnsons]

We used 'Econo Freight', dodgy looking website www.econofreight.co.za, yet excellent and prompt service, whenever I emailed!

Good quote and our good arrived unscathed within 3 months, if I remember correctly. All we had to bring was 3 boxes, of books and shoes! Which fit in a 1m2 (1mX1m) area for which they had the best quote at the time, I think it was R2500, own pick.

All we had to do was go to the harbour to fetch the boxes, and I think there was custom fees, but the custom officer was in a good mood and didn't check the boxes and waived the fee! I didn't collect the items personally as I was working the day and send my husband, armed with a pram carrying our 13 month old daughter at the time.. She is now almost 4 years old!

I think door to door service would have cost alot more, since we only had a few items..

[Kit]

We're still waiting for AGS Frasers to send through a quote. Execu-move sent the quote through on Thursday. We're having Aidan K (Britannia) in on Wednesday.

Hubby emailed Magna during the week to find out what was happening (we submitted a quote-request on their website and heard nothing since) they replied saying 'kindly give us your telephone number so that we can call you', which he was very unimpressed by... why not APOLOGISE for silence and admit that the quote-request was lost...? *sigh* I guess TIA

[Michele R]

We used Crate & Freight and was not impressed with them at all. Once they had our money, trying to get info from them was very hard. They promised personalised service, but we received none of that. Customs also unpacked all our boxes. Luckily I was quite clued up with what we could and couldn't bring. The packers just tossed our stuff in boxes, and then proceeded to use our microwave and cutlery for their lunch! I spent ages getting everything cleaned. Then they didn't bother to clean any of it! They also broke a very sentimental item of mine and proceeded to pack it in. I realised that night that they must have broken it and contacted the company, but was told I couldn't claim. So not happy at all with their service. The Aus mover (Chest) was great.

Family used Crown and were quite happy with their service. I think one or two of their glasses broke, but Crown was quite happy to replace them.

[tyde]

Have had another two companies come in to quote me = I was impressed by both Pickfords and Stanley's (Durban based, they use Kent on the Perth side.)

Has anybody used them? They came in with very competitive quotes. Actually with the rand being so strong and the US $ so weak it is a good time to ship.

[tyde]

BUMP!!!!

Decision time, has anybody used Stanley's from Durban to Perth??? Thanks so much.

Unfortunately Pickfords and Stanley's have undercut Don from Cargopak by a significant amount so it makes sense to go with one of them (R10 000 less!)

[Bok]

We used Pickfords and although some people had problems with them we had none! Was really impressed. That was from DBN to Brisbane. We relocated to Perth some time ago and used Kent! (from Brissie) Outstanding, you can't go wrong! Very professional!

[tyde]

Thank you Bok!

[Kit]

The only 3 who seem interested in our move are:

- Execu-Move (hubby was at home for the assessment, he was pretty impressed, they've even followed up to find out whether we got the quote and what we thought)

- Aidan K Britannia (hubby and I were home for the assessment, both of us were impressed, the guy (Johan) was very professional without being 'salesman-y', very knowledgeable and gave a very good price. He even gave a quote for shared which the other 2 (AGS Frasers & Execu-move) had to be prompted about, so they so far have our vote)

- Kings (coming to assess our stuff on Friday)

And the losers are:

- AGS Frasers still haven't sent through THEIR quote (yay, guys, it's been nearly 2 weeks... nvm actually, we don't want you being so slapg*t with our POSSESSIONS if this is how you treat a QUOTE! )

- Pickfords never rescheduled their postponed appointment (yay, guys! )

- Bayley's haven't replied to an online question about a move from CT

- Magna and Crown have still not replied to quote request emails

To be continued...

[tyde]

Hey Kit,

How weird is that - the companies that gave you bad service in Capetown have given me great service in Durban. Pickfords have been on the ball, professional etc, Bayley's don't do packing from Durbs but passed me onto Stanley's who have been great and Magna have been very impressive so far.

Strange - I guess it depends on the branch etc.

[DaleenB]

We also got the best quote and professional service from Brittania and booked with them. Bayleys also did not even contact us after an online request for a quote and Crown contacted us 1 week after the request and wanted to schedule an appointment for 2 weeks down the line.

I must say I was surprised with the service of some of these companies - it just seem to me that they are not really into doing business!

I was also very impressed with Don from Cargopak who came to see us at home but his quote was R16000 more than Brittania's quote.

Only time will tell if we made the right decision! Also decided to go for the total loss insurance only.

Regards,

Daleen

[Kit]

Ok, now we've got 3 quotes: Execu-move, Aiden K Britannia and Kings.

Execu-move quoted on 19m3 shared at R30k excl insurance etc.

Britannia Aiden K quoted 16m3 at R25k excl insurance etc.

Kings quoted 15.5m3 at R26k excl insurance etc.

-1 point to Execu-move for the fact that they didn't give info that hubby specifically asked for (how much storage costs), and their insurance does not include mechanical derangement, mould+mildew and part of set loss and they didn't specify how much it extra it would cost to include those options. Also we aren't sure how they calculated so much more m3 than the other 2.

Britannia includes 1 month free storage (in SA), so that we can be certain that we won't arrive before our stuff (not that that's a big worry, with a shared container).

We need to ask both Kings + Britannia for their terms/conditions of contract. Execu-move earns a point for including that, the other 2 mention it on their quote saying 'see overleaf' but it's not included.

AGS left a voicemail for hubby 'just wanting to follow up on things' (he didn't return the call), but to date he has still not received a quote so I'm not sure what exactly they were wanting to follow up on.

Crown replied to hubby's enquiry email with an email basically saying 'let us know when' (he hasn't replied to their email).

Ok so hubby could be 'proactive' and eagerly return calls and reply to dumb emails... sorry, I don't intend to sound like an entitled cow, but really... their keenness on doing business is sorely lacking.

To be continued...

[deons1]

We used LSA Containers. Very personal service. Goods arrived in Sydney 6 weeks after packing with not one item damaged.

Give Gary a call

L S A Containers

083 252 0040

[dawid]

Kings, Pickfords and Stuttadord's was here for quotations. Tomorrow Elliot and Magna Thompson and we have warned all 5 that we want to decide on Tuesday so the quotations need to be in quickly.

All seemed professional and prompt from the start, from their reaction on my email to give a quotation.

* We had warning that baked-clay pots may crack due to heat on the ship...

I will follow to this one with the quotations and the experience - we are packing end of November but sill personally fly mid Jan 2011.

[Margaret]

We used Stuttafords as we had used them previously for domestic moves with no problems. The packing staff were wonderful, but just one issue with the office staff. I specifically asked to be told of all potential costs as I did not want any surprises, of course, that did not happen! My container arrives tomorrow so lets hope there are no more problems?

[Kit]

LOL, we're amused to say that AGS Frasers finally emailed their quote on 20/10 (after visiting us on 22/9). The T&Cs say 'quote to be accepted within 28 days or it may be subject to amendment'. Well thanks, guys, for sending it only after the 28 days...

Oh and just to update my msg earlier: hubby DID reply to Crown, giving them times/etc, and hasn't heard anything back since.

We're just clarifying a few things up with the companies we did get quotes from, and then we should be A for Away (deciding and booking, etc).

Under 100 days to go til we flyyyyyyyy

[LizzC]

We are using Budulphs...will let you know when our stuff gets there

[WaltAM]

Any updates please? As we now need to start looking at container companies....and there are so many options...

[Bullebak]

Any updates please? As we now need to start looking at container companies....and there are so many options...

We narrowed it down to only two mostly trusted companies for Cape Town

Britannia and Execumove, due to their personal service and comments on this site

We chose Britannia due to the price difference, they will start packing on 1 Dec. We are moving to Brisbane

[tyde]

We used Stuttafords as we had used them previously for domestic moves with no problems. The packing staff were wonderful, but just one issue with the office staff. I specifically asked to be told of all potential costs as I did not want any surprises, of course, that did not happen! My container arrives tomorrow so lets hope there are no more problems?

margaret, what costs were they not unfront about?

Thanks,

Deirdre

[Orion25]

We are using Budulphs...will let you know when our stuff gets there

Hi STorm,

I trust all your stuff arrived safe and sound. My sister used Biddulphs for her move to NZ and they broke quite a bit and left half the container behind it has been almost 2 months and the balace of her stuff has still not arrived. When she has queried with them re the damages etc they told her "well that's why you take insurance." She is mad, it's not just the small stuff but quite a few large items that she cannot slavage at all.

I really hope you have a much better experience. Please let us know how it goes as honestly, I do not want to judge them on one bad container. But I am concerned.

T