Shipping to Sydney

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Hi
Wondered whether anyone could recommend a company that they thought provided a good service? We're probably looking at a 20ft container and I'm getting quotes, but any recommendations would be gratefully received.
Thanks v much.

Not sure about companies. We hired a container ourselves through a friend. We have since chucked out pretty much everything we put in it! Total waste of time and money for us. Huge customs bill for bringing wood and pine cones in.
To do it again I'd just buy new! In fact re only things we still have are one plastic table, chairs and a dresser. Total value $600.

Hi chloeb, thanks v much for your response. We are trying to be quite ruthless - if we're not shipping it or paying to put it in storage then it's being rehomed/recycled. The difference for us is I've got no funds to buy new in Oz, and my dh's firm are going to pay for a container out and back!
I've got someone coming to give me a quote next week, so hopefully that will be a good starting point...

Grab a copy of TNT magazine (or look online) and look at the back pages. Heaps of shipping companies listed. I used a few from there and never had issues.

That's a great idea HowsTheSerenity, never thought of TNT mag, will look for one tomorrow

We used Anglo Pacific and found them to be very good (also got quite from Crown who came in much more expensive)

That's funny ohwhatbliss, it's Anglo Pacific who are coming round to give us the first quote (selected on the basis that they came first in a Google search!!). Thanks v much for the recommendation.

Yep, used Anglo. They were good.

?? thumbs up if someone else us paying and it's not a permanent shift ??

We used seven seas worldwide. Would recommend them, they were very good.

We used Crown to move to Oz (albeit from the US), and I've just had a reasonable quote from them to move back to the UK

I would ask if your DH's company have a global re-location team. DH had to ask and pester but he was eventually referred to his and they organised the whole thing. I think they were reluctant as why wouldn't they let us organise, book and pay for it up front if they could get away with it!!

But personally I think that was better as it meant that they covered all the costs start to finish - no reimbursing us, no unexpected costs that they wouldn't cover, etc etc. I can't remember who they used in the end but they were great at the UK end (not so great at the Australian end but we couldn't really influence that at the time of booking) - and the fact that it was managed by DH's company (via a relocation agent) meant that when there were problems with the Australian end - unpacking, putting furniture back together, general apathetic attitude - we were straight onto the relocation agent who got in touch with the company manager and the guys were "set straight".

HTH

We used Bournes UTS to ship to Melbourne after friends recommended then. They were really good - helpful, realistic about the timeframe (especially time to clear customs) and price. I got quotes from five companies. Not sure if Bournes were the cheapest but they were close if not.

We used john masons to get to Adelaide and then Wridgeways to ship back. The guys were really good and squished everything in to the 20 ft container, without any breakages.

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the recommendations, I'm at the slightly bewildered stage in my planning (ie I haven't done much yet!), so it's incredibly helpful to get some names.

Given the size and global spread of dh's firm, they seem to have v limited experience of relocating families. I asked at the outset if they didn't have someone either within the company or an external consultant we could use to steer us through the whole process - but apparently not. They were genuinely quite puzzled by the request.

So I'm picking my way through the process step by step (while working out my notice!). Dh is going out for 2 months before we all go in Jan which should help in terms of finding a property, and identifying a school. I've also got a uni friend in Sydney who I have stayed in touch with and she is being v helpful in terms of suggesting areas that are commutable.

Thanks again for the advice

Quick heads up then. School usually goes back around Australia Day (January 26th). It's the start of the school year so it's manic. And hot.

Tuesday 27th in qld 2015

Thanks guys

we used John Mason who were very good and competitive, even if a bit OTT about 'no batteries, aerosols' etc

We went with john mason. They were excellent on the day of packing. Friendly, polite and efficient. Happily answered all my questions (five pages!) on day of quote. Our second choice was Crown who we were equally impressed with but much more expensive.