International moving company recommendations

[mamamaaargh]

I am moving back to the UK from the USA at the end of the year and need to ship a few boxes back. Can anyone recommend a shipping/ moving company? Especially ones that are likely to take just a few boxes rather than a whole house...

Thanks in advance

We used Sterling International. They were very good.

Most international's will do part loads but it will take longer as you go as part of someone else's shipment. We used Allied Pickfords and they were brilliant too. Nothing major - one casualty - plastic protective helmet, broken.

I used Allied Pickfords to do a container move and recently just a part container and they have been fab so far - the second load arrives this week. Not a single breakage in the first lot.

Thanks so much everyone - all very helpful. I'll contact them this afternoon.

Shame about the gin, CF. And it was good stuff too

I used Britannia International - after several quotes they were the cheapest and their service was oretty good.

Thanks everyone - in the process of getting some quotes now. I tried a couple of companies 3 or 4 months ago and one of them is e-mailing and calling me every week to ask when I'm moving. I've asked them not to call but they are very persistent. I'm beginning to feel like I'm being stalked! Very off-putting!

Just a follow up we used Britannia to move us within Scotland and they were rubbish. Just personal opinion. They were pushy rude and the service was not good, and things were not packed properly including the beds sofa's etc, even though they said they'd be bagged. Cheapest does not always mean best IMO. It may be worth paying more when going transatlantic.

Thanks alibaldi

Good to know bad stories as well as good ones - we had an awful move cross-country with Allied and would never ever recommend them to anyone!

our move isn't complete yet (UK to NZ, stuff still on a ship - hopefully) - but so far they've been very good - GB Liners. another friend used them for a UK move and said they were fabulous. I expect they subcontract to someone else in the US however. THey were very competitive price wise
They do part loads as far as I know. Part loads are OK except you might have to wait for a suitable size shipment from someone else so that they make up a container load together, and you can't control what the other loads in your container do with regards to customs requirements so you don't have as much control on attempting to minimise customs looking at your stuff. That's probably unavoidable though so prob not very useful of me to say it!

i would search on expat/emigration forums for people moving to the US for recommendations. that's where I got mine from for moving to NZ.

We ued Brittania from UK to Oz...very impressed with service either end!

Thanks for the warning about Bishops Move - I hope it all gets sorted out fairly easily...

Will be moving to USA from UK this summer, so am reviving this thread in hopes that others may have more current suggestions of companies they'd recommend, or companies to avoid at all costs!

Will probably be putting most furniture into storage in the UK (and only moving clothes etc) until I'm sure the move is long term. Would particularly appreciate suggestions relevant to smaller loads....and if anyone has any suggestions for furniture storage in the London area, would appreciate that too.

Hi Earlybird
We have just moved from London to the USA four weeks ago and we used Sterling International who were totally fab. No probs so far. The crew turned up, packed all our stuff (3 bed house) and went, no mess, no fuss, took 2 days. All paperwork and customs stuff were fully explained and they even sent a handman with the packing crew to convert our lamp light plugs so we could use them over here. Our stuff has arrived in the country but isn't with us yet - hopefully be here in a few days time. Can't recommend them highly enough! Storage costs in UK are very expensive unless you choose somewhere remote. Hope this helps a bit. I also had quotes from Crown Relocation and Robinsons, both of which I would be happy to use.

Oops. Should say 'handyman'! Whereabouts are you moving too?

Hi
We used Crown Relo in Jan 07. They were fab, no casualties, ammended the price when I mentioned they were more expensive than Britannia. Three men took 3 days to pack the entire house. They took things apart which I didnt even know came apart . They gave us a book on Dubai and a folder full of info they had from their partners out here.
At this end they put everything away and rebuilt whatever they had taken apart, with the exception of DS drum kit as he woudlnt let them touch it (lol).
Cant recommend them highly enough.

ps dont forget the cost of insurance when calculating cost, I did and got the shock of my life......sigh.