So, you’re probably wondering, given the state that our possessions ended up in (those that reached us anyway), how on earth did we end up choosing Burke Bros as our removal company?
Well, It came down to two factors for me. Price, and confidence in the company to do a good job.
This is Burke Bros idea of professional wrapping and packing. Click to enlarge image.
We made a list of about 10 or so different removal companies that offered international shipping. Some of them we had come across at the Emigrate show that we had attended in Coventry. Others I had found by looking in the Yellow Pages, from the Internet, or from recommendations. Ironically, Burke Bros were a company that I heard of by word of mouth. I had been told that the police use them, so they must be reliable, and besides, all the people they use to pack have been vetted.
I’d also heard some horror stories about other moving companies where the customers had witnessed the removal men stealing money from the childrens piggy bank, and various tales of breakages etc. So, before they even turned up Burke Bros were ahead for me, although I was quite happy to give every removal comany an equal chance. And as I already mentioned, it really was going to be down to price and a gut feel for how trustworthy and reliable they were.
When we started out getting quotes we knew that we were going to take pretty much everything with us. Well, when I say everything, I mean everything that would fit into a 20 foot shipping container. We knew that the contents we had were probably just a little too much for a 20 foot shipping container so were going to have to throw a few things out. Given that we had boxes in the loft that hadn’t been unpacked from when we moved into the house over 16 years ago that probably wasn’t going to be too much of an issue.
We started by going around each room and identifying what we defintely wanted to keep, what would be nice to keep, and what we could get rid of. We went through everything a couple of times and then looked at each others things. It’s amazing how your wife can find so many non-essentials that you never knew you had.
Here’s a tip for anyone that is moving to Canada or the USA (or any country where the voltage is different from where you are moving from)…
If the item is a relatively low cost but high voltage item then just bin it and buy it again in the country you are emigrating to. The sort of thing I am talking about is kettles, hairdryers, etc. In the UK they cost £10-£30 typically but are high voltage items (ie. over 750 watts). Hairdryers and kettles are normally around the 1500-2000+ watts mark. I’ll cover solutions for how to take lower wattage items and use them overseas easily in another post.
So, back to how we decided on what to take!
We weeded out the high voltage, low cost items, and we also decided that none of the white goods in the kitchen (dishwasher, fridge, freezers, tumble dryers, microwave etc.) would be coming with us. Partly due to the voltage issues (Canada is 110v and the UK is 240v) and partly down to the fact that just about every house in Canada comes with these pretty much as standard, whether you are renting or buying.
On that basis we managed to get what we were taking down to just under the amount for a 20 foot shipping container. And in my next post I’ll continue with how with how we got various removal companies our moving quote, how they differed MASSIVELY in price, and what to watch out for when they do quote you. You will be surprised!