Going back to the US and need mover recommendations
December 10, 2012 4:51 AM Subscribe
My wife and I up and moved to Europe two years ago. It's now time for us to return to the U.S. and we need help finding movers.
My company shipped our furniture and items that we didn't put in storage since we ship things to Europe anyway. This time around we're looking at third-party end-to-end options due to her being pregnant and me being too busy for us to deal with the details.
Searching around on AskMe, I've found MovingScam as a good resource for company recommendations. It's skewed towards relocating away from the U.S., though. It's still seems like a good jump-off point.
Has anyone had any experience with their recommended international movers? Going from Europe to the U.S. would be extra helpful.
My company shipped our furniture and items that we didn't put in storage since we ship things to Europe anyway. This time around we're looking at third-party end-to-end options due to her being pregnant and me being too busy for us to deal with the details.
Searching around on AskMe, I've found MovingScam as a good resource for company recommendations. It's skewed towards relocating away from the U.S., though. It's still seems like a good jump-off point.
Has anyone had any experience with their recommended international movers? Going from Europe to the U.S. would be extra helpful.
Response by poster: We're in Seville, Spain. I'm sure I'll just have to talk to the company to see if they have a relationship with a company here. Thanks!
posted by melt away at 6:31 AM on December 10, 2012
posted by melt away at 6:31 AM on December 10, 2012
In a recent move from the UK to the US, a close associate of mine had a completely awful time with Sterling Relocation. Many things (some irreplaceable) were broken, certain items were packed which were prohibited by law, which meant US Customs required the shipping container to return to the UK for chemical fumigation of the entire trailer, which ruined all of the copper and brass items (including very expensive cookware). They were then difficult to deal with during the compensation negotiations. Stay well away from them.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:41 AM on December 10, 2012
posted by Rock Steady at 6:41 AM on December 10, 2012
My secret shame (well, one of them) is a weekly addiction to Removal Men. I know it's telly and edited, etc. but the Pickfords crews who work those removals (including a recent UK -> US move) seem to be really dedicated to providing a great service.
When we last moved we used a local firm via a friend's recommendation and they were outstanding, turning a potential nightmare into a day of fun.
So if you can get genuine word of mouth recommendations, I'd say that counts for a lot.
posted by humph at 6:47 AM on December 10, 2012
When we last moved we used a local firm via a friend's recommendation and they were outstanding, turning a potential nightmare into a day of fun.
So if you can get genuine word of mouth recommendations, I'd say that counts for a lot.
posted by humph at 6:47 AM on December 10, 2012
Seconding Stevens International. I used them for a move from Norway to the US and had no problems at all. Also more reasonably priced than some of the other companies we looked into.
posted by flod logic at 8:10 AM on December 10, 2012
posted by flod logic at 8:10 AM on December 10, 2012
We used Allied for a move from Canada *to* the UK, and were happy with every facet of the process. The stuff within the UK was done by Pickfords; I don't know if they handle all UK-based Allied stuff or just some of it.
For whatever reason I was initially turned off by the sort of squirrelly-sounding tone of their website, which made me input my contact info and get a call back from someone (rather than getting any sort of online quote). But the person who called me was very upfront about costs, etc; the over-the-phone ballpark estimate was backed up by an in-person visit & estimate a couple weeks later. There were no weird hidden costs or delivery fees, and we got our stuff quickly (meaning something like 4 weeks door-to-door). (Only caveat about the costs: be sure to factor in insurance on your shipment. They were quite up front about this with us, and warned us that the insurance would be a non-trivial fraction of the cost if we opted for their plan, so we just factored that into the quote.) YMMV.
posted by chalkbored at 10:17 AM on December 10, 2012
For whatever reason I was initially turned off by the sort of squirrelly-sounding tone of their website, which made me input my contact info and get a call back from someone (rather than getting any sort of online quote). But the person who called me was very upfront about costs, etc; the over-the-phone ballpark estimate was backed up by an in-person visit & estimate a couple weeks later. There were no weird hidden costs or delivery fees, and we got our stuff quickly (meaning something like 4 weeks door-to-door). (Only caveat about the costs: be sure to factor in insurance on your shipment. They were quite up front about this with us, and warned us that the insurance would be a non-trivial fraction of the cost if we opted for their plan, so we just factored that into the quote.) YMMV.
posted by chalkbored at 10:17 AM on December 10, 2012
We used Rainiers Overseas Movers to move from California to Sydney, and had a great experience. Good prices, no "hidden" anything, they contract out the packing up to local companies. All our stuff showed up, nothing broke, they were communicative and friendly, etc.
Good luck!
posted by jrobin276 at 2:27 PM on December 10, 2012
Good luck!
posted by jrobin276 at 2:27 PM on December 10, 2012
Response by poster: We're going with Stevens International. They've been great so far. We'll see how things go at the end of the month.
posted by melt away at 3:52 AM on January 10, 2013
posted by melt away at 3:52 AM on January 10, 2013
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posted by olinerd at 6:04 AM on December 10, 2012