Long Distance Home Contents Move

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Bluntj

555 posts

Ultimate Geek

#247942 4-Mar-2019 11:07

I am moving my household contents across islands in the next couple of months and am looking for recommendations for moving companies. Full packing required.

Companies to avoid would also be appreciated.

Thanks

rogercruse

644 posts

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#2190623 4-Mar-2019 11:30

When we moved to New Zealand from the UK about ten years ago, the shipping company used a NZ based company to deliver and unpack our stuff in Auckland.

We later moved around Auckland and used the same NZ based company again to pack & wrap every item, transfer it and then unpack at the delivery end.

https://nzvanlines.co.nz/

Not the cheapest solution but they took great care of our prosessions. And we would use them again.

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Geektastic

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#2190631 4-Mar-2019 11:39

In a former life I was responsible for moving government Ministers' possessions around and we always used NZ Van Lines.

floydbloke

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#2190660 4-Mar-2019 13:02

I'll plug the locally owned (Wellington based), small business that my young fella works for:

https://www.camryan.co.nz/

Thanks for explaining "plethora".

It means a lot.

Bluntj

555 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2190671 4-Mar-2019 13:20

Geektastic:

In a former life I was responsible for moving government Ministers' possessions around and we always used NZ Van Lines.

I could lower myself and pretend to be a Coalition Minister and you could give me a huge discount? We could take it from the Regional Development Fund..after all thats where I am heading.

Blurtie

463 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2190700 4-Mar-2019 14:20

We moved inter-island a couple of years ago now (Auck to Dunedin) and went through Allied Pickfords. Got quotes from quite a few places, but only two (Crown and Allied) actually sent someone out to size up the move. Crown was definitely way pricier... Would suggest you try and find one that does this, otherwise quotes are mostly based on your best guesstimate - which doesn't really give you confidence in the actual quote.

Both companies provided full packing service; was surprised to find that the quote for the full packing service wasn't really that much expensive than just doing the moving- only talking a couple of hundred $$ if I remember correctly. Needless to say, we saved ourselves the hassle and got them to pack.

Pretty happy overall with Allied. The packing service was awesome - in the sense we didn't have to worry about anything. They were quick and organised and got most of it done in a few hours - talking small 2 bedroom home.

Only issue was at the other end when they tried to charge us for delivery of our stuff - we had initially agreed to have it in storage for a month or two while we looked for permanent accommodation in Dunedin; I made it clear to them at the start that I wanted this to be factored into the total cost, but was somehow lost in translation in Dunedin. We ended up putting our foot down and said we wouldn't pay and didn't hear anything further from it.

Oh we also got delivered a table that wasn't ours...

darkasdes2

425 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2190701 4-Mar-2019 14:24

Avoid NZ Van Lines, they tried to rip us off when we moved back to NZ from the UK with so called taxes that we already paid for in advance. They admitted to it and took ages to refund the money, luckily I had paid with my credit card and the bank ended up sorting it out.

Check out Grace removals.

quickymart

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#2190878 4-Mar-2019 18:27

Used Crown twice when I moved between islands about 12 years ago. First time the move went fine, second time they somehow "lost" a box in transit (despite everything being ticked off a checklist). They washed their hands of any liability because I didn't have moving insurance...so that's something to watch out for.

Geektastic

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#2190935 4-Mar-2019 19:11

Bluntj:
Geektastic:

In a former life I was responsible for moving government Ministers' possessions around and we always used NZ Van Lines.

I could lower myself and pretend to be a Coalition Minister and you could give me a huge discount? We could take it from the Regional Development Fund..after all thats where I am heading.

Ha. I suffered quite enough "Do you know who I am" moments at the time thanks!

eracode

Smpl Mnmlst
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#2190958 4-Mar-2019 20:41

We used Allied Pickfords for a between-suburbs move four years ago - full pack and a couple of months storage en route. We picked them after getting three written quotes from companies and all did a site visit. AP were the most expensive by several hundred $ but we went with them because they seemed the most professional.

In the end they were bloody hopeless. Once he had us signed-up, their rep didn’t want to know us and was extremely difficult to contact - we kept being deflected to someone in their office who wasn’t allowed to make decisions.

When our gear was delivered, several items were badly damaged and then we had a drawn out hassle sorting out the insurance - made more difficult by the fact that rep just didn’t want to know.

Based on our experience, I’d say avoid AP.

Check and compare the insurance arrangements carefully - they can be a major part of the overall cost.

Also look for companies that actually employ their grunt workers as full-time employees - who have become experienced. Some use temp employees who are paid by the hour and often have little or no experience - just there to provide muscle. Some just employ sports teams who are wanting a fund-raiser job.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

jarledb

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#2190963 4-Mar-2019 21:05

Used Conroy to move from Napier to Kapiti Coast and was happy with their packing service and communication.

For the move from Norway to New Zealand we used Crown, and was very happy with them.

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xcon

147 posts

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#2191051 5-Mar-2019 08:31

I used these guys with-in an Auckland move , really good care and service 😀

We already had our stuff boxed and packed but I see on their website they do offer a packing service

https://www.smartexpress.co.nz/

Bluntj

555 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2191344 5-Mar-2019 12:43

Thank you to all who replied. I have contacted all the suggested companies for a quotation other than the ones who only service Auckland area.

quickymart

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#2191633 5-Mar-2019 20:52

eracode: Also look for companies that actually employ their grunt workers as full-time employees - who have become experienced. Some use temp employees who are paid by the hour and often have little or no experience - just there to provide muscle. Some just employ sports teams who are wanting a fund-raiser job.