The Moving Planner Blog

Here is another story received today from Santi Meinthes.

My long-distance move, made in January 2007, was from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Mill Bay, Canada. A distance of about 10,500 miles as the crow flies - much further as the plane flies.

Moving myself and my husband was easy - we got on the airplane and flew via London and Vancouver to Victoria, then rented a car and drove to our house which we had purchased some three months earlier.

Moving the cats was a different matter.
Moving the rest of our belongings was easy at first then turned into a pain.

Firstly we had to consider whether it was worth the expense and the time to do what everybody else does, namely, pack everything into a shipping container and ship it. Despite the assurances of the moving agents, anybody who looks at the world map and the shipping routes can work out that it takes a lot longer than the 3 months (!) that they quote to move from Johannesburg to Mill Bay. In fact, even 6 months is an optimistic estimate.

What are you going to sleep on, sit on, cook in, etc during that time? Taking even sufficient clothes, toiletries and just the essential important documents with you personally fills your baggage allowance so you can not take one pot and a set of cutlery as well! (We were way over our limits as it is and had to pay for the extra weight). Maybe you can buy “just the cheap essentials”? What’s the point of doing that, really?

The argument above plus the fact that most of our stuff was old and needed replacement in any case resulted in our decision to fly rather than ship - only the personal and essential small stuff - and to buy completely new furniture and other accoutrements in Canada.

We asked two moving companies who operate internationally (yes, they both operate in the USA as well) to give us quotes. One was not too interested and the agent’s attitude eliminated them almost from the word go. The other was much more helpful and enthusiastic and we selected them. Very well-known but I won’t divulge their name.

They arrived on the appointed day and packed - very well done, they took great care with paintings, fragile paraphernalia, CD’s and so forth.

Now here’s the rub: the contract we signed in South Africa included unpacking, and rearrangement of goods in the destination dwelling, and removal of all packaging material including the crate(s). When it arrived in Vancouver however, we were told that this is NOT included. While trying to sort it out, a truck stopped in front of the house, dumped one 6×9x4 ft wooden crate and one smaller crate in the driveway and left.

It was raining - this is Canada in the winter, remember. I was alone at the house, newly arrived, don’t know a soul. I supposed I should be thankful that at least the goods were delivered to the house and that I did not have to fetch it in Vancouver. I had a screwdriver and a hammer - no crowbar, no trolley, no nothing.

I opened those crates with the screwdriver and hammer (don’t ask), hauled the boxes out (do you know how heavy is a 15×35x30 inch box stuffed with books?), carried the boxes inside and unpacked it. It took two days, and I ended up with a mountain of cardboard and an avalanche of Styrofoam. But at least our stuff was out of the rain.

And there stood the crates - I can’t move the newly purchased vehicle into the garage, and I can’t move the crate by myself - I tried, it was way too heavy.

Fortunately, our calls and emails, and finally, my husband’s personal meeting with the manager back in Johannesburg, resulted in another truck pulling up to my door, and they dismantled and removed the crates and all the packaging material.

Will I recommend this company to anybody else? Of course not. On the contrary.
Will I recommend this kind of move? Yes - we have purchased quality new furniture but all our personal little treasures are still with us and at least the house was transformed into a home within two months.
Will I move again sometime soon? Not bloody likely.