Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi,

I'm in the process of getting quotes for moving a 3 bed semi worth of furniture from the UK to Dubai. I have got Pickfords and Citymoves coming in to give me quotes.

We need a 20ft container with full packing and unpacking service.

Citymoves have quoted about £3000, while the allowance I have is less than this at $5000.

I don't have a feel for the cost of removals and would appreciate any insights people who have moved recently may have.

- can you recommend movers
- do you have a range of costs?

Cheers,
Shafique

Hi there,

I will be moving from London to Dubai in Jan, it will be interesting to see what the prices/recomendations are for shipping services from UK to UAE are.

Sean,

I have had quotes from CityMoves and Pickfords now - the former quoted £2900 and the latter quoted £2600.

Both for full packing service, but excluding insurance at 3% and 3.5% of the goods respectively.

This is for a whole 20ft container.

However, I think the price is negotiable - I told CityMoves that I could not spend more than £3000 - and then Pickfords rang up with a quote of £2800 to which I said they'd have to go down to £2500 to £2600 to beat the best quote out there.

The written quote came through the next day at a round £2600 (surprise surprise).

I'll let CityMoves know and see what happens before I send the quotes off to my new employer to pay..

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique

how did the move go, and now you've done it, any advice you can offer??

i too am starting to talk to removal firms to move me & family from london >>>> dubai.

we're renting our uk house out fully furnished so wont be bringing too much furniture. any advice/recommendations on which company to use would be useful.

i am paying these costs personally so good value for money is very important.

I went with City Moves in the end - they came round and priced up the move. I went with the full packing and un-packing service and could not fault the UK end of the deal. In fact they were so efficient that stuff was packed away that we intended to take with us/keep, but didn't put to one side (mostly it was books/manuals that were on the book shelves).

Oh - and a top tip - we kept stuff back so we would have somewhere to sleep etc, but forgot that we needed cutlery!

As you don't have much furniture and want the cheapest - I'd just say to get as many quotes as possible and compare. I also negotiated the prices down after the event - the prices aren't fixed.

For less than a container load of furniture - you should get a good deal, but will have to fit into their schedule of when items can be shipped (they will accumulate loads until they get a container load and ship this out - but it tends only add one week to the estimated delivery - ours took 4 weeks to get here). Allow another week or so to clear customs.

The cheapest options are for you to do the packing and unpacking - but ask for the price.

As luck would have it, I was rung this morning by the UAE agents - 'Ahmad Saleh Packing' to say that the container can clear customs tomorrow and be delivered to my villa.

This was a bit out of the blue - the last communication I had from them was before the ship was due to dock on the 22nd. I had to fax over my visa etc - and they were going to do all the customs formalities (which it appears they have done).

However, yesterday I rang them up to enquire where things were and the girl/lady there was clueless. Initially she said she'd look up my file, then rang me back an hour later to confirm my name. In the afternoon I rang back and got - 'oh I'll get your file and get back to you'. Then last thing in the evening they track down the file and tell me the manager will get back to me!!

As it happens - I don't mind them taking their time as the villa isn't ready yet, so I was a bit short this morning when he rang to say they wanted to deliver tomorrow. However, the storage costs he said would only be 20 to 30dhs a day (which seems incredibly low, I just hope that isn't per box or meter cubed or something).

Anyway - I'll post back here when the move actually takes place and report back on how the unpacking goes. They will reassemble all the furniture, unpack everyting and take away the boxes.

Cheers,
Shafique

Good Morning all.

I used Transglobal Cargo Service to ship about 100KG worth of books and personal office items. Price around £1.70 per KG plus few quid for admin.

http://www.excess-baggage-service.co.uk/

Try online and get a quote.

If you only have few boxes, you can even save more by delivering them yourself to one of their receiving centres in Stanwell near Heathrow.

The boxes flew with me and I picked them two days after I arrived.

I will use their service soon to move more stuff when my house is ready here.

Good luck.

Zino