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We got a great quote from West Point Relocation includes coming in and packing our house in California to storage for a month in Oahu (and everything in-between). Does anyone have any experience using them....good, bad? Is there another company you would recommend?
I'm researching shipping companies right now as well. (California to Honolulu).
West Point Relocation is next on my list to call. I got a quote from Horizon for $4200 for door to port service for their 20 foot container. Concerns I had were that you are not guaranteed the tie down eyelets and the crate is lifted 5 feet from the ground. So, anything you put in the crate you have to lift 5 feet to get it inside. I'll have to call West Point and see if they offer anything different.
I'm shipping a motorcycle in my crate and really need the tie downs. (Two wheeled vehicles do not have an extra charge. To put the car in the same $4200 crate, it would cost $900 extra. It costs $970 to ship the car - better to ship it separate). Maybe knowing a little of what I found out will help others figure out what they need to ask their shipping companies.
Have you thought much about what to sell and what to ship? I was furniture shopping in Honolulu last week. I can't find anything I like as much as what I have. AND what I found in the stores costs $2k - $3k for bedroom sets. Couches another grand. Might as well spend a little extra and pack as much as possible from home.
Deciding what to sell and what to pack is a hard decision. Any insight from experienced movers? If you had to do it again, what would you do?
Have you thought much about what to sell and what to ship? I was furniture shopping in Honolulu last week. I can't find anything I like as much as what I have. AND what I found in the stores costs $2k - $3k for bedroom sets. Couches another grand. Might as well spend a little extra and pack as much as possible from home.
Deciding what to sell and what to pack is a hard decision. Any insight from experienced movers? If you had to do it again, what would you do?
We're pretty much taking it all - but only because my husband's company is paying for the move entirely. I figure if we don't end up needing things like a fridge and washer and dryer, we can sell it when we get there. However, hearing the prices on the bedroom sets (we need a new one for our son) I'm going to buy it here before we go. I don't know what standard insurance is, but I think we'll upgrade so that it's totally covered.
You said something about "tie down eyelets", can you elaborate? I thought that it was ALL tied down. Now I'm concerned. Thanks for the information on the how high the containers are - 5 feet would make moving even more difficult!
You need a slanted ramp to bridge the distance between the container and the ground. We have moved twice with ocean containers - to and from Hawaii - loading into a container five feet off the ground is doable without a ramp but it would require alot of strong people, up in the container and also on the ground - it would take way longer and would not be fun in the least. You might be able to rent ramps from UHaul, not sure. We used a moving company to load our container and they brought their own ramps.
A few ways to go - you can pack your own belongings and load the container completely on your own -- you can pack your own belongings and then hire a moving company to load the container for you -- OR -- you can have a moving company pack everything for you and then also load the container.
When we moved from Florida to Hawaii we pieced everything together ourselves- had the container dropped to us by Matson, packed ourselves, hired a moving company to load it, hired another moving company once the container arrived in Hawaii to truck it to us and unload it. The movers used heavy twine to tie things to the hooks on the walls in our container (when they say "tie-downs" are not guaranteed, I think maybe some containers have the hooks and some do not. Even if the hooks are inside the container I am sure you still need to provide your own twine or bungee cords or whatever if you are loading yourself). They didn't brace the load with wood or pack it all that tightly. Although nothing was damaged in transit from Florida to Hawaii (even though the container was sent by rail from Florida to California, shipped across the ocean and trucked on both ends), that was more due to luck than anything else. Our things were much safer when they were professionally packed and then tightly loaded in and braced - when we moved from Hawaii to California last summer the movers built wooden braces with 2 X 4's inside the container once it was loaded so the contents wouldn't shift in transit. We also had a motorbike in our container - the moving company built a separate wooden crate for the bike and then the bike was braced with 2 X 4's inside the crate so it was really nice and stable - no danger of tipping over. The ocean swells between California and Hawaii are amazingly huge so pack as carefully as you can if you are packing yourselves.
It was actually really neat when they were unloading the bike - they broke the crate apart and took the bike out inside the container, then rode it down the ramp - one mover riding it, one guy on each side and one guy behind it to make sure it didn't slide on the ramp.
SeaJenSurf, be sure to check Horizon's quote - is that a flat rate for the container no matter what the weight is? It sounds like they are just going to do a "container spot" - just drop the container to you and then when it is ready for pickup you call them back - is that right? We were charged a flat rate when we moved from Florida because we arranged it directly with Matson - but we were charged by weight when we moved to California because they also packed us. Be sure when you are calling around for quotes that you are straight on what you want to do, otherwise the quotes will vary considerably and can change drastically.
DBale, if your husband's company is moving you then it sounds like they might be having a moving company pack you from scratch, make the container arrangements and load it for you - so your experience might be more like ours from California - just ask them how they secure things in the container but I would be surprised if they didn't brace it the same way. It sounds like their quote includes unloading the container into their storage (or a separate unit - make sure where it is going to be stored) on Oahu as well. If you haven't already, find out who is responsible for loading up/retrieving and then trucking your items from storage and unloading them into your residence on Oahu - that will be an additional charge and something for which you will have to make arrangements yourself, IF I understood your initial post correctly. Also, they are probably quoting by estimated weight and they don't know for sure what the weight of the shipment is until the container is loaded and they weigh it - then the quote will change for sure if they underestimated (ours did). Not as much of a problem if your move is being paid for by the company - more to consider if you were paying (by yourself) to move items you might not need or want once you are there.
We have always lightened up as much as we could before moving and have never been sorry - but we have also been extremely glad we shipped everything we did - it can be expensive to ship but we really like having all the stuff we had in Hawaii with us here now, for alot of reasons. Especially if you already like your stuff and aren't looking to replace it. . .things are more expensive in Hawaii because so much has to be shipped there (you already knew that, though). I was thinking of SeaJenSurf's post, where you said you didn't see anything you liked as much as what you already have when you were shopping in Hawaii. I would definitely ship what you already like, and if it really is a flat rate for the entire container (not going by weight) then you have nothing to lose by filling up the whole thing.
There is an option called LCL, meaning less than container load, in which your shipment is combined with other people's shipments and loaded into a 40' container - once the container is full then it is shipped to the destination - and then sorted out at the other end in the warehouse and delivered to you - not something I would do though because it takes longer and we didn't like the idea of combining with others, although it is less expensive.
Also SeaJen, since it is only "door to port" service, then once the container arrives at Sand Island on Oahu you will need to make arrangements with a local mover to pull your container to your residence and then also make arrangements to unload it and have it pulled back once it is unloaded. We used Island Movers and they did the whole thing for us. Also look into street parking for the container if you are living where a permit is required - we lived in Waikiki so we had to go downtown and apply for a street use permit and show it to Island Movers in advance before we could even plan to have it dropped across from our condominium - then we also had to stake out some parking spots and defend them from anyone parking there until the container arrived (this might not be a problem for you depending on where on the island you will be living).
Sorry for the long post, and if maybe you already knew alot of this - I remember how it was when we were trying to do the same thing and I am glad to help out if I can. It is such a neat experience to see those containers loaded and pulled away and then see them arrive at the other end with all our belongings and know what all went into getting them safely to the destination, knowing that everything inside was thousands of miles away a few weeks ago and now it's with us. . . these have been some of the best experiences of our lives. Good luck to both of you in your planning !
we lived in Waikiki so we had to go downtown and apply for a street use permit and show it to Island Movers in advance before we could even plan to have it dropped across from our condominium
Thanks Freebird for the good advice! We're still looking for the best price quotes. But, we better hurry. We're supposed to move the rest of our stuff at the end of next month. Are people allowed to unload their crates from the shipyard? Or do we have to shuttle the thing to our new home and back? I wonder if that's one reason why some moving companies offer limited free storage - store the whole thing and unload it from storage bit by bit.
DBale... my friend had a great idea. Do you have an Ikea near you now? You can buy your son's bedroom set at Ikea and not assemble it until you get to Hawaii. Throwing a few boxes of unassembled furniture into your crate might be more cost efficient and save space in your crate.
I'm not aware of any way you can go into the container yard, open one and bring things out of it a bit at a time (it would be nice though). It is crazy out on Sand Island - tons of containers and ships everywhere - once you see it it will make more sense for sure.
The containers are stacked up quite high in the container yards once they are unloaded off the ship - they stay there until arrangements are made to pull them out of the yard and truck them to their destination. If you are shipping a container, unless things have changed, you have to have it pulled from the container yard to your residence (or some sort of prearranged storage or warehouse), unloaded, and then returned to the yard within a certain timeframe. They will contact you once your container is off the ship and is ready to be retrieved, and then there is a grace period, a certain number of days where they will store it for free in the yard - they will start charging for storage if you leave it there after that. There was also a preset amount of time in which they wanted the container returned to them once it was taken from the yard.
Also, we had to find a moving company or trucker that was a Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement-approved carrier (Island Movers was and I'm sure still is, and I keep mentioning them because we used them several times - for container trucking and unloading and also when we moved to different locations on the island. We also used M Dyer and Sons when we moved to California and they were amazing). Matson was very specific that we had to confirm with whomever was going to pull it out of the yard that they had this credential before they would release it to them - Horizon is probably the same. Matson also required payment in full for their shipping charges before they would release it (we had to go out to Sand Island in person - ask if Horizon will allow you to give them a credit card number - they might be different from Matson anyway).
Horizon should be able to answer the question about storage and what happens to the container once it arrives (how long you have to get it unloaded and returned and all that, and their storage charges if you can't get it pulled right away). They might also be able to recommend a moving company on Oahu who will truck the container to either a storage unit of your choice OR their own warehouse, unload it, and then store it for you either free or for a per-day charge (quotes will differ). If it is stored in the moving company's warehouse, though, I seriously doubt you will be able to retrieve anything in segments or a bit at a time - I am almost positive they would store it in the warehouse and then when you said you were ready for delivery, they would load it into a moving van and deliver the whole shipment at that time. . . .but ask the different companies to be sure because we've not done it this way before.
You also should consider if you are comfortable having your belongings handled by multiple different individuals if it can be avoided. The more your belongings are loaded and unloaded and then reloaded and then unloaded again, the greater the possibility of damage, getting your items mixed up with other shipments in the warehouse, and/or I hate to mention, theft or pilferage. I trust but also keep my eyes open and it's just something to consider. Both of our shipping companies, after loading our containers, locked and then sealed them with a numbered metal band - we verified that the seal was intact and were given papers with the seal number before the container was taken away - then on arrival at the destination the seal is removed (so you can verify it is your container and also that it was not opened or tampered with or anything added in transit). The best scenario is if you can see the seal opened in front of you when you are ready to open and unload the container.
Truthfully, the best of all possible worlds is for you to have your new residence established and then when you are ready, have the container pulled directly there, unloaded and pulled back.
Try a quote from Royal Hawaiian Movers. They did a good job for us. With all movers, watch them like a hawk 100% of the time they pack because they're all pretty much deathly afraid of actual work. All these companies hire local to you packers/movers to pack you out, then they may have their own people on island or contract again with some local company to transfer the crates or container to your home and unpack.
No you cannot go to the shipyard and get your stuff! Very dangerous, I'm sure their insurance prohibits that.
Read that BBB report on West Point Relocation. It's good information.
To the OP, you might want to rethink bringing the appliances unless you know you will need them. Most houses here, rentals or purchased, have appliances left in them because few people want to pay to have those heavy items moved.
If you have nice furniture, bring it. Unless you love island style unlimited, you'll wish you had! It's lovely for awhile but it gets old after awhile because you see it every where.
We got a great quote from West Point Relocation includes coming in and packing our house in California to storage for a month in Oahu (and everything in-between). Does anyone have any experience using them....good, bad? Is there another company you would recommend?
Mahalo!
Ugh. We shipped with them from the Portland, OR area to Maui. They told us "door to door in 3-4 weeks." That was over 2 months ago and we STILL DON'T HAVE OUR STUFF. I've called them literally a dozen times, spoken to 3 managers, and everytime they tell me, "Oh, your stuff is in Maui. It should be released next week." I've heard this for a month. Yet... STILL NO STUFF.
Also, they tell you that they don't use sub-contractors. This is an out-and-out lie. The guys that came to pick up our stuff were driving an Allied Van Lines truck, and flat told me they were subs. Also, they did a terrible job wrapping things because, according to them, West Point told them they wouldn't have to pack anything. I had to go to the store and buy them TAPE, fer crying out loud.
So... yeah. I would only recommend this company to my enemies.
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