Moving and Shipping Companies (UK to Malta) - Any Ideas or Referrals??

This topic has been covered many times before, its worth having a look at previous posts first. Use the search feature found on the righthand side.

There's quite a lot of recommendations on here for Express Trailers - we used them to transport our car, as well as the contents of our flat.

The car came over smoothly. No issues, good service.

The household stuff ... hmm ... well, we had some issues ... the pickup didn't go ahead as planned (very stressful day), and then our belongings were stuck at Luqa (their depot) for 10 days or so ... and then they suddenly demanded payment the day before they were eventually going to deliver ... despite trying to get a bill out of them up to that point and being told 'don't worry' - queue a round of phone calls and being shouted at by one of their managers ... nice.

We might have just been a bit unlucky - their prices were OK, and the chaps who delivered our stuff were brilliant.

Funnily enough, we have more things to ship over now, and I'm thinking of who to use this time ... better the devil you know .. ?!

Its best to put any posts on the original topic otherwise there are several threads started.

Thanks, I did look at previous threads under the heading 'Moving & ?? -- can't recall but I'll check again to be sure I did not miss anything.

Thanks for the feedback about your experience... sounds like one I would prefer to avoid (!) tho, as you say you did get your things in the end and I gather they were all in tact or you'd have otherwise said something.

also used Express Trailers / Ship Low Cast (same lot).  Was fine.

If you use Ship Low Cost they dont deliver into your house they leave it on the pavement, wth? That's apparently the low cost bit, I slipped the drivers some cash and that sorted it out

Thanks, I'll check them out.

Express seem to be the biggest outfit here in Malta, so a lot of the UK shipping options you may come across at the UK side, end up being connected to Express in some way (at least from my experience).
We used a decent company in South Manchester and we were happy with then cost/service etc. It was technically Express who dealt with all the Malta end and that's who we collected our car from when it arrived.

[uM]oving my furniture to Malta – the good, bad and the ugly[/u]
The good
I asked a variety of firms to quote (from a number of sources including the internet, forums). All asked me for various details and prepared quotes. Doree Bonner impressed me because they were the only firm prepared to come and examine what I wanted to take and I felt that the other firm's estimates were just that – estimates. Doree Bonner was the only firm I had real confidence in their estimate (not the cheapest or the most expensive). Andrew was very patient on the phone and answered all my queries. The only thing I would say to anyone is the more information you give the better. I went for the full service including packing and unpacking.
I was persuaded into taking insurance (more expense) but in the end I was glad I did so as I had to claim for a damaged wall unit. For once the insurance company given to me by Doree Bonner was truly excellent and it was easy to agree a settlement.
It was easy to agree a July pick up date in the UK and the removers on the UK side were truly excellent – a 5* service.
The bad
Not Doree Bonners fault but the estimates exclude VAT (20%) and the cost of any insurance you take (3% of furniture value). This bumps up the final charges considerably from the initial estimate. I paid approximately £3,500 for about half a container.
The Maltese side of the removal were not very efficient or accommodating (more later). I had made it clear (in writing) that any parking permits were to be included as a part of the move but this information wasn't passed on (or they ignored it). As my move was running late, I ended up getting the parking permit otherwise there would have been more delay.
The ugly
I don't know how many times I emailed and asked for confirmation that my furniture would be delivered the second week of September (which was agreed and stated on documentation). The furniture did arrive in Malta in the second week but to allow customs (plus a bank holiday), it was finally delivered the Monday of the third week. Luckily I am prepared for things to go wrong so I'd allowed some contingency. That said, I remain distinctly unimpressed. There is usually about a 6 week gap between pickup and delivery and I would recommend anyone allow an additional 2/3 week contingency on top (I allowed 1 week).
The Maltese removal company Zammit could best be described as adequate. They did come on time and they unpacked the major furniture items but:
1. They didn't put all my furniture together. This was left to my friend and goto guy Tony
2. They didn't want to unpack any of the cases. When they had finally dumped the last case, they wanted me to sign everything off and leave. It was only when I refused as I had no proof my expensive hifi had arrived that they started to unpack cases.
3. When I finally found all my hifi, two cases of glasses were still left unpacked. My husband George and Tony kept saying that this wasn't a problem so in the end | gave in and did this myself. Left to myself I wouldn't have. Guess what, I paid for unpacking and I really didn't care that they had another job to do afterwards.
My overall conclusion is that I would use Doree Bonner again. Could have been better on the Maltese side but not too bad. I'd rate 7/10