PSS International Removals

PSS Just finished off our move yesterday and Barry and Steve the men packaging my house contents were fab. Good sense of humour and genuinely nice people. The guys worked their socks off and very pleased with them and PSS.

Andy the sales guy was also really nice and friendly, put our minds at rest when he told us about his own experiences of living in New Zealand. Gave us some good advice and I can only speak about my own experience of PSS but I would recommend them to anyone moving, especially Barry and Steve.

Service cost: £5514

I've outlined below why you should never use PSS International Removals.
Surveyor miscalculated the shipment size.  PSS Surveyor came to the house and estimated a 1/2 container with a possible spill-over of 11 cuft.  The spill-over actually resulted in 120cuft.  I was then charged an outrages rate that was an additional 40% of the original quote!!  When I complained, they did an investigation that did not include speaking with me directly.  Their claim was that I added a tool box, wood burning stove (the size of tool box) and two chest of drawers.  They also ignored several request, to the packers, for me to break down some of the furniture (they would not do it).  Those additions were nowhere near the an addtional 100 cuft.   As they had my stuff, I had to pay with no recourse. 
Adding insult to injury, I just rec'd another bill for approx. $200 for another fee by their agent!
I found they gave a very aggressive price quote to win the business at approximately £5000, only to hit me, after the fact, with another £1900 in over-spill and another $200 for delivery charges for their agent.
Additionally, I found the PSS customer service and professionalism to be shockingly bad.  They have written their contracts so they are not accountable or responsible for any mistakes or incompetencies on their part.
I could not possible be more angry or frustrated with the behaviour of the PSS International organisation.
 
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Service cost: £6900

I just wanted to pass on my experiences of moving with PSS. I have to say that starting the whole moving process with a 2 year old and 4year old was tough, but I have to say that everyone from PSS and the currency providers they recommended have been so helpful and couldn't be happier. I read so many mixed reviews about so many companies involved in moving people and families, so I feel pretty lucky to have got this right so far. It seems like a lottery when trying to choose especially when you read some horror stories. However as my Mother said to my husband and I, keep an open mind as their is always two sides of every story and go with your gut instinct. Thankfully I did because the PSS men Andy and Chris that came to pack up just couldn't have been kinder, they wrapped everything so carefully and packed my husbands model boats very well and better than when he bought them. The only negative I could say about them would be the fact that thy packed some baby clothes that I was trying to sell on eBay before I left, but I suppose I can't blame them 100% when we were moving so many things. We also took advantage of their free airfreight carton which was great and we made I have a saving as my Husband is due to start work a few days when we arrive. We have had our invoice in from them I and amazingly the contents of our move has gone down, so the invoice amount is less which pleased my husband. Great company and I would recommend them to anyone. We dealt with James and Keith in the office who were fab.

Service cost: £3212

Well my second journey into using PSS and I can wholeheartedly say do not use them     At a seminar in Birmigham they attended they told me I had to pay Duty on my caravan when in fact its free duty on it because owned more than 12 months and its a non motorized trailer. We are now at the point of moving but I thought I will  see what price they quote despite the above. My wife said anyone can make a mistake  so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and telephoned for a quote.  I was asked how many boxes I would be taking I replied depend on the size of the box   The lady then replied well about the size of a large suitcase I asked what size a large suitcase was and was given the reply well if you look what Argos sell.  Then we mentioned the caravan again and I was put through to someone else  what I joked with about the ms information at the Birmingham show. He informed me I was quite correct.  However words then fail me he tells me the caravan is to big for a container   Two other companies will be happy to put it in the container but he says no    Why well it wont fit through the doors he tells me I ask how do you know he says well I have the sizes on the internet   Funny I remark as it came into the country in a container   Ahh yes the dopey devil at PSS has forgot you take the aerial off  to lower the height by 6 inches  ahhhhhh  Use someone else folks they didn't seem to know what they talking about .

Service cost: £5845

Turned the joy of a move to a new life into a nightmare. This company stated that they take all the worry out of your move. They alledge expertise in all aspects of the logistics involved. In our experience, they are incompetent at best and untrustworthy at worst.
The initial engagement seemed very professional, outline estimate provided via email and happy to reiterate the process. So based on this we got the assessment carried out at home. Again competent guy came as planned and we received the options, and settled on the contents we were to take with us, and took the offer for them to pack everything. They stated that if they pack then they know it is done professionally and is best fitted for the container.
We stated when we were to take up residence, we were moving from North England to Majorca. We said that early delivery was our preferred option as we had agreed with people on site to take delivery, so that we had everything there for when we arrived. Based on this they advised a collection date, and we added a further week and a half of contingency. They turned up on the agreed date and we left the 3 removers to get on with the task of dismantling and packing - they seemed competent - we were to discover later that this was not the case, and were friendly.
This is were any semblance of competence finished - after the vehicle left our UK house, we phoned at least twice a week just to check all was well, and were continually given assurances - we knew we had to arrange access for the removal vehicle in Majorca and so we needed a date when it was to arrive. As time went on we became increasingly worried, until finally we were told, the week before we were due to leave the UK to take up residence in Majorca, that they could not meet the date. We asked where our contents were, and were dismayed to hear that after 4 weeks they had not moved. We escalated the issue and at least for somebody competent to take responsibility. We had a nightmare few days trying to understand when we might get delivery, and sought compensation - we were faced with either cancelling flights and all associated taxis etc, or booking hotels in Majorca, as all our possessions were in PSS hands. Their final solution was to hand the delivery to a competent organisation, Whites, who took the responsibility of removal from the UK to Majorca, and 4 days after we'd arrived in Majorca we were finally reunited with our contents. However, as Whites knew nothing about us or the contract, we had to unpack everything ourselves and put all the disassembled furniture back together ourselves- we paid for assembly but received nothing.
Worse still, once we started to unpack, we then saw how incompetent the packers had been, with delicate glassware merely wrapped in paper and shoved in with other items- needless to say there were several breakages, that could with care have easily been avoided- the insurance cover has a £100 excess so be warned.
We have written to PSS since, but no reply in terms of the fact that we paid for a service that was not delivered- they offered us a £100 as 'gesture of good will' when they originally failed to meet the agreed delivery date.
Our recommend would be to consider very carefully the not inconsiderable cost of removals v buying in your new place of residence - we would definitely do this in future- but definitely avoid using PSS International if you are looking for competence and honesty.

Service cost: £1700

I am not used to posting my opinions online however I just couldn’t resist. After just going through probably one of the most stressful things I have ever had to deal with I just cannot fault PSS. I was very worried and scared about the whole process even though my sister has already gone through the same process 2 years ago.

The PSS men were amazing and nothing was too much trouble which is a lot to be said nowadays. I had a piano that they protected and then crated at my house and then loaded into the container. I was worried about this item and how it would travel, but after seeing this being protected and loaded into the container, all my fears were answered and squashed. The men arrived at 8am on all 3 days and worked until 5pm, so I definitely got my monies worth, certainly seeing all my items being placed into packages.

The office staff, especially Robert was very informative and helpful and the nice thing about it was that I didn’t need to chase them for anything.

I have no reservations in recommending them.

Service cost: £5268

We have been somewhat tardy in posting a response as I have been meaning to do so since early July.

We simply wanted to pass on our findings of using PSS. From start to finish we could not have been any happier with the PSS guys in the office, Mark was our move manager and he was always helpful and gave us some very good advice regarding my husbands military knives that he wanted to take with him.

We have moved many times in the UK with the military but so far this was the easiest and less stressful. The men that came to pack up our house were equally friendly and worked incredibly hard on both days. The only negative was that they accidentally packed some baby clothes that we borrowed from my husbands Sergeant, lucky they understood and weren't too worried about it. Having said that PSS and New Zealand Van Lines have agreed to send these items back to the UK via airfreight free, so I can't really grumble too much.

We took safe delivery of our consignment a few weeks ago,everything arrived in good condition - no breakages! The process at this end was very straightforward too, with helpful people in both countries.

So we are very pleased with everything and thankful that this potentially frightening process was made very straight forward and cannot thank PSS enough. We have recommended them already to others and would so gladly to anyone else.

A job well done

Cathy.

Service cost: £4000

Successfully bid on several items from the West Ham Boleyn auction. I thought that was the hard part. The hard part was getting them from there to here. Called several companies-none were interested. Finally spoke with PSS-very professional and accommodating to a very specific pick-up schedule at the stadium. Handled everything for me. Items arrived timely, extraordinarily well packed, with no damage. I would heartily endorse them to anyone seeking to move goods internationally.

Service cost: $1500

I contacted PSS Removals with an urgent request: I had five days in Edinburgh to organise the removal of my remaining personal effects to South Africa, where I now live, having gradually over eight years taken things out with me but with the recent sale of my house in Edinburgh I needed to remove the rest. I had disposed of furniture so the removal was not big, but needed to be collected during my brief stay. I contacted PSS on Friday afternoon and my items were collected Tuesday morning - I was leaving Edinburgh early Wednesday. The sales team (John) was responsive, helpful, friendly and did exactly what they said they would do when they said they would do it. I can't comment on the condition of items on arrival as I await my shipment by sea freight, but I was impressed with the level of customer service and the price was better than I expected, so based on my experience to date I would wholeheartedly recommend PSS for international removals.

Service cost: £500

After getting 3 quotations for our move to NZ, we choose PSS for their professionalism and helpfulness. They weren't the cheapest, but from the outset gave us confidence and assurance with moving our home, arriving on time from the initial estimation till the packing day. Due to a few snags on our part, they were totally flexible with the arranged date, and kept in touch, but not in a pushy manner. After choosing PSS, we were consequently recommended them by 2 other services we are using for our immigration. Thoroughly recommend PSS, even if the packers didn't like my tea bags!

Service cost: £3000

This was a two day pack and move. Arriving early on the first day, the small team of 2 managed to expertly pack almost the entire apartment's worth of furniture and goods by mid-afternoon. On day two the guys again turned up slightly early and had everything in the container by the end of lunchtime; and our flat was on the 6th floor! They were friendly, professional and efficient, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have booked such a great removal team. Moving is always stressful, but made a lot less-so with PSS International Removals. We highly recommend them!

Service cost: £5560

Making arrangements to ship my belongings from the UK to my new home in Alabama, USA, was very daunting and I obtained quotes from several shipping companies. I chose PSS not only because they were price competitive but that they had been very personable to deal with and had not pressurised me into making decisions. All of my queries were quickly responded to and this gave me confidence that I would get a good service. The process required completion of a large number of forms for customs and a PSS representative was readily on hand to explain clearly and patiently at every stage. All of my shipment arrived with no breakages or damage and this was a great relief although I did feel during unpacking that there was some unnecessary overuse of packing paper. I feel that PSS provided an excellent and very personal service at a very reasonable cost. I would definitely recommend them.

Service cost: £2333

I had requested for moving household items from UK to USA. Though I had given a very short notice and didn't really fill the forms in time I am NOT HAPPY about being charged extra 400 US dollars at the destination for the random X-ray scanning at customs and the delayed arrival after 4 months which includes period of storage . One of the boxes was also missing .

The form to be filed for storage does not mention storage period in days or weeks and I assumed it as days and PSS says it as weeks.

Since I haven't used international removals before I can't compare but I am satisfied with the prompt emails and response from PSS person.
But I am not going to take chance again and would rather sell the stuff locally and give rest to charity before leaving the country as its definitely not worth the stress and time involved in moving things between countries.

Service cost: £2200

We used PSS following a recommendation from friends. We had an exclusive use 20 foot container to Australia. The team that came and packed up our house were amazing - they worked so quickly. There were times once our belongings were en route that I panicked about what would be broken or damaged, but our stuff arrived last week and everything looks the same as it did when packed.

There were items such as towels that had been used as packing for our fragile items, so they came out creased, but this I expected and I'm grateful they were used to protect items.

The container arrived exactly when expected. It took ten days to clear through the port, quarantine and customs - that was without any extra checks or treatments being needed. If I am going to be critical it is with the Australian side - there was then a one week delay before the Australian team got it out to us, plus when they unpack they cannot unpack items onto the floor - that left us with quite a few boxes to unpack and the boxes and paper to dispose of/recycle/reuse.

Service cost: £3400

We moved from UK to new zealand and used PSS to ship our stuff out.
I sent lots of tools and some household stuff out.

Since I first phoned them for a quote I had nothing but trouble but the straw that broke the camels back was when I received an Email from the NZ port where everything had been delivered to say the documents PSS had sent them were illegible and I had to detour from my holiday to redo all the documents they were supposed to send them therefore doing PSS's job for them, costing me time and money!

Listed below are the other Mistakes PSS made:
- Repeatedly got my name wrong after being corrected about it repeatedly
- Failed to inform me of Customs charges I ended up having to pay once in New Zealand to release my goods
- Failed to inform me of 1-2 weeks Customs delay in picking my tools up from customs
- Shipment took longer than 12 week time frame quoted to reach Christchurch
- Failed to inform me of insurance charges when quoting me, (I only found out when I was invoiced).
- Some members of staff were quite rude and dismissive when I phoned up to question stuff

Basically PSS messed up the paperwork, delivered the shipment late, failed to inform me of lots of important details and were generally very unprofessional. The only thing that didn't go wrong is the shipment made it to me in one piece thankfully albeit late!

When I emailed them repeatedly to complain they ignored me.

I would never use PSS again and would advise other likewise.

Service cost: £325

I made the unfortunate mistake of using PSS to ship a gift to South Africa for my dad. At first when receiving the quote I was happy and agreed to proceed, but when the invoice arrived they said the box weighed more than what quoted for (it did not weigh more!) and they over charged me for collection.

However this is not the worst of it! After realising this company was out to take advantage of me I wanted to cancel the whole thing and use UPS instead that turned out to be cheaper. They then wanted to charge me £60 as a cancellation fee and after looking at all the options I had no choice but to just go a head and use them.

When the box left I was contacted by my dad informing me that someone just phoned him to say that the parcel was arriving but that the company put me the sender down as the consigning person as well??!! I couldn't believe it what logic was there in that! I then phoned PSS and asked what was going? However to my dismay the person I spoke to said to me "it's your own fault you didn't tell me someone else was collecting the box"!!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I explicitly said to them whilst making sure that the forms I had filled in was correct - that it's a gift for my dad (it even said this on the customs form!!)

After losing my patients with PSS and the person I was dealing with showing that he really couldn't care less, I was left to sort this mess out by myself! I then had to phone the company receiving the parcel in South Africa and send a letter asking to change the consigning person from me to my dad with more documents and it was a massive undertaking!

I really urge anyone reading this to save yourself from paying more than you should and the VERY poor customer service you will get in return.

Service cost: £200

    5.0 /5 Moved from UK to Canada and soon realised that we needed professional help to ensure we met all the requirements to move 3 thousand miles. PSS guided us through every step of the process. The removal guys handled all of the packing and provided a very professional and efficient service.When our shipment arrived in Toronto Paramount provided us with full support and advise on delivery to our new home. We highly recommend using PSS and there partners as they took the worry out of our move.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: £3000

We moved our household from London, UK to California, US. The packers were quite fast and good. We were kept informed about the shipment progress via email and when goods first arrived in California and then nearer to our destination.

However, there was disappointment during unpacking. Quite a few items were broken. Furniture and other household items. We took pictures and sent to PSS Removals. The process was not easy in filling out paperwork, taking pictures and providing proof of purchase price.

There was also price creep compared to the first estimate. Many more cost items were added and we ended up paying almost double of the initial estimate. Huge problem and then we got less than half of the claims made for broken items.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: £5500

PLEASE READ BEFORE BOOKING WITH THIS COMPANY. SERIOUS CONCERNS. I would warn anyone considering using this company for their international removals. Our experience with them has been negative and has resulted in us having to contact the police about fraudulent charges to our bank account related to an individual who was employed by the company that was subcontracted to complete our removals as well as additional items of value having gone missing during the move. When we informed PSS, they notified the subcontractors who took the incident seriously, but we have had no more contact from PSS until today when they emailed us to inform us that they will now be charging us £1000 extra for our furniture that is already in transit. This has made our already stressful move more stressful as we don’t know what is going to arrive at the destination and what else has been stolen. On top of it all, we are now not even certain if we’ll get ANY of our belongings back due to these extra arbitrary and unjustified charges and are likely to now incur additional fees.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: £2000

PSS handled our move to Spain without any problems. They sent a surveyor to look at evrything and their quote was very reasonable. But what sold us was the friendliness and rofessionalism of the staff. That convinced us that they would do a good job and that proved correct.

All our items were speedily well packed into a lorry and road frieghted to Spain. We had to wait a little for the load to go as it was combined with other customers but that was a lot cheaper than having our own dedicated lorry.

All our furniture and boxes arrived safely was unpacked with no breakages. We are happy to recomend them if you're moving overseas.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: £4100

They don't take care with your goods, no bubble wrap or any extra paddings - just paper. They had wrap my only glass with paper, so it arrived in pieces. How to protect a glass only with paper?!!
One cupboard, which I have for only 18 months, they put all in a box without any protection between the parts, so one part broke the other, arrived with cracks/role in all parts.
I contact them and they didn't help, I sent pictures, explained what happened, as that was their problem with how they had package. they said that I didn't do an insure for both items with problem.
I sent a "house" how I will insure everything.
After some emails, they said that they can pay me 60 pounds for both items, but the claim fee will be 100 pounds. Seriously?
And the worst is: its clear that this is their problem, their fault in the moment of the packing. Terrible.

Service cost: £2800