This is in the complaints corner, as it is something that has left me speechless and need to moan, and I could "complain" but it would be to no avail. There is also a question attached to this complain.

When I moved from my previous home (across the atlantic) to Switzerland, I had 4 boxes, and I decided to ship them to the UK (as not sure where I would live in Switzerland). So I go to the post office, thinking this is going to cost me, and the cost turned out to be US$33 per 20Kg box. I know, I thought they might be confusing (or at least having a laugh!), but no, there it was, $33 for a 20kgs box, across the atlantic. Fair enough, it took 4 weeks, and I never thought I would see the boxes again, but they are now safely at my mother's home.

So stupid me thought, how about shipping the boxes from the UK to Switzerland, surely I could not expect the same stupidly cheap rates, but what the hell, it saves me having to unpack the boxes, put them in a suitcase and bring them over.
So, I go on the parcelforce website, trying to get a quote, as I roughly know the dimension, I know the weight, and I could post 1 box (the important one). So I go on the price finder, put in dimensions, enter 20kgs, UK to CH, next window comes up
"The volumetric weight of 166.667 kg, calculated using the dimensions you have entered, is greater than the actual weight of the parcel. Therefore we will base the pricing calculation on the volumetric weight."

OK, not sure what that means, and then the price comes up... 805GBP a BOX!!. So basically parcelforce's reasoning is that although the box only weights 20kgs, it COULD weigh 166kg, so I am going to be charged for that. I also tried the same assuming I was going to send a box full of feathers, and yes, again it is based on this volumetric weight.
So the 4 boxes could cost me 3220GBP to send. For that price I would expect the box to come in its own limousine, complete with tuxedo chauffer and its own butler to wipe the dust off....

Sorry for the rant I feel better.. So if anyone know of any cheaper way to send these boxes (I don't care if it takes months!), pray do tell..

I've moved your post to Help&Tips (Other/General) since your complaint wasn't Switzerland-related.

You can try DPD or other delivery services, although they're slightly pricey as well (but not nearly as pricey as this one was!). What about the postal service? (not sure what parcelforce is....)

Have you tried DHL Freigth, doing the transport by road? For professional reasons, i used to moved bulk quantities between CH and the UK, and this was the best solution. Never had a complaint, their customer service was quite efficient. Of course, i was a good customer by them....
FeDex used to have a similar service, though i cannot really recall using it.

But, overall, you are absolutelly right.... for that price I would also expect the box to come in its own limousine, complete with tuxedo chauffer and its own butler to wipe the dust off, both of them good looking.... I still haven't recoved from a couple of quote i have asked them to move a couple of paitings from Spain to CH. Being these items "big", "odd format", "fragile", "need to be cleared in customs", "insured" and one of them "heavy", you can imagine the quote i got. It would have been less expensive to fly myself and the paintings in business class....

How's about getting a couple of Easyjet flights over (sans luggage) and bringing the boxes back that way?

Just a suggestion.

HTH

Yes, I think it may have to come to that!
I am just amazed by the cost though, for that price, I could fly business!!

I have to apologise to you Mary, I thought "She is talking non-sense, I'll check it for myself and come back here, triumphantly"...

Well, you were right, complete non-sense...

If your parcels are in the North West here in the UK, I might be able to help...

Thanks, sadly, they are in London!

As I have nothing else better to do with my day, I even worked out that I could fly me and the 4 boxes, one way, business class with british airways next week, and each person/box have their own seat, for less than sending these boxes via parcelforce... OK, the possibilities are endless, so I will stop there, it just amazes me that they charge such high prices!

My mum found this out too when she was sending over out Christmas presents, the postage was going to cost more than the price of the gifts. The kind lady at the post office told her that if she repacked them into smaller boxes of less than 2 kilos (IIRC) each they could be sent by normal post and the price then dropped like a stone. So if you can repack all your stuff into smaller amounts you could save yourself a fortune.

You could try asking friends who are going over and coming back to bring them one by one or something. Or you could post on here asking if anyone is coming over to bring them for you at a much reduced price. My hubby just drove our car back to the UK and came back again and I know he would have brought them back for you if I had seen this post earlier. Just a thought.

Crikey! I used to work in Logistics for a mail order company so I can confirm that most if not all couriers work on volumetric weight in the UK - certainly once it gets above a certain size they do.

What size are the boxes, I know a "man with a van" who does pickups and deliveries and doesn't charge by weight or volume - but he does charge a price per mile so it'll still be expensive (cheaper than that though!!)

You may also find it cheaper with a specialist international couriers such as Gondrand who solely do international shipping - because of that they have a "minimum charge" which I think was about £75+VAT, so still not REALLY cheap but a hell of a lot less than ParcelForce are asking online

I'm also checking out international removals companies for shifting our office to Zug at the moment such as www.moveme.co.uk and www.excess-baggage.co.uk who may be able to give you a quote.

As Lou said, if you can get it split to parcels under 2kg then you can send each one by Royal Mail International Signed For, which is much much cheaper.

get Luker Bros to collect in UK as they have a weekly service to Zurich - bet it would be £200 max for all 4 boxes

Hey,

Just moved from london to switzerland and had the same problem. Considered as well flying easyjet and carrying my boxes in my luggage, but i found another option (even cheaper than lukas bro). I used a company called cargo pod, which costed me 300 gbp for 7 boxes or 140kg. Luke bro was quoting me 400GBP for the same amount.

They were quick (2 weeks) maybe and very reliable.

I have used www.parcel2go.com a number of times for heavy box shipments to the Swiss border in Southern Germany. They are in my experience pretty reasonable and efficient.

Shipping into Switzerland is obviously more expensive due to customs procedures

If ever you need an address in Germany close to the border (and around 45 mins away from both Basel and Zurich by car) I may be able to help.

Used personal effects shouldnt be too difficult to take across the border but obviously depends on exactly what is included...

Agree with Cosplay. If u ship to Post Restante on the border with Basel like Weil am Rhein and then bring em over urslef by car rented for the day costs drop too.

The form to fill in as personal effects is on the customs.admin.ch website

when i moved from Germany to Switz in 2005 I did it all meself. No customs charges.
All you need is a packing list like:

Box 1: Electrical
Box2: Books

etc.

For what it is worth to anyone, I had a friend relocating from London back to the US and they used excess baggage and were pleased with the experience. Things arrived as promised, in good condition (they did their own packing). I know that they saved a fair amount of money by collecting at their local airport, rather than having the boxes delivered to their home.

I've heard enough horror stories from other expats in Switzerland about Luker brothers as movers that, personally, I wouldn't use them, but YMMV.

At Christmas we drove over to the UK and on the way back I flew with the children leaving hubby to drive back. He managed to forget ALL of the children's christmas gifts! So as not to spoil the Santa Claus myth just yet we had them sent by DHL overnight. For 4 boxes the cost was about GBP370. I dn't know what they weighed but it included a pick up from my parents home and clearing customs. I am sure they do a slower and cheaper service but with toys expected back with Daddy we didn't have a choice. You could check out their website or Customer Services number......

We have a small van going between London and here, 4 or 5 times a year, it's rarely full and we'd always be happy to take on some extra boxes for a nominal fee. I'll post transport dates in future for anyone interested.

Otherwise google for "groupage transport Switzerland UK" these guys charge per cubic metre of truck space and usually have weekly or even daily trucks go back and forth we often use this for Spain - London and it works out much cheaper than post or couriers

Anyone have experience of sending regular commercial express consignments from the UK to here? We're going to have 2 or 3 parcels a month coming over, only about 5 Kg each of printed posters etc. Parcelforce express service is 2-3 days (waiting for a quote) and DHL is 24 hours but at a cost of about £100. It doesn't look like parcel2go.com covers Switzerland.

Any tips gratefully received

Mike

Hi,
Florka do you have a website address for cargo pod, can`t find it when I googled.

Can anyone recommend a freight company from Scotland- Switzerland? Have a couple of boxes to be sent over.

Jo

OK. I thought I should share my box-delivery experience from London to Switzerland. I sent over 3 boxes, each approximately weighing 5 kgs (not heavy at all). Was charged £50 each, for a total of £150. Was promised delivery within 3 days. It turned out to be exactly a week.