[Kumar R]

Thanks. I did that this morning and a surveyor will be visiting tomorrow.

Assuming the quote is too high, I've prepared the following course of action.

- Moveables, clothes, knick-knacks to be sent by Safexpress cartons (two should suffice for me)

- Godrej Interio will disassemble my centre table and dining table (very fond of those two). I intend to pack the pieces and book them on the luggage van of my train. heading to CST tomorrow for a dry run and understand the process.

- Really heavy furniture (fridge, bed, cupboard) to remain with landlord for now. I've posted ads on OLX but not relying on it.

Fingers crossed, I hope to have a report on all this within a week from now.

[raj981]

Hello folks,
I need to get my bike (Royal Enfield) transported from Kanyakumari to Mumbai. And i need a good mover and packer to wrap (bubble wrap) the bike and transport it to Mumbai.
Please recommend me some options that i can pursue. I spoke to safexpress but they only transport the bike and do not assist in packing the bike. Since i will not personally be in Kanyakumari i want someone who can professionally do this for me.
Please suggest
Thanks and Regards,
Rajesh

[Kumar R]

Last month I moved some furniture and belongings from Mumbai to Kolkata. I used three different modes.

Items were an almirah, an iron sofa-cum-bed (w/mattress), a very large and heavy glass and wood centre table, a small rubberwood dining table with two chairs, two iron chairs, all Godrej interio stuff. Plus clothes, books and plenty of knick-knacks. All the result of almost 9 years stay in Mumbai.

1. Safexpress

Safexpress has a service in which they provide cartons measuring 16x16x12 inches for domestic shipping at a rate of about Rs 750 per carton upto a maximum load of 20 kg. I scheduled a pickup for two, asked the pickupman to drop the cartons a day in advance and pick them the next day - which he was kind enough to agree to (I didn't want him hovering around while I packed). The pickup man drove a tempo in company colours (below with a carton for scale)



Packing and sealing is your responsibility. An annoying declaration-cum-disclaimer that the items are worth 'nil' has to be handed over.

The cartons reached exactly 7 days later, much the worse for wear and tear. Sides were splitting and couple of plastic items inside had been cracked. A torch was missing, presumably from a large rupture down the edge of one carton.

2. Agarwal Packers

I contacted Agarwal Packers (Limca Records) from their website. A man called the next day from Delhi and passed on the mandate to their Bombay office from where an efficient lady called to understand the description of furniture (everything except the centre table). The quote was reasonable (about 20% of the cost of the stuff) after a bit of bargaining and emphasizing small points (no urgency, ground floor delivery). They gave me reminders a day before the scheduled pickup, and even the morning of the pickup. Godrej Interio demanded the exorbitant rate of Rs 1300 to send a someone to disassemble my furniture so I decided to do it myself - it took me an hour to disassmble the tables and chairs. The packing men came sharp on time in a small truck carrying company colours, were highly courteous and spent two hours packing the furniture quite expertly and with ease. I tipped them generously and provided lunch.



The stuff reached Kolkata 20 days later. Delivery was delayed by a day for no reason but the delivery men were excellent. Online tracking tells you the vehicle position and also the vehicle registration. Everything in great condition and no scratches or dents. Delivery was by a small tempo (below)



Below is an Agarwal carton on arrival (right) versus the Safexpress carton (left). The difference is stark.



Now they only need to send their carpenter to reassemble the sofa-cum-bed.

3. Luggage Van on Duronto Express

I decided to carry the centre table with me in person on the train to Kolkata (Duronto Express). The heavy glass top (100x65x20 cm) was packed and intended to be placed below my AC Two Tier seat. The rest of the table parts weighing 18 kg was securely packed and booked into the luggage section of CST Terminus 6 hours before the journey. The luggage office at CST Terminus was, like the rest of Mumbai, quite professional. I had scouted CST a day earlier by way of a dry run to understand the process and it was done in a jiffy at a charge of Rs 180. Reaching CST at 1615 for the 1715 train, I had to go to the luggage office and remind them whereupon the booked stuff was loaded into the Luggage van (luckily right next to my own coach). The staff ensured that it was placed in a top rack quite securely.



On arrival in Kolkata I had to wait 20 mins on the platform till they opened the luggage van and retrieved the manifest. The luggage staff were distinctly unpleasant compared to Mumbai. The good part is that your luggage travels in the same train, and it's quite fast compared to any packer.
This is the Railway Receipt for the luggage, without which booked luggage cannot be collected on arrival.



Some conclusions

- Safexpress is worth it only if the items are small, non-breakable and delivery is needed within a week. The 20 kg weight limit is misleading, I doubt most of us will have stuff weighing more than 15 kg into such a small carton. Clothes and fabric is too voluminous to send this way. Their online consignment tracking is good, though.

- Agarwal Packers did a good job and I should have booked another large carton and sent the Safexpress stuff with them instead. However they did take a lot of time in delivery (perhaps due to small quantity of shipment). Nevertheless it's a good idea to tip the packing stuff well as the value of tips is insignificant compared to safety of belongings.

- The Luggage van is an excellent (and very cheap) mode of transporting non-breakable bulky items that are also heavy. What is required is good jute packing, a couple of friends or porters to help and also a bit of camaraderie with the origin staff. These Duronto trains are non-stop and there is peace of mind.

[SaNdY_AR]

Folks,

Need a good reliable packer and mover to move my house hold stuff within Bangalore city. Kindly share the contact numbers of those who you think will be able to do a decent job based on your experience.

Thanks in Advance.

Regards
Sandy

[jk007]

Hello All,

We are moving some of our furniture to their packers' warehouse for a short period of time. How much do we tip these guys considering the amount of hard labour?

[ramki067]

Recently took services of Agarwal Movers having website http://www.agarwalmovers.co.in/ . These guys packed majority of things as expected with containers and stuff but left out pots and solar water heater stating will deliver it on the next day as the van is full. I agreed as they assured me n number of times with one promising to provide me an email confirmation also. We had to give the amount in front before unloading and we did so.
During unloading we saw that many glass items were broken, our granite top gas stoves' granite was broken. On asking they said that i should i taken insurance.
Also, as the items were large, we told them to keep the carton boxes in our house itself and on the next day they can come and collect it. But there manager threatened us by saying they shall throw all the items out if amount for the carton boxes are not given. Finally we had to shell out Rs.1200 for 40 carton boxes we had.

After all these mess up, on the next day when we called these guys about the pots and solar, there manager said that all these items will cost extra and when i tried explaining them that i was assured that all items needed to be transported, he just hung up and didn't receive my call thereafter. I had to shell out another Rs.4250/- through other relocators.

These guys are big fraud and rowdies to the utmost.

Ramki

[fine69]

Originally Posted by jk007

Hello All,

We are moving some of our furniture to their packers' warehouse for a short period of time. How much do we tip these guys considering the amount of hard labour?

When I had shifted recently I paid 1500 to a team of 7 guys. There is no hard and fast rule to tipping and you can do away with the tip also but since this kind of work does entail hard labour I thought 200 per head is the least these guys deserve.

Originally Posted by ramki067

Recently took services of Agarwal Movers having website http://www.agarwalmovers.co.in/ .

Sorry to hear your ordeal but I can tell you that most of these guys have zero sense of packaging and moving stuff. All they know is to hire labourers to move stuff and hire/own trucks to transport them.

By the way the Agarwal Movers that you opted for isn't really the original one. DRS group is the original Agarwal company, then the 'Agarwal with an A' is of the younger brother, not that these are any professional.

Mostly you are at the mercy of the team that's been assigned the job. Some are sincere while most are crooks.

The only reason I opted for Leo even when their quote was 70% higher was only because I'd read about enough similar ordeals on the net.

You can take this experience as a learning and probably spend more next time, opt for insurance also if possible but avoid these lowlives for sure!

If it makes you feel any better, you avoided yourself a big mess by paying as per their terms. These goons can go to any length to recover the agreed money so since you were able to conclude this not so healthy transaction without any physical assault is a great victory in itself.

Did I share that I kept 15 huge cardboard boxes from Leo and their manager very politely told me that they allow 3-4 boxes usually but since he knew I couldn't re-assemble everything that day he would allow me to keep them as well. Only request he made was that whenever I would be done re-assembling stuff I should simply give him a call and he'll send someone to collect them, imagine!!

[SaNdY_AR]

Originally Posted by SaNdY_AR

Folks,

Need a good reliable packer and mover to move my house hold stuff within Bangalore city. Kindly share the contact numbers of those who you think will be able to do a decent job based on your experience.

Thanks in Advance.

Regards
Sandy

For the benefit of others, would like to update that I used the services of Agarwal Packers and Movers (The DRS group) and would like to rate their service as superb. Super efficient, timely, courteous and professional. Was jittery initially, however as the D day approached had tremendous confidence in them due to their multiple follow ups, confirming items that needs to be packed, the supervisor who would be in charge so and so forth. Rate their service as excellent.

[carboy]

Any recommendations for Movers inside Mumbai itself - just a distance of 12 kms - but a lot of stuff.

[pramodkumar]

I need some advise on something that needs urgent help.

My parents relocated to Kerala from Delhi this Monday. They wanted some of their stuff to be moved to Kerala through a packer and mover.

Mistake number 1

They went to sulekha.com to get leads

They had multiple calls from prospects, they also got quotes. The selected one guy and decided to use his services. I was told towards the end that everything is taken care of. They took a 11 AM flight from delhi and the packers and movers were supposed to come at 6AM, I asked my parents to reschedule the guy the previous day afternoon, they did that however he turned up late at 10pm

He agreed to 28K initially but the quote was over 40k now(added taxes) he told that after loading the truck, They gave him 100% of the amount which they initially agreed, yesterday he calls and tells them that without the balance payment he would not move it out of their warehouse.

Problem 1: He is like a terrorist demanding one thing after the other, I believe he will ask for more money and I am even worried that the stuff would never reach here

Problem 2: They have no contracts, just some bills which would not hold any legal ground in a court

Problem 3: He is demanding for insurance payment(additional) and is insisting its mandatory and he cannot move the items without that.

I asked my dad to talk to him again and see what he wants(if I get in the middle of their talks, I fear it might worsen the already delicate situation), so finally my dad got really irritated and told him he will send his friend to pickup the stuff from his warehouse and he agreed(on phone) that he will return 15k and keep remaining 13 for packing warehousing and loading/unloading charges.

Kindly let me know what are my options, or do I have any in fact?

PS: I have started discussions with agarwal packers to see if it can be picked up from their office.

Pramod

[john doe]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

I need some advise on something that needs urgent help.

My parents relocated to Kerala from Delhi this Monday. They wanted some of their stuff to be moved to Kerala through a packer and mover.

Mistake number 1

They went to sulekha.com to get leads

They had multiple calls from prospects, they also got quotes. The selected one guy and decided to use his services. I was told towards the end that everything is taken care of. They took a 11 AM flight from delhi and the packers and movers were supposed to come at 6AM, I asked my parents to reschedule the guy the previous day afternoon, they did that however he turned up late at 10pm

He agreed to 28K initially but the quote was over 40k now(added taxes) he told that after loading the truck, They gave him 100% of the amount which they initially agreed, yesterday he calls and tells them that without the balance payment he would not move it out of their warehouse.

Problem 1: He is like a terrorist demanding one thing after the other, I believe he will ask for more money and I am even worried that the stuff would never reach here

Problem 2: They have no contracts, just some bills which would not hold any legal ground in a court

Problem 3: He is demanding for insurance payment(additional) and is insisting its mandatory and he cannot move the items without that.

I asked my dad to talk to him again and see what he wants(if I get in the middle of their talks, I fear it might worsen the already delicate situation), so finally my dad got really irritated and told him he will send his friend to pickup the stuff from his warehouse and he agreed(on phone) that he will return 15k and keep remaining 13 for packing warehousing and loading/unloading charges.

Kindly let me know what are my options, or do I have any in fact?

PS: I have started discussions with agarwal packers to see if it can be picked up from their office.

Pramod

I was in this household packing moving business for a long time( left this business 10 years ago)

This scam is done by the driver of the van and the warehouse guy. The way you have no papers proving 1 thing or the other, the warehouse guy also has no papers.

Please file a police complaint and go with the cops to the warehouse( you will have to pay the cops a couple of K).

Pick up the stuff right there and then. Don't let this delivery be postponed even by an hour. In other words , your presence is needed.

Dont pay a single rupee to the warehouse guy.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by john doe

I was in this household packing moving business for a long time( left this business 10 years ago)

This scam is done by the driver of the van and the warehouse guy. The way you have no papers proving 1 thing or the other, the warehouse guy also has no papers.

Please file a police complaint and go with the cops to the warehouse( you will have to pay the cops a couple of K).

Pick up the stuff right there and then. Don't let this delivery be postponed even by an hour. In other words , your presence is needed.

Dont pay a single rupee to the warehouse guy.

The issue is our money is tied up(28K) and we are not in Delhi, all of us are here in Kerala. So this option might not work, is there anything else that can be done? its not just the driver, its the guy who gave us the quote.

Pramod

[john doe]

Please note what is written on the waybill/ consignment note. Is the amount 28 or 40 k?

Let me know. Will advice you accordingly.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by john doe

Please note what is written on the waybill/ consignment note. Is the amount 28 or 40 k?

Let me know. Will advice you accordingly.

its actually 30K as grand total and then he said tax extra, insurance extra

Carrier risk charge @ 3%
service tax @ 14%

then he wrote a grand total as 30K

Pramod

[john doe]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

its actually 30K as grand total and then he said tax extra, insurance extra

Carrier risk charge @ 3%
service tax @ 14%

then he wrote a grand total as 30K

Pramod

Ok, this is a scam on many levels. The numbers don't even add up to 40 k.

Service tax and Insurance is just another way of charging you extra. He will be not registered with the Service Tax number nor will be be actually insuring the goods.

If you have some person in Delhi to tackle this personally, he could still take the cops to the godown claiming cheating and / or theft.

If he is asked for his Service Tax registration certificate, he will be unable to produce it. Nor any insurance coverage.

Sorry to say, but you and your family forgot that you live in India, and on top of it, in Delhi.

Please look for some street smart friends or family to tackle this in person.