Moving was easy and cheap!

[turtlegirl]

Hi all!

I had to write this because I had such an awesome moving experience - without paying Matson prices!!

Many people, and Matson themselves, would have you believe that they are the only and best way to ship your household stuff and car from the mainland. Totally not true!!

We got better prices, spoke with nicer people, and generally had great service by using Horizon to ship the car, and Universal Transport Services/ Express Trucking to ship our household stuff. UTS and Express even helped us move our crates out of and into our moving truck both in CA and HI! And stored them for almost a week while we arranged to come get them. I regret all the sleepless nights I had worrying about our crates, because they were in perfect condition. Nothing broken or damaged!!

And Sven's car showed up right on time and also in perfect condition!

The best part is that these companies were SO easy to deal with, inexpensive, answered every question, and delivered what they promised. How cool is that!?! No hassles, no problem!

Just wanted to pass this on....

[Jim75]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Hi all!

I had to write this because I had such an awesome moving experience - without paying Matson prices!!

No hassles, no problem!

Just wanted to pass this on....

That's great news, turtlegirl! Thanks for posting it. It's definitely helpful for myself and others.

[pamajamat]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Really appreciate that information! My family and I are making the move from CA to Maui in three months and I'm a little nervous about the actual moving process. I will definitely check out these companies.
Thanks!

Pamajamat

[cyleet99]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

YAY turtlegirl! Y'all got here in one piece and so did your stuff. Not a small accomplishment. I bet you wished you brought some other stuff now, huh?

[turtlegirl]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Funny you should say that! I think we brought too much stuff! If I got to do it again I would bring one third less stuff!

[alohacandy]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Congrats on the move and for the good experience. When I moved back here, I moved ahead of my hubby and daughter (due to work), so I just brought a couple of suitcases and mailed the absolute "must haves". My hubby was left with the task of doing garage sales, donations, etc. I think that he definitely brought too much "stuff" over that could have easily been left behind....especially since our home here is much smaller than what we had before.

[OnyxTiger]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

We got better prices, spoke with nicer people, and generally had great service by using Horizon to ship the car, and Universal Transport Services/ Express Trucking to ship our household stuff. UTS and Express even helped us move our crates out of and into our moving truck both in CA and HI! And stored them for almost a week while we arranged to come get them. I regret all the sleepless nights I had worrying about our crates, because they were in perfect condition. Nothing broken or damaged!!

And Sven's car showed up right on time and also in perfect condition!

The best part is that these companies were SO easy to deal with, inexpensive, answered every question, and delivered what they promised. How cool is that!?! No hassles, no problem!

Just wanted to pass this on....

This sounds great, Turtlegirl. I'm planning a move to the Big Island in the near future, can you please tell me how to get in touch with these companies?
I'm moving from Northern California.
Thanks for your help.

Hope you find the rental you're looking for.

Darrell

[turtlegirl]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Congrats on your upcoming Big Island home!! When are you planning to move?

I know you can find both companies' info online. If you really can't, PM me and I will dig up the paperwork and get the info to you.

I'm hope you are finding some of my posts helpful. I'm trying to put a little useful info out there, as when I decided to move I got a lot of info from the old threads. Hope you've been checking out the archives.

Avoid using Matson to ship anything if possible. They are overpriced and sucky.

Avoid bringing furniture. You can get furniture here. You would not believe how many people bring ridiculous amounts of stuff here, and then try to sell it when they leave the island. Moving sales are your friend here, great stuff, cheap prices. The Salvation Army in Kailua will blow your mind!

The car cost $1000 to ship over using Horizon. The car isn't super nice or fancy, but it's reliable, so we decided to keep it. Shipping it was easier than we expected! We drove it to the dock in San Pedro, then picked it up a week later in Honolulu. Easy. Don't lose any sleep over this one! And I love driving here, the people are such considerate drivers!

Bring books and other keepable stuff over by using media mail at the post office. It is cheap and takes a long time to arrive. Trust me, this is good. You won't want to be dealing with your stuff while trying to line up a place. The longer it takes to arrive, the better, in my opinion. You'll have enough other stuff to worry about!

Hope this helps with some of your concerns!

[turtlegirl]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Oh, and we did find the rental we were looking for!! A big one bedroom in Kailua! We are so happy, and it only took us 12 days of nonstop searching!!

[pamajamat]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Turtlegirl,
I'm trying to google Universal Transport Services and I'm not getting it. Does it go by any other name or do you have a phone number, website or e-mail? Thanks for any further info.

pamajamat

[turtlegirl]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

www.uts-hawaii.com is the website, and our contact was a nice man named Bill. You can email him directly at bill4transp@aol.com.

[alohatam]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

What size crates did you ship? Is htis cheaper than a 20 or 40 foot container? Do you know if you can pack your car full of stuff when you ship them? Also, I have a 2008 Saab convertible. I have to keep it and ship it. Can't sell it now. Has anyone shipped a convertible? I am worried about how they ship them. I obviously could not pack the Saab, but could fill up the mini van with stuff.
We have a large house full of stuff. We also have 6 bikes, toys, etc. We are trying to decide if we to ship or sell and buy over there. I am interested in these crates and what sizes and what you can ship in them.
Mahalo

[turtlegirl]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Four apple crates. They literally used to have apples in them. Measured 4ft square and 2ft deep. Even fit a vacuum cleaner in there.

Have you read any of the archives? There's a picture of our crates somewhere in one of my posts. Do a search on 'moving', and be sure to check the little box that says "find all posts within past year".

Cars ship empty.

Kids outgrow bikes fast, so I would not pack and ship those.

[honu2008]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Wow turtlegirl, I wish I could fit my stuff in 4 apple crates. I think we are going to need a 20' container (and I got rid of tons of stuff and sold lots too) Guess you didnt bring any furniture at all huh? I am still waiting for my husband to secure a house and let me know how tiny it will be, then I will downsize some more. My daughter has 3 boxes of stuffed animals!!! LOL...she was very upset about getting rid of them and I figured she is going thru enough stress in this move, that we could let her keep those. Its hard to get rid of stuff!

[turtlegirl]

Re: Moving was easy and cheap!

Yep, brought no furniture. We can get furniture here once we find out what we truly need. We're still waiting for our apartment to be finished, but I think it will be done in about a week. Then we can really decide what furniture stuff we have to go buy, but it seems that all we will need is a dresser, nightstands, large bookshelves, and a coffee table. Maybe even a rug.

We used to have a big 3 bedroom house full of stuff, so while it was stressful to sell and donate almost all of it, it felt really good, too! I'm amazed at how much I thought I would miss my stuff, only to realize that I didn't need most of it. Also, our new place is teeny!

This is America, where the 'haves' have so much more than the 'have nots'. Give the 'have nots' some stuff!

3 boxes of stuffies!?! Maybe your girl could give one box to a friend or to her school. Maybe she would like to give some to abused, abandoned, or homeless kids. Good opportunity to teach our next generation how to care and share.