Mmoving our belongings
- Thread starter Danielle Reade
- Start date
We moved on 1st Jan 2019 and used upack door to terminal service. Except that few boxes were wet due to the icing everything went well with the move. No tax since we moved on work permit. For PR holders may be it's different. When you use upack they will handle everything including border crossing. Once the shipment is ready to be picked up at destination, they will send a detailed mail for custom's clearance and other things. I liked upack in that the charge you only for the space you use even though you had reserved more space. Also they helped us by holding our stuff in their warehouse without charging anything extra since we hadn't secured a rental place. Good luck with move.
Thank you for responding... I was skeptical about upack but your feedback is positive. I am moving on work permit as well.
No probs at all. I am happy to share my experiences since I learnt a lot from other's experiences over here and other forums
No one can beat Upack service is what I felt finally after I compared multiple options. I moved from Texas to Toronto and had a wonderful affordable move with Upack. Only suggestion is to pack your stuff pretty well using the uhaul rental moving blankets and use movers wrap generously on all your belongings. This season is hot hence it should be fine but for us the boxes that I didn't wrap all gotten icy and hence the contents inside went wet. Luckily nothing damaged except few books and photos in those wet boxes. Since you will be on work permit no taxes on your household items and car (temporary imported).I am moving from Texas to Toronto as well around mid of Sept. Thanks for the tip on packing. How much did they charge you for 1 cube?No probs at all. I am happy to share my experiences since I learnt a lot from other's experiences over here and other forums
I had taken their trailer and they had reserved me 15ft space. I hired loading helpers from movinghelp.com an affiliate of Uhaul.com. They did awesome job within 100$ and loaded all my stuff within 10ft. So I saved a lot coz they give back 100 per ft saved. Cube I think you rent it fully and I doubt if they mix other people's stuff with yours. Depending on your move size upack will advise you the best. Overall I paid around 1850$ for this 10ft of space I used. This was for door to terminal service. Here in Toronto I paid 500$ (CAD) for moving my stuff from upack/ABF warehouse to my home due to severe weather conditions I was charged a lot for local moving help.
I would recommend viewing the useful Upack videos on youtube to learn more about the packaging tips and other topics. Key is to downsize your home contents to what you need the most here and what you can afford to either donate/sell/lose over there. Please keep in mind that you will be shocked to see tiny spaces over here in Toronto yet paying a lot in rent. We ended up in a townhome finally since our stuff wouldn't even fit any of the condos over here
Especially this season is crazy moving season due to good summer weather and there is a acute shortage of affordable housing options over here in Toronto/GTA metroplex. Not sure how you have planned and if you are already working with a realtor here to find some space before you arrive. Don't pay anyone from there or sign anything including the lease coz there are always 1% chances of denied entry at port of entry for any unknown reasons. If something like that happens still we will be liable to pay the entire lease term
All the best and feel free to PM me if you need any further information or any kind of info over here. Good luck
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Hi ,
I am planning to use UPACK as well. For UPACK terminal to terminal they quoted like 1140+60 = 1200 and +200 for unloading help.
However, i am not sure if i have to move bigger stuff( like bed frames, mattresses) or to put them at a friends place(they have a single family home- at a friends place here and just move few things like utensils, clothes, TV and music system.
For this i am not even sure these items can fit in a Tahoe or a minivan. Will it really make sense for me to use UPACK and unloading(200) = 1400USD.
Instead i can buy that stuff here with that 1000usd? lets say 400$ goes for the rental of Minivan or Tahoe.
Need your inputs/suggestions.
I am not sure of your situation and how long you are planning to be in Canada. It’s totally a different world compared to US so be ready for all sorts of surprises there. Weather is killing depending on when you are planning to move. Just take everything you can from US in Upack trailer just make sure you take pics of trailer before loading and after so that it helps to file claim of they damage anything. Over there without credit history you won’t be able to get any loans initially and the credit card they give is just to build your credit. You might have to pay in cash for everything if you need to buy there. Don’t ever go with those kijiji ads or deals coz you will learn all scary stories about those ads and people. All the very best.
Thanks for your response Vijay.
Planning to stay here for 2 years for sure. Yes, you are right about the weather. For now , my wife has been staying there so we are good regarding credit or buying stuff(however, not planing to buy any bigger goods as of now ). But as you said, it is better to take all the stuff i believe. I was in dilemma actually you had cleared some air. Also, can you please tell me if you were moving a 1bedroom house or 2 bedroom house house? accordingly i can see how much (feet) will i be using.. Also did you take the mattresses with you(i spoke to Upack they are asking to fumigate(old matresses) in case if i have to take it, but through Uhaul few of our members seems like they never had questions taking used mattresses)?
Just use uhaul mattress covers to protect the mattress and take them too with you. No need for fumigation or anything. If you want you can get one round of upholstery cleaning done but not required. I booked for 18 ft but my uhaul movers packed up everything at 10ft so saved a lot. I had to move into 2 bhk townhome since the apartments or condos won’t even fit anything. Everything is pretty expensive there hence I ended up even shipping my car and now I moved back to US with everything via upack itself. Good luck. Be cautious about moves in destination coz most of them are looters. Just go with google reviews and hire the genuine people.
Hi Vijay, One more question. Can UPACK cross the border without me being inside Canada. Do i need to be first crossing the border that day. Or can i go after they cross the border also? If that is ok, i want to cross the border after two or 3 days UPack reaching Canada. However, UPACK told that as there is a mandatory quarantine i need to follow they can hold my stuff till that 14 days is complete, so i want to go after 2 or 3 days after my stuff reaching Canada and then follow manadatory quarantine. would that be fine. Any idea?
It should be fine coz it will be in their bonded wear house. You need go for customs clearance to get release of your shipment. Based on if you are on WP or PR they might or might not charge you some tax. Make sure you carry goods to follow list that you gave to upack coz you need that for clearance. In our case we entered Canada first and our shipment came after a week or 10 days. They are very nice in that they helped me by holding few more days since I had not gotten my rental place yet.
Just in case if things have changed ask upack and they will guide you. While coming back to US they were holding my trailer at border and waited for me to send them all of our I-94 immediately after our immigration clearance at airport. But for Canada I don’t remember them asking me for our visitor records.