[quote]My wife and I will be relocating from near London to the Pays de Gex before July and I wanted to ask if anyone has any good advice or contacts to offer regarding removals? We will only be moving the contents of a one bedroom flat (so not too much stuff) so we might hire a van and do it ourselves if this turns out to be the best method ... any advice or experience gratefully received.



:)[/quote]



I think, one problem might be finding someone who will actually rent you a van.

Most will not like the fact that you will leave Britannia with it ;-)

At least, that's what I heard from somebody who only wanted to rent a car....

rainer_d, Apr 17, 2009 @ 21:06

When we moved from Lancing(near Brighton)last year we used GB Liners.They were great,they do lots of runs to Geneva,help you with the custom forms,and they guys that moved us were great.

If intrested i will try to dig out the number of the guy that helped us,just let me know:)

Nookes
Nookes, Apr 17, 2009 @ 23:04

[quote]I think, one problem might be finding someone who will actually rent you a van.

Most will not like the fact that you will leave Britannia with it ;-)

At least, that's what I heard from somebody who only wanted to rent a car....

[/quote]



Thanks. I think you might be right there ... sigh!



[quote]When we moved from Lancing(near Brighton)last year we used GB Liners.They were great,they do lots of runs to Geneva,help you with the custom forms,and they guys that moved us were great.

If intrested i will try to dig out the number of the guy that helped us,just let me know:)

Nookes[/quote]



Thanks Nookes. I just searched and found their website and have asked for a quote. :)
Tim_Young, Apr 18, 2009 @ 00:43

Try www.devis-demenagement.ch

A friend of mine move to Geneva three months ago, and they were thrilled with the service. They basically provide you with the best movers according to your needs, if they can.

Haven't tried them though.
pchaker, Apr 19, 2009 @ 20:17

[quote]Try www.devis-demenagement.ch

A friend of mine move to Geneva three months ago, and they were thrilled with the service. They basically provide you with the best movers according to your needs, if they can.

Haven't tried them though.[/quote]



Thanks. I'll give it a go. :)
Tim_Young, Apr 20, 2009 @ 01:57

try Luker Bros. they are always roaming the areas brom oxford (their location) to all over europe.

hey levada, read the text, pays de gex IS in europe. in france,:hehe:
epicure, May 1, 2009 @ 18:19

[quote]

hello Tim,



when we moved over from southern England we hired a van and paid someone we knew fairly well who was self employed to load the van, drive and unload everything.Stay for a day and then return the van to the hire company in England. It worked out far cheaper than any removal company.And we had more control and the timescale was quicker. The key is to find a van hire company which allows the hire to go into Europe/Switzerland and if possible get unlimited mileage.



As for Customs, we prepared a full list of the items being taken. We got stopped at the border and was asked to open the van so they could see the contents and they looked for a few minutes and we could move on. The paperwork prepared wasn't even looked at.



Hope you find that useful[/quote]



Hi k,



Thanks so much for replying. After quite a bit of research we are coming to a similar conclusion and I'm already trying to persuade various friends to drive over with me! Would be be able to let me know which van rental company you used and roughly how much it cost?



I presume you mean the Swiss border rather than the UK/France border?
Tim_Young, May 2, 2009 @ 12:17

[quote]Hello Tim,



We had read 'horror' stories of having to completely unload at the Swiss border, vans seized and things like that but we thought it was the best option to do it ourselves so to speak.

[/quote]



You just need to have a list prepaired.

There's a form for it (18.44), see here:

http://www.ezv.admin.ch/zollinfo_privat/zu_beachten/00352/index.html?lang=de



The forms are not available in English, but the text of the above page is:

http://www.ezv.admin.ch/zollinfo_privat/zu_beachten/00352/index.html?lang=en



Note that English is not an official language of Switzerland and as such, official forms are mostly written in German (or French).



They will not count if the number of socks you gave them in form 18.44 matches those you carry with you.

Usually, they will just take a cursory look and see if you're not smuggling in antiques or high-value electronics.

But the form has to be filled out correctly nevertheless.

rainer_d, May 4, 2009 @ 11:45

Thanks Keith and Rainer for the advice. It's very useful to see how others have done these things when you are still planning to do them yourself! As we are moving to the Pay-de-Gex rather than into Geneva I'm hoping that we won't have any of the same formalities to deal with? Am I right in thinking that you didn't have any issues just going from the UK to France?
Tim_Young, May 6, 2009 @ 16:39

Hi Tim

I moved to Geneva last Autumn with the contents of a 2 bed flat via the DIY route, i.e. 2 friends helped me load, drive out and then return with the van to the UK. Lots of good things said above so I would just emphasise a couple of things:

(i) UK to France was easy - just make sure your van is not overweight. It is easy to overload the Luton style box vans  even with usual house stuff. French autoroute police look try to catch and fine overweight vehicles.

(ii) The Swiss customs documents are failrly easy and available online. The timeconsuming bit is listing every item , detailing estimated value and length you've owned it. Worth doing as it makes you look organised. As said above make sure you have EVERY document. Right to work, tenancy agreement, employment contract, carte de legitimation or letter proving it is being processed. Also make sure you go through customs during normal working hours and not on a bank holiday.

Otherwise I found the DIY option pretty easy and good fun with a couple of mates. A lot cheaper than the lowest professional quote.

Cheers

Sam
SamW, May 6, 2009 @ 19:02

Tim,

I am leaving Switzerland (Geneva) and want to move my stuff to Birmimgham, UK end of May/early June, so perhaps we can work something out? If timing/destinations fit, I'm not sure if it possible for one of us to rent and the other return from UK/France/CH?

I won't have much and hopefully the right paperwork, but there are plenty of unpatrolled back roads in/out of Geneva ;)

Barry
SlogFester, May 6, 2009 @ 21:04

Sam - Indeed. Your excellent advice is just adding to the pile that says we should be doing this ourselves, so many thanks. I'll watch out for the overweight thing. It's interesting to see that you got the contents of a 2 bedroom flat into a Luton. At the moment I'm trying to work out just what to take / not take so the journey is possible.



Barry - perhaps you could send me a private message with an email address so we can discuss possibilities? At the moment we are planning the move to hire in the Pays de Gex, drive back to the UK, load up and then drive back, probably closer to the end of June or start of July though - so this might not suit you? It does make the point that travelling one way with an empty van could be a wasted opportunity though!



Tim_Young, May 7, 2009 @ 02:54

[quote]My wife and I will be relocating from near London to the Pays de Gex before July and I wanted to ask if anyone has any good advice or contacts to offer regarding removals? We will only be moving the contents of a one bedroom flat (so not too much stuff) so we might hire a van and do it ourselves if this turns out to be the best method ... any advice or experience gratefully received.



:)[/quote]

If you are moving to France I would just buy a bashed up van get AA breakdown cover for Europe and bring your stuff over. The toll roads in France are expensive so a good sat nav to avoid them is good! I have been back and forth from the UK in my car and it's not ok.

When you get settled sell the van on here or similar site to someone heading back to the UK. If you're moving into Switzerland the stuff will have to go through customs so you have to list all the items and if you have new goods you have to pay the duty on them.

Good luck.
wendi4y, May 14, 2009 @ 19:07

Thanks Wendy and Nick for the extra advice. We've actually booked a van now to do the drive ourselves (my father in law and I) so now we just have to get everything packed up. As we are going to live in the Pays de Gex we shouldn't have any of the swiss customs worries though. I presume none of you had any issues going from the UK into France on the ferry or train?



Hopefully I'll be saying hello to you all in Geneva very soon!



Cheers,



Tim
Tim_Young, May 28, 2009 @ 16:34

Hi Tim,

Well done on getting a van, Fill it up in the UK! France is expensive for petrol. I have shipped car loads of junk back and forth and have only been stopped once so good luck. The cheapest ferry is Norfolkline from Dover to Dunkerque it takes two hours. It is quieter than Calais so you're off and on your way. Bring salad cream and marmite if you like them cos they cost an arm and a leg here, if you can find them!!! Oh and bring your washer and white goods from the UK cos they cost a a bomb too! You just need to put new plugs on them. And the washers are not economic here slow spin etc ask your wife she will know what i'm on about :o)

Wendi
wendi4y, May 28, 2009 @ 20:37

maybe you can fill any spare space with all the things we miss., or have to pay through the nose for .. And sell them on Glocals to pay for your trip.. Heinz Baked beans are many times the price here..and cadburys chocolate wouldn't go amiss :D
britabroad, May 28, 2009 @ 20:59

Wendy - Ah .. too late, we've already booked the ferry from Calais ... I'll have to remember that one for our visits back to see the folks. As for the white goods ... we might be a bit late there too as I've already offered them to the buyers of our flat. I guess we are just going to have to bite the bullet and spend ages saying things like 'John Lewis was much better than this' and 'Oh for a local branch of Currys' etc. Thanks again for the advice though ... I think I'm safe on the marmite and salad cream front, but I will be bringing as much proper builder's tea as I can fit in!



Britabroad - I can see a new career for myself as some kind of crumpet and lemon curd dealer who turns up at glocals events in a flasher mac lined with fruit and nut bars. Heehee! :D
Tim_Young, May 29, 2009 @ 03:21

Hi, I looked here last month when I was trying to find a company to transport some household items from London to Ferney. And since this forum has not been updated I thought I would include my recent experience.

After trying the well known companies here I decided to search the internet for a cheaper service. I found a company called RGTS, based in Taunton Somerset.  I had an excellent service them - pleasant, punctual, efficient and hassle-free - and for half the price of the other quotes I received. 

Ruth C, Jul 4, 2012 @ 10:39