With the current financial instability in the UK we have seen a vast increase in International shipments. With these changes taking effect, Wise Moves has increased its coverage of world-wide destinations. We now offer full container loads or groupage shipments to Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and USA.
We also cover other destinations; please contact our office with your enquiry.
FIFA 2010 is on its way and with the hosting country being South Africa, Wise Moves is proud to announce a new Air Freight Service to South Africa. Our Airfreight Service will cover both personal effects and commercial goods with a door to door service. We increased the frequency of our groupage shipments for excess baggage and household effects to a 2 weekly service.
25/2/2010
TIPS ON MOVING HOUSE
Boxes: Getting boxes is the real commitment to moving. You may have signed a lease or mortgage, but until you get the boxes, you’re not really moving. Make sure you get the right type and quality of boxes for your move. Wise Moves can fulfil your needs when it comes to buying packing materials. Follow this link to have a look at our packing materials:Wise Moves Packing materials
Rubbish Removal: Unless you are a very organised person or have a lot of time, don't kid yourself about the garage sale. If you have anything an antiques dealer might be interested in, call them and have them stop by. If one isn't interested, try another. If none are interested give the items away or put them at the curb with a sign, 'Inquire'. If no one inquires by the time the garbage men come, remove the sign and let it go. For those moving from a house, a small four-yard container (dumps) that is emptied at least once a week for a term of a month should work out nicely. These companies are less picky about what's in there.
Initial Packing: Start with books, records and video tapes. They pack nicely; usually make a nice, neat stack that you can be proud of, and it looks to others in the family like you have really got things going and they need to catch up. Remember not to seal the videos yet. You will want to watch them for company when you're packing alone later. In the kitchen, just plan to eat simply till you move and leave two pots, two pans and a few cooking utensils. If everyone works or attends school, pack the dishes, glassware and silverware. Invest in cheap plastic dishes, cups, and 'silverware' that you will discard after your last meal in that home. Get just enough for everyone to have one of everything (leaves counters free for packing). When booking your move through Wise Moves, we offer a packing service, which could save you a lot of time.
Bedrooms: Free style your own room, but get children packing early. Give them ample boxes and ask regularly if they have finished. When they say yes, or 'I'm down to necessities!', wait till they go to school and 'finish'. This usually requires many garbage bags. Quickly pick through for family heirlooms, baby pictures, etc, and then toss the rest. Have it all tightly tied in black trash bags and in the dumpster before they get home.
Those Boxes you never unpacked from the Last Move: One would think, just count them as packed. No. Unless you know it's Aunt Clara's china, open the boxes and see what's there. Truly, if you haven't touched it in five years, many things are outdated, broken, mouldy, or you only humoured a family member by packing it the last time. You will probably reduce the number of boxes by half.(Remember all this stuff has to fit into a moving truck and you pay by the foot.) You can reuse some of the boxes by simply dumping the contents into the dumpster, and blacking out the previous notations.
Remember to keep smiling, have plenty of refreshments on hand and the longer it takes you to get started is directly proportional to the amount of stuff you throw away.
15/2/2010
What is the Code of Practice?
The British Association of Removers Code of Practice is the only code in the moving industry that’s approved and monitored by the Office of Fair Trading under its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme.
All BAR members abide by the Code that dictates the standard of service you will receive, the quality of the materials used, the standards of vehicles and warehouses, staff training requirements and what will happen if something goes wrong. Most importantly the Code requires BAR moving companies to deal with you in a courteous and sympathetic way at all times.
Every BAR member makes the following key commitments:
We promise to act fairly and reasonably with you and uphold all the standards contained in the Code. Our key commitments are:
To make sure that our advertising and promotional literature is clear and not misleading.
To provide you with a clear description, price and timetable for the work carried out.
To offer insurance or other protection options.
To explain clearly our liability for loss or damage, the time limit for making claims, and cancellation/postponement rights and charges.
To provide staff who are courteous, competent, and committed to providing a high standard of service.
To deal quickly and sympathetically with things that go wrong.
To publicise this Code, have copies freely available and make sure our staff are trained to put it into practice.
Financial Protection
The Code says that if your BAR remover cancels a removal more than 10 days before the agreed date for the work it must pay you back everything you paid to them. If it cancels less than 10 days before the agreed date it must pay you 150% of the monies paid. This means that you can be confident that your BAR remover will arrive to do the work on the agreed date.
If your BAR member is not able to do the work on the agreed day or pay the 150% refund, the BAR Pre-payment Protection Scheme will be speedily activated to have the work completed by another member or provide you with a full refund.
If something goes wrong
If you have a complaint about the service your BAR member will try to resolve it fairly, quickly and efficiently. If it can’t settle your complaint to your satisfaction you may refer it to the BAR’s FREE Conciliation Service.
If you are still not satisfied a low-cost, independent arbitration scheme is available operated by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
OFT Monitoring
The Office of Fair Trading monitors the performance of all BAR members, to make sure that they are operating within the BAR Code of Practice and that the Code is working properly in the customers’ interests. You can help by completing the customer satisfaction survey your BAR remover will give you.
1/1/2010
VAT 15%17,5%
VAT Change 1st January 2010: On 1st January 2010, all businesses have switched back to the traditional 17.5% VAT rate, following 13 months at 15%
Here are just a few examplets on how the VAT change might affect you.
(Information was obtained from HMRC – detailed guide of VAT Changes. For any further details, please contact the HMRC directly)
Deposits and prepayments: The normal rule is that you should account for VAT on a deposit or pre-payment at the rate in force when you receive it. If you receive a deposit before 1 January 2010 for goods or services that you will supply on or after that date the 15% rate of VAT will apply to the deposit and 17.5% will apply to the balance. You do have the option to charge 17.5% on the deposit which may simplify matters if your customer can recover the VAT
Invoices raised after 1st Jan 2010 for work carried out before 1st Jan 2010:For example, if you issue a VAT invoice after 1 January 2010, for goods you provided, or services that you completed before 1 January 2010, you can, if you wish, apply the 15% rate.
Returns and credit notes:The rate of VAT to be used for credit notes or debit notes is the one which was in force at the time of the original supply. If your supply was in November 2009 and you charged 15%, the credit note must show VAT at 15%.
8/12/2009
Our opening hours during the festive season are as follows:
Normal trading hours untill the 23rd December 2009 (8:00 to 18:00)
24th Dec 2009: 8:00 - 12:00
25 - 28 Dec 2009: Closed
29 - 30 Dec 2009: Normal hours from 8:00 to 18:00
31st Dec 2009: 8:00 - 12:00
1 - 3 Jan 2010: Closed
4th Jan onwards: Normal hours from 8:00 to 18:00
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year
A complete and comprehensive guide to every country in Africa with essential travel information and 100's of tours and safaris, hotels and car hire throughout the continent
11/11/2009
30/10/2009
Wise Moves constantly strives to improve in all areas of its business to offer you excellent customer service, which is why we have launched our new website. It is now easy for all our customers to log on to our website and get an instant quote with our new user friendly on-line forms. Furthermore, due to our growth in the international market, you can find everything you need to know about relocating overseas, on our website. We are also proud to announce that, due to our expansion in the international market, we have now employed extra full time staff to help with the work load.
Please log on to our website regularly for news and updates on our company and the relocation market.
What is the Code of Practice?
