St Andrews Packing and Shipping

24/03/2021

Hello!! You have obviously clicked here because you have seen some of the reviews that have been posted and you are considering getting someone to pack your room and sort your stuff.
This business has been running pretty much for a year now as it only started because of COVID and I needed work. I am normally a physiotherapist and when my private practice (START Clinic) had to shut down due to the pandemic I started St Andrews Packing and Shipping.

I have personally packed over 200 rooms and had some help from Lucy and Natalie more recently. I will go through the process that I do with every customer after you make contact with me.

1. Facebook Friend Request. I request you and we generally speak within 4 hours of the request.

2. Video chat. I speak to every customer one on one via Facebook. Typing messages back and forth just doesn't do it and wastes lots of time waiting for replies. I need your undivided attention for about 10 minutes and you can ask all the questions about specific things that need sorted.

3. We discuss storage, shipping, disposal, recycling, donating and even selling. I tell you about prohibited items that I am not permitted to ship overseas. We cover specific items that need special attention and security. I detail the costs to you and methods of payment.

4. If you are happy with the process and wish to proceed, you need to organise access either by sending me a key, giving the letting agent permission to give me a key or notifying friends/wardens to permit access. We then set a date and time to do another video call when I first get into the room. Obviously I try to be flexible with your timezone so it isn't 3am your time or in the middle of an essay deadline.

5. The day arrives, I turn up early and get to work sorting out your room while you chill at your desk or in bed. I send you pictures of items I am not sure about whether to keep or throw. You reply. I send you photos of where I am storing your valuable items for your records and my safety. I fold your clothing treating them like I was going on a holiday rather than stuffing them into a sleeping bag sack. I wrap fragile items in clothing to protect them for months of storage or transport. I give unsolicited fashion advice, dispose of pizza boxes strewn around the flat, organise cleaners if absolutely necessary and can deliver stuff to a friend's flat. At the end of the pack I do a video scan of the room making sure I have emptied the drawers, cupboards, under the bed so you are sure everything has been covered.

6. If I am shipping, I load all your stuff and take it to my home and store it in my secured garage. I measure and weigh each item, place extra address labels inside, write the address and name on the outside and then do a shipping quote +/- insurance. I make you aware of charges that are totally out of my control (Customs/duty since Brexit has been a nightmare), fill out the multiple forms and declarations, print the labels and pay for the shipping. Then once you have agreed, I stick the labels to each item, seal the boxes with tape and send you photos so you know exactly how many items to expect. This whole process generally takes about 25-30 minutes for 5 items. It is literally paperwork city and again I charge you for the time.

As a rough guide, it costs about £140 for a large box to the west coast of the USA, £120 to the east coast, £25-30 for Europe. Oversize items like golf clubs and large suitbases a little bit more.

7. Once that is complete, I send you an itemised invoice with the time of the pack, cost of materials, cost of shipping/storage/cleaning and email it to you.

I also request that you write a review of the service on the Facebook or Google page. I know the service is a good one and I am sure I would do it all faster and better than you could do it because I am logical, organised and have a good Spotify playlist.

Fortunately for you, I have streamlined the process after doing so many rooms and am probably about 20-25% faster than I was when this all started a year ago. There are definitely cheaper options than mine so if you are on a super tight budget, I am probably not your guy. If you have stuff that you would like treated with care and attention, message me.

Physiotherapy and sports medicine clinic in St Andrews.Back and neck pain, post surgical rehabilitation with full access to gym facilities and equipment. We also treat people who have mobility and balance issues following falls or stroke and also do home visits. Acupuncture for pain relief. Vestibul...

05/01/2021

Happy 2021 everybody! With the recently announced restrictions, it looks like more of you are considering staying at home for second semester. If you would like to discuss the logistics of me packing your room or flat and organising storage or shipping, please get in touch. We can do a video call and go over everything.
Please read some of the reviews left by students that I helped last year.

20/11/2020

If you need anything packed or shipped home from St Andrews, please get in contact. I can either get boxes to you or do the packing when you have left. Please read the written reviews. Not sure why I don't have any star ratings with over 60 written reviews.
We have packed over 175 rooms since COVID started and shipped to every continent (not Antarctica).
I can also talk you through the logistics of storage/donation/recycling and run errands like return library books.

30/05/2020

A milestone was reached today. Lucy did our 100th pack!! First pack was on March 21. That is exactly 10 weeks ago. Seems like an eternity, but also feels like yesterday.
Glad we have helped out so many people and been lucky enough to have a "job" to go to. Stressful times for many people, but as long as you are healthy and have family, food and sun, life is pretty good.
Stay healthy and enjoy the sun wherever you are.

21/05/2020

Most customers are asking me "how long does it take to pack my room"? Hopefully You realise that it is impossible to guesstimate accurately as there are so many factors influencing the complexity of a pack which I can explain in a chat with you.
This pack took 4.5 hours to complete. The admin to arrange shipping/insurance/attach labels/write details on boxes took another 45 minutes. It is another 15 minutes for international shipping.
Dealing with customs paperwork is like golf for beginners: frustrating, boring and repetitive. Occasionally you do it perfectly and all is good in the world.

17/05/2020

Almost 2 months since this little business started (March 21st was the first client). 77 packs completed so far. I have shipped to Thailand, New York, New Hampshire, Los Angeles, Boston, Texas, Utah, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Greece, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Italy, France, Iceland, England, Wales and Aberdeen. 23 rooms ready to go when the keys arrive. 24 people staying in halls ready to go once the lockdown ends. I have seen some amazing and stunning wardrobes of clothes and been all over St Andrews now.
Great to see that I am not the only one with OCD and having my coat hangers all facing the same way!
Met some really nice people through video chats and had some great banter along the way. Still enjoying the work and learning a little bit from podcasts on Game theory, politics and economics. Areas I have little clue about but probably play a bigger part in my life than I previously imagined.
It has been a busy 8 weeks but packing has kept me sane and active so that is only a good thing. Stay safe out there and hopefully meet you when you come back to St Andrews.

06/05/2020

06/05/2020

04/05/2020

13 hours to pack 4 people's rooms in the same house. 22 boxes, 8 suitcases, 4 duffel bags and 2 tubs later the flat is ready for cleaning.

05/04/2020

This is my garage. Holding other people's stuff ready for shipping and storage. Almost no room for golf clubs!

29/03/2020

I suppose in some abstract way this applies to me. You might be wondering why I have started this service. I have been a physiotherapist since 1997, but currently not treating patients face to face. I need an income to keep food on the table just like everyone else and like to keep busy.
I am not saving lives, but 100% know that I am helping people out of a pickle, saving them time and money and stress by making sure that their room is empty to terminate their lease or avoiding the need to fly back just to pack.
I live in St Andrews and as long as I have permission and the keys, we are good to go. If you have a flatmate in the building while I am packing, please politely ask them to keep their distance.
If you are making contact, please leave the following details:
· Full name
· Email addresses (personal and university please)
· Home address
· Phone number (UK AND International ones please)
· Hall of residence/Private address
· Room number
· Will you be returning before September 2020?
· Estimate/rough idea of what items need storing or shipping (you can be as detailed or not here, this is just to give us an idea of how many boxes it may take)

Thanks,

Bernie.

28/03/2020

Introducing Lucy Drummond to the team to help you get things sorted. Lucy has just finished her Law Diploma at Aberdeen University and will also be doing video conferencing via facebook if she is at your flat. We will generally be working individually as we are trying to maintain as little physical interaction.

28/03/2020

There has been a big rush on bookings over the last three days as everyone is coming to terms with the fact that they probably won't make it back to the Bubble in the next 4 weeks (months?). Everyone in private accommodation, I urge you to make contact with me sooner rather than later. There is going to be a mad rush to have your room packed by April 25th now if you have recently given your Notice to Leave.
I can go into empty flats where I will not be sharing breathing space with anyone and work efficiently by myself.
If you want me to go in before the cleaners do their magic, please send me a message.
I can organise shipping with companies like FedEx, DHL, TNT and UPS to almost anywhere in the world (that isn't locked down). Even to Ushuaia!
Or I can organise storage with Chris at Saint Storage.com
I have even done a video conference cull of clothes before shipping to save even more money!
Please check out the reviews left by students just like you.
I can socially isolate while packing up boxes of your belongings OR you can travel back here and do it.

27/03/2020

Golf clubs and suitcases getting shipped to Toronto. All part of the service.

25/03/2020

University Halls Update.
As of this morning, noone is allowed into student halls to minimise the amount of movement and cross contamination between people. Even at 2 metres separation, there is risk.
Unfortunately, this means for the short/med term I won't be going into halls until the rules change. If we were in correspondence, sit tight and hopefully when the situation changes we can resume. Hopefully the University will have increased flexibility regarding your deadline for moving belongings out as at the time of the email giving the April 10 deadline you weren't in lockdown. So far, they have been super reasonable and they should be given credit for what has been implemented. I think it has been very fair and more than reasonable response.

If you are in private accommodation and there is noone else in your flat, I think I might be able to go as I will not be interacting with anyone. The only issue is getting access (ie. keys). If your letting agent or flatmate has a key they are willing to lend me or you can post one, then that is a way things could work. Either way I want to abide by government rules and not get nor infect anyone.

Please get in touch if you know of someone needing my services and email:

bernie@startclinic.co.uk

• Full name
• Email addresses (personal and university please)
• Home address
• Phone number (UK AND International ones please)
• Hall of residence/Private address
• Room number
• Will you be returning before September 2020?
• Estimate/rough idea of what items need storing (you can be as detailed or not here, this is just to give us an idea of how many boxes it may take)


Please stay safe. It's a stressful time not having your belongings and having financial burdens, but getting ill is probably more stressful.

23/03/2020

After packing 3 rooms, here is the the general gist of WHY you should choose my service.

Before you decide whether or not to choose my service, we have a chat to discuss your needs, urgency and logistics of gaining entry. I keep you and your flatmate or warden in the loop at all times.

I arrive at your place on time. Log in to the wifi and video call you.
We go through the room to sort out
1. Keep, 2. Store and 3. Dispose.
Precious/valuable items and clothes that need packed with super care.
I crack on and if there are any questions or alternatives I video call again to clarify exactly what you want. You can always contact me during the process with questions.
An hour before I expect to finish I call the great folk at Saint storage and give an estimated time of completion and try to coordinate so that I am not sitting around waiting for collection.
All boxes, luggage and items are labelled, photographed and sent to you.
It is collected and taken for storage and within 15 minutes you will have an email confirming that they have it all.

20/03/2020

Have had lots of reasonable questions:

Is it possible to pack up a room in Halls?
Yes, if you give the Reception/Warden explicit permission for me to be in your room via email and include my name and proposed date/time of me arriving and CC me into the email, they should let me in to the room as it is an extenuating circumstance.
2) How do you calculate cost?
It is time based. Depending on how long it takes to pack your stuff with care (unless told to do it as quickly as possible), organise the paperwork for storage or shipping and be there for parcel collection. You will need to cover the cost of the storage or shipping which will only be released once payment has been received. I will not under any circumstances ship your belongings to you BEFORE I have received payment.
3) I have some things in my room that probably shouldn't be exported. What do we do?
We will need to do a whattsapp video call so you can direct me exactly to where it is and I will flush it down the toilet. Sorry, but that is the only way this can work. The shipping company I am working with will need you to sign a form that indemnifies me from anything that is in your package as I don't want jail time for your recreational habits.
4) Valuables. If there are items of high worth, we will do a video call and locate them and pack them separately in a bubble wrap or even another smaller box. You can also purchase insurance via the shipping company. I can find out prices by getting quotes. Please remember this time is billable too so if I am spending hours on the phone trying to find 3 different prices, any savings may be negated.
5) Pack or Throw? This is where video calling is the way forward. No other service is offering to walk you through step by step. There will be things that you initially might think worth keeping but take up so much room or weigh so much that it is economically not viable to pack and ship. If your room has lots of stuff that you would like to choose, then my wife and I will go along and do a Marie Kondo like sorting process WITH you. This obviously costs more with 2 people involved but will be quicker and mean less shipping costs. There is no point packing Ikea fry pans and crappy mugs unless they are of sentimental value!
That's about all for now. If you are interested, please send me your mobile number so I don't have to ask for it.
Thanks,
Bernie.