Here is the honest difference. A lot of online baggage sites are, at heart, booking platforms: you fill in a form, pay, and a label lands in your inbox for a third-party courier to collect. If something goes wrong, you are often left to sort it out with the carrier yourself.
That is not how we work. We are a specialist freight forwarding company, and every shipment we take on is reviewed by our own team before it leaves the UK — the right service, the right paperwork, the right customs steps for where it is going. We have been doing exactly this, from our base beside Heathrow, since 1998.
We would never claim every competitor works the same way — some are excellent. But if you have used an instant-quote site before and felt like you were on your own once you had paid, here is what tends to be different with us:
| Excess Luggage Co. | Many online booking platforms |
|---|---|
| ✓ Personal quotation reviewed by a real person | Often an automated instant price |
| ✓ UK-wide door collection | Varies |
| ✓ Export documentation prepared for you | Often left to you |
| ✓ Customs guidance for your destination | Limited or none |
| ✓ Heathrow-based freight specialists | Primarily a booking platform |
| ✓ Someone to call who knows your shipment | Call centre or email only |
| ✓ Shipment monitored collection to arrival | You track the carrier yourself |
| ✓ We handle customs queries on your behalf | You deal with the carrier directly |
| ✓ Shipping personal effects since 1998 | Varies |
When you call us, you get someone who actually understands personal effects, airline cargo, customs documentation, export paperwork and international shipping — not a call centre reading from a script. If you are not sure whether to send something, how to pack it, or what a destination will ask for at customs, that is exactly the kind of thing we talk people through every day.
We work from MetEx House, right by Heathrow Airport, which is where the great majority of the UK’s air freight moves. Being on the doorstep of the cargo terminals means we understand the airline and customs side properly, and it is why we have handled international luggage and personal effects shipments here since 1998.
Delays happen, customs sometimes have a question, a document occasionally needs clarifying. When that happens, we deal with it on your behalf rather than handing you a carrier’s phone number and wishing you luck. You have one team, who know your shipment, from the moment we collect it to the moment it arrives.
Unlike many online booking platforms that rely primarily on third-party courier networks, we personally manage every shipment and guide you through the whole process. It is a premium, hands-on service — and for anyone moving the things that matter to them across the world, that peace of mind is usually worth it.
Ready to talk to a real person? Call 0800 096 38 39 or use our quote form and we will look after the rest.