Lozzaroo

Hi Snifter, Thank you very much for the info. I will try and contact Iron chef, hopefully he doesn’t mind. I think I’ll stil with LP for the insurance then and just get on and get a bunch of quotes in a few months.

Hi Everyone, My husband and I are moving back to Australia in September and are planning shipping now. Sorry for all the questions, I am getting lost in information online and struggling to find real answers. Shipping companies havent been overly useful either and don’t really want to give much advice. We will be taking two sportsbikes (sv650 and a 600 ninja) back with us and about 10-20 medium size boxes (not sure how much stuff yet) and no furniture (but considering taking our new 50 inch tv as we got it extemely cheap here due to an argos mess up ha) I’ve never had to ship anything before aside from a few boxes when we moved here from aus so wanted to get some advice. So far we’ve had one quote from White and Co who work with a firm in Townsville, Queensland (where we are moving back to) I was interested in them as we want door to door shipping and the local company in Townsville recommened them. As I havent had quotes from anyone else yet not sure how competitive they are. I also cant see much mention of them on this forum. I wanted to ask a few questions: Has anyone used White and co before and how did they find their service? (Im going to get quotes from other companies recommeneded on here as well) I think im going to grab spare boxes from work and roughly pack the majority of the stuff up and stack against a wall so we can get very specific quotes without speculative over estimating on the salesmans behalf. I will still get the shipping company to pack everything in their own boxes for the move. Which brings me onto my next question, is it definately better in terms of passing customs quickly if the boxes are marked as packed by the shipping company? Because we are shipping motorcycles I’m concerned that not all companies specialise in this and I need to be careful with who we choose? white and co for example say they take our bikes away and fully crate them individually before going into the container. Slightly concerned I don’t get to see the bikes being packed and crated, especially since all insurance terms ive been reading state they dont cover vehicle scratches/dents etc. Nothing to stop someone messing about on our bikes in a warehouse somewhere and dropping them before shipping! Also regarding the bikes, if anyone has experience, how clean did you get the bike before shipping, do we need to strip them back and get every crumb of dirt off them basically to showroom condition? Did you remove the fuel, oil and battery before the shipping company took it, do they pack the battery separately or can it not be shipped? I’ve looked into the import permit and docs required and we meet the conditions so i will make application for that soon. Aside from the import permit im under the assumption that I dont need to do any other paperwork if i hire a company managing the move of the bikes along with our boxes? Once the bikes get to Aus, what experience has anyone had in terms of additinal fees that might crop up and any further paperwork i might need to deal with even when the shipping company are managing the move for me door to door? When do customs value your bike and issue you costs for duty, does this get sent to the shipping company and passed onto us? Any other hints, tips, advice or warnings anyone can give regarding shipping the bikes would be much appreciated, i’m really anxious about seeing them at the other end to find theyve been messed with or a scratched up/ had parts stolen etc. Regarding electronics, we would be taking our 50 inch tv, a custom gaming pc and a playstation. Any advice on shipping electronics appreciated as well. I’m reading on here that basically everyone gets insurance through a separate company and most seem to go with Letton Percival, any other suggestions also? Sorry again for so many questions, i have been reading alot of forums but couldnt seem to find much info on what I’m seeking more clarification on. Thanks very much in advance for all advice!