Guest Gollywobbler Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 HI all My friend Lisa is in strife and I am hoping that we may be able to help her. Lisa has recently migrated to Adelaide with her husband and children. They paid a remobals company in the UK to pack and send a container to Adelaide. The container has reached Adelaide but the company there refuses to release it, claiming that the UK company owes them money. The UK company is not answering the phone or responding to faxes and e-mailes so they might be about to go bust, I fear. The container contains all of Lisa's husband's certificates confirming his qualifications. His new employers in Australia are demandng proof of his qualifications. It also contains all their furniture, crockery etc and they have agreed a rental of an unfurnished house from 24 October. Can the Australian company hold Lisa's container to ransom in this way? Can anybody suggest what she ought to do? I have absolutely no idea about shipping and international removals, so I haven't got a clue what to suggest and would be very grateful to anyone who can suggest anything. Many thanks Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Missiemo Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 HI all My friend Lisa is in strife and I am hoping that we may be able to help her. Lisa has recently migrated to Adelaide with her husband and children. They paid a remobals company in the UK to pack and send a container to Adelaide. The container has reached Adelaide but the company there refuses to release it, claiming that the UK company owes them money. The UK company is not answering the phone or responding to faxes and e-mailes so they might be about to go bust, I fear. The container contains all of Lisa's husband's certificates confirming his qualifications. His new employers in Australia are demandng proof of his qualifications. It also contains all their furniture, crockery etc and they have agreed a rental of an unfurnished house from 24 October. Can the Australian company hold Lisa's container to ransom in this way? Can anybody suggest what she ought to do? I have absolutely no idea about shipping and international removals, so I haven't got a clue what to suggest and would be very grateful to anyone who can suggest anything. Many thanks Gill Crikey Gill, that is a nightmare, leave it with me and I will see if anyone can suggest anything, let me know if you hear anything in the mean time. Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pesky Varmit Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Gill Hope I can help a little. Can you get your friend to check if the removals company she used was a member of the BAR Association? If it was, they have an Advanced Payment Guarantee whereby the goods will be delivered to the agreed desination, even if the company ceases trading whilst goods are in transit. You can look them up at http://www.bar.co.uk. Sorry I'm not computer literate enough to provide the link!! It must be a nightmare for them. Good luck in your quest to help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pesky Varmit Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Ooops!! Just realised I've been very silly :oops: Didn't realise that when you typed the web address it automatically linked. You learn something new every day :lol: I shouldn't relly do this without my other half ! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Pesky and Missiemo http://www.moversinternationalplc.co.uk/contact.html Movers International PLC/Ltd (not sure which) is the company that has allegedly let Lisa down. The front man for it is a guy called Bill Wright, I am told. It is not a member of BAR, this company, and the fact that only a PO Box address is given stinks in my view. Lisa was recommended to Movers International by someone on British Expats, I gather. It could be that they were once profitable and good but that the company is now on the skids - I don't know. I think people should steer clear of this company, though. Lisa has consulted a solicitor in Oz. He is advising an application to the Court for a Replevin Order. Apparently this is an emergecy remedy which restores the goods to the owner, and then the dispute about the money can continue at a more leisurely pace. He also mentioned the Trades Practices Act in Australia. Apparently it binds every trader, no matter what sort of trading it is. It is strictly enforced and it forbids Unconscionable Trading, apparently, with hefty penalties for contravention. The company in Adelaide is bleating that it is only a small, family-run business and that they have been stung so many times by unscrupulous foreign oppos that they have decided to Get Tough. Their idea of Get Tough is to attack the innocent victim of the original scam, it appears. I've suggested asking them why they are so hopelessly inept in their chosen field of commerce that they cannot figure out how to prevent themselves from being ripped off. I reckon that both companies could easily be as bad as each other, quite honestly. If I were Lisa I wouldn't give the Adelaide company money on principle. She didn't drag them into this. They dragged her into it. I'd take them to Court sooner than give them a bean. How many other new migrants have they done this to, I ask myself? It is too soon to say what the outcome might be, but if anyone can suggest anything, I would be very grateful. Thanks Gill xxxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Missiemo Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Pesky and Missiemo http://www.moversinternationalplc.co.uk/contact.html Movers International PLC/Ltd (not sure which) is the company that has allegedly let Lisa down. The front man for it is a guy called Bill Wright, I am told. It is not a member of BAR, this company, and the fact that only a PO Box address is given stinks in my view. Lisa was recommended to Movers International by someone on British Expats, I gather. It could be that they were once profitable and good but that the company is now on the skids - I don't know. I think people should steer clear of this company, though. Lisa has consulted a solicitor in Oz. He is advising an application to the Court for a Replevin Order. Apparently this is an emergecy remedy which restores the goods to the owner, and then the dispute about the money can continue at a more leisurely pace. He also mentioned the Trades Practices Act in Australia. Apparently it binds every trader, no matter what sort of trading it is. It is strictly enforced and it forbids Unconscionable Trading, apparently, with hefty penalties for contravention. The company in Adelaide is bleating that it is only a small, family-run business and that they have been stung so many times by unscrupulous foreign oppos that they have decided to Get Tough. Their idea of Get Tough is to attack the innocent victim of the original scam, it appears. I've suggested asking them why they are so hopelessly inept in their chosen field of commerce that they cannot figure out how to prevent themselves from being ripped off. I reckon that both companies could easily be as bad as each other, quite honestly. If I were Lisa I wouldn't give the Adelaide company money on principle. She didn't drag them into this. They dragged her into it. I'd take them to Court sooner than give them a bean. How many other new migrants have they done this to, I ask myself? It is too soon to say what the outcome might be, but if anyone can suggest anything, I would be very grateful. Thanks Gill xxxx Hi Gill Well the only advice I was given was as below which was the same as what peskey suggessted. I was talking to someone only yesterday about this kind of thing. (The person I was talking too knew someone who had the same thing happen to them, and they had to pay the shipping fee again to get their container). Is the removal company that are going bust, a member of BAR Overseas Group? Apparently if they are, BAR may be able to sort out the mess. I don't know whether or not this is right, but it may worth finding out. I think there should be a warning out about these guys Hope she gets it sorted and I would so not pay them a penny. Good Luck to her Gill Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Mo You are quite right, so is Pesky, but apparently Movers International are not members of the BAR group. Lisa was unaware of this trade association. So was I until she told me about it. I'm wondering about giving Movers International a ring myself sometime soon. My phone number coming up on their screen would look like potential new business to them, so if they are still trading, they should answer the call. If they don't answer the call then they might have ceased trading. They are in Helensburgh apparently, which is in Scotland I think. I reckon Lisa should Get Tough right back with the people in Adelaide - via the Court. I know that shipping is a seedy. murky business. It always has been. Bullying the little guy looks like the easy option, no doubt. I would make it my business to demonstrate otherwise to them, once and for all. :evil: Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 We've had a couple of people round to give us quotes. Both are members of BAR (I checked after reading this post). Interestingly, they both said that they rely on word of mouth from sites like these to get alot of business, so just as importantly, we need to be highlighting those companies who don't deliver (no pun intended). :? Hope your friend gets it sorted Gill, it's a big enough move without that happening at the other end. Ali x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nelson Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 Just a thought.. Did the people pay by credit card? They may be insured??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 Just a thought.. Did the people pay by credit card? They may be insured??? Hi Krista Very good thinking, lass. I don't know, but I will find out. A lady called Lucy has come forward. Either herr goods are in the same container as Lisa's or Lucy is sharing a container with somebody else, but Lucy's goods are being held to ransom as well, also in Adelaide. At least the two lassies now have each other, which makes this less of a nightmare. Also, Lucy is a legal secretary with a firm of solicitors in Adelaide, so hopefully her new bosses will advise both Lucy & Lisa for free. (They'd be a curmudgeonly lot of they don't, anyway.) Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest choobs Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 Just a thought.. Did the people pay by credit card? They may be insured??? Hi Krista Very good thinking, lass. I don't know, but I will find out. A lady called Lucy has come forward. Either herr goods are in the same container as Lisa's or Lucy is sharing a container with somebody else, but Lucy's goods are being held to ransom as well, also in Adelaide. At least the two lassies now have each other, which makes this less of a nightmare. Also, Lucy is a legal secretary with a firm of solicitors in Adelaide, so hopefully her new bosses will advise both Lucy & Lisa for free. (They'd be a curmudgeonly lot of they don't, anyway.) I can't pretend to have anything of value to add to this thread other than my sympathies and to point out that there aren't many situations in life that gives one the excuse to use the word "curmudgeonly" in anger, but this is one of them Choobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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