gemstone Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Hi all, Does anyone have any ideas if this is normal? I am thinking about contacting the shipping companies as the cubic feet is between 619 to 790cuft which seems a big difference and when I look closely at the inventories there seem to be quite a few things missing from some. (Interesting the ones that have quoted for more cubic feet seem to be the ones that things are missing from). Its very bizarre. Any ideas on this would be great. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Lol, yep it's normal I'm afraid, sometimes it seems totally random.... Definitely get in touch and ask the questions, I'd suggest you begin with a polite, 'I'm rather/very disappointed in the quote we received' and then describe the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Just go with the cheapest. It's the packing and unpacking that really costs money - the shipping itself is not that expensive and a few cubic metres here or there makes little difference. It's only if it gets too much for a single container... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 We ended up with an extra bill for 450GBP once our belongings were packed and on the ship, because we had been hugely underquoted on the volume, so just be careful with that. When the guy came to do the quote, we told him exactly what would and wouldn't be going with us, and the only change we made was that we decided not to ship our range cooker or a church pew that we used for a bench, so theoretically the volume should have decreased. We paid for a full container and were told that everything would fit. Everything did fit, but they charged us for extra items which we didn't even own (things like extra chests of drawers, hat stands, outdoor furniture - we didn't take any outdoors things at all), but they wouldn't release our belonging until we had paid. We refused and asked for the manager to contact us, but they took payment off the credit card anyway. We complained several times, but never came to a satisfactory conclusion. I wrote a letter to them asking about the extra items which they had charged us for, but which were not received (because they weren't in the container) to try and get compensation for the 'loss' of those items, but again I didn't hear anything back. In the end we decided it was too soul destroying to try and pursue it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiNoo Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Thanks for your post LKC. I'm trying to decide which company to use at the moment and have narrowed it down to three. Would you mind private messaging me which company you had your experience with? Many thanks! We ended up with an extra bill for 450GBP once our belongings were packed and on the ship, because we had been hugely underquoted on the volume, so just be careful with that. When the guy came to do the quote, we told him exactly what would and wouldn't be going with us, and the only change we made was that we decided not to ship our range cooker or a church pew that we used for a bench, so theoretically the volume should have decreased. We paid for a full container and were told that everything would fit. Everything did fit, but they charged us for extra items which we didn't even own (things like extra chests of drawers, hat stands, outdoor furniture - we didn't take any outdoors things at all), but they wouldn't release our belonging until we had paid. We refused and asked for the manager to contact us, but they took payment off the credit card anyway. We complained several times, but never came to a satisfactory conclusion. I wrote a letter to them asking about the extra items which they had charged us for, but which were not received (because they weren't in the container) to try and get compensation for the 'loss' of those items, but again I didn't hear anything back. In the end we decided it was too soul destroying to try and pursue it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 We went with the people whose quote was more acurate, the came round to the house - even looked in the loft and asked us to point out what we were taking, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 We ended up with an extra bill for 450GBP once our belongings were packed and on the ship, because we had been hugely underquoted on the volume, so just be careful with that. This could be challenged. I don't know which company it was but it sounds as though they just decided to try to get more money out of you after signing the contract. Don't feel bad, though, since you are vulnerable when you are emigrating (time pressure) and someone or other will try to rip you off. I got ripped off selling my car and my books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldmarried Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 This could be challenged. I don't know which company it was but it sounds as though they just decided to try to get more money out of you after signing the contract. Don't feel bad, though, since you are vulnerable when you are emigrating (time pressure) and someone or other will try to rip you off. I got ripped off selling my car and my books. I agree. You should pursue this. If they are a BAR member write and tell them they have 28 to give you a satisfactory response or you will ask BAR to intervene. In addition, if they are a FIDI member you can report them to FIDI so threaten them with this. If FIDI receives more than 3 complaints in a year about a particular member they pass it on to the external auditors for the FAIM standard and impacts on the scores for the next audit which may prevent their certification being renewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I agree. You should pursue this. If they are a BAR member write and tell them they have 28 to give you a satisfactory response or you will ask BAR to intervene. In addition, if they are a FIDI member you can report them to FIDI so threaten them with this. If FIDI receives more than 3 complaints in a year about a particular member they pass it on to the external auditors for the FAIM standard and impacts on the scores for the next audit which may prevent their certification being renewed. It was three years ago, we gave up trying to pursue it. The most irritating part was that they were the most expensive, but we went with them because the guy seemed to take his time and look in the loft, measure things etc. We went with a full container because they said it would be quicker, but it sat in Sydney for four weeks because they lost our paperwork and couldn't be bothered to sort it out. It was only after chasing them daily about it, that they admitted they had lost it. After calling oh a liar and accusing him of having not given the paperwork to them, when we had. We didn't pursue it for too long because as new migrants we were feeling vulnerable and just wanted our stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldmarried Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 It was three years ago, we gave up trying to pursue it. The most irritating part was that they were the most expensive, but we went with them because the guy seemed to take his time and look in the loft, measure things etc. We went with a full container because they said it would be quicker, but it sat in Sydney for four weeks because they lost our paperwork and couldn't be bothered to sort it out. It was only after chasing them daily about it, that they admitted they had lost it. After calling oh a liar and accusing him of having not given the paperwork to them, when we had. We didn't pursue it for too long because as new migrants we were feeling vulnerable and just wanted our stuff. Sorry to hear you had such a nightmare. Sometimes people do add and its only fair and reasonable for removal to companies to charge extra for the extra work. But there is a way of dealing with these things properly and if you can't demonstrate why the extra charge is fair through a comparison of the survey inventory and the actual inventory then no grounds to make the charge in my view. No excuses in Sydney. That's just shoddy. I can understand your feelings of vulnerability. For anyone else out there reading this my advice would be to pay up and get your goods and then within a reasonable time frame after delivery take up the matter again and, assuming you have selected a company which has the appropriate trade memberships, follow up with the trade associations if you are not satisfied. The BAR does follow up every complaint (sometimes albeit a bit slowly!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Sorry to hear you had such a nightmare. Sometimes people do add and its only fair and reasonable for removal to companies to charge extra for the extra work. But there is a way of dealing with these things properly and if you can't demonstrate why the extra charge is fair through a comparison of the survey inventory and the actual inventory then no grounds to make the charge in my view. No excuses in Sydney. That's just shoddy. I can understand your feelings of vulnerability. For anyone else out there reading this my advice would be to pay up and get your goods and then within a reasonable time frame after delivery take up the matter again and, assuming you have selected a company which has the appropriate trade memberships, follow up with the trade associations if you are not satisfied. The BAR does follow up every complaint (sometimes albeit a bit slowly!) The thing was we had taken things off, not put things on. They charged oh's credit card without permission, but his mum didn't send the statement for three months so we had no idea. It was a rubbish experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBO76 Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 It was three years ago, we gave up trying to pursue it. The most irritating part was that they were the most expensive, but we went with them because the guy seemed to take his time and look in the loft, measure things etc. We went with a full container because they said it would be quicker, but it sat in Sydney for four weeks because they lost our paperwork and couldn't be bothered to sort it out. It was only after chasing them daily about it, that they admitted they had lost it. After calling oh a liar and accusing him of having not given the paperwork to them, when we had. We didn't pursue it for too long because as new migrants we were feeling vulnerable and just wanted our stuff. That sounds like a very frustrating experience. Would you mind pm me the company so that I can avoid them as we will be shipping our stuff in a few months. Thanks Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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