[USanonoNZagogo]

Hey all...

Been now looking at moving the "stuff". I am in DC area going to Auckland and received two quotes for a 20' container, door to auckland port:

Two Companies are - www.msifreight.com and www.air7seas.com (neither listed on www.movingscams.com).

air7seas said they'll beat anybody's price. I told the them about the 2,790, from msi. They asked to see the quote, then wrote back and said they'll do it for 2,700. Each includes the delivery of the truck to our door (carrying the 20' container) and 2 hours of packing time (then $85 for each hour after).

They mentioned other additional charges such as:
- $75 AES filing fee
- $?? fumigation charges
- $?? quarantine inspection
- $?? something called GST?
- $?? customs clearance

Questions:
Did anybody moving from the US experience around the same quote?
What was your experience with the above additional charges?
Are there other hidden charges I should be concerned about?

Thanks for your help... just trying to budget this out with no shocking surprises.

Cheers - Brady

[Park City Partner]

I can't give you the individual components but we moved from Park City UT to Auckland. We had movers pack our belongings and load the container and deal with everything else too...including insurance it was about $10k US. So I think your price is great! And we were very unhappy with the movers (Allied). In hindsight, I would have preferred to do it ourselves...more control for this control freak...

[Park City Partner]

Oops, and GST is Goods and Services Tax (12.5%)

[tigerlily]

Read up on scams that moving companies in NZ inflict on immigrants re: MAF fees. Lots of threads here about it. Basically they'll charge you huge amounts, call it the MAF fee, when the actual fee was only $100 or something more reasonable.

Those quotes are both cheap! We have been quoted roughly $6 K by 3 different companies to move from Spokane, WA to Wellington. We load the container (have 24 hours to do it), and they unload it into our (as yet not found) rental on the other end. We chose Ranier because of good experiences by people here and also because when I called around in Spokane for suggestions I was told to use Ranier ("Because when someone has a problem, we don't even hear about it, Ranier takes care of it.")

Download and read these forms:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/personal-travel-belongings-and-mail/bringing-things-into-nz/your-belongings
it should help with knowing what you can pack and what you have to declare.

[Bruckner]

Although neither are listed on movingscams.com it may be worth it to post about the companies and their respective estimates to see if anyone has any info on them at all.

We used Rainier and are happy so far. Our container isn't here yet but it was pretty smooth so far and they were the cheapest quote for a 40 foot.

Emily

[USanonoNZagogo]

Thanks PC Partner - Good to know about the GST.

Tigerlily - Can't believe you got to pack it for 24 hours. We only get 2 hrs. :( Yea wondering about the MAF fees. I'll try to get them (and other fees) into the contract up front. What does MAF stand for anyway?

Emily - I'll verify these quotes... best to be sure and glad to know so far so good for you. Can't help from thinking about Raineir Beer!

Cheers - Brady

[Oregonkiwi]

MAF = Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry
http://www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/index.htm