[Cookevilleins]

First I would like to say, in consoling myself for our own moving disaster, it has helped to read those of others, some of whom have had much worse.

Our shippers managed to lose a box, only one out of 94, but nonetheless a box containing nearly two decades of family pictures that cannot be replaced (negatives in the box too).

We do not recommend UPakWeShip - the service was not at all as advertised. Pick up, wherein we packed, was as represented. After, on arrival in New Zealand, it was a comedy - nothing at all as represented, and everything a disaster - too tedious to relate. Movers unpacked for us, we were not allowed there, and they did not even count what they unpacked. Apparently, so my NZ neighbor tells me, losing packages "off the back of a truck" is endemic here. Then it turns out that UpakWeShip is basically one person in the US, operating a call service from her garage probably. Multiple letters sent asking for help, most of which earned an e-mail back, requesting more info. More info sent, in painful time-consuming detail, lather, rinse, repeat.

There are multiple consumer organizations in the US and UK that monitor complaints viz moving companies (e.g. in US http://www.protectyourmove.gov/ where you can lodge a complaint and search complaints). It seems like a racket; maybe if enough of us raise hell it will not be worth the effort to lose, damage, and otherwise destroy bits of the lives of those of us who choose to relocate.

[JandM]

So sorry to hear of your bad experience. It really is about time somebody controlled these cowboy operators, and everybody who takes the trouble to make a separate complaint helps towards that, surely.

[Nathan]

We do not recommend UPakWeShip - the service was not at all as advertised. Pick up, wherein we packed, was as represented. After, on arrival in New Zealand, it was a comedy - nothing at all as represented, and everything a disaster - too tedious to relate. Movers unpacked for us, we were not allowed there, and they did not even count what they unpacked. Apparently, so my NZ neighbor tells me, losing packages "off the back of a truck" is endemic here. Then it turns out that UpakWeShip is basically one person in the US, operating a call service from her garage probably. Multiple letters sent asking for help, most of which earned an e-mail back, requesting more info. More info sent, in painful time-consuming detail, lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm sorry you had problems. We had excellent service from UPakWeShip and Worldwide Movers on the Wellington end.

Our service from UPakWeShip was above and beyond anything I would have expected. They (and, yes, there are several people involved) arranged a container for us on extremely short notice (4 days between first cotact and container arriving) when another outfit left us high and dry. Their contracted driver even helped load the container. UPakWeShip continued to provide us with information regarding the location of our goods, expected time of arrival, and contact information for the handlers on the NZ end... in Wellington. MAF and Customs were painless, and the people unloading were excellent.

Our unloaders in Wellington insisted we document the removal of each item from the container and its entry into the house. They said that was where most problems occurred and it was company policy to be very careful that the owner documents the arrival.

[flindingo]

I was thinking of using uPakWeShip as well. We're coming from the states, I was wondering what service you used. Did you go Door to Door, or Port to Port, it seems if they unpacked it then you did a Door to Door. I'm planning on the Port to Port, so I should be able to see my boxes on the pallet and then off, still I wouldn't be surprised if something got 'lost', but hope not.

[Cookevilleins]

I think we did use door to door, and we had a container, but the papers we signed indicated that the container would be delivered to us, only opened at MAF for inspection of key items. In fact, we called MAF ahead of time to verify that we could be there for the MAF opening of the container (MAF said, no probs for them). Not only did this not occur, due to the subcontractor that UPakWeShip allowed some other company in NZ to choose, but the contents of the container were unloaded onto a truck, then brought to us (box lost then). UPakWeShip had no idea of the container whereabouts till 3-4 days after delivery.

When I wrote to UPakWeShip, with a long list of the deviations from represented terms, the rep there (one woman is the "company"), asked for a full detailed description of problems. Since then for three months, her mails are usually one-liners requesting more info - mails replying to the twenty pages of info that we already sent (sent again and again). To this date, I have verified that she (UPak) has not talked to the local company here. In fact, I venture that she does not know who the local company is.

The degree of negligence in our case is past description. We have lost 20 years of personal memories of the intrepid times doing field work in Alaska, outliving the first intifada in Israel, ditto Tiananmen square in China, carnival with friends when living in Brazil, and worst of all, friends and relatives, some of whom did not outlive their various adventures, whose faces captured in the midst of this or that adventure, are now lost forever.

I guess it seems to me that one could have the same probs in Port-to-Port. Service not as represented (i.e. fraud) is when biz is not conducted as you were told it would be.

There is an ENZ post about ways to avoid freight-forwarders - if I had it to do over, I might pursue that. Also, if you are sending a palette, I had talked to ABF about our NZ move, and they can handle something like that. We have moved all over the US/world on multiple occasions; have used ABF several times, and have had OK luck with both price and performance, performance strictly according to how well items were packed/palletized. Some rough transport on occasion, but no loss/theft. The problem with the box that we lost may have been that it also had CDs in it, as listed on the inventory the local movers had, and apparently a common item "lost" in moves here according to our neighbors.