Jo_b
17th January 2007, 08:43 AM
Stage 5: Waiting!
I kept in touch with MSC, and in the end my stuff ended up leaving later than anticipated because they didn’t have a full container load. This was annoying, but not the end of the world.
Make sure you keep copies of all the paperwork, and ask for a Bill of Lading – you’ll need this for MAF/Customs.
I then got myself out to Wellington and waited. A week before the due date I called the local agent acting for MSC as listed on the Bill of Lading – Lep International in Lower Hutt.
Then the fun started!
They said they had no knowledge of my stuff and passed me to another firm also mentioned on the BOL – called Accord.
Lep gave me a number for Accord in Wellington. Accord said they had no idea either, but pointed out that as my stuff went via Singapore, and there was another company called Accord in Singapore, so I should try them.
At which point I thought it was getting a bit daft. MSC after all have an office in Wellington, so I called them. They could trace my stuff as far as Singapore, but then said the Bill of Lading corresponded with a ship in South America! Eeeeeek!
They told me to talk to the UK office, but I couldn’t face a 12 hour wait so I called Accord in Singapore, who luckily knew what was happening, and gave me the name of a firm in Auckland called Universal Shipping Supply (confusingly a division of Universal Air Cargo – UAC).
I called UAC who told me they’d faxed Lep the information a week ago! So there was more tooing and froing, and in the end we cut Lep out of the chain and I dealt direct with UAC and freight firm JD Lyons.
UAC were a bit put out by this as Lep just gave me the UAC invoice direct, and usually Lep would have added some fees as well apparently, but as I said to the chap at UAC, he got paid what he was expecting to get so where is the problem?
UAC needed me to get MSC UK to fax various things to their agent, Unsworth, and Clare at MSC sorted all that overnight. What Unsworth do I have no idea – just another link in a very long chain!
I managed to negotiate with UAC to have JD Lyons bring the stuff direct to me rather than to a depot, for an extra fee. I had to use my internet banking to pay them direct to speed the process up rather than sending a cheque. It cost a couple of hundred bucks but well worth it as I had planned to hire a van and go to the depot myself which would have been much more hassle.
Now, this process was all a bit anxious, but if I’d kept my head down I’m sure eventually Lep would have called me, but I wanted to pre-clear my goods with MAF and customs. And I’m a meddler. I like to know what is happening and why!
I’m not sure why exactly there have to be so many parties involved – I got to see it from the inside a bit. If you pay the likes of Crown or Anglo Pacific this is what you don’t see – you just get the flawless transition – but to be honest I’m glad I had the learning experience.
Having tried to find out in advance exactly what I’d have to pay for in terms of port fees etc I drew a total blank.
As my stuff came into Auckland and was road freighted to Wellington all my emails to CenterPort here were pointless.
You just have to hold your breath and ask a lot of questions at this end to see what you are paying for.
In the end I had to pay UAC $514.81 including GST for ‘port fees’ and another $196.88 to get the stuff to my house. Nobody in the UK was able to give me any idea how much this part would cost, but I’d allowed a few hundred quid so was pleasantly surprised.
Spent so far: £254 (plus up to £10 for internet/phone to chase it all down!) = £264
Total: £1650
Stage 6: MAF and Customs
This bit was actually really straightforward, and didn’t cost me a penny!
When you have confirmation that your ship is in the country (or within 5 days of landing I think) take all your paperwork – including a Bill of Lading and any delivery notes and arrival notice papers, plus your passport (and the passports of any other people who have belongings in the shipment) and list of contents to the MAF office.
In Wellington this is down at Centreport House, which is on the other side of the road down by the WestPac stadium – it’s opposite the TelstraClear office. Address is CenterPort House, Port of Wellington, Hinemoa St.
I filled in a form, chatted to the lovely bloke on reception who asked me a few things about what was in the boxes (had I cleaned my bikes and vaccum cleaner etc), and they then decided there was no need to inspect.
I am sure this was because I went in person, was knowledgeable and asked pertinent questions (was a wool rug and wooden furniture a problem – answer: no). If I’d done this through a forwarding company they’d have no idea if I’d taken the time to inform myself of rules, but because I had they were happy to take my word for it.
And no money was asked for! I just got NO INSPECTION REQUIRED written on the form.
So, then you take the same form to Customs. In Welly this is in a building that helpfully has THE CUSTOMSHOUSE written on the roof! Address is 17-21 Whitmore St (on the corner with Featherstone St).
If you are on heading from town towards the WestPac take a left at the Shell Garage up the road towards the Beehive and it’s over the junction on the left.
They will check you have a 12 month minimum visa in the passports, look at your contents and the MAF forms, and issue and Import Delivery Notice.
This took about 45 mins, and again they did not ask for a fee.
I then faxed these docs to UAC and they released the goods to the freight firm.
You can call MAF on 04 473 8996 and Customs on 04 473 6099.
Stage 7: it turns up!
My goods turned up at 8.30 on the dot on Monday morning, as agreed.
On the whole everything was in good shape. Except one box that was a bit squashed.
I was very glad I’d opted for heavy duty boxes, as they’d clearly been shifted around a lot.
But, everything was there. There were a couple of broken glasses, the glass in one picture was smashed, and the box that was more squashed than the rest contained a large metal lamp, the shade of which was dinked and out of shape.
I have written to the insurance company, and so far they haven’t laughed at me so it may be that I get some cash back for that!.
Conclusion:
Door to door Hampshire to Wellington for 7m3 (imagine a large long wheelbase transit van stuffed to bursting) cost me £1650 all in (and I’ve rounded up so probably less).
This is far less than I was quoted by firms who handle the whole process – in fact probably half.
The people I dealt with in the UK on the whole seemed reluctant to deal with a member of the public, though I did get some good service in the end. I think they like to keep their language of LCLs, bills of lading etc a secret code!
In NZ, all the people I spoke to, including those who really knew nothing about my situation (the guy at Accord Wellington, MSC Wellington) were helpful, friendly and really great. They went out of their way to help rather than saying “not my problem”.
MAF and Customs were helpful and the process straightforward (and free!)
I would say, if you want an easy life, get the whole lot paid for in advance, expect to have random fees added and to have to fork out for a MAF inspection, but relax in the knowledge that all you see is the sleek exterior of the machine.
If you decide to DIY it, you get the same people doing the same things, but you get to see the inside of a hulking great sometimes inefficient engine.
It will take you time and sometimes feel a bit scary, but it is possible.
It helps if, like me, you like to know what you are paying for, are happy to do the research upfront, and are prepared to play phone tag (without shouting at anyone out of sheer frustration!)
And if anyone wants to pay me as a shipping consultant, let me know!
Jo.
I kept in touch with MSC, and in the end my stuff ended up leaving later than anticipated because they didn’t have a full container load. This was annoying, but not the end of the world.
Make sure you keep copies of all the paperwork, and ask for a Bill of Lading – you’ll need this for MAF/Customs.
I then got myself out to Wellington and waited. A week before the due date I called the local agent acting for MSC as listed on the Bill of Lading – Lep International in Lower Hutt.
Then the fun started!
They said they had no knowledge of my stuff and passed me to another firm also mentioned on the BOL – called Accord.
Lep gave me a number for Accord in Wellington. Accord said they had no idea either, but pointed out that as my stuff went via Singapore, and there was another company called Accord in Singapore, so I should try them.
At which point I thought it was getting a bit daft. MSC after all have an office in Wellington, so I called them. They could trace my stuff as far as Singapore, but then said the Bill of Lading corresponded with a ship in South America! Eeeeeek!
They told me to talk to the UK office, but I couldn’t face a 12 hour wait so I called Accord in Singapore, who luckily knew what was happening, and gave me the name of a firm in Auckland called Universal Shipping Supply (confusingly a division of Universal Air Cargo – UAC).
I called UAC who told me they’d faxed Lep the information a week ago! So there was more tooing and froing, and in the end we cut Lep out of the chain and I dealt direct with UAC and freight firm JD Lyons.
UAC were a bit put out by this as Lep just gave me the UAC invoice direct, and usually Lep would have added some fees as well apparently, but as I said to the chap at UAC, he got paid what he was expecting to get so where is the problem?
UAC needed me to get MSC UK to fax various things to their agent, Unsworth, and Clare at MSC sorted all that overnight. What Unsworth do I have no idea – just another link in a very long chain!
I managed to negotiate with UAC to have JD Lyons bring the stuff direct to me rather than to a depot, for an extra fee. I had to use my internet banking to pay them direct to speed the process up rather than sending a cheque. It cost a couple of hundred bucks but well worth it as I had planned to hire a van and go to the depot myself which would have been much more hassle.
Now, this process was all a bit anxious, but if I’d kept my head down I’m sure eventually Lep would have called me, but I wanted to pre-clear my goods with MAF and customs. And I’m a meddler. I like to know what is happening and why!
I’m not sure why exactly there have to be so many parties involved – I got to see it from the inside a bit. If you pay the likes of Crown or Anglo Pacific this is what you don’t see – you just get the flawless transition – but to be honest I’m glad I had the learning experience.
Having tried to find out in advance exactly what I’d have to pay for in terms of port fees etc I drew a total blank.
As my stuff came into Auckland and was road freighted to Wellington all my emails to CenterPort here were pointless.
You just have to hold your breath and ask a lot of questions at this end to see what you are paying for.
In the end I had to pay UAC $514.81 including GST for ‘port fees’ and another $196.88 to get the stuff to my house. Nobody in the UK was able to give me any idea how much this part would cost, but I’d allowed a few hundred quid so was pleasantly surprised.
Spent so far: £254 (plus up to £10 for internet/phone to chase it all down!) = £264
Total: £1650
Stage 6: MAF and Customs
This bit was actually really straightforward, and didn’t cost me a penny!
When you have confirmation that your ship is in the country (or within 5 days of landing I think) take all your paperwork – including a Bill of Lading and any delivery notes and arrival notice papers, plus your passport (and the passports of any other people who have belongings in the shipment) and list of contents to the MAF office.
In Wellington this is down at Centreport House, which is on the other side of the road down by the WestPac stadium – it’s opposite the TelstraClear office. Address is CenterPort House, Port of Wellington, Hinemoa St.
I filled in a form, chatted to the lovely bloke on reception who asked me a few things about what was in the boxes (had I cleaned my bikes and vaccum cleaner etc), and they then decided there was no need to inspect.
I am sure this was because I went in person, was knowledgeable and asked pertinent questions (was a wool rug and wooden furniture a problem – answer: no). If I’d done this through a forwarding company they’d have no idea if I’d taken the time to inform myself of rules, but because I had they were happy to take my word for it.
And no money was asked for! I just got NO INSPECTION REQUIRED written on the form.
So, then you take the same form to Customs. In Welly this is in a building that helpfully has THE CUSTOMSHOUSE written on the roof! Address is 17-21 Whitmore St (on the corner with Featherstone St).
If you are on heading from town towards the WestPac take a left at the Shell Garage up the road towards the Beehive and it’s over the junction on the left.
They will check you have a 12 month minimum visa in the passports, look at your contents and the MAF forms, and issue and Import Delivery Notice.
This took about 45 mins, and again they did not ask for a fee.
I then faxed these docs to UAC and they released the goods to the freight firm.
You can call MAF on 04 473 8996 and Customs on 04 473 6099.
Stage 7: it turns up!
My goods turned up at 8.30 on the dot on Monday morning, as agreed.
On the whole everything was in good shape. Except one box that was a bit squashed.
I was very glad I’d opted for heavy duty boxes, as they’d clearly been shifted around a lot.
But, everything was there. There were a couple of broken glasses, the glass in one picture was smashed, and the box that was more squashed than the rest contained a large metal lamp, the shade of which was dinked and out of shape.
I have written to the insurance company, and so far they haven’t laughed at me so it may be that I get some cash back for that!.
Conclusion:
Door to door Hampshire to Wellington for 7m3 (imagine a large long wheelbase transit van stuffed to bursting) cost me £1650 all in (and I’ve rounded up so probably less).
This is far less than I was quoted by firms who handle the whole process – in fact probably half.
The people I dealt with in the UK on the whole seemed reluctant to deal with a member of the public, though I did get some good service in the end. I think they like to keep their language of LCLs, bills of lading etc a secret code!
In NZ, all the people I spoke to, including those who really knew nothing about my situation (the guy at Accord Wellington, MSC Wellington) were helpful, friendly and really great. They went out of their way to help rather than saying “not my problem”.
MAF and Customs were helpful and the process straightforward (and free!)
I would say, if you want an easy life, get the whole lot paid for in advance, expect to have random fees added and to have to fork out for a MAF inspection, but relax in the knowledge that all you see is the sleek exterior of the machine.
If you decide to DIY it, you get the same people doing the same things, but you get to see the inside of a hulking great sometimes inefficient engine.
It will take you time and sometimes feel a bit scary, but it is possible.
It helps if, like me, you like to know what you are paying for, are happy to do the research upfront, and are prepared to play phone tag (without shouting at anyone out of sheer frustration!)
And if anyone wants to pay me as a shipping consultant, let me know!
Jo.