SuperSeagulls

Hi

I have been having a look through the paperwork I got with Excess and Cronw and notice that the AQIS Fee is covered by Crown (and not Excess).

I was wondering how much the AQIS Fee usually is, and what your experiences are if you have had to pay it? I assume it depends on the volume of your shipment.

Finally - am I right in thinking the AQIS Fee is different from the fee they would charge if they actually had to look in your shipment and clean or dispose of any goods because of possible contamination etc?

Thanks

SS

joho

Cant remeber having to pay anything this end only a fumigation fee for 2 pieces of antique furniture that I must admit looked a little dodgy. It should all be included in your quote apart from these incidentals.

Jo

spalen

That AQIS fee that they charge is probably the inspection time - so for example 30 minutes of AQIS time to inspect the container.

I would imagine that it wont cover any destruction, or other actions like fumigation , that are caused as a consequence of what AQIS find because these are variable and effort/time dependant.

Kelli28

we had to pay $455 port clearence and $49 to aquis then another $49 to inspect it but we shipped the stuff ourselves we didint use a removal company we also had to pay $17 for about a hours parking at customs :scared: as it was right in the city

SuperSeagulls

Thanks very much - it doesnt sound like the fees are very mcuh if you use a shipping company.

SS

h2oskineil

Hi

We're worried about some of our furniture, our dining chairs are made from woven banana leaves, and the bed is a woven wicker style. I emailed AQIS and they said the chairs may need an import licence $117.00 and then will need fumigating on arrival, another $100 (could be more). BUT.... they have said that they may have to be destroyed at our expence if they don't like the look of them!
Shipping companies have quoted different explanations, some say just see how it goes, you should be fine, while others have said don't even bother to take them.

I think we're going to risk taking them and paying the cleaning fee's in Oz, to dump them and buy new would be too expensive, on top of everything else.

You can find lots of info on the AQIS web site.
Neil.

Pollyana

When they destroyed my hat with silk flowers on it was $85 to treat or $65 to destroy.

SuperSeagulls

Thanks again - I may leave my tent behind, just to be on the safe side..and then put my shoes through the washing machine.

SS

BettyBoop

We've went through Crown. Just about to get our shipment delivered to us in Qld. Had Crown on the phone today - AQIS found seeds on two African figures I had. Crown asked me if I wanted AQIS to treat them (for 300 dolars) or did I want them disposed of for free. Guess what I chose?

They were nice ornaments, but originally only cost £10.00 .
Crown have been good for us, so far, will post next week if any stuff missing or badlt damaged.

BB

SuperSeagulls

Thanks BB

SS

Anne4Terry

Crown are the only ones who have included the AQIS inspection fee in their quote, £300. That is not including any fumigation or destroying. I wonder if people generally have to pay around $800 dollars that end if they chose one of the other companies that don't include it in the quote.

I am really interested to hear results on this as I am about to chose a shipper from the quotes we've had. In fact I may even try to do a poll. I've never done one of those before!!

worzel

If I follow your drift, Crown quoted us about 150GBP more than John Mason but included the basic inspection fee that all shipments have which made them about equal.

For information the way it worked for us (with Crown) was:

The container comes off the boat and goes into Crown's bonded storage yard. Customs review the paperwork and may ask questions based upon it (they wanted to know what coolants were in our fridge). Only once Customs grant clearance do AQIS make inspections. Crown will highlight 10% or so of your boxes that have potentially interesting things in them (eg shoes, garden stuff, untreated wood products) and then AQIS will request some of them to inspect. I would guess this would be on a risk-basis and if they find the first few are okay may not bother with the rest.

Crown told us that if they found some things they weren't happy with they would give us the choice of having them destroyed or paying an extra fee to have them cleaned - she mentioned $40 to have a child's bike cleaned, for example.

At some point your boxes are taken out of the container and transferred into a few very large wooden crates (3 to carry our 20ft container-full). They then send a couple of young lads around who do their very best to get away asap and damage some bits of furniture to help you decide you can do the rest yourself

Anne4Terry

Crown have quoted us £340 more than two other quotes we've had. From what I have read so far, I dont' think people are paying that much in a basic inspection so we will probably not go with Crown.

SuperSeagulls

Hi there

Crown are usually the most expensive shippers. They may be able to drop the quote if you tell them they have competition.

As for AQIS, I asked Excess (who dont include the fee) and they said they didnt include the fee because not everyone is charged the fee. And if they are charged it is usually about $40 (+ destroy or cleaning fees). Also, Excess said that they will pay the cleaning fee if AQIS demand the outside of the container be cleaned......this is very important as some peiople have been stung with this (ridiculous) charge.

SS

Anne4Terry

We have been having a toss up today between Excess and John Mason. I think we will probably go for Excess as they have quoted us only £50 more than John Mason but they have based it on 620 cubic feet (in writing) and John Mason have based theirs on 600 cubic feet (not stated on quote but told verbally) so if we do not use that much volume then Excess are more likely than John Mason to charge us less money as theirs is in writing. If you managed to follow all that