Shipping & Insurance Advice
May 5th 2004, 12:06 am
#1
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6
Shipping & Insurance Advice
Well it's 4 months into the Melbourne life and we are about to receive our final shipments. So I thought I would share our experiences with shipping & insurance so other's can benefit.
1) We used John Mason - no grumbles at all. Came in, did the job they said they would do and all the stuff arrived safely at the other end. So I would recommend them.
2) Took the John Mason full insurance. Turned out very expensive and the insurance company they use have been absolutely useless without exception. Having to get JM to chase payment on our behalf, but looking into a deep black hole me thinks. They rush you to declare damage up to a limit of 30 days, but we are still waiting for settlement over 3 months later. I would advise just take the basic insurance in terms of container lost at sea, and try and go direct to an insurance broker, cut out the moving agents. (BTW, watch for rust on tools/metal kitchen equipment).
3) Used excess baggage to ship final leftover bits 'n' pieces. DON'T! I think the organisation is completely brain dead (you pay peanuts ....). They forgot to send forms so shipments delayed. They did not respond to emails. Did not do what was asked in emails. They filed multiple customs forms rather than one, so you end up paying multiple customs and quarantine bills!
Hope this helps.
Andy
1) We used John Mason - no grumbles at all. Came in, did the job they said they would do and all the stuff arrived safely at the other end. So I would recommend them.
2) Took the John Mason full insurance. Turned out very expensive and the insurance company they use have been absolutely useless without exception. Having to get JM to chase payment on our behalf, but looking into a deep black hole me thinks. They rush you to declare damage up to a limit of 30 days, but we are still waiting for settlement over 3 months later. I would advise just take the basic insurance in terms of container lost at sea, and try and go direct to an insurance broker, cut out the moving agents. (BTW, watch for rust on tools/metal kitchen equipment).
3) Used excess baggage to ship final leftover bits 'n' pieces. DON'T! I think the organisation is completely brain dead (you pay peanuts ....). They forgot to send forms so shipments delayed. They did not respond to emails. Did not do what was asked in emails. They filed multiple customs forms rather than one, so you end up paying multiple customs and quarantine bills!
Hope this helps.
Andy
