kittycat1

Hi All,

One of my work colleagues is having a nightmare from hell in regards to her belongings being shipped here.

Short story, UK company - Movecorp.co.uk UAE company - Leader relocations

Uk company picked up stuff from France in May ( approx. 1/4 of a container) then to UK then to here delivered in September. There was a delay in sending the belongings whilst they waited to fill the container which had not explained to my colleague, causing a delay of 4 months. When delivering they refused to deliver without full payment upfront so full payment was made before delivery happened.

Upon delivery 4 boxes are missing. 2 months later UAE are blaming UK, UK are blaming UAE. The whereabouts of the missing pieces are still unknown- UAE have got paperwork missing which are missing the pieces that are AWOL, Uk are yet to show any paperwork, so it looks like the problem is on the UK end, however endless calls are proving fruitless.

Does anyone have any recommendations of how to get this sorted? Is there a official body that can help as it is UK end? The customer service has been shockingly bad from both sides and both sides are playing the blame game. My colleague is close to going postal so would really appreciate any advice on how she can get her stuff back and really she should be reimbursed and compensated. Anyone have any experience with these guys and have anyone rational she can contact? Or would small claims court be the best route?

She does have insurance which she hasn't contacted as yet.

Thanks for your help in advance

KC

mentalist

If she has insurance, tell her to use it. It wont cost anything and may produce a result, one way or the other.

Millhouse

Totally agree. The premium has been paid and it's not like you're worrying about a repeat premium/claim like a car. Just use it.

Bahtatboy

And if she doesn't tell them pronto the insurance may be invalid.

Brains1983

If there is no insurance, the liability of the UAE side is only likely to be 30 AED p/Kg. Make sure that your friend makes written claims to both the UK agent and the UAE local one. An Email will suffice for the UK one, - you may need a formal delivery for the UAE side.

Haddad

On a general level it is better to pay for a whole 20ft container
then there are no delays or hassles about partial shipments.

On the loss side, I agree, let the insurers do the work.

norsk

Absolutely, but unfortunately a lot of people are unwilling to spring for a full container and a lot of moving companies are more than happy to sell their groupage service. It is usually quite a lot cheaper, but the risks are tremendous..

busybee2

yep was going to say the same, best to go for the whole container then it sealed and you shouldnt encounter these problems

scrubbedexpat141

I'm sure most people would rather wait than pay for a whole container for the sake of it, surely that's just stupid?

Inselaffen

not if you want your stuff to arrive

kittycat1

Thanks all, she is insured so is contacting her insurance company, will see if they can do anything- it appears the problems more with the UK guys than here surprisingly. The wisdom of hindsight! Note to self when I leave get a full container!

busybee2

nope as others have said... if you have the whole container its sealed and not opened again, if you wait to be a part load etc you dont know how long it will take to fill up, and there will be many unloads and loads etc and so will delay the other end once its got to port as the loads may be for different parts of the country and then you still have to pay for the container to get put back on another boat or on a truck which is expensive... we had a container from uae to scotland and it went on 3 different boats!

busybee2

also do your due dilegence and check it all out before hand.... and if you want to get a reliable service try the bigger firms rather than go for cheap! the major costs are the packing/unpacking etc

alfrombarking

I would imagine the shipping agent will place blame to the shipping line

If the claim is valid then the shippingline should sort this out.

Brains1983

nae likely, master bill of lading will simply state "shipper load, stow and count", shipping line rarely knows how many pieces are inside a container, let alone what is actually inside (if you tell them it's a car, they'll write "a car" tell them it's 500 suitcases, they'll write "500 suitcases").

Even if you could attribute the loss to the line - nae likely - they would be limited to 2 "Special Drawing Rights" per Kg (approx 11 AED p/Kg)