Shipping personal belongings?
Mar 18th 2004, 1:50 am
#16
spiggle meister
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Manchester-Surrey-Coventry-Hampshire-West Yorkshire, now Woodland Hills,CA!
Posts: 103
Originally posted by ireland132
I know everyone has had different experiences when shipping things and all I can add is that clearing customs can take longer than you may expect (or were quoted in the UK).
We shipped all our belongings from London to Los Angeles (900 cu ft/150 boxes) last September.
It took 3 weeks to make the crossing (exactly on time) and then about 5 weeks to clear customs. There was no way to speed it up and we just had to wait. Backlogs, Thanksgiving, increased level of secuirty were all to blame. You just have to be patient.
However, nothing was damaged and the delivery guys were great. They reassembled everything that needed doing so. Have forgotten about the hassle involved.
I know everyone has had different experiences when shipping things and all I can add is that clearing customs can take longer than you may expect (or were quoted in the UK).
We shipped all our belongings from London to Los Angeles (900 cu ft/150 boxes) last September.
It took 3 weeks to make the crossing (exactly on time) and then about 5 weeks to clear customs. There was no way to speed it up and we just had to wait. Backlogs, Thanksgiving, increased level of secuirty were all to blame. You just have to be patient.
However, nothing was damaged and the delivery guys were great. They reassembled everything that needed doing so. Have forgotten about the hassle involved.
Mar 18th 2004, 1:55 am
#17
spiggle meister
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Manchester-Surrey-Coventry-Hampshire-West Yorkshire, now Woodland Hills,CA!
Posts: 103
Originally posted by crazi_daizi
Our stuff arrived on Wednesday, but we are picking it up today (hooray!) will report on the condition of the goods later!
Our stuff arrived on Wednesday, but we are picking it up today (hooray!) will report on the condition of the goods later!
A few of the boxes looked squished but thankfully apart from 2 broken photo frames glass, everything has arrived safe and sound and the same size and shape as we packed it! Found another hidden charge - charged $45 for somone to load our stuff onto a fork lift truck from the warehouse then dump it next to the truck, which we could have easily done ourselves for free without a fork lift truck but apparantly we were not allowed to - guess theyve been sued or summat before!
Mar 18th 2004, 9:54 am
#18
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Bodrum
Posts: 15
What was your experience with Customs? Were there any items you had to pay duty on, like antique furniture or new electronics stuff? We hope to moving to LA sometime this year. Have you bought a house yet, if you don't mind me being nosey?
Originally posted by ireland132
I know everyone has had different experiences when shipping things and all I can add is that clearing customs can take longer than you may expect (or were quoted in the UK).
We shipped all our belongings from London to Los Angeles (900 cu ft/150 boxes) last September.
It took 3 weeks to make the crossing (exactly on time) and then about 5 weeks to clear customs. There was no way to speed it up and we just had to wait. Backlogs, Thanksgiving, increased level of secuirty were all to blame. You just have to be patient.
However, nothing was damaged and the delivery guys were great. They reassembled everything that needed doing so. Have forgotten about the hassle involved.
I know everyone has had different experiences when shipping things and all I can add is that clearing customs can take longer than you may expect (or were quoted in the UK).
We shipped all our belongings from London to Los Angeles (900 cu ft/150 boxes) last September.
It took 3 weeks to make the crossing (exactly on time) and then about 5 weeks to clear customs. There was no way to speed it up and we just had to wait. Backlogs, Thanksgiving, increased level of secuirty were all to blame. You just have to be patient.
However, nothing was damaged and the delivery guys were great. They reassembled everything that needed doing so. Have forgotten about the hassle involved.
Mar 18th 2004, 1:04 pm
#19
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 202
Originally posted by ireland132
It took 3 weeks to make the crossing (exactly on time) and then about 5 weeks to clear customs.
It took 3 weeks to make the crossing (exactly on time) and then about 5 weeks to clear customs.
Do you know which port your stuff came through? I think mine was supposed to arrive at Baltimore.
Mar 18th 2004, 2:07 pm
#20
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: was London, now Los Angeles
Posts: 100
It came into Long Beach. I am sure you'll be fine. I think it was a particularly busy time and all the factors I mentioned played their part.
Mar 18th 2004, 6:11 pm
#21
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago, Il
Posts: 1,320
In Customs we walked in, gave the guy at the desk the Bill of Lading and list of items, he asked what the total of the items was and I guessed. He took it away, came back 5 mins later with a form... stamped it a few times.. then gave us a photocopy and the original customer copy. That was it.
We did have new items... but don't tell them that, they'll want to charge you. We brought over 36 boxes of general stuff including PC's and Games machines. Nothing furniture wise.
Buying a house... yeah right... takes a long long time to build up credit history here... need to have some history before banks will entertain giving you a mortgage, and you can't get ANY credit until your Social Security Number arrives which took 5 weeks for me.
PM me for more info on the move itself.
We did have new items... but don't tell them that, they'll want to charge you. We brought over 36 boxes of general stuff including PC's and Games machines. Nothing furniture wise.
Buying a house... yeah right... takes a long long time to build up credit history here... need to have some history before banks will entertain giving you a mortgage, and you can't get ANY credit until your Social Security Number arrives which took 5 weeks for me.
PM me for more info on the move itself.
Originally posted by vsaumarez
What was your experience with Customs? Were there any items you had to pay duty on, like antique furniture or new electronics stuff? We hope to moving to LA sometime this year. Have you bought a house yet, if you don't mind me being nosey?
What was your experience with Customs? Were there any items you had to pay duty on, like antique furniture or new electronics stuff? We hope to moving to LA sometime this year. Have you bought a house yet, if you don't mind me being nosey?
Mar 22nd 2004, 10:38 pm
#22
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago, Il
Posts: 1,320
RE:Insurance...get it.
With the condition our stuff arrived in I am VERY surprised that more of it was not destroyed. We labelled many things as fragile and lots of boxes were obviously very very heavy... guess what..
small box marked <Fragile> with Huuge box that took 3 people <or one with a red face> to lift sat atop it ...result... very very crushed box.
in all we didn't lose very much.. a few pictures were shattered, a plate chipped... not a huge amount... I think we were lucky.
With the condition our stuff arrived in I am VERY surprised that more of it was not destroyed. We labelled many things as fragile and lots of boxes were obviously very very heavy... guess what..
small box marked <Fragile> with Huuge box that took 3 people <or one with a red face> to lift sat atop it ...result... very very crushed box.
in all we didn't lose very much.. a few pictures were shattered, a plate chipped... not a huge amount... I think we were lucky.
