Shipping Company's Costs Increase - Whay ?

[Tango7]

I am about to move back to the UK and have employed a well known shipping company to move my stuff.

I have opted for a 20 foot container rather than the exact volume allowing me additional space if I need it and at no further cost.

My wife and I decided to pack a number of boxes ourselves and leave the company to do the rest of the difficult and larger stuff.

The company states it charges for the Cubic Meterage that it packs and so it estimated about 7 Cbm and a fee was agreed upon.

They came, packed and then we got a phone call stating they had packed much more than we agreed upon and they wanted an extra 1,000 dollars.

I'm not familiar with the packing process or associated costs but I'm floored by the extra amount.

We are being told that even though we had packed items ourselves in their original boxes and with original padding etc, they had put one of their boxes around them and thus packed them.

I feel we packed more than 3 Cbm and have no way of find out. All I know is that we packed 10 of their small boxes, 10 of their medium boxes and 3 of their large boxes ( I assume these are standard sizes )

Does this packing policy seem normal and what experiences have any of you had ?

[beano2274]

Can you not go to the Company and look at the Container, and see for yourself!!!!!!!!

The estimation should be near as dam_n it, as they should be professional.

[kurnell]

You opted to load 7 cubic metres into a 20ft container which has a capacity of 27-30 cubic metres? Are you shipping door to door or door to port? If you pack more then obviously it is going to cost more to deliver at the other end. Bigger truck, more crew/time involved.

[Checker]

Why would you get them to pack it when you can get labour here so cheap? I will be moving back to Oz in August and will be packing and loading the container myself. I will have 3 thai guys to help that will cost me about 2,000 Baht in total. I have 6 hours to load the container which is then sealed locked plus my padlock and away it goes. It is then up to me to obtain insurance if I wish.

I did the same when we arrived in Bangkok and the whole exercise from Perth to Bangkok cost me $3,500 AUD or 90,000 Baht. The return trip will cost a bit more around $4,500 AUD or 115,000 Baht.

The secret is to be well prepared and ensure that all cartons are properly packed and that all furniture is secured tightly in the container.

[Tango7]

We have enough goods to fill the 20 foot container and many items, such as furniture, washing machines, LCD TVs etc needed to be professionally packed.

We packed everythign we could such as glasses, kitchenware, bedding, hi-fi, computers and so on.

The 7 Cbm agreement was based on their estimation at the time of agreeing on their services.

My real issue is with the fact of their extra costs considering no further space is being purchased, no further labour was needed and the entire job was completed in 6 hours from start to finish.

I was paying 3,000 dollars anyway and now, just for a few more items packed into boxes, they want a further 1,000 dollars.

If I had needed further space or more labourers and time was needed, I'd see the whole point, but as nothing more was needed with the exception of some materials, I fail to see how the 1,000 dollars can be justified.

[kurnell]

to port only?

[Tango7]

nope. door to door.

[deprogrammed]

Your a one off customer and they are stitching you up. I had dealings with shipping from UK to Thailand. At one point I told the customs and shipping company to go f**ck themselves as they were working together to extort money from me. They kept changing the rules everytime I came up with an answer to their BS.

The customs guy wouldn't even speak to my wife. They never miss an oppurtunity to steal from a ferang

[samran]

Why would you get them to pack it when you can get labour here so cheap? I will be moving back to Oz in August and will be packing and loading the container myself. I will have 3 thai guys to help that will cost me about 2,000 Baht in total. I have 6 hours to load the container which is then sealed locked plus my padlock and away it goes. It is then up to me to obtain insurance if I wish.

I did the same when we arrived in Bangkok and the whole exercise from Perth to Bangkok cost me $3,500 AUD or 90,000 Baht. The return trip will cost a bit more around $4,500 AUD or 115,000 Baht.

The secret is to be well prepared and ensure that all cartons are properly packed and that all furniture is secured tightly in the container.

sent stuff back to oz once myself. Don't underestimate the australian side of things, as you'll have to pay for customs there to clear your goods when it arrives at dock. Also the paperwork isn't as straightforward, so you might end up needing to hire an Australian customs broker to organise the clearing of stuff.

Nothing like a Australian customs broker to make any under the table payments in Thailand seem small. They charge like wounded bulls!!!

[samran]

to the OP:

It may very well be a legit charge. Shipping costs per tonne fluctuate ALOT. With the economy improving, shipping rates have shot through the roof. You may be a 'vicitim' of these increased costs.

[deprogrammed]

to the OP:

It may very well be a legit charge. Shipping costs per tonne fluctuate ALOT. With the economy improving, shipping rates have shot through the roof. You may be a 'vicitim' of these increased costs.

Shipping rates have dropped through the floor - down 95%! Economy improving - on what planet?

Edited June 14, 2009 by deprogrammed

[Tango7]

to the OP:

It may very well be a legit charge. Shipping costs per tonne fluctuate ALOT. With the economy improving, shipping rates have shot through the roof. You may be a 'vicitim' of these increased costs.

No, this is all down to the extra items packed by them. Nothing to do with space or shipping costs as I had already agreed on a 20 foot container and the price is by Cubic Meter not weight.

The only thing they have done different to the original agreement is pack, in their boxes, more than the 7 Cubic Meters that they estimated needed packing.

As mentioned before, a lot of the stuff they packed was already packed by myself in the original boxes.... things like a computer, monitor, hi-fi speakers, multi-function printer / scanner and a 40" LCD tv.

However, because the original boxes didn't say "so and so company" on the side, they just added one of their boxes to the outside of the original boxes and claimed it was packed by themselves... for an extra 1,000 dollars !!

[harrry]

You ask why? The answeri s simple. It is because they can. What you have ran into is the same problem as those who buy an off the plan house. They find that even the smallest alterations add huge increases to the price. You must allways fix the prices for all changes to the original quote or you willl pay.

Edited June 14, 2009 by harrry

[kurnell]

If they quoted you for 7 CBM and you now have a full container, of course it will cost more. Am I missing something here? The freight isn't the only charge. Delivering 7 CBM in the UK is cheaper than delivering a full container.

Samran is right. There is currently a peak season surcharge on all containers going to Europe. Call any freight forwarder in Bangkok at the moment and they will confirm.

[Tango7]

If they quoted you for 7 CBM and you now have a full container, of course it will cost more. Am I missing something here? The freight isn't the only charge. Delivering 7 CBM in the UK is cheaper than delivering a full container.

Samran is right. There is currently a peak season surcharge on all containers going to Europe. Call any freight forwarder in Bangkok at the moment and they will confirm.

I think we're missing the point.

I ordered a 20 foot container which accommodates about 30 Cubic Meters.

I have enough goods to fill about 24 Cubic Meters of which 7 Cubic Meters was to be packed by the freight company. This was an estimation of what we thought they'd need to pack. The rest I would do by myself.

I packed a bunch of stuff and allowed them to pack the rest ( it was all going into the cotainer but it was just a matter of who put a box around the items ...me..or them ) After everything was finished, the next day I was told that they had packed more than 7 Cubic Meters and wanted 1,000 dollars for the trouble.

My point is that everything was going into the container anyway. This was a given. The only difference being they put more things into their own boxes than originally thought. This used slightly more packing materials and slightly more time but nothing past 4.30 pm.

I do not mind paying extra for packing materials but to be told it's an extra 1,000 dollars for a few more items and maybe and hour or two's extra work seems extortionate as it has nothing to do with space or what is handled. it is all PURELY packing.

So, to make this easy, let's say, they wrapped up a cupboard, a coffee table a bookshelf and a buffet cupboard and then chraged 1,000 dollars for doing so. If I had told them not to wrap them up, they would still have gone onto the container, still be sent to the UK and still have been delivered to my door, but just without a box around them.

Would you be happy to pay 1,000 dollars for that ?

[kurnell]

No. Sounds a tad high, unless they crated something. Even then, very expensive. Tell em to honour their quote.

[kurnell]

Why would you get them to pack it when you can get labour here so cheap? I will be moving back to Oz in August and will be packing and loading the container myself. I will have 3 thai guys to help that will cost me about 2,000 Baht in total. I have 6 hours to load the container which is then sealed locked plus my padlock and away it goes. It is then up to me to obtain insurance if I wish.

I did the same when we arrived in Bangkok and the whole exercise from Perth to Bangkok cost me $3,500 AUD or 90,000 Baht. The return trip will cost a bit more around $4,500 AUD or 115,000 Baht.

The secret is to be well prepared and ensure that all cartons are properly packed and that all furniture is secured tightly in the container.

Very hard to get effective insurance for 2nd hand goods.

[Darkling]

to the OP:

It may very well be a legit charge. Shipping costs per tonne fluctuate ALOT. With the economy improving, shipping rates have shot through the roof. You may be a 'vicitim' of these increased costs.

Shipping rates have dropped through the floor - down 95%! Economy improving - on what planet?

Quite right, Shipping costs are at their lowest that i have known for years.

I dont know exactly what the charges are at the mo in Thailand. but out of China a 40` high cube is down by $2000

Last year $3600 this year $1600. Some body is tucking you up tango.