Shipping Concerns

[Heather G]

Yeah, I didn't spell it out, but the customs officials were looking for their own coima. The only threat they had was to let them know the process was going to cost them either way and they could just cough up the cash now and get their stuff out immediately.

I forgot to mention that they talked the "import duties" down to $2000 USD.

They'd lived in the States for 7 years.

something similar happened to my friends, but they were using an intermediary "laywer" a friend of a friend that they could "trust" and it turned out that he was the one taking their money and saying that he was trying to "deal" with customs. when they finally got suspicious and told him that they were going to talk to them themselves the customs agents didn't know anything about the "fees" and let them do the rest of the transaction with no hassles and no mention of other costs.

 

[scottlyon]

Well my shipping has arrived.

The concerns about technology being stolen are very valid.

The box which contained my computer, monitors, printer, external hard drive with fancy keyboard and mouse did arrive. Whoever decided that they should have it over me replaced said components with paper.

Some clothing has managed to disappear too.

In short, don't ship things here which are valuable if you can help it.

Time to look into an insurance claim now - any tips?

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Disaster. I'm definitely not shipping any electronic goods. If we fly in South America we always shrink wrap our luggage, not much you can do about customs robbing stuff. Wretches.

What clothes went? I am really verging towards minimising the amount I ship. I need to tell herself we will get rid of stuff here and replace in BA. Hate the idea of lining the pockets of local customs officials.

 

[scottlyon]

Some jackets, a few suits and shoes from my shipping.

My wife has yet to weigh in on the matter so we're not completely clear on how much is missing.

It's not the end of the world or anything - just really annoying.

 

[erian]

Hey Dublin2BuenosAires

I made the same trip from Dublin in Feb. We sent 2 big boxes using anPost and they got delivered to my Oh's house in BA 8 days later. No questions no tax etc. There were some small kitchen appliances inside. The rest was clothes, shoes, bit's n pieces.

No problems at all. Clothes here are a rip off mate so make the most of the sales in Dublin. I bought loads of clothes there before coming here and definitely saved a lot a money.

Best of luck

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Hey Dublin2BuenosAires

I made the same trip from Dublin in Feb. We sent 2 big boxes using anPost and they got delivered to my Oh's house in BA 8 days later. No questions no tax etc. There were some small kitchen appliances inside. The rest was clothes, shoes, bit's n pieces.

No problems at all. Clothes here are a rip off mate so make the most of the sales in Dublin. I bought loads of clothes there before coming here and definitely saved a lot a money.

Best of luck

Ah, good old An Post : )

Do you mind if i ask what size, roughly where the boxes and how much they charged? PM me if you don't want to broadcast.

Intending on stocking up on clothes and bed linen before we leave !

Cheers.

 

[fifs2]

Am I going to have problems shipping from Europe (Ireland) to BA? We will be travelling for a month while our belongings are shipped to BA, our stuff's arrival will more or less coincide with our arrival.

I honestly don't know if there's a min. shipping amount but the intnl moving company Transpack shipped my household goods and car from Ireland to US (2001) and then US to Bsas (2003) and recently Bsas to Spain (2011)...and was a door to door flawless experience on all 3 occasions - electronics, expensive painting and all. No customs hassle, no extra charges above the initial cost quoted and the damage to my son's bedroom furniture in unloading to the house was covered at the original purchase price even though it was 7 years old. Again I don't know what volumes you're dealing with and if they have a min shipment but just thought I'd share as it's rare to find such excellence service duplicated in 3 continents.

 

[SarahAnn]

Hi Expats,

I was interested to read this discussion about shipping as I am planning to ship a small amount of furniture and personal stuff of no great monetary value (but high sentimental value) from Paris to Buenos Aires next March.

I have moved between Australia, Canada, the US, France, Italy and the UK - I thought I knew it all, but it seems that Argentina is different (why not!)

One post says that you cannot expect delivery door to door, ie that you have to pick up the goods at the Port. Is this correct?
I am getting quotes from international movers saying on a door-to-door basis so I would like to know if this is not possible in practice.

I have looked at the firm Transpack Argentina. Is this the same firm that was mentioned by fifs2?

I don´t have permanent residence so I suppose I will have to pay import duties. I don´t see how they can justify charging duty on imports of old books and used china/glassware but they even charge duty on the pet dog (also coming next March), so I suppose its just another tax really.

The option might be to get PR after getting married...but I don´t ask for advice on the marriage plans!

Finally, does anyone have a recommendation (or recommend avoidance) of a French company that ships to Argentina?

French companies don´t have much of a handle on {customer service}, so I am thinking it may be better to ship with an Argentine company on the basis that at least they know the system here...

Many thanks for any advice,

Sarah

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Hi Expats,

I was interested to read this discussion about shipping as I am planning to ship a small amount of furniture and personal stuff of no great monetary value (but high sentimental value) from Paris to Buenos Aires next March.

I have moved between Australia, Canada, the US, France, Italy and the UK - I thought I knew it all, but it seems that Argentina is different (why not!)

One post says that you cannot expect delivery door to door, ie that you have to pick up the goods at the Port. Is this correct?
I am getting quotes from international movers saying on a door-to-door basis so I would like to know if this is not possible in practice.

I have looked at the firm Transpack Argentina. Is this the same firm that was mentioned by fifs2?

I don´t have permanent residence so I suppose I will have to pay import duties. I don´t see how they can justify charging duty on imports of old books and used china/glassware but they even charge duty on the pet dog (also coming next March), so I suppose its just another tax really.

The option might be to get PR after getting married...but I don´t ask for advice on the marriage plans!

Finally, does anyone have a recommendation (or recommend avoidance) of a French company that ships to Argentina?

French companies don´t have much of a handle on {customer service}, so I am thinking it may be better to ship with an Argentine company on the basis that at least they know the system here...

Many thanks for any advice,

Sarah

Sarah,

Everything we shipped was delivered to our door,...well carried into the apartment! The local company waited while I spot checked contents and waited for me to sign off on the delivery.

I will say that the delivery was siqnificantly late (45 days) and that there was a lot of confusion re: charges. Basically the company we used in Ireland tried to pass some charges on to us which were their responsibility to cover. Had to refer back to our contract and make threatening noises re: legal advice and breach of contract before they coughed up. That said, despite our suspicions, the problem was not the local company here, it was the shipping co. in Ireland.

As i have mentioned everything was exempt from import charges.

So, yes door to door was possible for us and yes the local company here provided a good service (Sercomex). Our contract was with Careline Uk/ire who subcontracted to Sercomex for the port to door delivery here. Our boxes went to a deposito fiscal, where inspected by sniffer dog and passed on to us unopened. That may be because we had the import duty exemption.

Happy to answer any further questions...good luck.

 

[SarahAnn]

Thanks for the quick reply. If it was only 45 days delayed, that´s not bad at all. I am encouraged!
Welcome to BA - and don´t bother about the super-negative posts you read here, I think that disatisfied people get on the website more than the people who are happy with the place (that´s life...).
cheers, Sarah