Shipments done by Travellers

Shipped with James Cargo and used Dakar Motos help to clear the bike thru customs in Buenos Aires, Argentina. All in all a very pleasent experience!! The only crux was that it arrived over the easter break so had to pay for storage in Ezeiza cargo depot over easter before getting it out from the airport. Also worth noting that James Cargo quoted 1600 (1500 freight + 100 insurance) but due to lower freight cost they only charged 1240 in total!! Here is a breakdown of the costs converted into GBP:

James Cargo Shipping 1240
Ezeiza storage (AR$ 500) 80
Ezeiza handling (AR$ 300) 50
Iberia (AR$ 170) 30
Dakar Motos clearance (USD 200) 100

Having ridden from the UK to Singapore we decided to ship from KL back to Liverpool in the UK, as KL is cheaper than Singapore,or so we thought.

Having tracked Armada shipping down through a Malaysian friend they performed a reasonable service, the problem was that they had not shipped a bike before. They were both efficent and helpful, my complaint being the cost of packing ($200), considering I had to strip the bike down at the port and the crate was not the best.

I was aghast at how the costs added up, however I think what I paid is probably a good estimate for others.

Below is the breakdown, if you wish more information then please contact me at http://www.foulerton.com.

1. Freight (Armada/Malaysia) incl; shipping, crate, administration, customs, handling etc: $1040

2. Port Security (): $70

3. Import service fee (James Cargo): $110

4. Clearance (UK): $100

5. UK Terminal handling (UK): $170

only a 2 for the service, because of the additional demand for custom costs.
Cratering and delivery from Hamburg to Vienna by truck are included in total cost.
bike was very good wooden crated (no damages at all), it took exactly 2 month from Delhi to Vienna.

Argh!

We opted for Greenfreight as the airfreight estimate (Nz$1400 for 500kg) were 1/2 the seafreight costs (Nz$2800-4000!)
We contacted Graham at Greenfreight a month before we wanted to ship & were told to contact a week before we wanted to go. We did, only to be told Graham was on holiday & to ring when he was back. It would seem no-one else can deal with bikes in his absence!
We rang again when he returned,Tuesday, which was the last possible day before we flew. We were told this was not a problem (not true).

We arrived in Brisbane to find the bikes had not shipped on Wednesday as promised, in fact had not left NZ yet! Also they were flying to Sydney then Brisbane, because the direct flights do not carry heavy freight (another thing we were not told). Also personal freight takes 2nd place to commercial freight so only goes if there is room. If not it goes when there is room which can be days later (another thing we were not told).
We spent Thursday trying to get the paperwork in order. Quantas told us to go to Customs & Aquis (Australian Quarantine) about 1k away to pre-clear the bikes. We were then told this was impossible until the bikes were in the country & logged on the system. we were also informed by Aquis that Quantas Aquis inspectors do not deal with anything over 120kg! Quantas Freight is a warehouse, NOT an agent(another thing we were not told)& you or your agent are supposed to arrange with either AAE, TOLL or AMI to have your bike moved to them (at your cost) for inspection, which can take up to a week to arrange(another thing we were not told). We were VERY lucky that the Aquis staff at Quantas took pity on us & arranged an on-site inspection on the quiet. Do not count on this, we were lucky.
Quantas told us the bikes would arrive on Friday morning so back we went, to be told they had been separated in Sydney (we did not even know they had been packed seperately) & one was not going to arrive until 6pm Friday. Aquis work Monday to Friday until 4pm. We were screwed. We got the customs & Aquis paperwork done (little hassle & very helpful people) & paid the Aquis fees.
We returned on Monday (now 1 week from delivering the bikes to Greenfreight) where the lovely Aquis inspector had already done everything for us. All was well & we did not need a steamclean - we had spent 1 entire day scrubbing the bikes underneath & on top.
We were taken to the bikes & spotted a deep dent & scrape marks on the tank & frame of the 600. Being travel bikes the paintwork damage was only irritating, the dent & gouges on the bottom seam of the tank was serious.
We are now in the tedious process of getting Quantas to admit liability & pay up the Au$1,169 damage quote.

If you are feeling lucky & want to use this service here are the costs (2 bikes, 572kg, 1 airbill):

New Zealand
bike shipping to Oz $1,309.80
customs clearance fee $50.00
Dangerous goods certificate $100.00
Dangerous goods fee $60.00
Airway bill fee $35.00
War risk surcharge (what!?!?) $24.50
Export complance fee $7.50
TOTAL Nz