Q

In your opinon 'they all hire retards'! Did you take the cheapest quote?

I used a company that was totally professional. Sure it cost a few dollars more than others who quoted. What I got was 1001% totally professional staff from the day I telephoned the company to the moment they left my house after the container had been taken away. Not only that, they called me several times in NZ to see if everything was ok.

When the movers in NZ were taking my 400lb tv armoire into the house, they managed to pop a catch on the pocket door - my movers in CA obtained one from the manufacturers and sent it to me air express.

Other than the above, not one item in my 35ft container was broken - the 40ft container had a false wall installed. The only problem I had was with US Customs who cut the wall, took out several header boxes and left them strewn over the floor then cut another large L shape further down. Fortunately they did not proceed any further otherwise there could have been a whole bunch of damage.

How did I know it was US Customs - the moving company's crew chief had me check the number on the seal just before it was placed on the container - then double check the number was the same on the paperwar.

The seal was a heavy duty model that could only be removed with bolt cutters.

Upon arrival at my house in NZ, the first thing I noticed was the seal had been removed and replaced with a flimsy piece of metal. Naturally I called the company handling the unpacking before their crew got there. As a result no-one could open it until their operations manager came down. It only took one pull on the door to break that seal.

We checked through all documents to see if the seal details had been changed but there were none. If a seal is removed and replaced, the new seal number is 'supposed' to be recorded on the documentation but it wasn't. Take that as NZ Customs did not does not? check.

How did we know it was US Customs - the imprint on the seal! Along with a number....

I had at the time the seal was placed on the container in CA, photographed it - I had a photographic record of the packing, the loading at various stages and upon completion etc.

Question - were you present when they wrapped-packed your Chippendale?

BTW if you think North American insurance companies don't stuff around - think again!

Not only did they loose my original claim file, but they stalled my claim. They didn't record they had engaged one insurance adjusting company and had another one come out to document the damages so when the second one called to make a time to inspect, the adjuster was surprised it had already been done. They took their time. And yes, they did screw me financially.

You should have even before you started packing, itemised everything for insurance purposes i.e. bulk items are pro-rated. Photograph those items you treasure - it's easier to use a digital camera than a camcorder or use both. You can email a pix quicker.

Cath