I prefer not to name names, so all I can say on this forum is we used a “highly recommended” Costa Rican based shipper:
the originally quoted price was approx $5,900 – the same as a friends container (#1) that shipped about 3 months earlier, and this was based on my submitted inventory list that detailed each item and clearly identified new items as new and listed the price at or near the actual purchase price.
our container was dropped off by the shipper in Tampa at the same location as was #1;
our container was there for the same time period as #1;
our container was loaded in the same manner as #1 (by us);
our container was picked up at the same location as #1;
our container was delivered to the same shipping port terminal as #1;
also shipped to Limon, same as #1; and trucked to the same warehouse as #1, and (I presume) unloaded in the same manner as #1 (I was not there).
Only after it was in San Jose and unloaded was I informed that [i]”Because of the high concentration of new stuff and because the container was so full, we made some special arrangements with the inspectors”. [/i]
I documented with the shipper that
a) the valuation of my container (using my high values) was only 11% more than my friends valuation of container #1 – [i]question: aren’t we always told that “you send us your list and we’ll make our list for customs on this end” or “your list is for US Customs and insurance if you want to get it, our list is for CR customs”[/i]
b) – the percentage of new item boxes on our container was significantly lower than the percentage of new item boxes on #1, including only 8 new boxed appliances on #2 versus 16 new boxed appliances on #1
c) – did you notice the “[i]and because the container was so full[/i]” part of the reasoning by the shipper as to the reason for the “special arrangements with the inspectors”? [i]question – aren’t we always told that “it really doesn’t matter how full the container is or how much it weighs….”?[/i]
By the way, the requested “special arrangements” fee was $2500 – without grabbing your calculator I can tell you that is just over 40% increase for the “special arrangements”.
Although the situation was “tense” for a few days, in the end, we came to an amical solution that did not include the full 40% additional payment and did include some additional storage time for our belongings. Since that time this same shiipper has assited me in getting additional items down here and I have recommended that company to other friends – – with the caveat that they get a firm guarntee of the price before ever starting the shipping process.
