I would like to share our recent experience shipping our home to Sydney. Hopefully there is a lesson to be learnt and you dont have to suffer the same fate we did. We have used shippers from Singapore to Australia before and we never had this happen before. In the end, it cost us more than the previous shipper we used and did a much better job without damage to my property here. Read on.
We used Links Moving here. Their office is out at Kwong Ming Road. Their counterpart in Sydney is King & Wilson. If I were cynical, I would think that it was part of their game plan -- to quote a lower rate here and then have their counterpart on the other end hold you over the barrel with additional fees in order to secure the contents of your home. Nice arrangement they got going, isn't it. This is the epitome of WIN-WIN.
1) During the move, our paquet floor was damaged. The way the men from Links went about their business, I am surprise that this was the only damage. They said they would send a repairmen to fix it but it took so long and I couldnt wait as we were leaving the country. I then sought the services of a repairmen to fix the damage and presented the invoice to LINKS. They would only compensate up to S$200 but the repair cost more than that. Due to the urgency of the move, I was prepared to receive only S$200. They have yet to make the compensation.
2) Their counterpart in Sydney -- King & Wilson (Davis Road, Wetherill Park, Sydney) -- advised us yesterday 26 July 2017 that our contents will be delivered next week on 3 Aug. They also asked us to fill up a form describing the roads at our apartment and related information to ascertain what resources they need to make the delivery.
They are the professionals. How are we to know what vehicles they are going to use and what's appropriate to be used? I would have thought that they send someone ahead to check the layout and decide for themselves what assets they need to complete the job.
This morning, we received an email telling us that extra fees were due to them before they can proceed with the delivery. ( If we do not agree, our contents will remain in storage and we will be charged for that instead. ) They made this assessment without even coming down to the property to assess the situation.
1) King & Wilson decided that taking 5 steps to the elevator warrants a further A$330 as we were deemed to be above first floor
2) They are charging A$440 for "ferry vehicle". I am not sure what this is for. Just to have a vehicle used for the delivery? Shouldn't this be already factored into the original costs?
3) A further A$440 for moving the piano. All items were declared to Links when they quoted the rates to us in Singapore. The piano was known to Links and we even paid an additional charge to have it crated.
In the end, the total cost of going with Links and King & WIlson far exceeded the quote from my previous shipper who also shipped our piano there (and back).
Hope no one has to suffer the same fate as we did.
