Recently a comment appeared on a website that deals with personal shipping. It is a cautionary tale for anyone considering shipping Dublin to elsewhere in the world. It is a story that we at Spratt Personal Shipping have encountered many times as disappointed or disillusioned personal effects shippers have come to us to sort out their difficulties after previous experiences with other Irish shipping companies. The writer of the post wrote:
‘For those considering shipping personal effects to Australia, here is our recent experience I bought a 20′ shipping container and it was dropped in my garden by a truck with a crane on it, loaded all my personal effects into it, tools, antiques, etc. It was picked up and off it went. I took a long holiday in Asia over Christmas and then arrived at about the same time the boat. Then the nightmare began. All effects into Australia now have a mandatory unpack in a customs bonded warehouse. Not a problem if you know this and have planned for it. I declared I had timber in the container – ‘please fumigate container on arrival’. But it was never going to be that simple. I had to pay for customs inspection, unpack the container, fumigate offending items and then repack. Again this would be ok if you could do it yourself.
But no, I had to watch as my life was tipped out onto warehouse floor, and packed again with heavy tools on top of fragile antiques. About 3 customs and quarantine inspection fees later and torrents of chastisement I got a huge bill for customs clearance and labour etc. If that wasn’t bad enough they then confiscated two expensive antique daggers. Anything with a blade longer than 40cm they take, except kitchen knives. Damage to antiques was high. Not a single piece was undamaged. Given the cost of new container, trucking, shipping, and fees, the total cost was way over the original bargain price I thought I was getting.’
Before shipping you should always check with the authorities in your country of final destination for local legal / import requirements. Later in the same forum one of our own customers had offered some advice on the advantage of using a reputable and established shipping company for personal shipping, rather than what looks like a bargain option that ends up costing you more! The advice he gave was that with a reputable
• I was able to leave the goods with Spratt Personal Shipping Dublin based warehouse with 24 hour CCTV for added peace of mind.
• Spratt arranges shipping to the required destination.
• Goods reach the destination fully protected with no issues.
For air shipments the shipping consignment is prepared, weighed and measured on freight industry approved weighing scales to ensure accuracy. Spratt give a tracking no. (AWB no.) to identify goods at the destination airport.
For sea shipments the shipping consignment is prepared and measured in the Dublin freight warehouse. Spratt’s agent rings the consignee at final destination to notify them of arrival at port and to expedite local procedures, customs etc.
For road shipments around Europe, a Spratt agent rings the final destination to arrange delivery. He added that when he used Spratt Personal Shipping Dublin for his move to Australia, he went to bed the night before the move with everything in place.
“Everything had been left up to Spratt” he said, “I was able to set off worry free, hand my key to the landlord and even go to a whisky tasting. I spent the night in a hotel and got an early morning flight the next day, confident that Spratt would do the rest. Easy peasy!”
Whether you are shipping Dublin to Australia, Canada or anywhere else in the world. Spratt Shipping will make sure the experience you have is one that you will want to
