July 2021 One Daily Positive, Project 365. Northern Ireland, Unpacking and family.

We had a trip to Northern Ireland to collect the dog from child 4's house. They collected the dog in April to enable me to go back to Dubai for the last time. We explored the north coast, visited a lot of the tourist attractions and spent a couple of days on the beach. 

Our container arrived but not without hassle which you can read about here. The dining room is being used for storage, a sofa bed, fridge freezer, garden furniture and bedding is going to my mums for her new place in September, there are several boxes of kitchen items we won't need until we get a new kitchen and a dining room table and another sofa that are waiting for an extension to be built. We've no idea when any of that will happen as we're struggling to get hold of builders.

Other than that there have been lots of dog walks, good foods, baby cuddles (next door neighbour had a little girl also) and time with family and friends.

Day 182 -  212

182 crops are in. Rhubarb has been stewed and potatoes baked and in the freezer. The rhubarb is waiting for our DILs apples and will be made into crumble.

183 our grandchild decided the lawn needed mopping on their visit

184 a visit to our great nephew born in April and collect MIL who is house and cat sitting for a few weeks

185 on the ferry to Northern Ireland to collect Bob the dog from child 4s house where he's been since April when I went to Dubai for the last time

186 Bob the dog and his friend Molly

187 Football Euros

188 exploring the northern coast, Giant Causeway

189 more football

190 Crocs from child 4 for my birthday

191 I said 'go to bed' they have a bed each

192 Dog walking at Divis

193 12th July

194 another beach visit

195 Dark Hedges

196 on the ferry home

197 a walk round Malvern

198 sorting out the garden planting

199 driving into Wales after dropping MIL back home

200 these two are taking a while to settle back to being together

201 so in charge of this house

202 Container arrived

203 a swim in the Wye with a friend

204 Friday night chips in the garden with my friend and neighbour

205 BBQ in the garden

206 it's a dog's life

207 dining room being used as storage

208 meeting my great nephew for the first time

209 another spot the cat competition

210 a walk up the Malvern Hills

211 wetting the babies head

212 more cat sagas

I'll be back next week with a summary of August, then back to weekly posts.

 

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What to watch out for with an International move - The hidden costs

Most guides on what to do when planning an International relocation, usually advise you to obtain 3 quotes, ensure you keep in a locked room your documents, keys, passports, wallets etc on packing day so they don't end up in the container like our son's shoes and wallet did, along with the key for the padlock for the side gate. They'll also tell you to make sure the bin is empty and you've washed up the plates before the packers arrive. All good advice, but it's the hidden costs you really need to look for and an honest time frame.

We've been fortunate with 3 International moves and 3 internal moves over the past 10 years that nothing has been broken, other than the odd bowl etc, however we haven't been lucky with the information given to us and the additional hidden costs. Although the company paid for 2 of the moves, it did not pay for the extras.

We've used 4 firms for International moves and 3 different firms for internal moving. The internal moves have gone to plan. You get up, dress, they pack, they deliver to the new address, they unpack and remove all the packaging.

Our first move from the UK to South Africa went wrong from failing to tell us they couldn't ship until we got our visas, AFTER they'd packed and removed everything from the house 2 months before the move and then added we needed to itemise everything they'd packed for insurance purposes.

On arrival in SA there were hidden customs (bribes) charges, our container was 'lost' until we paid the fees, we NEVER received the seal number so had no idea if our container had been opened or not. The UK side of the organisation stopped answering emails and despite the contract being with them directly, they said it was now the fault of the agents in SA.

From SA to Dubai, the move was handled by my husbands company this meant that NO-ONE would discuss any part of the move with me in either country, despite my husband not being present in either country when the packing was done and the container was delivered.

We had to apply for visa on arrival in Dubai, so we were on a tight timeline for the move and organised air cargo with bedding, TV, paperwork and some basic kitchen items. Due to their being a shortage of visas, our container sat in the dock for 2 months and our air cargo arrived 10 days AFTER the container was delivered to our new home. Costs were met by the company as they hadn't organised the visas.

For this last move, we had 2 shipments. The first was a shared container, it arrived on time and no one would speak to me, not the company in Dubai or the agents in the UK. After many phone calls and the threat of legal action and help from the shipping company in Dubai, the Bill of Lading was paid from the company to the shipping line, container released and goods delivered.....on a Sunday night at 6pm, they took 2 hours and dumped the sofa in the neighbours garage leaving me to unpack and remove the waste. The company in Dubai said as a 'gesture of good will, they'd waive the storage fees with the delay. They also failed to take out the Insurance on time and took 2 months to repay it, again with the threat of legal action.

The final saga is the current container, delivered last week, again storage fees wavered as a good will gesture. I picked a company that managed the whole move from door to door, turns out they sub contract and due to them not being available before the 21st July, there was going to be a charge of £1000 for UK port storage.

However, it wasn't customs charging me the fee, they cleared the container on the day it arrived in port and it was ready for collection at 20:20. So then they tried telling me it was the shipping company not having hauliers to move the container. I called them, they said it wasn't their container. Then it was the port charging me due to lack of hauliers, so I called them, they explained no one had applied for a VBS and once that was done the container would be ready for collection within the hour.

Then everyone stopped answering their phones and their emails, they'd already said my contact had ended up in junk, after they swore blind they'd never received anything from me, then it was claimed I never replied. I called them out on the email sent on June 29th, a week before my container arrived.

I have my container, it's all unpacked, fingers crossed I don't hear anything more from anyone and if you ever hear me saying that I'm thinking of moving, please stop me.

Things to do:

• Get contact details of agent in the country you're moving to
• Itemise your packing list and work out replacement value in country you're moving to (I worked off this list and updated it for all moves)
• Take photo of container with it's number, shipping company and seal details
• Track the ship for arrival date
• Register with wheresmycontainer.com
  
  
  
  
  
  

Don't be frightened to call customs, border control, the port, the shipping company directly, they were very helpful and informative and I was able to use the information given to prove the costs incurred were the responsibility of the removal company and not mine.

Packing: 

• Do the washing up
• Empty the bins
• Group items ready for unpacking at destination

Unpacking:

• Using the inventory packing list to decide where each box is going
• Label rooms according to unpacking
• Unpack to surface isn't always possible so when signing the job off add the number of boxes not unpacked and take a photo of the paperwork.

How to sort hand luggage, checked in baggage, air freight and shipping

It is a matter of preference and it all depends on where you are moving to, the ease of obtaining visas and whether it's a company or personal move.

We didn't have the option of air freight when we moved to South Africa and it was an expensive mistake.

To move from the UK to South Africa, your visa to live there has to be stamped and in your passport before you fly, therefore we could've sent the air freight in advance and we could've moved into our new home on arrival and also stayed in our own home until we flew rather than a combination of spare rooms, sofas and splitting the kids up.

Due to a delay with customs in SA and the UK companies failure to book the shipping on time, we ended up having to purchase a lot of unnecessary items that arrived 6 weeks later, namely school supplies, basic kitchen items, bedding and towels. We did however have additional checked in luggage and took 2 suit cases each.

So upon our move to Dubai from SA we were given the option of air freight or additional checked in luggage. We opted for air freight, we remained in our home for a further week after the shipping container was sent and packed minimal clothing, a few christmas decorations, cards and the last few bits and pieces left at the house to include the wifi box and phone. We also packed a few towels, an air bed and sheets.

This decision has been a mistake as we cannot apply to have the air freight sent until our residency visa is approved, our container sits in Dubai in storage as this can't clear customs either and our air freight will take between 13-12 days including customs clearance and will arrive after our shipping.

As we have our 19 year old with us, but he is not part of the relocation having left home last year, we are liable for his costs in regards to accommodation and therefore will now be purchasing additional items here so he can stay in the house with the cat and dog and reduce the demands on me to get to the house every morning to feed them both. This was not an expense we had budgeted for.

In an ideal world, based on the information we were given and advise from the relocation people and personal experience on moving to South Africa, we packed the following:

Hand Luggage
All electrical items. Laptop, chargers, plug convertors, the last paper copy of every document relating to the UK, SA and Dubai, change of clothes, to save unpacking on arrival, toiletries.

Checked in baggage
Emergency christmas decorations and cards, clothing for destination, minimum clothing from country of departure, family bibles and DVD's as they cause a problem with shipping and customs, emergency bottle of wine, telephone and internet box as you'll be using those right up until you leave, airbed and sheets for son to live in house in Dubai to look after cat and dog.
know your allowance, for us we flew with Emirates who allow 30kg per passenger and check with airline what items are forbidden.

Air Freight
Everything you need to live in your home once your shipping has been packed, ours included the following:

1st aid tin and contents, air bed pump, airbeds, bed linen, belt, binoculars, blanket,

BOWLS, cafeteria, cake cases, camping fridge, cast iron pan and lid, cat bed, cat carrier, clock radio, cutlery set of 4 settings, decorative tin, dog toy, dresses, 

dressing gown, electric razor, extension cables, extension towers, face cloth, football, frying pan, glass oven dish, GLASSES, global knives, gloves, hand bags, hat, jacket, jug, jumper, kettle, kitchen linen, mirrors, MUGS, ORION TV, pet bowl, pillow cases, plastic container, plastic files, PLATES, printer, ring binders, rucksack, sandwich toaster, saucepan, scarf, set of 2 telephones, sheets, shirts, shoes, shorts, skirt, stool, suitcase, tent poles, toiletries, tool box, torch, towels, trophy, trousers,

Tupperware, water bottle, wicker basket, christmas presents (assuming air freight arrives before your shipping and on time as promised by HR)

Some of the above stuff was left behind after shipping and/or there was room to pack it.

Shipping container
All belongings were carefully sorted and items no longer needed for country of destination were donated to various local charities. Your shipping company can make arrangements for this if needed.

EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING has to be itemised and a replacement cost given for renewal in your country of destination for insurance purposes, again the shipping company can arrange an appraisal for you, but you need to know to ask for this prior to packing.

5 weeks into an expat move and we're still living in a hotel.

The house is ready to move into. Only 1 month after the contract was signed and has involved lots of phone calls, shouting, crying, walking away, almost throwing the towel in, being ignored, listening to the relocation people, land lady and agent pass the buck and even accuse me of time wasting yesterday. It is cleaned (not 'Suzanne' clean though) and now the battle begins to get the visa's, until they are ready we cannot get our air freight sent from South Africa or our container released from customs. Nor can we get wifi, phone line, tv or postal delivery sorted.

Visa application is as follows:

After 3 weeks in the UK, preceded by applying for documents, having them signed by a solicitor, sent off to the Foreign Office then having them attested at the UAE Embassy in London, they were submitted for application in Dubai on November 29th.

HR did not inform us that this was for pre approval for permission to apply for a work visa.
It was only on Christmas eve we were informed of that, assuming that it would be ready when we arrived and we could've applied for the residency, sent for the air freight and cleared customs and moved into the house NOW.

It will be another week before the work visa is in place then 3-8 days for the residency visa to be done. I will need to leave Dubai as my 30 day visa will have expired (watch out I may come back to the UK or SA, but probably just fly to Oman and back in a day), then we can apply for my visa and move into the house around the same time.

We are now in our 5th week of living in a hotel, our allowance only covers 30 days accommodation. Packing air freight was a waste of time and our container is in storage.

Dealing with a complaint, during and after the event

If you pay a company a large sum of money to move your belongings to the other side of the world, where do you think their responsibilty ends?

The moment they take your money or the moment your belongings arrive are unpacked and checked for breakages.

We paid an agent with Britannia Movers the best part of £4,000 to quote, pack, insure, ship, provide necessary paperwork for customs, pay all fees relating to the move, contact the agent this end and should our container disappear answer the bloody emails within 5 working days to help...no scrub that, not help...do the job we paid them for.

So when the agent in the UK doesn't respond within 5 days (granted 2 of the days were a weekend) fails to notify you your container has reached customs and now customs want to charge you for storage, fail to tell the agents this end where they are delivering to and you end up driving between johannesburg and Pretoria with a customs forms in triplicate, finding witnesses to sign the forms also, all without a car, a sat nav and the realistic fear of crime in South Africa , having only been in the country 8 weeks. What do you do?

You email Britannia-Movers that's what.

Oh don't get your hopes up, they replied with 'we've contacted the UK agents and they say all is good' you then reply with 'all isn't good, I don't know where my container is' and get OUT OF OFFICE MESSAGE.

So 9 months on, this has been simmering, as per bloody usual I just got on with it, fed and entertained 8 removsl men who turned up at my hpouse for 2 days on the row ready to unpack a container that had disappeared.

I emailled Britannia-Movers again today...this is their response and my reply....please note they copied in the UK agent.


Dear Mr and Mrs *****,

Thank you for your email today. We have reviewed your file and can revert as follows.



We forwarded your e-mails to Britannia ******** whose responsibility it was to answer their customer’s complaint and who assured us at the time that they had addressed the issues that you raised in your original complaint (as per email exchange with Britannia ******** hereafter).



Britannia ******** feel that the issues you raised shortly after your removal were addressed to the best of their ability and we are sorry that you felt you had to write to us again.



We would like to take this opportunity to wish you well for the future.



Yours sincerely,




******
Your response is less than satisfactory, you and ******** may feel you dealt with our complaints at the time but your lack of getting back to me, your assumption that ******** had dealt with the issues raised is less than professional. Copying ******** in on your response is unprofessional, I raised the issue with you and your lack of response, your lack of committment to worldwide customers.
I would like you to provide me with your line managers email address to enable me to take this matter up at a higher level.
Suzanne *****