This is an interesting thread.

I've got no axe to grind with any international freighting company; most of them are rip-off merchants IMHO.

BUT I have a strong suspicion that the supply of international transport - both outbound and inbound from /to Aus - is GST-free. You can check it all out with the ATO.

Thought it was worth mentioning as this juncture.

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Right Way Round ...

This is a post from 2005...looks like the same kind of attitude has always been there, by the way in Dave's contract which I apparently did not read, Dave does not give refunds on deposits, I would have cancelled this shipment but as Dave waits until you book all your flights and makes all your plans he knows very well that if he suddenly changes the price that you will not cancel as you are the one who loses not him...As soon as the deposit is paid the attitude changes then its your fault because irrespective of common sense, morals, good business acumen, honesty, fairness and decency...its "you are the idiot because you need to read the contract and I can put up prices if I feel like it" or "Its out of my control as I don't know when fuel oil is going up and its in the contract"...clever eh?...quote a price get 20+ guys in a container and once the deal is all done and its close to the shipment date...send them all an invoice saying that its gone up....paid for your holiday in the USA this year Dave!

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-oz-to-uk-2980

Quote from 2005 - (Everything was fine, the bike was arriving 3rd May and we could collect on the 5th which was excellant.Sent off the deposit, when the receipt came back the bike was leaving a week earlier and arriving two weeks late so not very happy; booked the flight the day we sent the deposit.(Arrive on the 5th in the UK).
Dave Milligans response was " well you'll just have to kill time in the UK for 10 days, or maybe longer, maybe "
So we'd gone from the bike will arrive on the 3rd, I can even tell you what ship its on, to I don't really know when its going to arrive.Big dramas.
Anyway now in the process of shipping by air with Qantas.)

As most of the more experienced guys tell you...Fly your bike as its generally much less hassle and in some cases cheaper!...or just buy/hire one!

Not grinding an axe but just explaining the facts so others do not experience this kind of thing and maybe Mr Milligan will think twice about the way he conducts business in the future!...but probably not!

I've followed this thread with interest (as well). I'm a cheap bastard and have only ever shipped vehicles doing the whole lot myself - booking the shipping slot, customs/wharf clearances, etc etc. Plus if I ever do have to pay an agent I want to know what (if anything) I am paying for.

Its really not a difficult thing to do, you just have to do some basic research about the processes and the terminology used by all the different people involved and the surprise costs at the far end that need to expect.

When I shipped a vehicle from the UK to Aus 2 years ago I just grabbed a copy of the Yellow Pages in the UK and spent a day phoning around for shipping quotes and what was required by the shipping company in terms of paperwork. Most shipping companies are happy to tell you exactly what you need, anyone who stonewalls gets a line through their tel no. and you move onto the next one. A shipping agent will just sit between you and the shipping company and usually just tell you what you need to do anyway and then open your wallet.

Agents or freight grouping companies come in handy when you have less than a full container (LCL) to send, but they also can be the cause of greatest pain when they cant get enough freight to load a container for your destination and your bike sits in their warehouse until they have a full load. A "specialist" bike shipper is probably prone to this more than a general freight groupage company.

The other thing to understand with all freight is that it has terms which often dont make sense - eg...... is not a Common Carrier. "Common Carriers" dates back to the times of horse carts and sailing ships, allowed a carrier to take goods and deliver in their own time but they had unlimited liability for the condition of the goods if they were damaged or perished in transit. So by a single statement "not a common carrier" the shipping company completely absolves itself of all and any liability - but does not say so directly.

A Bremerhaven based company I used about five years ago sent me an email with exactly the steps that I had to do and then what they would do - brilliant service. Rolf Guenther gMbh if anyone is interested.

Transporting bikes in and out of where you want to ride always seems to be the biggest problem. Even just crossing borders can put a real snag in plans. It has been stated many time in this forum that the best way is air freight if you want to make sure it is there on time. The problem I have found is cost of air freight has gone through the roof, to the point that the only option left is to ship by sea. Anyone traveling should learn to bend with the flow or stay home and that applies to much more than shipping.

I am now riding around Australia (our 20th country) and had Get Routed bring our bikes over. Dave and Maggie did a great job IMHO. Ya Dave can be a little blunt but that may be needed to keep the yuppies who never crossed a border or dealt with customs in line. I would rather be treated like I was back in school than find someone screwed up the whole load because they thought they were above the rules.

Yes you can do most of this yourself if you have the time to muddle through it, me I would rather pay a fair rate to someone who understands the system. Still with sea freight nothing is a sure deal but those that are whining about delays in Portland would probable have waited longer without someone working within the system. Maybe someday when I don't have a date I need to be back home I will do it myself, but for now I will find someone like Dave at Get Routed to help muddle through the bureaucratic BS.



RJT

I hope you're getting a cut for the plug. Otherwise you'll be nicknamed the yankee mug.

Still it's kinda nice to see someone believes in Dave Milligan's service (if it can be called that) even if it is a yank!

To be fair to the thread Road Hog, did you ever experience inflation of quoted prices with Dave?

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Price I was quoted did not change, nor did I get a cut. The real shock has been how much the US$ has fallen due to our brilliant economic policy, and that increased my costs but not in AU$

When I shipped from Canada to Chile the price was very volatile and did not lock in till bike was delivered to shipping point and port charges on the other end were just a guess. I see it as take a risk and ship by sea or pay three time as much and go by air.

Have a question though, why if it is so easy and lucrative are there not more people doing it?


Yankee Mug

There are 1000s of people doing it - they call themselves international freight forwarders.

AND Road Hog (Yankee Mug) also has a sense of humour (or should that be humor??)

But not to discredit Crappybiker in anyway or put Road Hog on a pedistol but it is true that when you get ripped off it hurts not just the hip pocket because money usually is the first thing we forget but mostly the pride.

I've been ripped off countless times and well now I see them as lessons in what not to do. At the time I was hurt, angry (read furious) mostly at myself for being conned but also because the reality bites hardest when you are honest and put your trust in someone just to have them spit in your face.

In time I've learnt to cut my losses and swallow my pride but it doesn't make the unprofessionalism or dishonesty of certain individuals any less acceptable. Think what you will but knowing this, if you want something done well then you have to do it yourself. I am much more likely to organise all freight forwarding and logistics as much as possible by myself to take out the likelihood of having a middle-man sting me for his/her fees when they add little or no value.

When money is concerned we're all at fault, just some more than others.

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Crappybiker, you're not helping your case by attacking another member. I don't know Road Hog personally, but I know he's been around here for a while and has often offered hospitality and support. The fact that his perspective is different from yours merely means that his perspective is different from yours. Nothing more.

Safe journeys!

Mark

Yep that's right, we ship machinery in and out of Oz all the time and most of the charges are GST free. However there are some fees that attract GST that come from the shipping agent such as "communications" and some other services that are provided locally.

In any case wether or not Get Routed are discharging their GST responsibilties according to law is a matter for them IMO, it has no impact on me as a customer.

But asside from that, we have also had to alter our plans to suit the vagaries of maratime shipping with Get Routed, the departure date was altered at teh last minute... not a big deal really, but they will be anything up to 8 weeks late coming home because of "shipping issues" with numbers of bikes not being sufficient to justify providing the advertised return shipping date. They are going to store our bikes in CCH for a month before shipping them back, we are not particularly happy with this arrangement, but at this stage of the game have little choice but to stick with it.

I am I must say regretting my decision not to fly the bikes, the common thread in all the shipping discussions is that sea transport is fraught with uncertainty.....