your car coming into Oz..

[someonestolecc]

That looks awesome sewid.

Good on ya.

[MARRIOTT]

The most frustrating thing on this planet is to have your customs agent ring you and say your new shiney GTR is at the docks but you can't have it because he doesn't have a B/L. Anyone else using Prestige having this problem at the moment?

[SteveL]

The most frustrating thing on this planet is to have your customs agent ring you and say your new shiney GTR is at the docks but you can't have it because he doesn't have a B/L.  Anyone else using Prestige having this problem at the moment?

Yep....I'm not impressed to put it mildly.

[lwells]

I'm thinking there is something going on with the shipping companies coming in to Sydney because I have heard nothing from Geoff in almost two weeks regarding actually getting my car shipped (except, as I said earlier, he mentioned there were delays at the moment).

LW.

[Beer Baron]

If that's the case, have you thought about shipping it to another Aus port and road freighting the rest of the way? or just pick it up and drive it back?

Richard

[lwells]

Actually, considering others are in Melbourne and having probs, perhaps its just a case of all the shipping lines being overloaded? Who knows.. Geoff hasn't been all that forthcoming except to say things are busy, to expect delays, but that things should get moving shortly. All very hazy.

LW.

[SteveL]

Actually, considering others are in Melbourne and having probs, perhaps its just a case of all the shipping lines being overloaded? Who knows..  Geoff hasn't been all that forthcoming except to say things are busy, to expect delays, but that things should get moving shortly. All very hazy.

My customs agent told me today that there are a lot of car carriers coming from Japan at the moment and that is causing delays at this end. AQIS in Melbourne is booked out this week and I can't get my inspection until next Monday, which means I get the car probably Tuesday at the earliest. Is it possible the typhoons around Japan in recent weeks have caused a backlog of shipping (??)

Anyway I finally got the B/L this morning so my CA is on the case and I feel a bit better about the situation - but not entirely happy because the delay should never have happened in the first place.

For those that may not be aware I'll explain and give a bit of advice about how to try to overcome any problems like I had:

When a car is put on the boat the shipping agent creates a 'Bill of Lading' (B/L), which is the official document containing your details (address, etc) and the car details (weight, etc). In effect it's an agreement or contract that the shipper will transport the car between specified ports. Since we/you have an FOB (Free on Board) agreement with the cars supplier, the B/L is marked 'freight collect' meaning that we/you will pay the shipping fees. To ensure that the 'correct' person collects the car at the receiving end, the shipping company mandates that the original Bill of Lading must be provided at collection - a copy is not sufficient, and there are NO exceptions to that rule....but continue reading.

In theory the supplier should send the receiver (me/you) the original B/L to allow collection of the car - and things can still happen that way. However, to speed things up and to overcome the potential for loosing the original in the mail, it's possible for the supplier to 'surrender' the original B/L at the point of origin - this means that the supplier declares you/me as the owner of the vehicle and fully responsible for all charges, etc. The 'surrender' is recorded electronically in the shipping companies system and the original B/L is stamped accordingly. A faxed copy of the 'surrendered' B/L is then sufficient to allow collection of the car (because of the concurrent electronic recording which appears at the shipping company offices at the port of receipt virtually instantly).

In my case the original B/L had not been mailed or 'surrendered' in Japan until yesterday. A ludicrous situation considering it is such a simple thing to do and it should have been done within days of the original B/L being created (in my case on the 18/9...and the car arrived Monday morning). Since my car was not released by the shipping company until today, I am now having to wait until next week to collect it (see above). Of course this is not a lot of time considering I've been waiting since April, but it didn't need to happen.

My advice to those of you still waiting for cars ??....in the week before the ship docks you will get an 'Arrival Notice' from the shipping company. This a courtesy notice and gives the ETA of the and the details of your cargo (the car). On the notice will be the B/L number and you should ring the shipping company to determine whether the B/L has been 'surrendered in Japan or not. If it has, your home and hosed although you should ask your broker for a copy if you don't have one already. Otherwise I'd advise getting in touch with your broker ASAP to find out what the situation is.

[Yotis]

Hrmm.. guess the backlog of shippin could explain why my car is still not on a boat yet..

[sewid]

Thanks SteveL for that post. It sums up exactly what happened to me as well. Keep in mind all that it is NOT Geoff's fault and the B/L has nothing to do with Geoff it is the supplier's responsibility.

If you need to point the blame at someone, it is the supplier in Japan.

[Beer Baron]

Steve and sewid, may I ask who your respective suppliers are? pm me if you consider it innapropriate to post it here.

Thanks,

Richard

[SteveL]

Thanks SteveL for that post. It sums up exactly what happened to me as well. Keep in mind all that it is NOT Geoff's fault and the B/L has nothing to do with Geoff it is the supplier's responsibility.

If you need to point the blame at someone, it is the supplier in Japan.

I'll have to disagree with you about Geoff in this case. While it's true that the supplier is ultimately responsible for taking care of the matter in Japan, AFAIC the broker (Geoff in this case) must take some responsibility for ensuring it actually happens - in fact in the broker supplied documentation I got it specifically states that: "we (ie broker/supplier) will take care of the B/L for you" - pretty clear cut in terms of responsibilities AFAIC. After all, isn't this part of the service we are paying a fee for ??

At the end of the day this is not rocket science, and the procedure concerning the B/L could (and should) have been taken care of within a few days of the ship leaving Japan. It's also a simple matter to check wether it has been actually done (it took me one phone call to the shipping company) - I would have thought the fact that a faxed copy of the surrendered B/L hadn't arrived on Geoff's desk well before the ship docked would have been raising alarm bells.....but apparently not.

Because of this unnecessary delay I am now looking at next Tuesday to get my car at the earliest (that's more than a week after the car arrived on the dock). I'm up for storage charges and there's the worry about potential damage and theft from the car.

[sewid]

I agree with you actually. I mean the B/L is one of the most important documents and sending it so late is unfathomably frustrating. I've been there.

I must say that I had to pay storage fees at the dock because of the same issue you are going through.

The reason why im not jumping up and down fuming about it now is that the storage fees turn out to be one of the cheapest parts of the whole excercise ($20 + GST per day after the first 3 days which are free for me).

Also, I have now taken delivery of the car, and the day you do that is the day all of the F'ing B.S red-tape that has lead up to it seems worth it somehow.

[sewid]

Steve and sewid, may I ask who your respective suppliers are? pm me if you consider it innapropriate to post it here.

Thanks,

Richard

I told you the other night at Il Bolognase - must be a case of bad food amnesia - you probably forgot the whole night

[SteveL]

I still think he offers a great service and would recommend him, but this last step has been a disappointment, no doubt.

[confuzion]

I agree, Geoff can not even tell me if my car has made it onto a ship or not. Wouldnt it just be 1 phone call to the supplier or shipping company? These late B/L's im hearing about from everyone is not too good either, i think Geoff could ensure that it was sped up by talking to the suppliers etc?

i just think for the premium service fee we have paid (i know of a couple much cheaper services) that it should be a bit more organised re shipping if possible.

[lwells]

I would not be so quick to judge Geoff. I have found him very helpful all the way, and while something is obviously amiss at the moment, that doesn't mean he isn't doing his best. Remember, he is just a small fish in a huge pond, and if you know anything about dealing with suppliers you know how frustrating and slow progress can be regardless of how many calls you make.

That's not to say Geoff couldn't be more communicative about the problems -- for me, this is always the issue; I am not much fussed about problems and delays as long as I am informed about them rather than kept in the dark -- but lets not judge until things become clearer.

LW.

[Beer Baron]

I told you the other night at Il Bolognase - must be a case of bad food amnesia - you probably forgot the whole night

You did too. :slap:

my only defence is that not having my GTR is making me stupid...

honest.

Richard

[lwells]

Right. Well, I emailed Geoff today to check on the status of my car:

Hi Geoff,

I appreciate you are probably quite busy, and there is obviously a bit of a squeeze getting cars on ships, but I am just wondering if there has been any update in the last two weeks from the supplier regarding actually shipping my car?

And got this reply:

Your vehicle is on it's way.  BL copy this afternoon, original being posted.

.... which is a bit of a suprise. Will be interesting to see if the B/L makes a prompt appearance.

Lucien.

[MARRIOTT]

lwells - stay on Geoff's back for the B/L - I must have emailed him 5 times in a week trying to get mine and finally got it yesterday, 5 days after the boat docked.

SteveL - sounds like you and I are in exactly the same situation - I purchased my 'R in April and it has taken 'till now to get it here with the same issues with B/L.

Incidentally, I found Prestige a bit dissapointing. As mentioned in previous messages we pay a premium for their service and I expect a little feedback as the process goes along.

I was particularly upset when I originally sent off my Import appplication to DOTARS . I meticulously following the detailed advice given by Geoff when I bought the car so that I wouldn't have any problems. After I had sent the application I rang the customs agent (recommended by Prestige) to notify them that I wanted them to handle paperwork but the line was cut off. When I contacted Geoff he said that they had gone out of business and suggested I use a different agent - no problem I can do that.

What really concerned me was a note on the bottom of the email (as an afterthought) which said "by the way I am waiting for a Deregistration document to come from the supplier to include with your application". A bit late Geoff I sent it 3 days ago!! When I again contacted Geoff and explained that my application had been sent he told me all I needed to do was ring them up and fax them a copy - no problem. After waiting another 3 days (and another 2 emails to Prestige) I finally received the deregistration document (remember I bought the car in April and it is now mid August!) it was for the wrong car!. Bugger-me how hard is all this!.

I actually received my approved Import Application before I got the correct De-registration document.

All of this would have been avoided by a simple e-mail from Prestige to all clients waiting for cars that; 1. The Melbourne customs agent was out of business, 2. DOTARS now wants deregistration documents included with applications.

Couldn't be that hard could it.

Sorry guys - just needed to brain-dump all of that - I feel better now.

SteveL - might see you at the wharf on Tuesday!

[sewid]

If anyone is interested - you dont need the dereg document for cars coming in under SEVS until compliance time. You can get import approval without it.