Date: Tue, 23 Jan 90 10:40:19 IST
To: bovik@CS.CMU.EDU
From: KRAVITZ%ISRAEARN.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Comment: CROSSNET mail via SMTP@CUNYVM

Date: 23 January 90, 10:19:56 IST
From: KRAVITZ  at ISRAEARN
To:   BOVIK at CS.CMU

Subject: International Moving

I recently moved from Pittsburgh to Israel using MoveXpress as my
local packing agent, and Rainier Overseas as the international
forwarder.  My experience with both companies was disappointing.
MoveXpress claims to be highly experienced in international shipping.
Please take these claims with a large grain of salt.  They did a
poor job of packing our belongings.  At first they were optimizing
packing time (shipping prices are quoted by volume), until we complained
vociferously.  At that point the warehouse manager, Dave Sedgewick,
came to 'our rescue' and had the uninspired packing crew try to pack
things a bit tighter.  As it turned out, the crates they packed our
stuff into were larger than the standard sized used in international
containerized shipping, neccessitating a repacking of our goods at
the port.  I complained to MoveXpress about their service and their
reply was:
1)All of the problems were because I insisted on watching them crate
my belongings.  Sedgewick who was present at the packing claims that
they usually do the packing in two stages: first into storage crates by
the moving crew, and then repack the stuff with a packing crew.  He could
have told me this during the packing, and I would have happily returned for the
final packing.  He didn't say a word, so I think he is just making
excuses.
2)They claim that there are multiple standard sizes of shipping crates,
and that the repacking was done for Rainier's convenience.  This is
rubbish.  Crates for containerized shipping must fit into the containers.
MoveXpress' crates were too tall to fit in.

MoveXpress was very difficult to deal with before, during, and after the
move.  They rarely answered my phone calls, and they failed to properly
settle my account before I left the country (they owed me a refund
for some packing materials -- they finally mailed me a check).

So much for one set of losers.

If you are shipping overseas, be very careful to get IN WRITING the
precise route your shipment is going to take.  The fewer stops along
the way, the better off you will likely be.  I ASSUMED that our shipment
would take a single ship from Baltimore to Israel. Wrong.  Our shipment
went from Baltimore to Felix-Stowe (UK) to Haifa.  The goods sat in Felix-Stowe
for two months thanks to Rainier and its subcontractor's incompetence.
Rainer also had our crates repacked (as described above) and didn't
bother to inform us.  Some small items were lost during the repacking,
and some damages occured to our furniture due to careless handling there.
After much haranguing, Rainier did pay us $200 for the 8 week delay, and
paid our $100 insurance deductible -- small compensation.  The only trouble-fre
e leg of our move was from the port of Haifa to our apartment.

One final tip: Do NOT pay your forwarder in advance! As soon as you
have paid, they will stop answering your phone calls. Pay the extra
1 or 2% COD charge to maintain your leverage. In my case, I paid at the
beginning of September, and did not receive my goods until mid-November.
Believe it or not, MoveXpress shipped my goods to Baltimore about August 1,
so total shipping time was almost 4 months (it should take about 5 weeks)!!!

In spite of all of these horror stories, our shipment arrived largely
intact, for which I am very thankful.  All's well that ends reasonably
well...

Saul

PS- Pack your stuff in computer boxes, which are far superior to
either the xerox paper boxes or the boxes supplied by the moving
companies...