Tundra Update, Part 2

Another Tundra sighting today…the black one again. No sign of my Grey Tundra, though the customs broker says that it made it past the Somali Pirates (drats!) and is in town. Here’s what’s been happening, in case you ever want to ship a vehicle and contents overseas. First of all, no matter what the shipping broker says, insist on listing all the personal items that you are shipping inside the vehicle. I’m pretty aggravated with Air7Seas, who arranged the transport of the Tundra. I asked them on 3 specific occasions if they needed to know what items I was putting in the truck. Every time, the answer was ‘no’ (which really made no sense to me, but I kept saying they do this every day, so they must know). Also, once the truck was on the boat (and remember, I hadn’t paid a single cent yet) I got an invoice where the cost of the container had jumped from $2450 to $3550. I emailed, and called and left msgs, but never heard anything back. I did mail a check for the invoice amount minus the $1100 difference. So I just let it go for the time being.
Anyway, the Tundra sailed from Savannah around Nov 7 and was due in around Dec 2nd. I started looking for a Customs Broker (because it’s required here in Dubai, and I doubt my Arabic is sufficient to get thru all the documentation). My shipper recommended one—they never answered their phone for 3 days. I finally got the name of a broker from a classmate who was shipping a container from New Zealand. I called them; they emailed me an estimate (about $800) within 30 mins and I filled out the requisite form, attached a passport photo, included a copy of my passport and my resident visa. Then we hit a little snag. None of the personal items in the truck are listed on the Bill of Lading. They also needed an original of the Bill of Lading or a Telex Release (whatever that is) or an express release (whatever that is). Soooo, I emailed the shipping broker and told them that I needed the Bill of Lading amended, and I inquired about the telex or express release. Emails weren’t really working with these people—though they do like to send them. Since I was in the states the first week of December I was able to get the Air7Seas folks on the phone and got them working on the Bill of Lading—apparently that had to be done by Orient Overseas Shipping Line who carried the Tundra thru the dangerous Gulf of Aden and past the Somali Pirates. Anyway, they also wanted to talk about my unpaid balance. I argued my case and they finally came up with some bogus charge of $300; I paid it. They are one step below car salesmen and I will be talking to the BBB once I get the keys to my truck in hand. They got the documentation straightened out and sent it via DHL to Dubai, I typed up a packing list, and gave everything to the customs broker yesterday. They seem happy…now we will see what happens. I do know that there will be a duty tax to pay…just depends on what value they assign the truck. I have some more photos just in case.

Sidebar: In the middle of this whole process, Bellsouth, who told me that my email would be available for 60 days after I terminated my account, cut me off after 30 days and dumped all my email--including most of my correspondence with Air7Seas. Fortunately, I had downloaded and printed a couple crucial documents. Thanks Bellsouth!

In the meantime, I’m trying to get insurance on the truck. Again, I will need to fill out a form, sacrifice another passport photo, copies of passport and visa, and I also need to get a letter from Toyota saying they can get parts for the Truck (they can) since it’s a restricted import. I also need a letter from my US insurance company saying I haven’t crashed into anyone over the past 4-5 yrs so I can get a 30% discount. That’s in the works. Still haven’t seen the quote.
And I’m looking forward to trying to get the truck registered. Which reminds me, I need to get a front plate holder while I’m in the US next week, so they can nail me with the radar cameras.

Sorry, if this has been a ramble thru the red tape tangle that is International Shipping and Dubai. Maybe there should have been a warning label. I wrote it more for my own reference…or for whoever is foolish enough to follow in my shoes. Sorry…hope it wasn’t too much like real life.