Anyone in the import/shipping business?

Hoping someone with some experience can give some advice. DH bought a WWII motorbike from an Aussie living in Chine. The guy included a shipping quote to send it over in a container. Since he already had to pay for the container, DH sold his race bike and bought some fixer-uperers for his mates from the guy, who said it wouldn't cost extra to ship as it was paid by the container.

Anyway, today he got an email from the shipping company who said they unpacked the container and charged him for square meterage instead of per container, and the cost has jumped from $2k to $12k.

DH is stuck because we don't have the money and the freight company won't release the bikes and won't return his calls. He will have to pay extra each day they sit on the wharf.

Any advice?

Are they an Australian company or a Chinese company?
Do you have the original quote? If you have the quote and the company is Australian and they made an error in quoting then you can take it to the fair trade people.
Did you get maritime insurance? It might be something your insurance company can chase up for you - sometimes they have contacts that can make things run more smoothly.

I hope you can sort it all out. What a horrible situation and your DH must have been so excited about his new toy too.

Chinese company. He did get insurance so I'll tell him to follow it up. Thanks!

I work in exports, but have a fair understanding of imports.

It seems odd that someone would pay for a container to ship one bike in the 1st place. And about 2K sounds reasonable for one bike if that includes all loading/unloading customs clearing. 12K sounds extremely expensive though even for a full container..

Also when you refer to shipping line, they don't normally deal with personal goods, which in shipping terms, these are. So to me without knowing the facts, it sounds like someone is really marking things up... Did they send you a copy of the invoice? I can help with a breakdown and explaining what each charge is etc..

PM me if you want more specific answers, however I will check back over the weekend.

Thanks for the reply. DH is getting a copy of the original quote from 12 months ago from the guy in China who arranged the shipping. Because the bike has a sidecar, a container was the best way to get it her, especially as he was including parts to make up three more bikes.

The manufacturer in China is going to speak to the shipping company tomorrow, so I'll let you know what happens.

Ok.. That makes sense.

Let me know if you want me to go through anything with you..