If I said that I have been losing sleep over this whole thing, I’d be telling the truth.
The shipping company kept saying “we will put you in touch with our US agent next week. Yesterday they said that the agent would call in a few hours. That didn’t happen, so I sent them an email saying that I was concerned about filing the paperwork on time. However that was sent at 8pm Amsterdam time so I didn’t expect to hear back and I didn’t.
Early this morning I got an email with a Bill of Lading, and a request for payment from the shipping company, which can only be paid by wire (additional pain in the dick). I also read this before I got the next email with their US agent’s contact details so my feathers got all ruffled before I even got out of bed. Their agent is on the west coast, so I couldn’t even get in touch with them until a little while ago, and when I finally did the guy needed to call me back in 30 minutes or so as he was just seeing the email from the shipping company as we were on the phone.
He didn’t. So I called him back around 4 hours later and he had forgotten all about me! Said he would handle it and sent me an email. He did send me an email detailing the forms I needed to fill out and the ISF form that he needs from the exporter (shipping company in Amsterdam).
I replied with everything filled out and copied the shipping co in Amsterdam asking about the ISF form as it has to be filed 3 days before the vehicle is loaded on the ship.
No response from either party. So a day later I sent another email asking if they had everything they need, and if the importer an exporter had worked together before because no one was responding.
I got a snarky response saying that the exporter was a long time client of theirs and doing a great job. So obviously their is a lot of communication going on behind the scenes just like their was with the seller and shipping company. I’m happy about that but would it kill ya to let the guy who’s spending all of the money know what is going on!?
I realize I’m just a tiny part of what both of these companies do every day. They are professionals, and I don’t need to know what is going on every step of the way. However, I have said multiple times that I’m new to the process and very nervous about it. A simple “we’ve got what we need from the exporter and will get back to you as soon as we need something from you” would be awesome. Maybe they don’t deal with a lot of individuals doing this, but I can’t be the only one who wants to know that everything is cool after I’ve wired cash all over the globe. They’re asking for a lot of trust that would be a lot easier for me to give if I had just a little information.
Anyway, everything seems to be going fine with them now. I’ve submitted the EPA doc, The DOT HS-7, a power of attorney, and a few other things. They just need a better scan of the title as the seller just took a quick pic with his phone.
Side note: perhaps The Actual RootWyrm could shed some light, but it seems that there is a business opportunity here. I’m dealing with an importer, an exporter, and a customs agent... None of whom seem to be communicating well. It seems like a one stop shop could do this a lot more efficiently.
Which brings me to my next point of crippling anxiety...
The package with the title arrived stateside on 11/24. Since then it has been bouncing around nearby USPS locations, then held steady on “the package is in transit to the next facility” for the past 5-6 days. The tracking info looks like this:
11-25 ISC NY
11-29 NY Distribution Center
11-30 in transit to next facility
11-30 arrived Wilmington DE, and departed Wilmington DE
12-1 arrived Philadelphia
12-2 departed Philadelphia
12-3 in transit to next facility
12-3 arrived Philadelphia again
12-4 in transit to next facility
12-5 in transit to next facility
12-6 in transit to next facility
Since the 3rd, the text notifications are coming at the exact same minute each day, so I know it’s just an automated message and the package could be anywhere!
I could barely sleep last night, I thought I was going to have a panic attack. I asked my wife this morning if she would go to our local office and see if she could file a claim or inquiry as to the whereabouts of the package. I googled myself into delirium on this subject and the outcome was that your local USPS office is the best place to turn.
Being the level headed woman that she is, she checked the tracking info before she left the house around 8:30 this morning and it’s out for delivery!! Obviously, I have been checking every 5 minutes for the past week, I should have had her check days ago, haha. I’m not counting any chickens yet (except for the 3 that live in my backyard), but this is progress.
I’ve been wanting to post this update for a while, but I’m afraid to jinx myself by posting when things are bad/unknown/when I’m a nervous wreck.
On another positive note, one of my colleagues who was a US Navy helicopter pilot mentioned that I can track any vessel that isn’t military via the web. So here’s my 1502! At port being loaded in Amsterdam yesterday and where it sits now at it’s first stop in Bremerhaven, Germany. I have it up at work all day and watched most of the journey yesterday, haha.
I just keep looking at pics and watching the few videos to remind myself that it will all be worth it. The happiest of Fridays to you all.