The most frustrating thing we have found with our shipping experience is that the shippers did not label our items very well or not at all. So when it all arrived it was a hodge podge of boxes, some marked most not. We also couldn't match the boxes against our manifesto, so if something was missing we wouldn't know until all the boxes were opened. My word of advice is to make sure they not only number the boxes but if you can get in there with a black magic marker and write the room and the general items in the box you'll know exactly where everything belongs. This will save you a lot of headaches in the end.

Claudia, I could see how that would make the unpacking process a little painful. I did number each box and wrote a brief description of each box on a piece of paper and emailed that to myself. In addition my movers numbered and barcoded each box for tracking purposes. It's possibly something to insist on.
@tcduffy98

Welp, 20 weeks.... after 20 weeks our sea freight arrived two days ago.

Some of the issues we encountered:
- The day of scheduled pick-up, they were a no-show. We had to chase them down (they had already been paid via wire-transfer). They rescheduled to pick up the day before our flight out of the country. It was chaos.
- Our goods sat in the New Jersey port for several weeks. We contacted them at week six to ask for an update and only then did we find out. The reason was they required $500 for a change of address fee. They had our goods scheduled to ship to Dublin, UK, rather than Dublin, Ireland. All paperwork, all correspondence, stated Dublin, Ireland. They said someone on their end had entered UK and we were still to pay for their mistake. We did, because essentially our goods were being held hostage.
- Two months ago our goods arrived in Rotterdam. Once again, we messaged asking for an update. It took a week to get a response and then we were charged $230 for x-ray fees. (At this point we realize anytime we contact them, we are slammed with another charge and also find out our goods have been parked somewhere.) We pay the fee.
- Goods sit in Rotterdam two months. We contact asking when they might arrive. We were told because it was a partial container they were waiting for a full and then it would leave. I understand this is standard procedure.
- Goods arrive on Tuesday. All seems well. Until we open my daughters' piano keyboard case. The piano had been stolen. We were told it was below our insurance deductible and no one is responsible. Also my daugthers' jewelry boxes (JUST costume jewelry, mind you, but sentimental - I had left it as it didn't have any monetary value and I didn't think anyone would unbubble wrap them and steal something obviously not worth anything) were emptied. They were heartbroken on both counts, as they begin piano lessons in two weeks.

So, there you have it. The $500 change of address charge was obviously fishy, and we now must replace a $600 piano keyboard at our expense. It could have been worse. Maybe. I'm trying to find the silver lining here.

And what I've learned - if I were to repeat the experience, I wouldn't ship unless I had a full container load. Those ship more efficiently. I probably would have been more inclined to leave almost everything in storage had I known what a headache/cost it would be, but with three children, that was tough to do. And I would have better researched the shipping company (a task left to my husband and he chose based on the salesperson's persistence, as he assumed that would be a reflection of decent customer service... it was obviously not the case).

So, what I've learned from Megan's experience is to not ship anything! Honestly, I wasn't planning on it anyway, but now I think I'm convinced. My goal is to sell all our furniture/vehicles/crap, then pack up sentimental items(pictures, etc..) in boxes and have a family member ship them to us via UPS/DHL once we were settled in a house.

Is this a dumb idea?

@jason1575 to be honest, we are planning on doing the same exact thing you are. Also, USPS now offers the flat rate international shipping boxes which may be a little cheaper than UPS for smaller items.

Yeah, seeing the horror stories convinced me. It sucks what Megan and her family have gone through! I'm lucky and my children are a little older, so they really don't care about anything besides their phones. Great tip on the USPS boxes, I didn't even consider them! Thanks!

Wow Megan! I guess when I started this topic, I had a story like yours in mind. You've been through it all. Late collection. Ages to deliver. Stuff stolen. Ripped off. Stress up the ying-yang...

Sorry to hear about your daughters stuff. I'm sure whether it was worth $5 or $500 it's all the same to them. They had an attachment to those things. It's awful that people would sift through your things and pick and choose what they want for themselves. It's almost like having your house broken into.

I remember asking questions about the shipping process before, and was told that unless you have a FCL that you're belongings will change hands 7-10 times. This makes it easy for companies to pass on the blame to the people before or after them in the chain. Unless you see someone on Grafton St. busking with your daughters piano, you'll never know where it went missing.

Lastly, that customs charged - that could happen coming back to the US too. I got hit with one. They scan the container, and you pay a portion of it if you have a LCL shipment. It's pricey, but they know they have you at this point. Your things are within touching distance, and you'll pay whatever just to get your hands on them.

Jason - I think what you'll save on packing, shipping, and customs fees etc, you'll be able to re-buy most things that you and your family really want. It's not a bad way to go, if everyone in the family is ok with it.