When talking about international moves, the transfer of your home takes place in a European country or, more frequently, in a non-European country.
In this second case, the organization of the service must take into consideration all the aspects (and timing) related to the documentation needed and also the customs regulations of the shipping company/airline of the destination country.
Among the most frequent reasons behind such a radical change, we often find:
For each destination (being this the United States, Brazil rather than the Arab Emirates or China, Japan, or Australia and so on) there are several peculiarities that are important to know for the success of the move.
One of the most common mistakes to avoid in order to ensure a successful move is to come across a non-specialized company that has no experience in the field of international removals.
We, as Bolliger:
Another crucial element to evaluate is the estimate and the price quoted.
When client asks and receive a range of different offers, it is crucial (to ensure a correct comparison) that the conditions proposed are the same and be sure to identify misaligned services that could exclude fundamental and necessary steps.
Bolliger, for example, does not offer partial door-to-port services, in which the customer independently handles custom clearance operations at destination. This is aimed to protect the customer from unprevented issues or problems that may arise at destination.
All services imply a door-to-door assistance, where we take care of both export and import customs clearance operations.
Download here our guide on door-to-door services.
The estimate that the customer receives clearly shows the services included and excluded.
Our sales department is also always available for any clarification and further information required.
Very often we are asked to send a generic quote based only on partial information, or a certain volume (perhaps assessed by a competitor), or more frequently based on the quantity shipped in previous removals.
For us, it is always essential to look at all the goods that client wishes to move in that specific occasion, to make an accurate assessment on which the offer will be based. The aim is to send a customized offer and avoid extra costs if, at the time of the packing/pick up, the volume turns out to be different.
The pre-move inspection also helps us to correctly assess customer’s needs, arrange and to be well prepared to offer a quality service, suitable for each specific move and to report to the customer any restrictions or precautions to be taken against certain types of goods.
For instance, if in the shipment are included paintings or fine art pieces, it will be necessary to require and obtain the nulla osta (authorization) for the exportation. It is a very simple procedure that we will take care of, through our Fine Art division expert.
In this regard, we propose three options to the customer:
In any case, it is important to remember always to mention what is present in all part of the house i.e., in the cellar (bicycles, sports equipment, car wheels), in the garage, in closets, in the mezzanines, on the balconies or outside, to avoid forgetting important elements that would affect the correct assessment of the volume.
Once the contract is signed, we are ready to proceed. Our move manager, dedicated to your move, will contact you by phone to organize the service together, agree on the plan of the activities and - where necessary - will provide you with all the useful information regarding documentation for customs procedures. S/he will always be at your disposal during all phases and until the move is completed.
Our crew arrives at the house with all the necessary packaging material and proceeds with packing
All the boxes and packages are labelled and numbered progressively, while preparing the inventory list.
Sometimes goods pass through our warehouse, especially in cases where it is necessary to wait for the authorization (green light) to ship or in cases of groupage services.
Our deposit is available in all cases where the destination house is not immediately available, and you need to store the goods for a certain amount of time before delivery. It is also possible to arrange partial or multiple deliveries depending on customer needs.
The shipment proceeds as planned, by land, by sea or by air. At origin and at the destination countries, it is often necessary to carry out customs clearance formalities. Our service includes both export and import customs clearance operations, that is, the presentation of the shipment at the customs office suitable for the verification of goods on exit and entry of a given country.
Customs formalities is not required for countries belonging to the European Community but are necessary in all other cases. The eventual customs duties and taxes are not included in the offer and – in lack of the prerequisites to import duty free – these will have to be paid locally.
At the time of delivery, the shipment is brought into the house, all the goods are placed inside designated rooms and the crew proceeds – according to what agreed – with full/partial unpacking and reassembly (where needed) of the furniture. All packing debris is collected and disposed.
In this phase, the client, together with the crew, check and report any eventual damage incurred – in which case – if you have subscribed an insurance policy, you must contact our dedicated claim office that will guide you through the process of reimbursement.
At the end of the service, the customer can leave us a review here: