House contents boxed but not shipped...

[Paul057]

So we had our house packed up on tue/wed and all of our things are now in storage. We were originally going to ship them straight off so they could be on their way while we are waiting for our visa, but Crown have said we can't ship without a visa. We have been impressed with Crown so far; from our initial contact with the bloke who came out to do the survey, our contact with our move co-ordinator, to the lads who came to pack our stuff up. We booked the packing date as the 24th/25th as we were due to complete on our house on the 27th... or so we thought. Turns out that the solicitors are not as far on as they should be, but haven't bothered to tell us (both blaming each other), and so there will be a couple of weeks delay. We're absolutely fuming as we were kept completely out of the loop until the day before we were due to complete. We now have all of our stuff in storage and are living with my wife's parents with a house sitting empty that we could have been in. Really frustrating, and just more stress at time we could do without it.
We were due to hear back from our C.O. sometime about now with a decision from the M.A. as to if the kids need further investigation for their heart murmurs, and also if my wife's anaemia needs further tests. No contact yet and no change of status for our application. We are still hoping to fly out on the 26th August and we feel like we're in limbo at the minute. People keep asking "Have you got a date yet?", and we keep having to say "No but we're hoping to be gone in 4 weeks". Feels very odd.
Anyway, just a bit of a rant to get a few things off my chest!!!
Cheers
Paul

[JandM]

Oh, you poor things...

I don't know where Crown think they're coming from - 'can't ship without a visa'. Of course you can! What if you were sending the whole contents of your house as a gift to someone who was already over there, and didn't mind about the taxes? What if you were an exporter? People in those situations don't have visas to show. And we've had people on the threads who took a chance and just *went*, with their belongings, on a WHV or visitor's visa, hoping they would get work and a visa after arrival. Unless of course, this is something in Crown's small print - but I can't see the advantage to them, if it is...??? Surely the point is for them to provide the service the customer wants to buy, not to start dictating to them.

[Mamee & Co]

Did You tell Crown that you were happy to pick up the bill for dity and taxes if your Visa was not through by the time the goods arrived in NZ? Have to admit, having been through the MA I would not be shipping stuff until the visa is approved, but can well understand your frustration with the solicitors...that is just ridiculous.

[kiwihusker]

Hope it all works out very soon. Will keep the fingers crossed.