Problems Importing With Kiwi Car Carriers & Kips !

[amosite]

Here is my brief story:

Blitz Electronic Oil/Water temp Gauge (Stolen)

Blitz Electronic Oil Pressure Gauge (Stolen)

Blitz Electronic Boost pressure Gauge (Stolen)

Blitz Control Unit (Stolen)

Blitz SBC-R Boost controller (Stolen)

Bride Seat (damaged due to window left open while raining)

Pioneer CD Player (Stolen)

Pioneer Rear Speakers (Stolen)

Carpet (water Damaged due to open window)

Gear shift surround (Broken to get to the gauges in the dash)

Broken 2nd Gear Syncro (turns out this is too hard to prove for insurance)

Rear Tyres worn to steel belts (turns out this is too hard to prove for insurance)

R33 GTR Wheels Damaged from hitting something harder (turns out this is too hard to prove for insurance)

September 2004- The car arrived in Brisbane

6th October 2004- The car cleared customs

27th October 2004- The car was delivered to my door

The car turned up pilfered (Stuff stolen and damaged)

which was noted on the delivery docket.

I contacted Kiwi Car carriers and advised them of the

damage and stolen parts the same morning the car was

delivered and they pointed me to the website where I

could fill in a form for the claim

November 2004 to January 2005:

I faxed all required Documents, answered their questions

promptly (they wouldn't reply straight away, usually 1-2 weeks for

a reply).

February 2005 to May 2005 (4 Months)

Kips Insurance (Crombie.co.nz) advised they will be appointing

an Insurance assessor (Burgess Assessment) which finally inspected

the car approx 20th of May, 2005. Why does it take 4 months to

appoint an assessor? I don't know!

I would like to add in this time, (10/2/05 to 24/5/05, 3 months) I was

thoroughly interrogated and questioned. If they asked for further

information (like invoice, proof of purchase etc) I would reply within

2 days and did not get a reply for 2 weeks where they would simply

reply with a 1 sentence question asking for more paperwork or feeding

me with an excuse to why the assessor has not called to arrange a time

to inspect the car.

E.g They would request an invoice, I would email them back

straight away. 2 weeks later, they requested the receipt of payment;

I would reply straight away. 2 weeks later, they would ask a question

about aftermarket parts fitted to the car (not relative to the claim) and

I would reply straight away. You get the idea...

Finally on the 24th of May, 2005 the assessor inspected the car, 4 months after

they "appointed an assessor" and 7 months since I filed the claim.

24th May 2005 to 7th July 2005- We spent more then a month with more time wasting on behalf of Kips/Crombie insurance. Included in this period was refaxing and emailing (both had to be done twice!) of the original claim and all the details as they had "misplaced" the originals.

12 July to 27th September 2005- No emails or calls were replied or answered

28th September 2005- Finally got a reply requesting a GST inclusive invoice/s

for the replacement parts. They expect me to pay for it out of my pocket

before they reimburse me???

From this date to the 6th of December I was saving for the parts (I was also

away on holidays for part of this time) and while some other parts came in

from overseas. I produced the Tax invoice as soon as I got it.

6th December 2005- Emailed Invoice; No Reply

14th December 2005- Sent it again; No Reply

26th December 2005- Sent it for the 3rd time, I also included the Managing Director of Kips/Crombie and seaway (kiwi cars); No reply

12th January 2006- Sent the invoice again, I also included the Managing Director of Kips/Crombie, Crombie general info email and seaway (kiwi cars) both Sydney and Brisbane and suggested if I don't get a reply legal action would proceed. (I was away from the 26th to the 12th for the holidays) ; No reply

2nd February, 2006 (Today) I have faxed copied to Kips [email protected], Geoff Manks (crombie Manager) [email protected], Seaway (Kiwi Cars) Brisbane and Sydney [email protected] and [email protected]

So far, I have owned the car for over 18 months and the car has been in the country for nearly 17 months and I have had nothing but problems with Kiwi and Kips/Crombie insurance. The car is only just about to get registered and still needs sorting out due to the damage incurred while in their hands. I paid top dollar to get the car here (approx $2,000 just in shipping where a 20 ft container

only costs a few hundred more) and didnt get the service I was expecting. I believe that my claim, and others like it have led Kiwi/Kips/Crombie to re-write their policy and details on the Kiwi website. I believe they are now covered by another insurance company (or Kips/Crombie are now underwritten by QBE) due to the complications. For more info: http://www.kiwicar.com/kips.htm

I have had cars delivered by Kiwi in the past, admittedly I had the gauges removed for security but the car still came with scratches and dents (I get a copy of the transport condition report faxed to me) and the front bar cracked. One car I imported for a friend came in with an intercooler ripped half apart from getting caught on something- probably a ramp or similar. The only car that came in without damage or theft was a dead stock GT4 Celica. This means (in my experience anyway) that Kiwi have a 75% damage rate. This is far from satisfactory and was enough for me to reconsider who I use for shipping, which has led me to another company which is significantly cheaper, much more secure (each person who touches the car is logged) and is generally more reliable.

I am not the only ones with problems, for example, the place I use for compliance has since switched shipping companies as well due to the numerous and frequent problems with Kiwi, Kips/Crombie.co.nz and stolen damaged cars.

It is entirely up to you on who you use to import your new Pride and Joy and I am in no way slandering the company, associated companies and their business ethic's. The record above is as accurate as I can possibly make it with details obtained from my email sent items folder, and the on going task (MS Outlook users know what this is) that I have detailed with dates of all correspondance for easy reference.

Please, dont post unless you can contribute to this topic- replies like "sorry man, that sucks" etc wont really help. If you have similar experiences, please post them up for other users to benifit. Im sure there are a lot of you who have had good experience (I had one car come through perfect!) but that is not the issue.

[NXTIME]

I had aftermarket ecu, filters, inlet piping, two fuel pumps, gauges, and damage to the body when I imported my R32 through seaway/kiwi. Got nowhere with the insurance as they said that I didn't file a claim with 30 days of the car landing in brisbane.

[Beer Baron]

i too have tried to approach kiwi about damage to cars. it was too hard so i gave up. i voted with my feet and will never ship with them again.

[cowie165]

By recording dates and actions carried out you have covered yourself very very well. For a free service, you could also try:

http://www.insuranceombudsman.com.au/

If it aids in understanding why Seaway/Kiwi are behaving like this, please keep in mind how insurance company employees are assessed/reported on - if you have two employees that appear the same on paper yet A has made 5 times as many payouts to clients as employee B, you know who looks the better employee to management.

It is the intent of insurance agents to dissuade claimants. Period.

Four months after a not-at-fault car accident resulting a vehicle deemed a total loss, we are still trying to get the full payout from the NRMA.

Well done to you for pursuing the damage/loss for so long. I'm surprised they haven't worked out you're not going away and decided to pay you.

For what it's worth, when my R32 arrived it had significant paint damage around the spoiler when metal chains had been used to tie the vehicle down.

[TracidTrax]

damn dude that sucks, this will definetely make me think twice in choosing a transport company when i import

[Informer]

I went through Kiwi Carrier and Seaway.

Had a pair of shoes stolen and noticed my bonnet had a pin dent. Can't find anything else missing as I had quite a few things in it but it went alright.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, hope you get it sorted out.

[RiverSide]

I have had a few items l[pinched and the odd SLIGHT bit of damage.......but overall they were REASONABLE.

I am surprised that they are even entertaining your claim at all as most of the items damaged or stolen could have already been removed or damaged whilst in the care of your japanese agent.........were there pictures taken of EVERY POSSIBLE ASPECT of the vehicle whilst it was ON THE JAPANESE DOCKS???? with a signed certification from a senior member of staff in japan stating all of these items were in good condition and/or in the vehicle at that time?????

I can not believ that you have gone on for so long yes they are trying to disuade you, thats what insurance complanies do......but taking into account that the majority of the damage was probably already on the vehicle when it left japan, is it really worth your time?

Retrim/clean your seat, have your vehicle detailed, replace your guages and register the car and start enjoying it, isn't that what you bought it for? or was it just purchased as an expensive Lawn ornament.

Sorry for the rant, but i personally feel that you are fighting a loosing battle for things that are very hard to prove the condition of.

Happy motoring.

[sav1]

I went through kiwi, and like cowie the rear spoiler was severly damaged where they used chains to hold down the car, front spoiler was grill wad cracked and paint removed where they tied it down at the front. I contacted them when i first viewed the car and they promptly sent out a fax showing damage thay recorded before it left japan. This was obviously innaccurate as i knew when purchasing the car(i had photo's of these) there was a ding/scrape above the front left wheel arch and large scrape on the front left corner of the bumber. None of these were recorded on the sheet. I questioned the accuracy and said i had photo's i the car before it left japan which clearly showed it did not have this extra damage around the spoiler and front grill. She said they will not accept photo's as they can be modified/photoshoped. She then started to explain the processes and the excess i would have to pay, i got the impression they were going to stuff me around and just wanted my car on the road so just took it to a panel beater and paid myself.

Insurance companies are scum of the earth, a few years ago i had a brand new $45,000 car insured with a major comapny, it was stolen and written off, the insurance company had a policy where if under a year old they will replace with a brand new one. It took seven months before i got my new car. I had to refax info 3 times because they misplaced it, they took forever to return my calls it was a joke!

[noise]

couple of things.

How did you proove that the things "stolen" were on the car when it left japan?

I used K-line the two times I imported.

[amosite]

couple of things.

How did you proove that the things "stolen" were on the car when it left japan?

I used K-line the two times I imported.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

(I get a copy of the transport condition report faxed to me)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Auction sheets, pictures, copies of transport condition have been sent to them.

The transport condition form has an area where you can add remarks

where additional items/info can be mentioned and signed off by an officer when the car is dropped off at the wharf

[noise]

ahh cool sorry couldnt be bothered reading the whole thread.

[bootlegapparel]

what other companies are there?

[Beer Baron]

i use and reccomend Mitsui OSK.

[Blitz]

Kiwi are f**king hopeless

Assholes tried to bill me for their own paperwork f**kup and only when I threatened to sue them did they retract their bill.

Damage to the car, theft, you name it, it went wrong with Kiwi

Ask Beer Baron about the delightful lady Tasha in the Sydney office

[Beer Baron]

yeah tasha was great.... really bent over backwards for me... oops, that didn't come out right.

definately had much better service with Mitsui OSK, my friend has had great success with K Line also. Both of which have offices in sydney and do both container and ro-ro. They also ship to most major aus ports from japan.

[sewid]

I used K-Line and my car arrived perfect. So they dont offer insurance but it appears Kiwi's insurance is almost worse than no insurance at all.

[Tosh]

K-line & Mitsui are both good.

[NXTIME]

Sewid is 100% correct. I will never use Kiwi/Seaway again. The saying "you get what you pay for" is so true in this case.

As for damage to, and theft from my car, they passed the buck so many times and gave me so many different stroies that I gave up. It simply wasn't worth the hassle, especially after waiting more than 18 months to get the car.

I have another car on its way this week, hopefully my agent hasn't gone with kiwi or else I will go to japan myself and bitchslap him.

[Tosh]

can't you specify to him that you want him to use K Line or Mitsui?

[NXTIME]

I could, but it has taken him that long to get the car shipped that I don't care who he uses.