Received this e-mail from a friend, Andre Brink, whom some of you on enduro bikes may know from Blomkloof 4 x4 and bike friendly farm near Bredasdorp, he rides an GS 1200 Adventurer with shorts , crocs and a peak up tiny steep tracks fit only for springbokkies . Anyways ,he recently came back from a trip through South America riding with 4 friends through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They covered a total of 8076 km (including 2951 km dirt road) over a period of 32 riding days.
See their website : https://biketrip2southamerica.wordpress.com/
BUT they are having major hassles with their quote for shipping their bikes back . The invoice they received was 81 % higher than the quote they received . I don't like to name and shame , but the culprit is not a WD ( I hope ) and it does affect anyone who might want to ship bikes over in the future. He has asked me to put this on the forum to warn other bikers :
History of shipment of bikes :
SHIPMENT OF 5X MOTOR BIKES (IN 20 FOOT CONTAINER)
FROM CAPE TOWN TO BUENOS AIRES
(TO UNDERTAKE ADVENTURE RIDE IN SOUTH AMERICA)
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
4 February: After an enquiry to K&N, we received an initial quotation of R45,130 (of which
R16,000 was an estimated amount for custom clearance in Buenos Aires) to ship 5x bikes
from CPT to BA and back.
March: Various discussions held with K&N. They could not confirm/finalize the February
quotation of R45,130, although they indicated it would be in that order. A 10-15% deviation
was envisaged. A deposit of R29,130 was paid on the 29 March 2010 to get the process in
motion as time was moving on. The arrangement was that the bikes will be available in BA by
15 April at the latest.
1 April: Bikes were eventually loaded in a container (which was later than the initial
arrangement). At this stage we were still waiting for an updated/final quotation).
7 April: Vessel departed from CPT to BA.
9 April: We received tax invoice 2516145 dated 9.4.2010 for R18,623. This invoice was the
cost to export from CPT to BA. Costs were accepted, and offset against the deposit of
R29,130.
11 April: Flight bookings were fixed so the team departed for BA. On arrival in BA, the team
incurred additional accommodation costs as we had to wait for the bikes to arrive.
14 April: Received the (first) official K&N quotation via email for a total of R39,829. Quotation
number QHF-1004.038. The costs were made up of import/export BA as well as re-import to
SA. The email confirmed all costs from K&N BA office. This brought the consolidated cost of
the entire shipment to R58,452.
15 April: Held a meeting with K&N BA to arrange clearance and collection of bikes. They
indicated verbally that we could possibly save on certain costs which had been included in the
quotation.
16 April: We received an email from Gorete Henriques (K&N CPT). She stated that they were
waiting for instructions to proceed with customs clearance/delivery. She also requested
confirmation that we were happy to accept quotation QHF-1004.038. We confirmed
acceptance of the quote.
17 April: Vessel arrived in BA.
20 April: Bikes were offload/unpacked by the team.
21 April – 22 May: Bike trip in South America.
19 May: K&N (BA) informed us via email that there were additional costs to be added to
quotation QHF-1004.038. Additional costs amounted to USD 2,110 which is approximately
R15,825. At this stage, that brought the costs up to R74,277. (R18,623 + R39,829 + R15,825)
20 May: We felt obliged to accept the additional cost, and confirmed via email. We did
however, feel that there was the possibility of cost duplications, and felt that these could be
sorted out with K&N (SA) on our return.
22 May: Bikes were handed in at K&N (BA) warehouse. The team strapped the bikes to the
pallets for export back to SA.
23 May: 4 Members of the team returned to CPT. The 5th member remained in BA for an
additional week to assist with the loading of the bikes into the container.
10 June: Vessel departed BA for CPT.
30 June: We received an email from K&N (CPT) to inform us of the imminent arrival of the
vessel. We were also informed that the costs had now escalated to R105,759. This equates to
an increase of 81% from the quotation QHF-1004.038 of R39,829 and the invoice of R18,623.
When these costs were queried with K&N, they claimed that the costs were incurred by their
BA office. We would however, like to refer to two emails. The first email dated 6 April from
Howie Frylinck, where he stated that K&N (BA) had been requested to fix their quote for a
period of 7 weeks. Another email dated 14 April, also from Howie Frylinck, stated that K&N
(SA) had received the final quote from BA. Even allowing for any nominal extra charges, an
increase of 81% is surely unethical and is definitely not acceptable.
11 July: Vessel arrived in CPT.
12 July: An meeting was held with K&N (CPT) to discuss the latest demand for additional
funds.
13 July: At this stage, the team is stuck between a rock and a hard place. We requested an
invoice from K&N to effect payment, so that the bikes could be cleared through customs, as
storage costs were due to come into effect from around the 15th July. At no time would this
payment be an acknowledgement/acceptance of the revised costs received from K&N.
14 July: Still waiting for K&N to provide the requested invoice.
15 July: K&N informed us that there were now further costs due. The latest request from them
totaled R122,420. This further increase, equates to 109% increase). We made it clear that this
was now becoming ridiculous and we were not prepared to entertain any further costs.
K&N then agreed to keep the costs at R105,760 and provided an invoice in this amount. They
did however say that they required the full outstanding amount of R76,630 to be settled before
they would continue with the clearance. Payment of R76,630 was made to K&N.
16 July: Bikes to be cleared.
19 July: Another meeting was held at K&N, who contacted their representative in the BA
office. The delay was because the BA representative had been on leave. It was agreed that
the BA office would look into their costs. It was also agreed that the bikes would be moved
from SACD to K&N to avoid further storage fees. At the end of the day, storage costs of
R3,171 have been incurred. These costs should be for K&N’s account as the delay in customs
clearance was due to their inability to handle the shipment in a professional manner. Firstly by
not providing an invoice as requested on the 13 July and secondly for not being able to come
to an agreement of the actual costs involved.
20 July: The 5 bikes were transferred from SACD to K&N offices. K&N then agreed to release
3 of the bikes, but held onto the remaining 2 bikes as well as all 5 carnet’s, as a further
guarantee. There was a value of R20,000 per carnet which was refundable to the travelers.
22 July: K&N informed us that they had now checked their costs, and found some
discrepancies. These discrepancies would result in a credit due to the travelers. As such, they
were releasing the remaining two bikes as well as the carnet’s.
26 July: The 2 remaining bikes and the carnet’s were collected from K&N.
28 July: Still waiting for the final invoice from K&N.
16 August: Despite numerous requests to K&N, we are still waiting for the final invoice, hence
credit due to us.
Philip Brink
(On behalf of the team)
See their website : https://biketrip2southamerica.wordpress.com/
BUT they are having major hassles with their quote for shipping their bikes back . The invoice they received was 81 % higher than the quote they received . I don't like to name and shame , but the culprit is not a WD ( I hope ) and it does affect anyone who might want to ship bikes over in the future. He has asked me to put this on the forum to warn other bikers :
History of shipment of bikes :
SHIPMENT OF 5X MOTOR BIKES (IN 20 FOOT CONTAINER)
FROM CAPE TOWN TO BUENOS AIRES
(TO UNDERTAKE ADVENTURE RIDE IN SOUTH AMERICA)
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
4 February: After an enquiry to K&N, we received an initial quotation of R45,130 (of which
R16,000 was an estimated amount for custom clearance in Buenos Aires) to ship 5x bikes
from CPT to BA and back.
March: Various discussions held with K&N. They could not confirm/finalize the February
quotation of R45,130, although they indicated it would be in that order. A 10-15% deviation
was envisaged. A deposit of R29,130 was paid on the 29 March 2010 to get the process in
motion as time was moving on. The arrangement was that the bikes will be available in BA by
15 April at the latest.
1 April: Bikes were eventually loaded in a container (which was later than the initial
arrangement). At this stage we were still waiting for an updated/final quotation).
7 April: Vessel departed from CPT to BA.
9 April: We received tax invoice 2516145 dated 9.4.2010 for R18,623. This invoice was the
cost to export from CPT to BA. Costs were accepted, and offset against the deposit of
R29,130.
11 April: Flight bookings were fixed so the team departed for BA. On arrival in BA, the team
incurred additional accommodation costs as we had to wait for the bikes to arrive.
14 April: Received the (first) official K&N quotation via email for a total of R39,829. Quotation
number QHF-1004.038. The costs were made up of import/export BA as well as re-import to
SA. The email confirmed all costs from K&N BA office. This brought the consolidated cost of
the entire shipment to R58,452.
15 April: Held a meeting with K&N BA to arrange clearance and collection of bikes. They
indicated verbally that we could possibly save on certain costs which had been included in the
quotation.
16 April: We received an email from Gorete Henriques (K&N CPT). She stated that they were
waiting for instructions to proceed with customs clearance/delivery. She also requested
confirmation that we were happy to accept quotation QHF-1004.038. We confirmed
acceptance of the quote.
17 April: Vessel arrived in BA.
20 April: Bikes were offload/unpacked by the team.
21 April – 22 May: Bike trip in South America.
19 May: K&N (BA) informed us via email that there were additional costs to be added to
quotation QHF-1004.038. Additional costs amounted to USD 2,110 which is approximately
R15,825. At this stage, that brought the costs up to R74,277. (R18,623 + R39,829 + R15,825)
20 May: We felt obliged to accept the additional cost, and confirmed via email. We did
however, feel that there was the possibility of cost duplications, and felt that these could be
sorted out with K&N (SA) on our return.
22 May: Bikes were handed in at K&N (BA) warehouse. The team strapped the bikes to the
pallets for export back to SA.
23 May: 4 Members of the team returned to CPT. The 5th member remained in BA for an
additional week to assist with the loading of the bikes into the container.
10 June: Vessel departed BA for CPT.
30 June: We received an email from K&N (CPT) to inform us of the imminent arrival of the
vessel. We were also informed that the costs had now escalated to R105,759. This equates to
an increase of 81% from the quotation QHF-1004.038 of R39,829 and the invoice of R18,623.
When these costs were queried with K&N, they claimed that the costs were incurred by their
BA office. We would however, like to refer to two emails. The first email dated 6 April from
Howie Frylinck, where he stated that K&N (BA) had been requested to fix their quote for a
period of 7 weeks. Another email dated 14 April, also from Howie Frylinck, stated that K&N
(SA) had received the final quote from BA. Even allowing for any nominal extra charges, an
increase of 81% is surely unethical and is definitely not acceptable.
11 July: Vessel arrived in CPT.
12 July: An meeting was held with K&N (CPT) to discuss the latest demand for additional
funds.
13 July: At this stage, the team is stuck between a rock and a hard place. We requested an
invoice from K&N to effect payment, so that the bikes could be cleared through customs, as
storage costs were due to come into effect from around the 15th July. At no time would this
payment be an acknowledgement/acceptance of the revised costs received from K&N.
14 July: Still waiting for K&N to provide the requested invoice.
15 July: K&N informed us that there were now further costs due. The latest request from them
totaled R122,420. This further increase, equates to 109% increase). We made it clear that this
was now becoming ridiculous and we were not prepared to entertain any further costs.
K&N then agreed to keep the costs at R105,760 and provided an invoice in this amount. They
did however say that they required the full outstanding amount of R76,630 to be settled before
they would continue with the clearance. Payment of R76,630 was made to K&N.
16 July: Bikes to be cleared.
19 July: Another meeting was held at K&N, who contacted their representative in the BA
office. The delay was because the BA representative had been on leave. It was agreed that
the BA office would look into their costs. It was also agreed that the bikes would be moved
from SACD to K&N to avoid further storage fees. At the end of the day, storage costs of
R3,171 have been incurred. These costs should be for K&N’s account as the delay in customs
clearance was due to their inability to handle the shipment in a professional manner. Firstly by
not providing an invoice as requested on the 13 July and secondly for not being able to come
to an agreement of the actual costs involved.
20 July: The 5 bikes were transferred from SACD to K&N offices. K&N then agreed to release
3 of the bikes, but held onto the remaining 2 bikes as well as all 5 carnet’s, as a further
guarantee. There was a value of R20,000 per carnet which was refundable to the travelers.
22 July: K&N informed us that they had now checked their costs, and found some
discrepancies. These discrepancies would result in a credit due to the travelers. As such, they
were releasing the remaining two bikes as well as the carnet’s.
26 July: The 2 remaining bikes and the carnet’s were collected from K&N.
28 July: Still waiting for the final invoice from K&N.
16 August: Despite numerous requests to K&N, we are still waiting for the final invoice, hence
credit due to us.
Philip Brink
(On behalf of the team)
