Alright, this is going to be a long one.....basic backstory: Shipped my car out of Brandon VPC on 7 Aug RDD to Norfolk 17 Sept. After being constantly told that my car had not been released from customs, its in customs etc, I decided to investigate myself. Everyone along the way has been rude as hell, aside from Ms. Biben who helped me get a direct billing rental. Although thankful for the direct rental, getting the approval for another 30 days was a nightmare. I have been in constant contact with VPC/IAL in the meantime to find my car which I dearly miss, just like everyone else here. Let me just say my car would still be sitting at the port in storage had I not started this process myself. I did some research online myself and found several 1-800 numbers etc, I was looking for ANYTHING related to the Norfolk port. I spent about 4 hours just trying different options/extensions etc before finding anyone helpful. It was a lot of trial and error cold calling. At any rate, I was lucky enough to finally come across a man who had heard rumors of the whole IAL shit show and wanted to help me. (retired Navy CPO) He asked me for my VIN number/container number etc and called me back within a DAY! He had a COMPLETE run down of movement of my car, to include where it was currently sitting...still in a container. The reason it was still sitting at the port was because once it was delivered to the active loading dock off of the vessel, it has to be moved within a certain timeframe to allow unloading of the next vessel. (From what Im told coming through customs etc to include this process, about 7-10 days are allowed) If the items, whether it be a car, a suitcase or otherwise is not moved by then, it is taken to a storage area because it cant just sit on the active loading/unloading dock. Makes sense to me. Well anyways, nobody came to claim my car (broker/IAL job) within the timeframe, so it just sat there in storage. My car has been in country, in the container since Sept 9th. Bottom line is that had someone just reached out to the port in the meantime, I could have had my car much sooner. After this kind man tells me the whole process start to finish, he assured me that he himself would contact the VPC and/or IAL to make sure my car got to where it needed to go. The very next day I get an e-mail from the VPC Congrats, your car is ready for pick up! (as if I have won something....its my freakin car ya idiot, the congrats came along when I bought the damn thing! Not when it is returned to its owner!) I call the VPC to confirm that my car is there. It is indeed there ready for pick up however no customs paperwork. I arrange a week timeframe so that I can ask for a day off, gives them time to come up with my paperwork. Im told by the VPC, no issues there, we will just e-mail you the paperwork, well see you next Friday. All is well, right? Wrong.... I call today to follow up with this same conversation. The rep first tells me, oh it says here we were going to e-mail it to you.. (as if I shouldnt be calling again. She puts me on hold, comes back on the phone and says, We didnt know we had to order the customs paperwork I lost my freakin mind! A lot of other really rude and mind blowing thing happened, but I wont go into details, it will just make me mad again. Long and short of it, somehow the we dont have your paperwork turned into an e-mail with a FEDEX tracking number with it by the end of the conversation. Now, I really am hoping Friday will be the end of this mess. Crossing my fingers that there is no damage to deal with once I pick it up Friday. The customs paperwork will be delivered Friday as well, so I am assuming I will be able to register my car sometime next week. I am taking the checklist others have made to inspect my car! This place is full of great information! I will go back and make a list of the websites/numbers I searched for the Norfolk port. Also, if anyone wants me to look for anything specific, just let me know! RDD+64, lets get it done!!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 02:22:39 +0000