Does anyone have experience with this shipping company? I recently ordered an exhaust for my sports bike (neighbors are going to hate me) and plan on using this company. So far the company has responded quickly to my questions via email. This is my test run of the service, really hoping it goes well. Probably should have picked a cheaper item to test it on though.
Johnny Air Cargo? Maybe it's the same or they changed their name? If it's the same company I saw the results of their cargo that came from the U.S. the 1st time I was in the Philippines about 5 years ago. They have/had a location in the basement in one of the Mall's in Bacolod. They had no "calling cards" so the employee wrote down all of their info. While I was waiting for him to find a pen and paperr to do this I looked around their "office". I saw a number of different sizes boxes that looked like they had been put in a gorilla cage for a month or so. The boxes were shredded and had hand-sized holes punched in them. Who knows what used to be in them, but after that brief encounter I decided that there are probably better balikbayan/shipping companies to use when shipping things from the U.S. This was my one experience. Hopefully it was an isolated case and things have changed since then. For local shipping in the Philippines, I've NEVER had a problem using LBC. They have too many offices in Dumaguete that can be used to ship things to anywhere in the Philippines. I've used the one at Robinson's Mall (outside by the restaurants) quite a few times. They have always been very helpful as are their other locations around town. You can also go online and check out LBC shipping prices with their cost calculator. They track packages too, which is reassuring.
I have one friend who preaches by them. I've seen a few of his packages and they looked alright but never heard of anyone else using them. Seems like a real mom and pop place. I hope it goes well. And yes, I will have to go to Bacolod to pick it up but I make frequent trips their anyways, so not an issue there. I was going to order using LBC but when I started the checkout I noticed that of the 45k pesos I spent on products they were asking 25k for duty and that didn't even include shipping. There was an option for not prepaying the taxes but it seemed pretty d*mn risky to me. Absolutely appalling duty charges here. The friend who suggested them said he only paid 100usd for taxes AND shipping for some very expensive parts (worth about 3 times what I paid).
USPS has always made it for me. Sometime even faster than FedEx, as FedEx get held up in Cebu. One benefit, USPS has NEVER had tax added on the shipment. FedEx, UPS always do. USPS is slow to Dumaguete though, as they use the airlines for shipping from Manila to Duma, and they only put PhilPost packaged on the plane if there is excess space, which there rarely is. Not uncommon to wait 5-6 weeks for a package, which takes 2-3 days to reach Manila, then another 5 weeks to make it to Dumaguete. Best option might be to have it shipped via USPS to someone you know in Manila, who can LBC it to Dumaguete for you.
That's a long time to wait. My friend gets his packages in 9-10 days in Bacolod. He said what I ordered would be about 5k pesos for delivery to Bacolod. Worth the extra for expedited shipment. I'll keep USPS in mind when I'm not in any hurry to get a package.....or if this doesn't work out.
Just beware that if they don't pre-charge for custom duties, you might be in for a surprise when it arrives. FedEx and UPS always comes with a hefty bill for custom when they deliver it.
As mentioned before, all the international courier services declare all shipments, They love to spend your money for you, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. I have always used Royal Mail /USPS & have never been charged import duty, As a by-line my parcels from the UK has been of late only taking 1 week ! instead of the usual month.
No, they come with your shipment and the bill and says, "Here is you $1000 worth of goods, please pay this 15000p customs fee, storage fee (for us to keep it for 2 weeks) & express service fee then sign here and you will receive your $1000 worth of goods".
Package arrived in Bacolod today. Here was the process.....so far. Ordered on ebay. Free shipping from LA - Johnny Air in New York. Shipped last Wednesday from New York - Bacolod. Arrived today (Wednesday - 7 days) in Bacolod. Sent email upon arrival in Bacolod. Shipping and duty cost P6,452.88. Will release package with payment and valid ID. Will confirm condition of package once picked up tomorrow or Friday. On a side note: does anyone know a good motorcycle shop in Bacolod that can install the slip on exhaust? The exhaust runs under the tail, I would do it myself if it ran out the side, too lazy to pull off the rear plastic.
