Anchors a-weigh

Thirteen boxes containing 180Kg of Kickass Canada Girl’s wardrobe and personal effects (and no – I won’t be drawn as to what percentage of her wardrobe that represents!) have taken wing and are – as I write – migrating to Canada.

It doesn’t do to speak too soon, of course, but thus far the experience of using Air Canada Cargo to ship these items has proved nothing but positive. Provided the Girl’s precious bits and bobs do not go missing en route I shall have no hesitation in offering my endorsement of their services. Given that my introduction to Air Canada was somewhat coloured by the infamous bastardisation of their erstwhile slogan ‘We’re not happy until you’re happy’, this counts as pretty good going.

The shipping procedure that I followed – which may be of interest should you ever need to do likewise – was as follows:

• Pack, seal, weigh, address and number the boxes
• Create a packing list – including dimensions and weights of the boxes and details and approximate values of the contents thereof
• Book the shipment with Air Canada Cargo – by email – one week before required delivery date
• Print off the packing list (several copies are helpful) and the confirmation details of the booking and quotation
• Borrow a van from the School
• Deliver the shipment to Air Canada Cargo at Heathrow (open 24/7) – 48 hours before required delivery date
• Air Canada Cargo then:
• Process the paperwork and produce transit labels for each box
• Check the weights of the boxes
• Charge for shipping according to their quote (easiest done by credit card)
• Produce the Air Waybill (of which one gets a copy)
• Scan and email the copy of the Air Waybill to Kickass Canada Girl
• Sit back and relax!

Once launched the shipment can be tracked from the Air Canada Cargo website simply by using the Air Waybill number. A decent amount of information is provided at each stage. All that then remains is to arrange collection at the receiving end.

The Girl slightly complicated things at this point by contacting Canadian Customs to enquire as to the process for gaining clearance for the goods. She was passed between no fewer than five customs operatives, each of whom told her something different and the last of which said that nothing could be done without some item of information that she didn’t have. I advised her to talk direct to Air Canada Cargo in Victoria, and they once again came up trumps. A most helpful customer services operative explained the procedure:

• The shipment would be held in a secure ‘cage’ until customs had been cleared
• The Girl should visit Air Canada Cargo – taking the Air Waybill with her – pay the relevant fee and receive the necessary paperwork
• She should then call on Canadian Customs who would either simply process the paperwork and give her clearance, or go with her to Air Canada Cargo to inspect the boxes before doing so
• The boxes would then be released to her

So much for the theory. We will see how it all works out in practice. I will add an addendum to this post in a few days time if all goes to plan – or inflict a further post if it turns into a long and harrowing saga instead.

The other positive that should be commented on is that the cost of shipping the Girl’s goodies really has been very reasonable. So much so, it would seem, that the Victoria Air Canada Cargo man expressed surprise on seeing the documentation, and asked if we had been given a staff discount!

Addendum: All boxes duly cleared customs and collected to schedule. Smiles all round!