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Did anyone else suffer damage to and theft of personal effects shipped to Qatar?

Did anyone else suffer damage to and theft of personal effects shipped to Qatar?

My wife and I recently brought a 20' container load of personal effects to Qatar. When it arrived we found boxes had been opened, contents damaged and thrown around, property removed (which we haven't been able to locate yet). Goods inside opened boxes damaged, smashed and basically tossed around, contents tipped out and strewn around inside boxes. We found bedding (mattress) which was wrapped when it left England unwrapped and dirty when the customs seal was broken on the container. We found that Qatari Customs seem to have focused on boxes containing any liquids (shampoos, creams and so on) and on boxes in which we had CD's/DVDs and books to support teaching work in Qatar schools. Although we have substantial amounts of found clothing missing... have no idea what they would want fake furs and women's clothes for.

I am appalled that anyone could behave like this in this country and can't imagine how this immoral behavior on the part of the people in the port (customs or otherwise)could be justified for any reason. The container was sealed when it left UK.

Does anyone know who we can complain to about this?
andre.snoxall's picture
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By andre.snoxall
Sun, 12/08/2012 - 2:17pm
marycatherine's picture
marycatherine
 

I suppose you could file a complaint with customs and immigration but I doubt if there would be much satisfaction to be gained from doing so. Did the shipping company not have a rep present when the container was opened? Then a complaint should be made to them too. If your employer was footing the bill for the shipment, make sure they are aware of the issue and that they file a complaint too.

Go through your possessions carefully, make an insurance claim and put it behind you. Annoying and aggravating and certainly going to cost you something monetarily? Yes. Unfortunately, you're probably best advised to let it go and not let it get to you too much.
Answered on Sun, 12/08/2012 - 2:48pm
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xpatadventure's picture
xpatadventure
 

So sorry to hear about this. I went through the same situation as you. We lost most of our personal effects, boxes torn apart. The custom here doesn't care and has no respect, period. I wish you could be warned either by your shipping agent/QL blogs. There are many people went through this as well. You're not alone and just don't ever ship anything into Qatar via custom border except your luggages visa airplane.
Answered on Sun, 12/08/2012 - 6:03pm
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xpatadventure's picture
xpatadventure
 

So sorry to hear about this. I went through the same situation as you. We lost most of our personal effects, boxes torn apart. The custom here doesn't care and has no respect, period. I wish you could be warned either by your shipping agent/QL blogs. There are many people went through this as well. You're not alone and just don't ever ship anything into Qatar via custom border except your luggages visa airplane.
Answered on Sun, 12/08/2012 - 6:05pm
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xpatadventure's picture
xpatadventure
 

So sorry to hear about this. I went through the same situation as you. We lost most of our personal effects, boxes torn apart. The custom here doesn't care and has no respect, period. I wish you could be warned either by your shipping agent/QL blogs. There are many people went through this as well. You're not alone and just don't ever ship anything into Qatar via custom border except your luggages visa airplane.
Answered on Sun, 12/08/2012 - 6:05pm
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xpatadventure's picture
xpatadventure
 

Somehow QL doesn't want to post below message.

Anyway, please keep all your paperwork and report it right away. I believe that the blame is from the local agents. They could have done more for you so definitely make complaints. You can call the custom personnel and ask if you can retrieve your loss belonging, but do so as soon as possible. We unfortunately could not retrieve anything due to the time limit. We didn't find out until 2 months later. We loss the most valuable thing that can never be replaced, our CDs and videos of the family photos and kid's birthday parties.

Good luck.
Answered on Sun, 12/08/2012 - 6:06pm
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