Carrier companies

[JimmyC]

I live in the Eastern Suburbs of Wellington and bought a bike from Danniverke via TradeMe. Once purchased, TradeMe provided a link to carrier Haul Plus if I needed transportation. The seller had said one of his sons lived near by and could bring the bike down which was awesome, but that fell through in the end so I went back to Haul Plus for carriage. It took them 5 days to send through the paperwork via email for me to fill out which I completed and paid for on the spot. Now a week later I still don’t have my bike…

Communication has been so incredibly slow. When they finally told me the bike would be collected on Tuesday this week I let them know I would be away this Friday so asked if delivery could be done before then. Again, no response. When I finally hear back, guess what they tell me? Yup, delivery will be Friday... I just told you 3 freakin’ times in 1.5 days that I would be away on Friday!?

I’ve now asked them just to leave it at their Grenada depot Friday and I’ll collect it on Tuesday morning when I'm back.

So, I know some people get their bikes freighted for various rides when they're at opposite ends of the country, who do you use? Is 2 weeks too long for this sort of thing or am I just being impatient?

[Paul in NZ]

Well - I'm sorry but my experience of many carriers is not great. The good ones really are fantastic to deal with but some of them are criminally incompetent. Yours sould like they have a few communication issues to address at best.

I expect your bike will be at your place propped up against the lamp post when you get back after being thrown off the back of the truck unless of course the guy comes back and steals it... (assuming he doesnt steal it first before delivery)

I hope its insured.....

[JimmyC]

Yes it is insured... it gets better tho. Seems it's been passed off to Bike Tranz now who just rang me and asked when a suitable time for delivery tomorrow would be... again I said I'm away tomorrow. She said if they can't have it delivered tomorrow it'll have to stay up the Kapiti Coast for another week because their van is being serviced next week. Seriously, couldn't make this stuff up. I'm now chasing neighbours to see if they can accept delivery and look after it for me until tuesday.

Never again.

[Tigadee]

Bike Tranz and [NZ] Motorcycle Movers - two good companies, no problems. Prices for both were good to fair.

Only trouble was one seller who didn't know you don't need to have the transfer of ownership done before the bike was picked up (as long as have been paid) and argued with the driver who gave up, and that delayed pick-up so that the bike ended up delivered one week late.

[Lucyloo]

I can recommend Dennis at NZ Motorcycle Movers 0800 200 900

[sharp2183]

Have used Bike Tranz 4 times. Fantastic.

[sleemanj]

who didn't know you don't need to have the transfer of ownership done before the bike was picked up

Previous owner was just correctly protecting his interests. There are good reasons why you want to ensure that registered ownership is changed before a vehicle leaves your hands.

[Road kill]

I used Bike trans AK-Chch.

Had to wait a couple of days for pick up but they got it down there in 24 hours with no dramas.

Having said that,,I work for a Carrier company myself,,,,if I can I still deliver things myself.

I second what Paul said about most Carriers.

[jasonu]

Yes it is insured... it gets better tho. Seems it's been passed off to Bike Tranz now who just rang me and asked when a suitable time for delivery tomorrow would be... again I said I'm away tomorrow. She said if they can't have it delivered tomorrow it'll have to stay up the Kapiti Coast for another week because their van is being serviced next week. Seriously, couldn't make this stuff up. I'm now chasing neighbours to see if they can accept delivery and look after it for me until tuesday.

Never again.

They have only ONE van??? What a dump!

[Rhys]

They have only ONE van??? What a dump!

One of the few down sides of living in a country with a population of a small city

[Hitcher]

I don't know the company responsible, but they got my bike from Pahiatua to Wellington in a day. Shame the bike was a write off.

[JimmyC]

The bike finally arrived on Saturday, 23 days after confirming the move. It's in very good condition so I'm stoked with that side of things, and I took it out for a couple of awesome hours before realising its registration had expired in January and I couldn't find a WoF sticker anywhere... Apparently it has both (according to the seller, but also online checks) but the seller forgot to attach the new reg. I'm guess (although could be wrong) the WoF tag used to hang off the frame on the back that holds the license plate. Looks like there's a good spot for it, but it's not there any more. Will see if I can get copies of both.

Anyhoo, my personal experience after all this would tell me to avoid Haul Plus as promoted by TradeMe and deal with Bike Tranz direct. Despite their van being off the road for a week, Bike Tranz were always great with communication (thanks especially to Adele). Definitely couldn't say that about Haul Plus.