If you are thinking of shipping your bike and your belongings back to wherever from Lima, Peru, do NOT use Amber Worldwide Peru (i.e. Edwin Pinedo). Why do I say that? Because that's the shipping company I used and I got screwed! So pick another company!

Here's my Peruvian Shipping Tale in case you are interested:

Me and my friend have recently returned from an absolutely amazing motorcycle trip from the USA to Peru, which took us through 11 Central and South American countries. At the end of the trip I decided to ship my motorcycle back to Miami from Lima, Peru. I hired a local shipping company (“Amber Worldwide Peru”, co-owned by Edwin Pinedo), who said it wouldn’t be a problem to ship my bike & luggage (which could stay on the bike, so their words) back to the USA. “We do it all the time, it’s standard procedure”, were the famous last words.

I handed my motorcycle & luggage over to the shipping company, along with a power of attorney, notarized copies of my motorcycle title, temporary import permit, passport, driver’s license and a list of accompanying personal belongings. It all seemed to be going according to plan. I was quoted $1,850 + $100 for customs charges in Miami.

When I arrived in Miami my bike was nowhere to be seen. The shipping company told me that there were problems with Peruvian customs. Apparently my personal belongings could not be shipped with the bike because the customs agent at the port of entry in Tumbes, Peru, gave me the necessary temporary import permit for my Beemer, but not for my personal belongings. My luggage needed an import permit? We’ve traveled through 11 countries on this trip and my luggage never needed a permit to enter and/or leave a country. The shipping company, who deals with customs on a regular basis didn’t know that either. Unfortunately they also didn’t feel obligated to step up to the plate and fix the sticky situation. Peruvian customs had messed up on one end or the other and I had lost my personal belongings. What did the shipping company do to help? Nada. “Customs is at fault and we can’t do anything for you”, I was told. They could mail my stuff to the USA for an additional $600-700. They clearly did not feel responsible for the “mishap”. I was further told insurance wouldn’t cover my loss because it happened at customs and not during shipping. What? Isn’t going through customs part of the shipping ordeal? It shouldn’t matter during what stage of the process things go wrong. I signed over my power of attorney to the shipping company and legally, the person/company who holds the property is required by law to deliver my belongings to me and to take care of them in my best interest.

After 2 months of more and more aggravated emails back and forth between Lima and Florida, and still no resolution in sight, I found a fellow HUBBer who heard out about my situation and who offered to take my belongings with him to the USA! Wow! That was absolutely amazing. So after almost three months I was reunited with most of my belongings. Of course customs agents and people from the shipping business had gone through my stuff and had decided that they liked certain items. Not everything made it back to me. Did the shipping company care? Nope, apparently they don’t consider it their responsibility to keep your belongings safe while in their “care”.

Besides their inability to deal with customs, they gave me the wrong information about US customs fees where the estimated $100 turned into $700! Maybe they did not know about the actual cost, but I’d say it’s their job to know. Not knowing is no excuse if you’re running a business. The quote of $1,950 turned into a bill of $2,700! Ouch.

My advice: avoid “Amber Worldwide Peru”. It is an unprofessional shipping business and NOT fit for international customers. Beware!

Please be sure to post this in the Shipping database too!
Shipping the bike | Horizons Unlimited

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

A bit of an update on Amber Worldwide Peru (and Edwin Pinedo), in spite of this posting, I decided to go with this company to ship my bike from Lima, Peru back to the US, at the end of my journey through the Americas. And I am glad to report no issues whatsoever. Just the opposite. They were rather efficient (I got my bike out of there in 10 days or so, this from given them the bike to the ship leaving port), and always super efficient. Just thought that I would share this.

And for completeness, once the bike got to Miami, I contracted Gaston Etchart from SAmericaXplorer to help me out with paperwork, customs, et cetera. And I am also glad to report that he was of great help indeed. Cheers

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JSerpa
Cotonou, Benin
www.Tamlyn-Serpa.com
www.Facebook.com/Jorge.Serpa.1654

JSerpa,

A lot of riders are going to be looking at the costs of air cargo and sea freight now that Ferry Express stopped service between Panama and Colombia. To assist the community I am hoping you'll share some details.

What did it cost to ship your bike and how much were the customs fees to clear Peru and to enter the US? What did the customs broker charge? If you can't remember the exact amount, then ball park figures will do.

Did you ship your luggage with the bike or did you take your personal items with you on the plane?

Wondering if anyone has air lifted their bike back from South America with Air Canada. I suspect they are cheaper and faster than going by sea...

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

I'm with Peter, hope more info on this can be posted on costs in Peru'. MotoGirl paints a pretty grim picture about Amber WW ... I'd need a few more positive endorsements to believe they'd get anything right.

But, IMO, she did make mistakes too ....

Not sure why anyone would ship from Lima, Peru' to Miami?
Unless in a very big hurry, why not ride to Colombia and ship from there?
About a week's long ride at most, yes? Perhaps lower cost too? yes?
Especially to Miami?? West coast of California? Maybe.

If Flying, for sure a no non sense MAJOR airline that handles Cargo. I've had good luck with Lufthansa ... but I guess Air Canada are OK. Something about that German efficiency I like! We sent a $200,000 Video production package in a small container. NO ISSUES! No BS. We did have a PRO freight forwarder/agent at both ends. Big money, but it got there before we did.

Air Canada has a deal that is getting a lot of mentions. If you buy a seat when shipping your bike, the price is lower. The price varies a few hundred depending on how far south your plan to go. Google 'Air Canada cargo motorcycle" and you'll find the details quickly.

Or start here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ler-deal-80707

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride