Balikbayan box advice please

[soulman1949]

Looking for two bits of advice please...

I wonder if I am entitled to send a balikbayan box to my better half? We're not married (she tried for an annulment two or three years back and we got royally ripped off by a thoroughly incompetent lawyer for the case to be thrown out), so I'm only here on an ordinary tourist visa, although I do have an ACR card.

Secondly, if so, can anyone recommend a good reliable operator in the Manchester area. As I don't have a car, it would be preferable if they delivered the box to your home and collected it for delivery when full!


Thanks

Alan

[Michael Parnham]

Looking for two bits of advice please...

I wonder if I am entitled to send a balikbayan box to my better half? We're not married (she tried for an annulment two or three years back and we got royally ripped off by a thoroughly incompetent lawyer for the case to be thrown out), so I'm only here on an ordinary tourist visa, although I do have an ACR card.

Secondly, if so, can anyone recommend a good reliable operator in the Manchester area. As I don't have a car, it would be preferable if they delivered the box to your home and collected it for delivery when full!


Thanks

Alan

Hi Alan and welcome to the Forum, yes you can send a box I recommend LBC 02031102522

[soulman1949]

Thank you Michael, on both counts. I'll have a look at their website. Best wishes

Alan

[Terpe]

Thank you Michael, on both counts. I'll have a look at their website. Best wishes

Alan

I've also used LBC extensively and always been satisfied.
Do be aware that LBC along with other 'big name' forwarders only have agents in certain areas.
Try to stick to established operators with a good history to avoid problems.
Be careful about what's allowed in the box and what's not. Customs are much stricter these days and although the vast majority of boxes pass through unopened they do get X-rayed and passed by sniffer dogs etc.
You can find a list of prohibited items on the LBC website.

Personally, these days, I'd hesitate to put my own name on forwarding forms etc. and I'd take extra care.
Do you or or your partner have Filipino friends close by to you who would be willing to help ?
Maybe better to use your partners name.

For your further background understanding look here:-
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/...rivileges.html

And here:-
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/...stmas-day.html

Just my 2 centavos

[soulman1949]

I've done a bit of reading around since Michael replied to my query. I've read some horror stories online of boxes going missing after folks used dubious operators. Reliability and quality of service are vital.

Agree fully about compliance with the regulations, I read somewhere that a whole container's contents can be threatened by stuff in one box that shouldn't be there.

As a matter of interest why do you say

Personally, these days, I'd hesitate to put my own name on forwarding forms etc. and I'd take extra care.

Regards

Alan

[Terpe]

If you read the links I posted it's explained there.
As always it's a personal choice.