Hi,

Am hoping to hear back from anyone who has used Manray Express shipping from Miami to San Pedro. I'm thinking about using their service but know nothing about them.

They are offering a door to door service, including shipping, broker, barge and home delivery.

If anyone has any experience/comments on their service love to hear from you.

Thanks in advance,

jem11

Yes. It was a disaster. The people in Miami office are inept, will fail to tell you everything involved
and that 20 ft container will end up costing you close to 9k once it is delivered Use anyone else.

Thank you for the feedback Lola1. For my two cents, I have given up trying to get information from them. Though they responded quickly at first, things slowed down after that. When I followed up for a breakdown of costs and details for shipping from Miami, broker costs upon arrival, transfer to barge and finally delivery ( all part of a comprehensive service they offer ), the information never arrived, echoing what you experienced, so not pursuing things with them.

During all of this I had also been in contact with Benny Torres at Hyde Shipping, and he would answer any and all questions clearly and promptly, something most welcome for first time shippers. But Hyde does not have an end to end service that will clear customs and deliver to the island, ( a potentially untapped market for them ) so the reason for looking into a company/service that did. .

From what I have been able to determine, there does not appear to be a comprehensive and reliable answer/service to getting large items delivered to your door or the island from Miami, it is a series of steps.

Step one for me is clearly to go with Hyde for the leg of Miami-Belize City Port.

Step two for me will be to travel to the city ( Benny Torres will contact me with arrival time ) and then follow through with customs/transfer to the barge.

Step three will be to see how to get from the barge arrival point on the south end of the island to home.

More hands on than I had thought, but necessary for peace of mind.

The bonus of all of this will be to experience the process directly and to understand the system from stem to stern.

Thanks again.

Hire a Customs Broker in Belize and they will do all the work for you. Well worth it and I think you have to have a Customs Broker anyway, so it isn't a saving. They will arrange the delivery to your choice of barge and you send them a cheque on Tropic for Customs Duty and get the goods delivered to you in San Pedro by the Barge Co.

Agreed, I have numerous shipments come in on Hyde throughout the year, my broker deals with everything in the city and sends it over via the means of my choice.

I have used Benny at Hyde many times over the last 5 or 6 years. They provide an excellent services. However, If the value of your goods is over $3,000 BZ then you have to use a Customs Broker. I use Bert Bradley and there have been several others mentioned in other threads here. If you are clearing the goods yourself It is a simple process albeit time consuming. Pick up papers from Hyde Shipping saying you've paid the freight, either cash in their office or by credit card through Benny. Head to the port of Belize, pay the storage fees, there go to see the customs people. You give your paperwork to someone behind the 2nd set of counters. They post your name on the board and assign a customs agent to examine your goods. If you have receipts for what you're bringing in give them to the customs people. /if the stuff is used, give them a value. The customs agent will work up what the tax and duty will be and you pat the person behind the first counter. They take credit cards. When paid find someone to carry your stuff to the barges, just around the corner. Guys hang out by the fence looking to move your stuff. Make sure you go the day the barge goes, otherwise it will sit on the back of someone's truck who knows where. Once you get to SP, i can't help since i go to CC. Good luck.

To Phil, SimonB and Ron,

Thanks for the heads up on customs broker requirement on large value shipments and also for heads up on timing with the barge.

Will post follow up once completed.

Best regards

ManRay-I am in the middle of using them know. I am trying to compile a book on Shipping 2 Belize.
So Far we have used
HYDE SHIPPING. What a Nightmare and scam. Benny their salesperson is nice that is the hook. Took 5 weeks to get our 2 40 foot containers to us. Left one of our pallets in their warehouse not shipped.They bashed our New Boat, huge dent. Broke over 28 of our most Loved possessions, slashed cushions to shreds!The kicker is they say they do not insure personal goods and covered nothing. DO NOT USE HYDE SHIPPING
Marage Shipping- We have used 3 times. You ship things to them in LA. They do all the customs and bring it to your door. So Far AMAZING!
Am still working on Book. Will have a Website and go to Press.

Does anyone have any experience shipping from Canada? Winnipeg to be precise. Thanks.