First here's a summary of the experience with La Rosa Del Monte if you don't want to read all the details below:
We shipped household goods (90 boxes along with a queen mattress and box spring) and our 2008 Ford Escape from Massachusetts.
1. All in all it was a good experience. They were on time and professional in the states and here in PR.
2. Aside from a couple of minor hiccups that got smoothed out quickly (paperwork, communication), everything went without a hitch.
3. They packed everything really well. Nothing was dented, scratched or broken.
4. They were efficient and on-time.
5. They walked us through the process of what we needed to do at the Hacienda to get our car legal.
6. We didn't have to go to the port to get our car. We picked it up at their office in Bayamon which is only a few miles from the Hacienda.
7. Everything arrived on time (about 3 weeks after pickup container arrived on the island. About a week after that we received everything)
9. There were some unexpected extra costs (about $150)
8. They know what they are doing. I would recommend them.
The details:
We (my g/f and I) just received all of our household goods and a small SUV from Massachusetts. The situation was a tad unusual because all of our goods and our car were stored at my mother's house in MA, but we were living in Argentina when the communication started.
Communication started in late 2016 with La Rosa Del Monte's office in Worcester, MA. I first contacted them via email and subsequently had my mother call them to set up a time they could come to her house and view everything to be shipped so they could provide a cost estimate ($7,700).
This went without a hitch as they showed up on time and provided us with an estimate for the household goods and the car separately. We were told we had 90 days for the price to be "locked in". We agreed on the price and set up a pick up date of early June 2017. It was a non-specific date at that time and we were told they would need a specific date about 3 weeks ahead of pickup.
Plans changed and we moved the pickup date up to May. I emailed them a specific date of May 10. We moved to PR (Caguas, barrio Beatriz) in March. My mother and her husband head to Florida during the winter so we had to wait for them get back to their home in MA for the move to take place.
A few weeks before the move date I emailed La Rosa to confirm everything was a go. There was some confusion at first that no date had been set but that was because in their system everything was under my mother's name. We got that figured out and confirmed the pickup date.
They showed up at my mother's house on time and took about 2 hours to move everything. After the move happened La Rosa forgot they needed the car title so they contacted my mother. Luckily she packed it in an easily found box with everything else. La Rosa mailed the car title to us in PR and we received it in a couple of days. BTW, I had to send a 25% deposit before they came for pickup. The rest was paid on the day of pickup.
After 3 weeks I got a call that the household good were on the island, but there was some paperwork I needed to fill out that was overlooked, before they could take the container from the port. I got a call from their office here notifying me of this and within 5 minutes of the call I got a pdf emailed to me. I filled it out, sent it back and everything was fine.
A week later La Rosa called me to set up a delivery time for the following day. They said they'd be at my home between 9-5. About 10 minutes after that call I got a call from La Rosa in Massachusetts, concerning the car, stating that UPS lost a form they had sent and I had to provide them with my social security number so they could re-send the form. They told me the car was already on the island.
For the delivery of the household goods they showed up around 10:00 am mas o menos. A crew of 2 men. It was then we found we'd have to pay an extra $50 for them to bring everything in the house, otherwise they could leave it outside and we could bring it in. We chose the former. And judging by the amount they were sweating, I think it was the right call. There was also an unexpected $40 paperwork fee we were told about the day before. They were quick and efficient. Thumbs up to those 2 guys.
I think it was that same day La Rosa called and said the car was at their office ready to pick up. We had 3 business days to get it. After that it would be $10 a day storage fee.
Yesterday we went to their office in Bayamon to retrieve the car. Our GPS got us a little lost but eventually we got there. Tip: if you are using your phone's GPS, don't use the app, use the browser version. The app lead us to a dead end street. The browser version got us there.
At the office we had to fill out some paperwork and then head upstairs to pay another fee. It was around $40. They don't take credit cards but they did take my debit card.
They walked us through the Hacienda process so there were no surprises. We'd have to come back to their office after paying the tax and some other fees to get the car out of their warehouse.
We drove to the Hacienda, which was only about a 5-10 minute drive away and did what La Rosa told us. We went to the third floor and filled out some paperwork. That went quickly. Then we went downstairs to pay what we needed to pay. It was then we saw a sign on the door that the ATH system wasn't working (ATH=ATM in the states). So my g/f had to dash to the bank while I waited in line to get cash as they don't take credit cards. She got back just before I got to the counter. The line wasn't long when I got into it but it still took an hour to get to the counter. We paid our tax which was $1,037 for a 2008 Ford Escape plus some other fees which took us to close to $1,100. We went back up to the third floor, gave a guy our paperwork, he went into a room, did something, then came back out and gave it to us. We were finished with the Hacienda.
We went back to La Rosa, showed them our paperwork and they brought out our car. Before shipment, they did a walk around the car and marked any scratches and dents on the car. Even if portions of the car were "dirty". I had to go around the car and then sign some paperwork stating everything was in the same condition as when it left Massachusetts. It was, so we were good to move on. About 300 yards away there is a Gulf gas station that does inspections so we just went there and did it. No issue. Paid $11 I think and started our way back to Caguas.
I forgot to note that included in what we paid at the Hacienda was a basic insurance so we weren't driving uninsured at any time. This also allows 3 days to get the car registered. So if pulled over, you can just show the paperwork and you'll be ok. Speaking of pulled over........
So about 5 minutes after leaving La Rosa, my g/f, who I was following behind, tried taking a left hand turn where you aren't supposed to. We didn't know it until the world started honking at us. Wouldn't you know it, an unmarked cruiser pulls out from behind us and tells us to pull over. We do. Great.
The officer goes to talk to my g/f for a bit and then he comes over to me (with Massachusetts license plates still attached) and asks if I'm her husband. I say yes and he explains how things are different here than in the states (in Spanish). I told him I understood, he wished me a good weekend and we were off. Whew!
We made it back to Caguas without a hitch (aside from the absolutely insane traffic leaving Bayamon and route 20). Our next stop CESCO! I'll let you know how that goes.
Any questions, please feel free...
My experience with La Rosa Del Monte (and some Hacienda)
Thank you so much for so much detail. My partner and I are planning on late September of this year to move from Maine to Vieques. I thought we would get a U-Pack...still researching. I'm assuming the SUV was roll-on/roll-off? We wanted to put our pick-up in a big shipping container...but that's getting complicated. I didn't realize we would need to get it inspected so quickly as well. Thanks again for all your posts - everyone!
I will likely use them, I live very close to Worcester also.
You went with them because it was best price or because they know the ins and outs of moving to PR?
7,700 is a little steep for 90 boxes a mattress set and a car. Mine will be close to that I guess.
Thank you for this information. I will share it with someone who is looking to move the contents of their New York apartment.
My husband and I went in a different direction. We had originally planned to ship our belongings. We got a number of estimates but decided that, despite our attachment to some of our furniture, nothing we owned was worth the price. We gave some family heirlooms and other things to our children, sold some things to friends or on Letgo, placed some things with a consignment shop, and gave everything else to a charity store. We packed 20 boxes, which our daughter is mailing to us through the USPS a few at a time. We had a 2007 SUV and a small 2008 hatchback. We sold both of them and bought a 2016 SUV when we arrived in PR. We have discovered that starting our retirement here without all our "stuff" is a freeing process and has simplified our move.
dblahusch wrote:Thank you so much for so much detail. My partner and I are planning on late September of this year to move from Maine to Vieques. I thought we would get a U-Pack...still researching. I'm assuming the SUV was roll-on/roll-off? We wanted to put our pick-up in a big shipping container...but that's getting complicated. I didn't realize we would need to get it inspected so quickly as well. Thanks again for all your posts - everyone!
I believe our car was put in a special container amongst other cars.
ReyP wrote:I will likely use them, I live very close to Worcester also.
You went with them because it was best price or because they know the ins and outs of moving to PR?
7,700 is a little steep for 90 boxes a mattress set and a car. Mine will be close to that I guess.
We went with them because the know the ins and outs of moving to PR, they were located in MA, they could ship both household items and the car at the same time and they would do door-to-door. Also, a poster here recommended them, having used them for years.
In the end it was mostly about convenience. The cost was a hard pill to swallow but we just decided to bite the bullet and do it.
Nanraughley wrote:My husband and I went in a different direction. We had originally planned to ship our belongings. We got a number of estimates but decided that, despite our attachment to some of our furniture, nothing we owned was worth the price. We gave some family heirlooms and other things to our children, sold some things to friends or on Letgo, placed some things with a consignment shop, and gave everything else to a charity store. We packed 20 boxes, which our daughter is mailing to us through the USPS a few at a time. We had a 2007 SUV and a small 2008 hatchback. We sold both of them and bought a 2016 SUV when we arrived in PR. We have discovered that starting our retirement here without all our "stuff" is a freeing process and has simplified our move.
I have to agree with you. If it were just me I would have started fresh here. It was nice living here for three months without a bunch of clutter.
We have a new type of clutter now. We bought a fixer-upper!
Nanraughley wrote:We have a new type of clutter now. We bought a fixer-upper!
We bought a fixer-upper as well so I know what you mean.
Thanks for the report, Rich. I'm in Georgia, so I don't know what would be a good service to use. I do know there is quite a bit of shipping between Savannah and PR.
Great post, thanks for sharing your story with us. Hope you share your experience with online review sites, I think they could really use yours.
Do you know what your expenses would have been if you had not shipped your car?
Karenqc wrote:Great post, thanks for sharing your story with us. Hope you share your experience with online review sites, I think they could really use yours.
Do you know what your expenses would have been if you had not shipped your car?
Around $5,500
The cost to ship the car was $1,885 plus $250 pickup and drop-off fees. The car could have been driven the car to their office in MA to avoid those fees but the it wasn't street legal.
A little more than 5,200 for the household goods and $200 for the queen mattress and box spring.
richvide0 wrote:Nanraughley wrote:We have a new type of clutter now. We bought a fixer-upper!
We bought a fixer-upper as well so I know what you mean.
Nanraughley and Richvide0, can you send me or tell us of the square meters for the PR place? I am trying to figure out what sort of things the experts are going for.
Experts? I'm not sure what you mean, Rey. Our (maybe) property is approximately a half acre. I'd have to look up the square meters. We haven't officially closed on the house yet although we are living in it. We understand that the CRIM appraisal has been completed, which was the delay that placed everything on hold. We hope to close soon. Then the real work begins.
I meant the size of the house
Sory a typo, the sort of housing size that Expats are buying.
It's a little less than 2,000 sq.ft. We weren't really looking for square footage. We wanted tall ceilings, an open floor plan, and, most of all, a beautiful view. We also wanted a separate area for our guests from the U.S. We were looking for a fixer-upper because we're on a limited retirement budget, and my husband likes something to keep him busy. We may have gotten more of a project than we had intended, but we look forward to getting started. I doubt we're the typical buyers. We're kind of crazy.😉
ReyP wrote:I meant the size of the house
Sory a typo, the sort of housing size that Expats are buying.
Sorry Rey, I have no idea of the square footage. But it's a one-floor, 7 room "ranch style" I guess you'd call it. I'd consider it a small house. it has 2 or 3 "bedrooms" but they are just big enough to accommodate a queen-sized bed and not much more. It was built as a weekend getaway home and it was as basic as basic can be. No real kitchen. Just a sink and a 4 burner portable stove
It was a house my S/O's late grandfather built about 40 years ago. Concrete structure with a zinc roof supported by wooden beams. He wasn't a pro so none of the rooms are completely square which made tiling the floors quite the challenge and much of the concrete work wasn't done with the goal of making it look nice. Basically it was just slapping up concrete into rooms so it works and that's it. We are sitting on about an acre bordered by protected land which I am so thankful for. The grounds are beautiful. Many different fruit trees and nice mountain view overlooking the center of Caguas. For some reason her grandfather never took full advantage of the view but we are correcting that. We just installed sliders which will connect to a deck overlooking the vista. I can't wait for that to be completed.
Ranting below:
Unfortunately we found rats inside the home after we moved in. I think I caught about 5 of them in rat traps. We found the source and closed that up but, and I don't think I have to tell you, it was not a good time while we were trying to figure out where they were coming from. Nothing removes one from a good nights sleep after waking up to the snap of a rat trap. We heard something on the roof the other night. I went out with a flashlight. Yup, a rat. I didn't tell the g/f but the next day I hacked off a bunch of limbs which the rat could jump from to access the roof.
We also have high-tension electric wires running through a huge tree and it's a dangerous situation. It's right next to our bedroom and has been ignored for years. The electric company were notified months before we moved in and have done nothing. 2 nights ago we woke up to a zapping sound and it was one of the wires setting a limb on fire. It took off a huge limb. This was around midnight and it continued for hours with actual fire and embers. We called the electric company and were on hold for more than and hour until we gave up. The next day my g/f persisted and finally got someone on the phone who said they'd be there that day. Nobody showed. No call, nothing. If this tree was engulfed in fire it would be a huge disaster. I can't even imagine.
Anyway, it's peaceful now and I love it.
Wow Rich sounds like quite an adventure. Based on your description I estimate that the house floor plan is about 1,000 square feet since the kitchen is tiny and the bedrooms seem to be small.
Out of curiosity I am just trying to figure out if most of the houses being purchased by members are:
1) 1400 SQ Ft or under
2) 2000 SQ or under
3) Over 2000 SQ
We plan on around 1,500, easier to keep clean and a lot of covered patio to just sit outside out of the sun and relax. Yes two family home (2 stories) about the same size each, one for AirBnb.
PS. Get a pro to come cut that tree down or give it a good trim so it does not grow into the wires.
For some reason a lot of people in PR grow tall trees like Mangos tree for example at the edge of their property along the road, this tends to cause electric wire damages. For some reason the government has not done anything about it. Every so often a storm takes down a tree and it takes the wires or just shorten them like you experienced.
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