Webster belonging recovery

Help the Websters recover their belongings.

My Aunt Kim and her husband Merv planned and saved for a major move from the US to New Zealand. They paid a US Moving company to handle the transport of all of their belongings from their home in the US to their destination in New Zealand. They paid the agent in full before the day of the move.
They packed up everything they and their 9 year old daughter, Sophie, owned and loaded it into a cargo container in July of this year. They arrived in New Zealand and awaited news of their cargo’s arrival. At the end of September, they received notice that the cargo was due to arrive October 5th. They were asked to pay port fees and bio-security agency fees that they had not been told about by their agent at the moving company. Once they scrambled to come up with those funds, they were informed that their agent had breached her contract with the ocean freight company by not paying for the cargo to be shipped. Because of this, the shipping company placed a hold on the shipment, meaning it could not be released from the wharf. They incurred charges for storage at the wharf and the use of the cargo container.
The agent had also not paid the receiving moving company in New Zealand for the additional handling charges. Though they have been able to beg, borrow, and everything short of steal to come up with some of these fees, their entire load of belongings is still beyond their reach. Not only did they have to pay the shipping fees that were not paid by their agent, they also have to come up with cargo handling fees and Customs clearing fees that were supposed to be covered by their fees to the agent in the US.

Any of you who know Kim and Merv know they wouldn’t enter into a contract without researching the company they were doing business with. Up front, they looked very reputable and are licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission. All of the research in the world would not have revealed what they were about to face with this agent. Though they have contacted the FMC, it is unlikely that they will recoup their losses. The moving company they used has not responded to requests for communication with the FMC. At this point, time is their enemy. Every day they can’t free their freight is another day of storage and space rent that is adding up.
My Aunt Kim was reluctant to have one of these sites set up for them, even though it’s through no fault of their own that they have ended up in this situation. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated more than you will ever know.