In 2010, we began our plans to move to Ecuador. We contracted Relocation Services of Ecuador to move our container. At that time, we weren’t sure how big a container we would bring. Time went by. We paid the inital fee of $700 to open the contract. Nathaly assisted us with preparation of our inventory, providing information on how to pack, how to list items, and how to proceed. We settled on a moving date in Dec 2012 and Paul arranged for the container to come to our door. I retired on Dec 14, so we had 13 days to pack. Not enough, so we found a mover experienced in packing for international moving. That was expensive! They loaded the container, after complaining that 4 hours was not enough time for them. So, contacted Nathaly, who negotiated additional time for the truck to be loaded. Since Paul works directly through the shipper, RSE was able to provide a lower price than other relocation companies we had contacted. Our container loaded and was moved to the port in Houston, where Paul took care of all the customs procedures in the U.S. port. We sent our inventory to RSE, and Nathaly translated it according to local laws, which change often. There was a small hiccup in that the visa we had applied for in November was not yet ready when the container came into port on Jan 20. RSE advised us how to get a bank account and then put up the money required for customs to accept the container. RSE is required to place a value on the container to clear customs. Based on that value, we were able to take out a certificate of deposit and get a bank guarantee to bring the container into the country. We had 180 days. Our shipment was cleared, unloaded for customs and reloaded in Guayaquil (GYE), because Cuenca customs was not accepting any additional containers and we could avoid a delay of possibly several weeks by clearing customs in Guayaquil.
