International Sea & Air Shipping Problems

I posted a while ago saying I would tell people about my experiences moving from North East, USA to Eastern England.  I had hoped to have good experiences.  NOT REALLY! 

I went with International Sea & Air Shipping (ISA) because their estimate was average with the other 5 companies I checked, I didn't find any bad reviews, and the salesperson spent a lot of time talking to me about what would be happening.  Sales guy does do a good job of talking but that is where it ends. 

My flight was booked for the 21st of August and I wanted the shippers there on the 20th of August to cut down on the days I would have to spend in a hotel.  I was completely alone so I didn't even have help packing or carrying stuff to the dumpster so I had my entire time all planned down to cleaning the apartment on Sunday night so I could turn the keys over shortly after the movers left on Monday.  I got a call on Thursday at 4pm before the move date, they wanted to come on Friday the next day.  That would have been many days in an expensive hotel (there are no cheap ones near me unfortunately) and lots of expenses of food and taxis which I really couldn't afford.  So I explained the situation and that no way could I do that even IF I could pack the rest over night which I couldn't do myself.  So he said he would move the date from Friday to Sunday.  Which took an entire day of cleaning and packing away from me and added hotel charges.  Then told me he would call me back later in the day to confirm the Sunday date as he had to check with his movers.  I wasn't real happy but worked with it.  He didn't call back however.  I had to track him down on Friday to ask about it and he acted like I was stupid to be following up.  He said of course it was changed to Sunday.

The movers did arrive on Sunday as scheduled.  They took a while but did the work adequately.  I have had better movers but they were not horrible either.  However I wonder if some of my items will arrive as they didn't tag them with numbers.

I had tried to get a final bill total before I left so I could send a US check before closing out my US bank account.  Nope, they wouldn't do it.  Not even a close estimate.  I kept getting told it was no problem that I had a container and it would be dealt with later.  But I wanted to pay with a US check so I didn't have to pay UK bank transaction fees.  But I tried to do the best I could and estimate the final bill myself and sent in a check I hoped covered everything.  When I got the invoice (after I was in the UK and sent to an alternate email not the main email I gave so I didn't see it for a week) the price was 750 dollars more than I ever expected.  They added charges that were not mentioned and not on any documentation plus a 455 USD charge that was in the fine print as a possible charge.  No mention was made of how much it would be as the rest were like 10 dollar items.  I had trouble with my bank account in the UK so my now husband paid by wire transfer.  We had confirmation that the transfer went through to their bank that day. 

5 days later they finally acknowledged the transfer and said they would send the release.  Several days later I get a call from the shippers here in the UK saying that IAS still had not given the release and that customs was accruing charges.  I emailed ISA and got an email back saying it was done.  Then when nothing happened here I called my sales guy and he finally got someone to do something and only then did the release finally go through, please note my sales guy said it was the fault of the person in that office and she needed to accept responsibility for it, after UK business day. 

Then yesterday I get a call from the UK shipper.  The call came on the cell phone right after my husband and I exited our wedding at the registry office.  We had to pay the final bill before getting my stuff (slated for this Thursday).  The customs charges for holding the container during this debacle is 700 pounds.  So I returned home right after my wedding to have to call ISA about this and my sales guy is now out of the office due to personal issues and everything has to be done over the email.  So I had to spend the day going back and forth with ISA regarding who was to pay for the 700 pounds.  Finally it came down to them saying it was my husband's banks fault for delaying the wire transfer and they should be held responsible.  But we went down to the branch (yes on my wedding day) and they confirmed that it was completely processed an done on the 13th, before the shipment was out of customs checkpoint so no charges were being accrued then.  the delay was THEIR bank in informing them.  So I used this and sent copies of all the documentation and I was told I still have to pay no matter what because my stuff is still accruing charges and I will never get my stuff unless I pay for it.  And they didn't address the days and days after they knew I paid and still didn't release it.

So as I am crying my husband paid for it out of his account which barely had enough to pay the actual 978 pound bill.  He is on disability and my new bank still hasn't cleared my original deposit checks.  Also on the invoice they are charging me for documentation again when I already paid for it on the original invoice and another fee that was never mentioned before.  So they completely screwed me with a HUGE bill that is now over 2,000 USD over their original estimate.

And there is the secondary problem, I paid to have two drop off points for my things, the flat and a storage facility.  A fee that was dramatically increased from estimate to final bill, now the UK shipper is saying there is a chance that the actual movers might not do the second drop off but as an added benefit I won't know that until moving day when they show up on Thursday.

So for all you out there hiring shippers, beware.  I wouldn't go with International Sea & Air at all just in case you have to deal with this.  I realize everyone had different experiences but when a company screws up and blames you (they still will not even fess up to their error in not doing the release after they even acknowledge the transfer) it might be best to look elsewhere.  I understand problems happening but if the company can't even work their hardest to fix it instead leave you high and dry, not good.

Sealie in the UK

Wow, that's awful. I would consider suing them in small claims court.

That's very unfortunate your expat experience had to start this way. Funnily enough, I got a quote from Sea & Air initially that was super low...lower than I expected the cost to be.  And then every other mover I spoke to said there was no way that Sea & Air could move that cheaply, which got me paranoid enough to do tons of research and I ended up dropping them pretty quickly. It's incredible that you can find more on the track record of a restaurant than an int'l mover.

Wow, that's one of the worst stories I've heard. Have you kept documentation? I think I'd be considering legal action too.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks all for the support.  Have filed a BBB complaint and going to try that route first.  Might have to hire a lawyer in the end but I will see what I can do with the BBB.

Of course it gets worse.  I arrived at my storage facility at 9am this morning to meet the container and movers (my storage place opened early just for this) and we all waited 30 minutes before the movers arrived to say the container wouldn't come until afternoon and that they are going to charge me overtime if it is not all done by 5pm.  Sigh.

I sent another angry letter to International Sea and Air demanding they take care of this but doubt they will even respond.

When I got my estimates they were right in the mid range so I thought everything would be on the up and up.  But now I am seeing more and more complaints being made about them recently.  Guess they snowed me.

Sealie in the UK

OMG...I'm so sorry to hear all that.  Moving is stressful and costly enough.  I would consider at least speaking with a lawyer to see what legal action you could take.  Some additional costs are reasonable, but not the amounts which they had you pay above and beyond what it was!  Good luck with it all.

unfortunately this is not a surprise. My husband deals with this crap monthly with international shipments. I know it is no comfort but just be glad that customs did not inspect your container or you would be looking at another thousand pounds.

Sorry you went through all this! These shippers take advantage because they know they can since the competition is so few.

Good Luck with what ever you decide to do about getting your money back and keep us posted.

Still working with BBB but the company now says it is all my fault and won't even admit to them screwing up the release.  Further a bunch of my stuff is damaged and missing and they aren't doing anything about that either.  They took big holes out of my mattress and crushed boxes and their contents.   I took pictures of everything as it was being unloded from the container too.  They had me fill out some online form but you get NOTHING back, and any further emails go unanswered.  This company is HORRIBLE.

Oh please tell me you took out insurance? If not, at least you have proof of how badly the US shippers packed your stuff in case you decide to go small claims. Just make sure you do not throw anything away until this whole matter is settled.

Sadly, every shipping company has charges they don't talk about, though it sounds like they were taking you for a bit of a ride. It's shoddy customer care. They treat customers so badly because they can. They hold our stuff hostage.

If your BBB claim doesn't close, that's would contribute to a lower score I should think.

Dels,

Yes I did take out insurance with the company and they are completely ignoring me.  They apparently feel that since I am out of US territory I no longer matter and even though they screwed up with the release and holding charged accrued because of it I should be held responsible.  That is their official stance.  Hubby wants to fly back to US and sue in small claims but flights and hotels would be more than what we have paid.  I guess that is what they are hoping for, you won't come back to sue.

SealieP

Grrrr this makes me mad. Int'l shipping is such a racket. The least they can do is pass you on to their insurance people. We had to use our insurance on our recent move back to the US (mattress and some original artwork were damaged) and it took a few months but we got it in the end. Crossing my fingers that the same eventually happens for you.

After a few months of going back and forth on the Better Business Bureau the company offered to split the charges on the condition that they do not have to claim responsibility for any error.

I figure this is the best i will get without going to court so I am going to accept it.  Of course there is still the insurance matter left out there but I will keep at that until I get reimbursement for the stuff they destroyed or lost completely.

Just thought you guys would want to know what happened.

SP in the UK