Sea & Air International

I contacted company International Sea Air Shipping and asked to provide the documents that they have surveyed my home and picked all stuff. At the beginning they have agreed and promised the documents. But after a week I got the notice that they have lost these documents. I asked them to come and make another survey, but they didn’t want. I was surprised that this company was such irresponsible.

I moved back to South Africa from Chicago, at the end of July 2015. In looking for a relocation company, I discovered International Sea & Air Shipping and asked for a quote, which came in pretty reasonable. Ami Oded was the consultant who provided the quote, and he was very aggressive in following up and demanding confirmation that I would use them. However, as my company was moving me, they selected a South African company. Through poor management by my company, their selected relocation company was unable to move me in time and so, at the very last minute, I fell back on International Sea & Air Shipping. I contacted Ami with less than a week before my move, and luckily he was able to move things around so that International Sea & Air Shipping was able to move me. My first hint of concern was when the moving team arrived. They showed little concern for my belongings, going so far as to pick up a drawer and simply empty the contents into an already full box! They didn't take apart most of the furniture, simply wrapped it up and stuck it in a box. However, as I had limited options, I let it slide, upped my insurance and prayed for minimal damage on the other end. I knew that the port charged were not included in the original quote. When I asked for an estimate, via email, Ami cleverly did not put anything in writing but gave me a verbal quote of $400. I have spoken with International Sea & Air Shipping's South African partner and they confirmed this quote. Stating that they had specifically excluded the higher charge of de-coupling the shipment (LCL Charge ) as this is not a preferred method of sipping, due to the high port charges. They did provide Ami an estimate of what this would cost, if this method of shipping was selected, however Ami failed to pass that on to me. Imagine my surprise when the actual charges came in at $1, 800, due to the method of shipping. Rather than keep all of my goods together in one container (which at 400 cubic feet was possible), International Sea & Air Shipping decided to maximise their profits and combine as many shipments together as they could. This has resulted in an astronomical port charge as they need to de-couple the shipment to determine which goods are mine. When I contacted International Sea & Air Shipping, Ami denied all knowledge of providing me a quote, simply saying that they did not include port charges. He denies giving me the verbal quote. I am left feeling slightly sick at the additional costs (which I have to carry personally) and am extremely worried about the condition in which my goods will arrive. As the shipment has already arrived in South Africa, I have no choice but to pay this, or incur further costs for storage. The most desirable outcome would be that I only have to the originally quoted port charge of $400, not the surplus caused by the shipping method selected by International Sea & Air Shipping.