Searching for an overseas shipping company is research that will try your patience. When my wife and I checked into the first company (whose name I can't even remember), the people were not only rude, but they had lots of difficulty communicating with us (via email, phone, etc.). Supposedly, they happened to be audited the day we needed our information and we couldn't get any quotes or estimates for almost two weeks. When we finally got our estimate, it seemed high and we really didn't want to do business with them anyway. I don't know how they are even in business... Must be a lot of desperate people out there or not enough international shippers.
Anyway, that brings us to Navis. Customer service was much better and communication wasn't quite as hard as pulling teeth. Although, my last email has still not been responded to which is why I am filing this report. Steve Kennington was very polite and professional both over the phone and via email, however, when I inquired about the shipping fees, he seemed unsure about international fees associated with receiving shipment from the U.S.A. He told me that they "shouldn't be that much". I expected to pay maybe $100 or a little more at the most; he agreed it should be negligible in comparison to the actual shipping charges to get the freight there.
With that being said, I still was wanting to have some kind of estimate so that I knew what to expect. I felt like the issue was being avoided - and for good reason! If I knew how much the fees were going to be I probably would have checked out another shipping company to compare rates a little closer.
Turns out the fees came out to $488 plus an additional fee of $204 to get the packages to my door! I would say that is far from negligible by anyone's standards. Considering it cost $855 to get the packages there in the first place! I really thought we were getting a good deal in comparison to the first company we checked out which quoted us approximately $1300 - $1500 to have the same boxes shipped to the same place. All in all, the prices were almost the same and I was grossly mislead into believing that Navis was giving me a great deal.
When I inquired as to why the fees were so high and why this was not explained to me ahead of time, Steve's response was that every country has different rates although he did agree that this seemed "extremely high". As I stated in my email to him, I said that I find it hard to believe that an international shipping company has absolutely no idea of the rates of certain countries; especially if they have shipped there before (which I assumed they had).
Shippers (especially international shippers) beware! Do your homework on shipping companies and make sure they "know what they are doing". Be sure you get accurate quotes and research multiple shipping companies before you are lead down the road of deceit by savvy, polite business men who know damm well that they are misleading you in the first place.
0 comments