I am an American citizen who has recently moved from Boston, MA to Australia. Before I left I contracted with Worldwide Relocations, variously of Hollywood, FL or Pembroke Pines, FL, to handle packing and moving my goods by sea freight. Worldwide Relocations advertizes that they are a member of the Better Business Bureau and Household Good Forwarders Association and licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission.
Communication was good and reliable up until the time they collected the first deposit from me on the day of the shipment. Unfortunately, once I paid them the money that they were charging me for the shipment, they would not provide me any information about the shipment.
A week after I arrived in Sydney I received an emailed invoice, with indication that they had never received my documents. I responded to the email with a query about whether that was true. Someone then called me at 4 AM with a request for a check.in good faith, I paid them, expecting that the payment would expedite shipping of these goods.
However, despite having been promised by the man who called me on the telephone a Bill of Lading (which is also promised in my contract) and further information, I received no information from them for two months.
After multiple calls and emails to my "export manager, " my "customer coordinator, " the "finance manager, " and "vice president of operations, " with no response whatsoever, I finally emailed the CEO, Patrick Costadoni. I then received an email as follows:
"I will inform you when any information, regarding your shipment, comes in. Please direct all future communication through myself." Public Relations Director
I responded to this email with an email of my own, followed by a letter sent through the mail, requesting the current location of my goods, status of my shipment, Bill of Lading, estimated time of arrival, etc.
After another week they finally provided me some slightly garbled contact information for the subcontractor, who has possession of my goods, and indicated that they were not able to meet all their financial obligations due to bad debts and that it was in my best interest to settle with the contractor directly.
When I telephoned the contractor he said he had also been trying to reach Worldwide Relocations since he had received my shipment and they had never paid him for the five (or more) shipments that he contracted with them. He has sent me a quote to move my items and indicated that they are ready to go as soon as I pay him.
So in addition to the $1500 I originally paid Worldwide Relocations I am now obligated to pay $2600 to the contractor in order to receive my goods. I am currently a student with no income and obviously this is a somewhat disastrous event.
I have a full timeline, emails, and documents.
Please do not become involved with Worldwide Relocations. There is no indication that they actually ever provide any services to their customers or payments to their vendors. Their mode of business leaves the little people high and dry, required to pay out additional monies to complete shipments months later.
Laura
Melbourne
Australia
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