Simply put, Do not use OSI, especially if you are on the west coast.
Problems listed, in the order of when it happened.
I am trying to move from California to Hong Kong
9/16
quoted price $560, i told them i had 20 boxes, and they think 35Cubic feet is enough
9/17
quoted price $960, I told them what i had is probably about 70 Cubic feet, which is pretty closed to what i had. (i measured them)
scheduled a pick up on the next day between 10-11am with kevin on the phone
9/18 (Fri)
Donny set up the pick up time as 3pm-5pm, to pick up 10 boxes...
Contacted Donny right away and he said he will move the appointment to the morning.
Then he left a message saying that the appointment was changed to 4pm-6pm.
2:40pm, the truck showed up just when i was leaving for a meeting.
The truck was from a company called Con-Way Freight. The truck driver was shocked to see what i had, he showed me his truck and everything is already packed on a Pallet. He said he had never picked up individual boxes (like what i had) before, he said it wouldn't be safe for the boxes to be lying around without being packed together on a pallet (I should have listened, more on this later), but i don't have time to schedule another pick up since i was leaving in a couple of days. Moreover, i have some odd shaped items, and the driver wasn't sure what to do with them, so he called his office and ask whether he should pick up the boxes and the odd shaped items (since he usually only picks up pallets), and his office told me only to pick up the boxes. (not even suit cases).
Called OSI right away, but guess what, it's 6pm in florida and no one was in the office.
And just like that, my boxes were lying there in the warehouse for the whole weekend.
9/20 (Sun)
Got a reply from Kevin, told me he would schedule another pick up on monday to pick up the odd shaped items.
9/21 (Mon)
called Donny, he told me that it would be expensive to send for another pick up. So i offered to drop the rest of the items at CaroTrans in South San Francisco, where the rest of my (now probably half-emptied) boxes are going to be put on a pallet.
9/23
got an invoice from Dana
2434.78, and then another one.
"Unfortunately, I over looked a second dock receipt which had another 39.9cft. I called the company, and was told that besides the shipment that was picked up, you also went and dropped off boxes to add to the shipment, which we were never contacted about. Our company needs to know these thing in advance, because there is usually a shipping and processing charge. (which we will not charge you)"
So the total became 2981.81
For 187.2 cubic feet.
I am not sure how to arrange my boxes on the pallet, because there is no way my stuffs amount to more than 100 cft, i measured them before i shipped them. And now after putting them on the pallet, i am sure it will get bigger. But wasn't that factor supposed to be in the quote? Their quote was off by 300%??? Even after i have measured the volume of my items!!! I had to use an extra pallet because OSI arranged Con-way to pick up my items, and i had to drop off the items myself AND pay more for their mistakes. But at this point, they already have my items! If this is not a rip off, i don't know what is. At this point all i can do is paid up.
11/13
Items finally arrived in Hong Kong.
All the boxes Con-way picked up have obviously been opened and went through. Even the boxes inside the boxes are torn opened (instead of crushed in case of accidents), and all items with reselling values are gone. (e.G. PS3, Wii, watches, laptop).
11/30
I am now filing for insurance, but according to OSI, since I packed my boxes, the chance of getting anything is limited.
"In contrast, if a shipment is professionally packed by a mover, they actually see the content and conditions of the items prior to packing, and provide a detailed packing list to the insurance company.in a case like this, the customer is able to purchase the Platinum Plus coverage and fully protect their belongings. Im sure whoever your shipping consultant was on this shipment advised of this, although it was probably cost prohibitive for you."
I am sure whoever my consultant was did not mention a single word about this.
I have all the emails between OSI and me if anyone wants further proof of what happened.
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