Sea & Air International Inc.

Customer contacted us regarding this and we contacted the office in the UK, delivery was done.

Review: We have selected Sea & Air as our shipping company for our house goods and car in a 40' container when we relocated from the USA to Israel in August 2013. As an all inclusive shipping service Sea & Air refused to pay for port related fees (i.e. warehouse, bill of landing) and port taxes. We had to pay these fees out of pocket ([redacted]) in order to release the container from the Israeli port. The reason Sea & Air provided is that we had our own broker to clear customs. The purpose of a broker is to clear customs not to pay port related fees.

The agreement was a door-to-door service for house goods and for the a car pick up from the Israeli port. In the contract is states that all port related fees are to be paid by sea & air excluding:

Customs Duties / Taxes, Inspection Fees, Hoisting and Special handling of Oversized Items if required,

Delivery above the 2nd floor, Abnormal Access, Long Carry, Demurrage, Parking Permit, Third Party

Services (e.g. electrician, plumber, cleaning services, etc.), Boxes, packing of boxes, and Unpacking of

boxes.

Moreover we had communicated by email clarifying what are port fees and the refund that we are requested includes these fees (I will provide all communication between me and Sea & Air upon request)

We have hired are own broker to clear customs and we have informed Sea & Air that told us that it is fine. Sea & Air failed to inform us that they would not pay part of the port fees (i.e. warehouse and port tax) if we take our own broker on the Israeli side. And it does state anywhere on the contract that if we hire a broker to only clear customs that are will not pay for certain expenses. To mention that these fees are all port related regardless to whom the broker is.

We have been communicating with them for the last 2.5 months but they refuse to reimburse us for the port related fees. we strongly believe that this is a contract violation and Sea & Air did not honor their agreement with us.Desired Settlement: To fully reimburse us for the following:

All charges that are port related. All receipts were submitted via email a few times to Sea & Air.

1) Bill of landing - was partially paid by Sea & Air - [redacted] we payed out of pocket

2) Port fees i.e warehouse - [redacted] - Car & house goods

3) Port taxes (not customs taxes) - [redacted] (car & house goods)

we are requesting a total of [redacted].

Business

Response:

My company spent days looking into each issue with this customer. The customer told me that she had great experience and great service however had some issues with charges in Israel by the authorities. I have spend the past 2 weeks dealing with the customer on this and she does not accept any of our explanations. What we have collected from her for port fees we have paid out.

I'm using Sea & Air International for our door-to-door move from [redacted] to [redacted].
So far the experience has been very good. We dealt with Adrian to set up the contract, and he has been very helpful and responsive to all questions we have had.
Today we are having boxes delivered to our door so we can start sorting through some of the stuff. In a few days the movers will come to our apartment and pack and take our stuff away.
We are using a LCL (less than container load shipment) as we did not have a lot of expensive furniture worth shipping so instead we are only bringing the bare essentials (about 200 cubic feet / 5.8 cubic meters) and have sold any other stuff. The shipment will then be transported on pallets together with other people's shipment in shared container.
We should receive our items in about 6-8 weeks.
Sea & Air is Revdex.com accredited with A+ rating and have been in business for a long time.
I will update this review to share my experience as we go along. Feel free to contact me if you need any advise on a similar move. My email is: [redacted]

Review: Sea&Air International had a few issues with a shipping I had made from New York to Shanghai:

1. Over the phone, a representative named [redacted] had told me that my shipment will not incur hefty duty charges due to the fact that it is all used furniture, clothes etc. He had also mentioned and wrote it in the quotation that the port fees (referred to as THC) will be $200-300. In their contract THC is defined as: Terminal Handling Charges (T.H.C including NVOCC and SSL Charges) which eventually came up to roughly $800. The main point here is that NVOCC and SSL charges are included in the THC, which now [redacted] is denying.

2. In the list of items for shipping [redacted] had described our TV as 40 inch and based on that we had been quoted a $290 duty. It was already a lot of money for a 4 years old TV, but we figured we can let it slide. The bill came out to be much higher eventually. When we asked in China why our charges are so high (they came up to about $2,000!) we were told about the THC but also that the TV duty came up to $650. Had we known that in advance we would have left the TV in New York as we ended up paying the price of a new TV. While we were trying to resolve the issue by asking to return the TV or even give it up (not possible according to Chinese custom), [redacted] was not trying to help and just denied and responsibility. He asked me to call him on the phone while I asked for all correspondence to be via email.

I was upset and asked for Sea&Air International to take at least SOME responsibility for the situation, which they shrugged off.

3. When the furniture finally arrived, we were shocked; almost all items have been damaged during the shipping. The packing was extremely careless with no protection for the corners of any of the furniture, which had resulted in damage to our ARMANI dining table, our bed, our 2 armoires, not to mention that they forgot to pack a coffee table (not big deal, but shows level or care for details). [redacted] had directed me to file insurance claim.

Seems like after taking my money (100% in advance), Sea&Air International could not care less about my shipment and me as a costumer.

Obviously I have a copy of the contract, email correspondence and photos of the damages if required.Desired Settlement: I would like Sea&Air International to accept responsibility for their mistakes and refund me at least a part of my payment. I think that $400 for the misquote of the THC and $400 for the TV duty will suffice for now. I will file an insurance claim and see what I can get for the damage, but if this does not go smoothly I expect Sea&Air International to accept responsibility for their negligent packing and compensate me.

This offer is for negotiation purpose only and if we can't resolve the issue amicably here (I have tried via email numerous times) I reserve the right to sue them for the full amount of the shipment cost, various port fees and damages for the furniture.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

As you are aware your goods have been inspected cy Customs in China. You had to pay duties for your TV, regardless of our mistake in writing 42:" and not 52". It does not change the fact that you had to pay the duties. You have instructed us to send the TV.

The THC was written as estimated and info that we are trying to obtain and provide all of our customers. You have received copies of the charges by the office in China and the charges have been excluded from our rate so you were well aware that you need to pay for them.

As for the damages: You were not at the pick-up at the time of packing and I can confirm and you can also check with the person that was there for you, we did a great job looking after your goods. We handed your goods to the shipping agent in NY in a perfect condition and intact. You goods have been shipped as part of consolidated shipment and have been inspected physically by customs in China, this can be the main reason for the damages. Custom do not care and are not movers, so it is known that if there are any physicals exams there are usually damages. It is the world over and very know and big issue in the USA .

My office sent you the docs to submit and file a claim and provided you with my contact details - you have never contacted me. I'm always here to help all of our customers!

You are always welcome to call me or email me

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[Your Answer Here]

I am sorry but nothing in the response answers my issues:

1. The TV - I have been told (over the phone) that the duties will be minimal for my shipment, after asking that specifically. Had I been told that the TV duty is RMB 4,000, I would have left it in NYC. The second part for this is that when the TV had arrived, I had asked again how much I will pay and this time was told RMB 1,800 (have this part in email). Since the TV had already arrived in China, I chose to accept it. Only AFTER accepting it I found out the actual charge is RMB 4,000! At which point I had no choice but to pay since after inspection I couldn't have sent the TV back or give it up, even though I would have preferred to do so.

That means that due to 2 mistakes on your part I had to pay RMB 4,000.

2. As for the THC: You said in writing it should be $200-$300. I would have accepted a 10%-50% error here, but the actual number was 200% more which is unacceptable by any standard. When you give an estimate, you should know what you are talking about. Otherwise, don't give it. It is my decision later to see if I want to ship my goods or not. The shipment came up to be almost double of what we had estimated at first, all because of you mistakes.

3. True, I wasn't at the packing. But I was at the unpacking. No corners had been protected and I will send you photos to show you. I have never seen such negligent packing. The customs couldn't have done this damage (for the most part at least).

I expect great service which I received none. Since you have it on you contract that you estimated the THC and that you made a mistake on the TV size, I know I will win this in small claim court. Please remit payment at what I had requested or I will be forced to sue for damages as well.

Thank you,

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

The most important part is for you to process a claim with the insurance company. The reason for having insurance is to protect the goods incase thing goes wrong. It is easy to just blame one party when the goods have been with the shipping line in the US and in China as well as physical inspection by customs.

If you were here to see the way your goods have been packed and given to the shipping line you will not pointy the figure at us. You had a good crew who took care of the goods as if it was theirs.

You have no idea on what can go wrong during inspections. People have their sofas, soft toys and much more slashed by customs using knifes.

Please see attached link: [redacted]

As per our contract duties, inspection fees by customs and THC are excluded. We based information on what we have been given when we have searched the answers for you however, we are NOT customs and we are NOT the port agent, we asked the question on your behalf and gave you the answers that we have been given. Please read your contract. We have not charged you for the fees that have been excluded it was done by customs for the inspection, duties and the port agent, fess that have been excluded for the quote and our contract.

I cannot stop you from taking this matter to court should you chose to do so.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[Your Answer Here]

It seems like this is going nowhere, this business seems to point the blame at everyone and take no responsibility; the packing was poorly done (I have pictures to show that NO corners had been protected) and as a result almost ALL my furniture had been damaged.

The estimate of the taxes and duties was off by 300% or so, but "it was given to them by someone" and the TV was charged with duty that was twice the price of the TV and I had to accept it partly due to a mistake in the list they had sent to the Chinese side.

I am abroad and it seems like this business counts on me giving up due to the hassle of suing them. Unfortunately for them it will not happen. I was more than fair in my initial offer, but now have no choice but to sue for the full amount.

I recommend anyone considering their service to look for another company. It has been the worst experience.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Used them for shipping of artwork as well as some personal effects in the past few years and I would recommend their services for everyone who is looking for white glove service.

Review: Before organizing my international move, I have compared several movers and went for Sea and Air based on their reputation and their promise that my move in this high season would take 5 to 7 weeks maximum (actually they were even saying that because of high season, it would even probably take shorter).

It has been 9 weeks since my move left my place in Brooklyn and 0 news from Sea and Air to the point I had to track myself my move to find out that it was still in the UK with no visibility on the date for final delivery (they just tell me it won't arrive before 11 to 12 weeks in);

Not only it is almost 4 months to do Brooklyn Paris (never heard of) but Sea and Air has been extremely unprofessional, did not follow up nor return my call with a clear status but I also have to suffer major costs resulting to this delay: I am paying double rent (the empty apartment waiting for the move to arrive) and a furnished apartment, plus I had to buy clothes and equipment for my baby.

I have paid a high premium price to get a good quality of service and it is the worse I could ever have experienced.

They had me sent several times the same paper works, pretended my payment did not arrive while my bank confirmed all payment, never kept me updated of the different stages of the move and even now, they don't offer any solution.

"You will be assigned a Sea & Air representative to oversee your move, who will keep you informed every step of the way."

> not true, I had no news from them and I had actually to track down my move myself to the middle of england!

"Sea & Air International has carefully chosen and fostered strong and wide-ranging relationships with international moving service providers around the world. Rest assured, with Sea & Air International as you overseas mover, you will have one contact who knows everything about your move. You will deal only with your Sea & Air representative, who will coordinate everything from start to finish, communicating with you throughout the process until your move is complete and you are totally satisfied."

TOTAL LIE, they knew nothing about my move and the guys who are holding my move now don't even know about Sea&Air and tell me in loops "we have nothing to do with them, they just sent us move to consolidate and ship but we are not in touch with them"

In essence, none of the commitments they claim and advertise are true:

Sea & Air International is committed to:

1. Providing clarity of our international mover costing which means you know there are no hidden charges.

> They raised my quote of more than 2000$

2. Communicating the most accurate and timely advice before, during and after your international move.

> never did after I paid the total amount

3. Responding to clients' needs by assigning a dedicated, experienced international mover representative.

> he was not even aware of where is my move after 8 weeks

4. Delivering higher standards as an international mover across all points of contact for our clients.

> I have had to call 4 different organisations to localise my move.

5. Offering the most experienced packing crews who use the correct packing techniques and materials.

6. Meeting our clients' rapidly changing requirements by continuously investing in new technologies.

7. Maintaining an in-depth international mover training program for new associates.Desired Settlement: I want a partial refund to cover one month of my rent (3500euros) that corresponds to the delay and the clothes I had to buy. so a total of 5000 euros.

And I want a clear date for delivery before my departure for 2 weeks from Aug [redacted] to [redacted].

Business

Response:

Customer contacted us regarding this and we contacted the office in the UK, delivery was done.

We recently used Sea&Air services and had a great experience !

the whole team is very professional and reliable and therefore we would highly recommend working with them.

They are very friendly and customer oriented with high sensitivity to each client specific needs.

we would defiantly used sea & air service again in the future.