CRATERS & FREIGHTERS OF LAS VEGAS

After 14 years of constantly moving this was by far the worst moving company I have ever encountered. In my particular situation I needed to move quickly, I should have been alarmed by having to ask fort he quote in writing, especially when all I got was an email outlining the cubic feet and the $ amount. Nonetheless, they seemed to be certain about the information they were giving me. Now it turns out the information was either fabricated or they have no clue about international shipping. Bottom line, they quoted me $1175 for 100 cubic feet of household goods, roughly 750 lbs. Upon my request for one of their employees to confirm the weight (since it was just a rough guess on my behalf) they’ve send Kevin out to confirm the estimate, he said that I am well within the quote and I shouldn’t have to worry about going over either the weight or the cubic feet which was a huge concern of mine since this would increase the charges and I was working with a very tight budget. I asked Kevin lots of questions one of which was are there any surprise fees/charges etc. on the destination end? He said the only one he could think of and I may want to look into (as will he) is that I may have to pay customs charges on my high value items (electronics). After confirming with customs that they will not be charging import duties on personal property, Kevin reassured me that I should not have to worry about any additional charges and that their quote covered everything (all fees/charges) from door-to-door, to include uploading to their truck, crating, shrink-wrapping everything, shipping, delivery, unloading and placing the boxes somewhere at my Germany address. Not only did I ask Kevin this question, I also confirmed this information with the 2 other people at Craters and Freighters, the office manager Mick and whom I believe to be the franchise owner Jon. Both of which said, absolutely no surprise charges although they both also mentioned the potential import duty charges that could potentially be charged by German customs. After my arrival in Germany I received the first surprise a phone call from Mick at Craters & Freighter to inform me that they’ve misjudged the weight and that it has gone over the 750 lbs for which they quote me and therefore the charge increased to $1445. Since I had left Las Vegas already and my personal property was in Crater & Freighters possession, at their warehouse ready to go, I had no real choice but to pay the increase. Anxiously awaiting my shipment I finally received a call from Vanguard Logistic Services Germany to confirm my email address so they could send me information regarding my property/shipment. I promptly received an email very much to my surprise prompting me to pay the following charges prior to the delivery of my personal effects. D/O fee:85 EURO (Dock Order Fee) Kaigebühren: 45,69 EURO (Quayside Fee) LCL charges: 63,95 EURO (Warehouse Fee) GSC charge: 11,41 EURO (Port Security Fee) Anti Terror Complience Fee: 7,9 EURO (Anti Terror Compliance Fee) Verzollung: 125,00 Euro (Duty) Die Kosten sind im Vorwege zu bezahlen. (All charges must be paid prior to delivery) Needless to say, I questioned the above charges since the quote I was given by Craters & Freighters in Las Vegas was supposed to be a door-to-door quote. The Lady I spoke with at Vanguard (the same lady who send me the email) Edina Kovacs explained to me that they have nothing to do with the initial quote, they are just in charge of getting the shipment through customs and deliver it. She also made me aware if I didn’t pay the charges promptly they would charge me storage fees. I also contacted Jon at Craters & Freighters who told me that he would forward the email to his contact at Dove Shipping (apparently the company who actually shipped my property) and she could explain the charges or resolve the issue. He said he would do it immediately and copy me on the email in an effort of getting this resolved as quickly as possible nonetheless, I had to remind him the following day to do so. When he finally emailed Sue Fitzgerald, she explained to me in form of an email that those charges are perfectly normal and are my responsibility. Of course I didn’t agree with this determination and furthermore she wasn’t the one who quoted me. I informed Craters & Freighters that I believed this to their fault and they should have made me aware of any other potential charges especially since I’ve asked repeatedly. After many emails back and forth between me and Craters & Freighters (Mick & Jon) and them basically denying having ever said that there wouldn’t be any surprise charges, Jon finally told me that I could disagree all I want unless I want to be charged more fees for storage I better pay Vanguard Logistic Services immediately. At this point I had already requested an official bill from Vanguard Logistic Services because I was waiting for Mick to get back to me, who told me he would discuss a which I understood to be potential resolution to the situation with Jon and Kevin and let me know of the outcome, which he never did. Additionally, I wanted to avoid any additional charges that could arise from having to store my shipment. When I received the bill there was yet another surprise in store for me, another increase by 64.39 Euro for taxes. Now the total bill is up to 403.31 Euro roughly $566.56. If you take all the additional charges into consideration, I’ve had to pay roughly $827 more that then what Craters & Freighters quoted me! I am extremely displeased with this company’s quote, their problem resolution efforts (none), and lastly the rudeness with which this matter was handled.