Moving to Colombia- All went wrong
Ivan
Submitted this review about
echo trans world
Review made Live: 11/3/2011 2:06:00 PM
The company advertises itself as an international relocation service with experience world wide (see www.echotransworld.com). The reality of my business transaction with them was that I end up paying twice what was originally quoted and had a number of issues due to false or incomplete information inherent to the services offered. For example to the specific question of import duties and taxes related to the transport of my households to the country of Colombia, the sales rep told me their experiece was it would be a few hundred dollars, while in fact it end up being over 4,000.00 and when I asked the company for an explanation their response (which I have in writing) was that they were just messengers and didn't bear any responsibility on knowing what it actually costs to bring goods into the country. Based on their advice and in order to reduce my cost I pack my goods my self into the container however when I tried to buy insurance for my goods, the insurance company would not grant me the policy since I have packed my self (i have record of my attempts to insure my shippment), this was not disclosed to me and therefore my goods had to travel uninsured. When my goods finally arrived home in Colombia we discovered the container was damaged and our goods had been damaged with sea water, there was no advice or warning that this could happen, according to the local company who Echo Trans World designated to manage my shippment in Colombia, the Shipping company has the responsibility to secure a proper container, Echo Trans World did not respond to my calls to help me (I have pictures of the damaged goods). Thrugh the process I was discovering more inconsitencies, the company in Colombia had a different story and kept on requesting for money to get my goods out of local customs in Colombia, part of the monies I paid in advance which were in excess of what I have already paid in the US was supposed to be reimbursed when the container was returned to the port, however when the settlement came I actually end up owing even more money than the reimbursable portion. In summary I paid almost 10,000 USD to ship my goods from Florida, had to pay extra to load and unload my goods both in Colombia and the US, was lied about actual cost, was lied about the experience and knowledge of Echotransworld about shipping goods internationally, lied about actual costs misinformed about insurance, received a portion of my house hold damaged due to their foulty equipment and in all had a terible experience when trying to get help from the company to solve my problems, they did not answer. I do have documented this process and willing to provide evidence if I am able tp build a case against the company.
