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by fdc1963 » Sat, 05 Jan 2013 9:53 am
We generally remove vindictive posts especially from the users who just seemed to register solely for that purpose. I let it stay because it seems reasonably balanced and informative. Your other post was removed.
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I've used Allied Pickford twice. The first time was from HK to Singapore, and everything was fine. The second time was from Singapore to the United States, and the experience was horrible. A competitor had pointed out that Allied didn't have their own operations in the United States and instead relied on a partner. I originally thought this wouldn't make much of a difference, but as it turned out, it made all the difference in the world. If I were to do the move all over again, I'd go with the competitor who had their own offices in the U.S.
The main problems I had with my Singapore-USA move using Allied included:
- Their U.S. contact was never available by telephone, you'd always get his voicemail if you called. The only way to communicate with him was by email, which was inconvenient and inefficient.
- The U.S. contact had promised to notify me as soon as my things arrived, but five days passed after the goods landed before he contacted me. He had been on vacation and apparently didn't bother to delegate his duties to other colleagues.
- I was presented by various charges (totaling US$1100) that U.S. Customs supposedly levied on my shipment after arrival. When I signed the contract with Allied, they never mentioned that these additional charges would apply. After I paid these charges (I desperately needed my furniture), I noticed that the receipts were from Allied, not U.S. Customs. When I asked for evidence that U.S. Customs had in fact levied these charges, Allied never provided any. It is therefore entirely possible that Allied (or rather, its U.S. partner) fabricated these charges, but I don't know for sure. I let this go partly because my company covered the payment anyway.
- After unpacking my things, I discovered that a box containing various currencies totaling about US$200 was emptied, and I was also missing two designer label sunglasses.
My recommendation for moves from Asia to the U.S. is to go with a company that has its own operations in America. Otherwise, pay heed to the problems I encountered and take precautions to avoid them.