International Sea & Air ShippingReviews of internationalmoving.com

UPDATE: Company resolved the issue and refunded me in full After I posted this review and filed my complaint, Talia Aviani, President of International Sea & Air Shipping, contacted me personally. She reviewed the history of the shipment and discussed the situation with their destination agent, Schmidt Global. She acknowledged that the shuttle requirement and the reasons for it had not been communicated as clearly or consistently as they should have been and offered to refund the full €381 shuttle charge. There was one final detail that I think is worth mentioning. Because of the change in exchange rates, €381 was now worth less than the $450.60 I had originally paid. I told her I was willing to accept the lower amount. She nevertheless authorized a refund of the full $450.60 that the charge had actually cost me. The payment has now been received. I appreciate the way Talia handled this once the matter reached her attention. My original review below describes the experience that led to the dispute, and I think it's appropriate to leave that history intact. But it's equally important to acknowledge when a company steps in, takes a complaint seriously, and makes things right. I've therefore updated my rating to 3 stars. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I used International Sea & Air Shipping for a door-to-door groupage shipment of household goods from California to Budapest. My belongings ultimately arrived safely, and I want to be clear that my complaint is not about damage or the delivery crew. It is about an additional €381 shuttle charge and, more importantly, how that charge was explained. Shortly before delivery, their destination agent, Schmidt Global Relocations, told me that a shuttle was required. The initial explanation was unequivocal: “All is in city Budapest, all need shuttle.” I was subsequently told that Budapest vehicle restrictions limited the weight and size of trucks entering the city and that the shuttle was therefore necessary to comply with local restrictions. That didn't make sense for my delivery. The destination was a commercial storage facility on Gyáli út capable of accepting large trucks. I checked Budapest's official freight regulations and found that the relevant section of Gyáli út is specifically excluded from the applicable 12-ton restricted zone. I sent the regulation to the companies. Schmidt acknowledged the specific Gyáli út exemption. At that point, the explanation changed. I was then told that the shuttle was required because my shipment was part of a groupage delivery service and that the vehicle and logistics had been organized on that basis. International Sea & Air subsequently acknowledged the distinction in writing, telling me they did not want to “misrepresent the reason for the shuttle” by suggesting that my particular address was inaccessible because of a city restriction. They instead explained that the shuttle was part of the consolidated/groupage delivery arrangement. That's the heart of my complaint. I don't dispute that the contract says shuttle service can result in additional charges. But International Sea & Air knew from the beginning that I was buying groupage service to Budapest. If their planned groupage delivery operation required a shuttle, I believe that foreseeable cost should have been identified when the service was quoted rather than presented later as an additional charge, initially justified by a local vehicle restriction that did not apply to my delivery location. I paid the €381 because my belongings were already in Europe and I wanted the delivery completed. I subsequently disputed the charge directly with International Sea & Air and gave them the opportunity to refund it. They declined. The physical shipment itself was successful. My belongings arrived safely. But based on my experience, I would advise anyone considering International Sea & Air Shipping to ask before signing whether groupage delivery at the destination will require a shuttle, transshipment, parking permits, long carries, or other destination charges, and to get the answer and estimated costs in writing.

We used this company for a personal intercontinental move. The shipment itself arrived generally intact, which we appreciated. However, the overall experience was difficult, particularly regarding the delay and communication after the shipment had arrived in Europe. We understand that international shipping can be affected by circumstances outside a company’s control, including geopolitical issues and ocean transit delays. However, our main concerns related to the period after the shipment had already arrived in Europe. Our shipment was picked up at the end of February and delivered at the end of July, even though the vessel had arrived in Europe in May. Once the shipment was in Europe, communication and coordination through the company’s chosen partners became difficult. We were given broad estimates rather than a reliable delivery timeframe, including a 1–6 week delivery window after customs clearance, without a clear delivery date or reliable scheduling information. During May, June, and July, we were unable to properly plan our summer travel because we had no reliable understanding of when the shipment would actually be delivered. Important updates were often only provided after we contacted the partner company ourselves rather than through proactive communication. One important thing for anyone considering using this company: pay close attention to the exact wording of the contract and make sure it matches what you are being told during the booking process. In our case, the signed contract contained a 350 CF minimum under the “Special Notes” section, while the pricing information provided to us by the agent indicated that the applicable rate would be based on the actual measured volume, with a 250 CF minimum. The company later acknowledged that there had been conflicting information and offered a partial refund to resolve the issue which we accepted. I appreciate that they took the time to investigate the matter and that we were ultimately able to reach a resolution.

We used the service of International Sea&Air Shipping for our relocation from Texas, USA to Bulgaria - a 42 foot container. The communication with their sales department and the export coordinator was at a satisfacory level in the beginning. Their export coordinator would always respond to emails (not phone calls) in a timely manner, even on weekends. Unfortunately the positives end here. They charged us with a packing fee for the boxes that we packed ourselves although we explained to them that we did not need the packing service. They stated that charge couldn't be removed, whether or not we use the packing help. On the day of loading the container with our vehicles and our boxes their contractors came to our house two hours before the scheduled time for departure of the container. Even though we had already packed everything (it took us many hours), it would have been unthinkable for their loading contractors to complete the packing in two hours, should we have elected to use the service for which they made us pay mandatorily. In addition to the above, the loading personnel did not handle properly the packing list, they completely messed it up, which resulted later in additional hassle at Customs at the destination point overseas. The selected initial route of the shipment was through the port of Houston, Texas. However at some point the export coordinator picked another route - through Savannagh, Georgia. Apparently they found a cheaper shipping line - in this case it was One Ocean Express Network. The total cost was already paid by us to International Sea&Air Shipping. In this way they collected more by paying less to a cheaper shipping line. Later the shipping line proved the very poor quality of its work. The shipment moved according to the schedule, with a well working tracking on the website of the shipping line until il arrived to Pyraeus, Greece. The trouble started there. According to the original schedule the shipment was to spend one day in Pyraeus - just to be reloaded to another vessel/feeder for the final delivery to the port of Burgas in Bulgaria. However it spent two weeks in Piraeus. Towards the end of that period the tracking stopped working, there was no information on the website of One Ocean Network Express. The export coordinator of International Sea&Air Shipping Jeanine did not know what was happening, she stated she was doing her best to get information from the shipping line but no information was obtained. Then on the website of the shipping line the status of the shipment changed to "Arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, delivered to customer and empty container returned." This was a very nerve racking and stressful experience as the shipment was to be delivered to Bulgaria, to our home and we had not received anything. Long and worrisome days passed before the export coordinator announced that actually the container was again unloaded to Istanbul in a unplanned manner and it was awaiting for another vessel to Burgas in Bulgaria. She stated that she received the information after emailing back and forth with a supervisor from the shipping line. The tracking never got fixed. It would have been extremely simple, logical and it would have been an expression of expected care for the customer if the shipment had been rerouted from Greece to ground transportation on a truck to reach Bulgaria within the span of the two days (once they became aware a huge delay is ahead in the last, so short marine segment of the trip). Instead the shipping line chose to lie and keep us without any information. Apparently One Ocean Network Express decided to give priority to other shipments and leave ours without tracking for weeks in a unplanned stop in Istanbul. Finally we received a notice of arrival and the container was delivered to the port of Burgas in Bulgaria with a 45 days delay and 3 months total travel time. No compensation from International Sea&Air Shipping, neither from the shipping line, no apologies. Of note and for the sake of accuracy - the contents of the container arrived undamaged. We paid the moving fees to International Sea&Air Shipping, therefore when it comes to decisions what shipping line to choose and when it comes to the whole organization and management of the process, including communication and information, it is directly the responsibility of International Sea&Air shipping. Thus, as a result of all the components of this excrutiating experience, described above, we have serious reservations about recommending the services of International Sea&Air Shipping.

Goods packing, care and shipping by US operation was excellent. When goods arrived at my destination the boxes were either on their side or upside down and were all wet/damp. many of the boxes were in poor shape. Due to mishandling/abuse either in the warehouse or in transit. One major breakage-- a favouritre antique chair which is very annoying but falls short of the $500.00 deductable. Suprisingly only one picture glass broken -- hard to understand as it was over safely packed in many layers of foam board protection in amongst 6 other same size pics/glass.A few Mugs/cups and a couple of ornaments also broken, in fairness i could only say a loss of 400 pounds stirling in all

We moved from Florida to the French Alps in 2022. I’ve waited awhile to write a review, because I wanted to be fair and say the right thing. International Sea & Air is an excellent, budget-friendly option for a full-service, whole-household, overseas move. If we had it to do over again, we would use them again, because every other option was a lot more expensive, and ultimately, they got the job done. They communicated well, they did what they said they would do, and they seemed to care about our move going smoothly. They did a great job coordinating with the moving team in France. Our stuff got through customs without incident. We moved from a rural, coastal area in Florida to a rural, mountainous area in France, and the logistics of getting a truck into each location were complicated. They handled all that really well. However - if we had it to do over again, we would do the following: 1. Insure everything we own that is expensive to replace. What we did was insure expensive items that we thought might get damaged in the move. It didn’t occur to us that items might get lost or stolen. This was naive. The reality is that International Sea & Air sub-contracts many aspects of the move. At least 4 different teams of movers handled our stuff during our move, and they get paid whether our stuff arrives or not. For an overseas move using a shipping container, a lot of the handling happens without our oversight or monitoring. We watch our stuff get loaded and unloaded, but we don’t see all the moving around and transferring that happens in between. We lost several expensive items during our move. The ones we insured, we were able to replace, and in one case, one lost item we insured was recovered and re-shipped to us by International Sea & Air (very conscientious of them). The items we did not insure were just gone. 2. Pack everything in boxes ourselves. This is something we did for most of our stuff, but we didn’t have time to finish. When the loading crew arrived, they were supposed to pack our items, but truly - their idea of “packing” was to stack our dinner plates in a box, with no bubble wrap or anything, and close the box. They assured us “it’ll be packed better at the warehouse.” Yeah, right. Save yourself the heartache and pack your own boxes well, especially for overseas. They will still charge you for packing (they will not remove the charge - we asked), but it’s not a ton of money, and it’s not worth the stress and potential damage to let them do it. Anything we didn’t pack ended up damaged or broken. 3. If you want to prevent expensive items from being stolen (or “lost”, but let’s be real - nothing cheap or basic of ours got “lost”), pack them in a way that disguises what they are. My wife’s very nice fishing rods didn’t make it to France because we didn’t do this, even though other items (life jackets, paddles, a net) packed with the fishing rods did arrive. Also, a box of expensive men’s cologne was stolen because we used a clear plastic bin to pack it, and you could see the brands through the box. Other boxes of perfume that were packed in plain brown boxes with nondescript titles like “toiletries” arrived just fine. Boxes of inexpensive perfume packed in plastic bins also arrived just fine. In sum, International Sea & Air did a good job with a complicated move, and we would use them again - but definitely keep in mind the 3 things above for the best experience.

Victor and his crew did an amazing job packing up our things in record time and our things made the journey from Sacramento to London in very good condition. I'm very grateful to all of them for their diligence. If they were the only part of the services I would have given them 5 stars. As for the remainder of the experience, getting the initial quotation was great but then we were hit with so many additional charges the price went up 40%. Customer service was non-existent, I asked for clarification of some additional charges and was given the runaround, it was clear they didn't intend to follow up. When they have your things, you are stuck with paying up. Also, they don't collect the used boxes at the end of the service. We made a request to their UK partners and heard nothing back. I've never personally arranged an international move before so I'm not sure if this is normal practice but if I ever did a move again I would avoid this company and take a chance with someone else.

The staff were very understanding and efficient. I chose to ship by air to the usa, so I avoided a lot of covid/sea trouble. Sorry guy's but unfortunately my shipment boxes were damaged severely, the pickup company did their best to put them back together, but some items were missing or broken. I recommend you either ship in tea chests (unscathed) or pay for some sturdier boxes. I'd love to have added a photo.

The customer service representative was often confused about what was happening, had poor English language skills and often would forget things. She would ask for info or paperwork, I would send it, and a month later ask for the same stuff again! Like she lost my stuff or would forget what we talked about. I had to send previous emails to her to remind her what she already knew. It was very stressful to put everything I owned in her hands.