On Nov 3, 2003 I contracted with Unitrans Int., who subcontracted with Global Ocean Freight (GOF), for the shipment of my household goods from a storage facility in Virginia to Costa Rica for $2650, plus $350 for insurance ($3000 total). I transfered $3000 to Unitrans that day. On November 12, I received an invoice which included $667.50 in extra charges, and did not reflect the $350 I had paid for insurance. The $667.50 extra were for documentation charges ($75), "long carry" charges ($292.50 for an alleged difficult move), "overflow" charges ($300 for an alleged 50 cubic feet of extra volume not included in the original estimate).
Pursuant to my first of many complaint letters (which I can provide) Unitrans agreed to waive the $75 documentation fee. The "long carry" charges were also waived after I spent much time, money, and effort arguing and proving that GOF had lied about the difficulty of the move. [For example, GOF stated they had to park the truck far away and that the storage facility workers would confirm having signed documents that showed the move was difficult. I talked to the storage facility workers and they denied all of GOF's allegations.]
Insurance: After accusing me of wanting insurance without paying for it, I demonstrated that GOF and/or Unitrans had misplaced my insurance papers which showed I had already paid for it. They never apologized.
The last issue, concerning "volume overflow" charges, remains unresolved. For many months GOF repeated that the shipment was bigger than what I had said, and that therefore I owed them $300, and would not deliver until I paid this. Even though I had pictures, testimony and other evidence that proved they were wrong, they still forced me to drive down to a warehouse here in Costa Rica so we would remeasure the shipment. Indeed we confirmed that the shipment was much less than what they claimed, and therefore they now owe me hundreds of dollars.
Even though they've put me and my family through hell, even though the shipment arrived in 9-10 weeks and not 4-6 as promised, and even though they told me in writing that they would refund my money, now they only want to pay part of what they owe me.
They have been extremely unprofessional, and despite being proved wrong, they still treat us with disrespect.
This is the most dishonest company I've ever had to deal with. They refuse to use reason and logic. As of today, there have been at least 4 ripoff reports against GOF in this website. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM!!!
Francisco
Tres Rios
Costa Rica