Sea and Air Cargo International - Idan Ohana - Shipping Services

Please publicize my complaint below – I believe the company is no longer trading but Idan Ohana should not be allowed to set up another business – he still owes!

Sea and Air Cargo International of 18060 W Dixie Hwy, N Miami Beach FL 33160 ICC# MC 487-425

This summary details the appalling manner in which Sea and Air Cargo International (S&ACI) have attempted to manage the arrangements for the removal, shipping, storage and delivery of all my family’s personal effects from my house in England to our new home in Florida.

S&ACI were formally appointed by me on the 29 Dec 04 for a start packing date of 11 Mar 05 and 40ft container departure of 15 Mar 05. A 25% deposit was paid by credit card with a contracted agreement to pay the remainder using the same card before shipping. As we were emigrating I therefore made arrangements to move most of my money to the USA. Two weeks before the move date when I phoned to check arrangements I was told by Idan Ohana at S&ACI that they would no longer accept my valid credit card as they had changed their policy and furthermore they could no longer undertake the move for the agreed amount. With such a short time to go to the move and under duress I agreed to pay the extra $1308 for UK packing and duly sent a fax to confirm. I also agreed, reluctantly as I had to liquidate some other UK assets, to pay the remainder in pounds sterling, to their London office.

As the agreed packing date drew near I continued to phone the S&ACI London office to check that the 40ft container had been booked and that it would arrive on time. Each day I was told that it would be booked “in a few days“ as it apparently only took 24 hours to order it. This made me uneasy! I was also told that Frank Tripp Removals had been booked for 0900 Fri 11 Mar to export pack for 3 days and then load the container on the 15 Mar 05.

At 1000 on Fri 11 Mar when no packing company had arrived, I telephoned London only to get an answer phone. When I then spoke to Frank Tripp Removals they said that they had received a call from A&SIC; they had provided a quote but they had not been appointed. When I spoke to A&SIC London an hour later I was told that Miami had not approved any removal company under this contract and that we had to wait until 0900 EST to speak to them. In the light of the short timescale available to pack our 4 bedroom house and that we had flights booked for the 17 Mar 05 I took charge of the UK operation myself, cutting Miami out of the loop, and instructed Sean in London to order the 40ft container for 15 Mar 05 (which had still not been done at this stage) while appointing Frank Tripp Removal Co direct to pack us for 3 days commencing on Sun 13 Mar. I agreed a price with them direct and then informed Miami later that afternoon to remove all packing charges from my S&AIC invoice. Throughout this process I got the impression from Miami that S&ACI had always left every arrangement to the last possible moment and on this occasion totally neglected to appoint a packer for the agreed date!

The 40ft container arrived, was loaded and sent on its way on the 15 Mar 05 – we wondered if we would ever see our possessions again!

We flew to the USA and awaited the arrival of our shipment 4-6 weeks later while we found our new home. The shipment arrived and only when I phoned Miami to check on progress was I then told that it had indeed arrived and that they needed signed customs faxed to Miami within the hour to enable clearance. Why this could not been arranged a few days earlier in preparation for the arrival of my shipment I still do not understand!

The shipment was unloaded from the 40ft container and placed in a storage facility in Miami – not Orlando which had been previously agreed and is shown on the Order for Service.

Two weeks before I knew we were going to get the keys to our new home I spoke to S&ACI Miami and agreed a delivery date of Fri 13 May 05. We moved into our home on Thu 12 May and on Fri waited for our possessions to arrive hoping to sleep in our own beds that night. Delivery was planned for 3-5pm so at 4 pm when nothing had arrived I phoned Miami only to get an answer machine. We waited all evening while continuing to attempt to contact Miami without success. We returned and waited Saturday and Sunday (just in case!) with no contact from Miami on why delivery had not taken place. I finally managed to speak to A&SCI on Monday morning when I was told calmly that delivery would happen that evening at 9pm! There was no explanation or apology as to why delivery had not taken place as planned.

That evening a truck arrived in the dark and about 70% of our possessions are unloaded into the house. When I inquired where the rest of the shipment was I was informed that it was still in Miami because it would not fit in the truck! It took another week of phone calls to persuade S&AIC to deliver the remaining items and there were still 2 boxes and some other items missing (which Miami had declared that they had found in their warehouse!) which have still not been delivered as of 3 Jan 06.

Once unpacked it was obvious that there were a lot of breakages, (most probably caused in the truck having seen how it was packed) so I telephoned S&AIC Miami and arranged for an Atlas Insurance claim form to be sent. I duly filled this in and submitted a comprehensive claim with photographs for $1,480 on 7 Jun 05 through A&SCI Miami.

By 23 Aug 05 I had e-mailed twice, phoned 3 times, mailed and faxed once without a single returned call or response from S&ACI Miami to find out the progress of the claim.

I desperation I contacted Atlas Insurance Co who I was led to believe had underwritten the cover for my move. They had no record of my policy or claim and stated that they no longer dealt with S&ACI.

I finally received a response by e-mail from S&AIC on 31 Aug 05 after I had forwarded them the e-mail from Atlas and in fact spoken to Idan Ohana when I had phoned 2 days earlier. They promised top priority action and a quick answer to the situation! So I gave them a further 48 hours to respond with a written (faxed) statement of intent which yet again they failed to meet.

In summary, apart from the totally unprofessional manner that this company have conducted business with me throughout the last few months, they still retain some of my property in Miami and to date have not offered an acceptable solution to the lack of insurance cover for my shipment. The unpaid insurance claim for damages and losses totals US$1,480 for which S&AIC still need to take ownership.

Thank you.

NMM