Our good friend Bella...
jamesa...@googlemail.com
A breakdown of events between Globex/Global Express/El Al Shipping and
James Gresham.
19 September 2007
My wife and I have sold our property in North Carolina and relocated
to NSW Australia. While we searched for property in Australia, all
our household goods and all my tools and equipment was in storage on
my old property, pre-packed and ready for packing into a container and
shipping.
Once we had agreed to buy a property, I began to search for a company
to handle the goods for us. I received many quotes and selected
Globex on the basis of competitive rates and reasonable BBB ratings.
I was not able to find negative comments on the internet and was
satisfied as to their bona fides. The initial quote was received
March 20, 2007. I was not aware that until very recently the company
had been known as Van Lines.
For some reason, Globex decided on a pick-up date of June 19. This
was not stipulated by me. I assumed it was a date for their quoting
system to work with. I signed the order of service June 9 and paid
the fee of $8015. I just managed to get the appropriate import
approvals from the Australian authorities in time for the pick-up.
Globex was now suddenly, Global Express.
As I was in Australia, I had asked two friends in North Carolina to
meet the movers and unlock my storage unit, which they very kindly
did. The movers arrived several hours late and appeared very
unprofessional and inappropriate. They refused to load my car as
arranged and almost wound up in a fist fight with my friends who were
very concerned on my account. This resulted in a spate of frantic
phone calls at 2am for me in Australia. Both my friends recommended I
cancel all arrangements and send the movers on their way. In hind
sight they were quite right. The car was eventually loaded.
My two friends (both busy businessmen and one having just that morning
come out of hospital) were good enough to spend the entire day helping
and overseeing the packing. The container then left the property.
The sales contract offered $20,000 insurance coverage at no charge,
but the fine print only provided for $10,000. I have never been given
any insurance papers and doubt that my goods are insured at all.
On July 9th I received an invoice for an additional $1,136.50. This
was to cover an assortment of extras which included 18 cardboard boxes
@ $30 each, and a detention fee of $396.00 due to delays in loading.
These charges I disputed and eventually the detention fee was dropped;
however, I did pay an additional $740.50. I was told that the
container would be arriving in Brisbane in the next few days and if I
did not pay ASAP the container would go into storage and I would be
liable for those fees as well.
Global Express had now become El Al Shipping.
The contracted agents in Brisbane were Conway Removals. They filed
the paperwork that they had been provided by El Al with the
appropriate customs authorities and it was summarily rejected as
incomplete and illegible. Unable to get any help from El Al, they e-
mailed the documents to me and I re-typed them as best I was able from
memory. These papers were accepted. Conway saw nothing of the
container until sometime in the 3rd week of August.
On August 23rd Conway attempted to pick up my container from the
Brisbane docks but were told that the steam ship line had not been
paid in full and the container would not be released until they had
their money. Cathy Mong from Conway called me at a loss.
I contacted El Al Shipping and was told most emphatically that they
had paid the freight forwarder (a company called Mentfield) and
Mentfield had failed to pay the steam ship line. Lisa from El Al
Shipping assured me that the matter had been referred to the Federal
Maritime Commission and was under investigation.
At this stage I began to discount ineptitude and to smell a rat.
On Sept 4th, on the advice of Cathy at Conway, I paid the ocean
freight outstanding myself, and had the container released from the
Brisbane docks. Storage and demurrage fees by this stage have added
up to around $5000 Aust. El Al assured me that I would be reimbursed
ASAP and they offered to provide me with all documentation to show
that they had met their obligations and Mentfield was at fault.
To date El Al Shipping has still not reimbursed the fees I repaid and
has not provided any documentation at all.
On Sept 14 I received a forwarded e-mail from Cathy, originally dated
Sept 11, from El Al Shipping stating that they had gone out of
business!!
However, on Sept 18, upon enquiries as to my refund, I received
apologetic e-mails again promising documentation and refund "ASAP".
There was no mention of going out of business.
It now appears that El Al Shipping has not paid the transport company
here in Brisbane to truck my goods to my new home 5 hours from
Brisbane.
My goods are still in Brisbane.
I have since contacted several other people in much the same
situation. One customer has even set up a web site on Globex, etc.
See http://www.globexshippingsucks.com/
It appears that their modus operandi is as follows:
-Remove the goods as quickly and cheaply as possible
-Bill for extra fees, holding the goods hostage
-Pay as little of the ocean freight as possible to get the container
on the way
-Then abandon the customer to repay all the outstanding fees in the
knowledge that huge storage and demurrage fees are accumulating
fast
-Pocket the several thousand dollars in unused funds
-Change the company name
The scam is clever as the victims, by the time they realise they are
robbed, are overseas, and as a result, legal steps to recover losses
become unacceptably cumbersome and costly. Also, people that do
eventually recover their goods are so relieved that they just want to
put the whole thing behind them.
Personally I stand to have to pay in excess of $10,000AUS in undue
fees to recover my goods. I estimate that of the $8755 paid to El Al
Shipping, they have probably used around $1500. The rest has
vanished.
I have now discovered that there are several families around the world
who have no idea where their goods are. It appears that many of the
containers have not even left the US and are in dock storage somewhere
waiting for any sort of payment at all from El Al Shipping. The
customer will have to foot the bill for the storage if they even
locate their goods.
Contacts:
Global express/ El Al Shipping (From BBB)
Principles: Bella Grushko and Hana Assayag
(561) 536 7359
38-55 Northern Dr.
Fairlawn, NJ 07410
Corporate Headquarters
200 Knuth Rd.
Suite 214
Boynton Beach, Florida 33436
James Gresham
2437 Morvern Rd.
Glen Elgin, NSW 2370
Australia
+61 2 6733 5786
jamesa...@gmail.com
My Brisbane agent:
Cathy Mong
Conroy Removals
Brisbane, Australia
+61 7 5495 2156
cat...@conroyremovals.com.au
jamesa...@googlemail.com
I have recovered my stuff!! And believe it or not, it mostly seems to
be all there. I did have to spend almost $10,000 Australian in fees
and storage etc (about 8000 of which was not my responsibility) and
spend 24 hours and 2000km behind the wheel but it is all home now.
Gary Cook
Based on the information we received from our destination agent, your shipment was delivered to your residence. We, at Global Express, would like to thank you for choosing us as your international carrier. Your trust on us is highly appreciated and we look forward to be the international shipping company of your choice in the future.
Since customer delight is our top priority we will like to measure our performance. Kindly take few minutes of your time to answer the following questions in order to measure our performance.
- Did our pick up crew packed your goods in a professional manner?
- Were your goods handled appropriately?
- How did you find the services of our agent overseas?
- Were you satisfied with our overall services?
- Do you have any comments or remarks that you would like to share with us?
Yelena Gass
Global Relocation Consultant
Corporate Headquarters
200 Knuth Rd. Suite 214
Boynton Beach, FL 33436, USA
Toll Free: 1-866-736-5356 ext. 255
Main: 201-797-2370
Direct: 201-797-2435
Fax: 201-300-2831
Website:
www.globexshipping.com