(Newswire.net — October 11, 2017) — If you have to ship your car to a foreign country, it stands to reason that you should choose the shipping company wisely. However, more often than not people base their judgment solely on the price. Given that it’s often an expensive service by most people’s standards it doesn’t come as too much of a shock that people will rush to trust a sub-par company with their family vehicle or sometimes a prized vintage car.
But what’s the catch? If shipping your car to the UK, for example, is so expensive, how come these companies can offer prices that are ridiculously low to what reputable shipping companies like Ship Overseas are asking for the same service?
There is a number of answers to that. The first and most obvious being it’s not the same service, even if it might look so to an inexperienced client. The quality of service will vastly differ, which you will notice the first time you reach a company representative. While reputable companies’ transparent policy allows agents to disclose any information you might require, as soon as you start poking holes a sneaky company’s agent will try misdirecting you and avoid giving a clear answer.
This is just one of the ways to recognize a sham company. Know that doing business with them is at your own risk. At best, your car’s arrival might be delayed for a couple of weeks, and at worst you may never see it again. But how do these companies manage to offer prices that cheap? Here are a few ways:
Hidden Costs
If asked, shady companies will not disclose the fact that the price they are offering you not include various other hidden costs. These include the cost of shipping and returning documents, as well as the AES port filing fee.
Reputable companies, on the other hand, make sure the price is all-inclusive, meaning the port filing fee, as well as an express mail fee for the vehicle’s return documents are already included in the quote you get. Deduct all of these, and you’re halfway through understanding the catch behind “best deals” sub-par companies offer.
To prevent this make sure to get the quote on paper and always read the fine print. Make sure the quote includes all the services involved, from pickup and delivery to insurance, loading, export declaration, customs clearance, bill of lading and other items. Also weighing is prime factor which can help you to save money so its important to have a proper calculation of weight with the help of scale bought from an industrial scale company. Thanks to an online comparison tool of shipping companies, you can easily find such companies having hidden cost. Click learn more to know about this tool.
Brokers Posing as Shipping Companies
Last but not least, one of the most common scams customers fall for is transport brokers mistaken for actual shipping companies. In reality, these brokers only advertise the services of shipping companies and are not licensed NVOCC freight forwarders.
These companies usually partner with such a company and work for a flat commission. However, when things go south these brokers cannot be held liable which ends badly for the client. Worst off, there’s nothing to stop these brokers from closing shop and start operating under a different company name.
One way to make sure the shipping company has a NVOCC license is to ask for their license number. You can use that number to verify its authenticity and its owner. You can look this information up at the Federal Maritime Commission website at this link.
When choosing a shipping company, make sure they are regulated and can be held accountable in case something happens to your vehicle during transport. You can learn more on the topic at this link: https://www.shipoverseas.com/blog/regulating-overseas-shipping-companies/
Advance Payments
If you don’t research the company you are going to hire well, you might end up hiring an unreliable partner. Most of these companies usually ask for payment up front without any guarantee that your car will be safely delivered at the end of the process. A reputable company will never ask for an advance payment until the car is at the port and ready to ship out.
If you’re looking for a reputable shipping company to ship your car to UK, Germany or other counties in Europe, contact Ship Overseas Inc at:
6215 Ferris Square #150, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
858-547-0840
sales@shipoverseas.com