Employing 'Shipping Force' has been a horrible experience
This company provides an extremely poor, inefficient, overpriced service full of hidden charges. Although I had used their services once before and had been reasonably happy with them, after this second experience I would never use them again, and would strongly recommend anyone against using them.
1) Right from the start, they arbitrarily charged me an additional fee of £300 for a 'designated driver' simply to collect my boxes from my London storage depot. I had not ordered or asked for this designated driver, or been given any indication that I could be charged for it. Nor had I had such a charge imposed on me when I had employed Shipping Force to move a similar number of boxes for me a few months previously. When I complained, I was told they would respond to my complaint shortly, but I have been waiting weeks without a reply, despite numerous reminders.
2) They employed a subcontractor based in the Czech Republic who did not understand the proper procedure at the international border across which I was attempting to transfer my goods. As a result of miscommunication between them, the customs officials and the subcontractor's own local expediting partner, my boxes were stuck on the border for four days. They waited two days before contacting me to report the problem. Although I responded promptly and provided additional paperwork immediately that resolved all the difficulties, they are now trying to bill me for the days their subcontractor's lorry was stuck on the border as a result of their own errors.
3) I was notified neither of the dispatch of my goods from the UK depot nor the expected arrival date. Yet when the boxes arrived, unexpectedly and out of the blue, I was suddenly expected to be on hand for two days to provide additional paperwork, with repeated, desperate phone-calls from the clueless subcontractor complaining that his driver had no shower and nowhere to stay - as if this were the client's responsibility. I was then actually expected personally to escort the lorry from the customs depot to my recipient address, since the subcontractor had no clue where they were going. This meant suddenly being told at around 3pm that I had to drop everything I was doing and hasten to the customs depot to pay another huge and unexpected charge, otherwise they would levy additional punitive charges on me. I had to interrupt my day out with my 7-year old boy, who was then forced to accompany me and the delivery lorry across the city, and the driver's sat-nav did not work and he drove in completely the wrong direction. Meanwhile, Shipping Force's representative made about eight calls to my UK number and, when my wife eventually answered, made very aggressive threats to her of additional charges if I did not pay the customs charge immediately, despite the fact that I had been given no notice whatsoever that I would be required to do so at that time. Payment of around 500 euros in cash only, natch.
All in all, this is a nasty, aggressive and incompetent company which you should employ only at your own peril.