Our first experience with Relosmart three years ago went smoothly from start to finish. We were so impressed that we decided to use them again to ship the remainder of our belongings from Hong Kong to Canada, the same route as before. Unfortunately, this time, the experience was far from smooth. We were caused a lot of undue stress. The Relosmart packers - Ricky and Denis - were amazing. They took great care of our belongings and added loads of moisture absorbers to our boxes and furniture. The shipment left Hong Kong on schedule and we expected to receive it within the 6-8 weeks that they had estimated. When our shipment reached Canada was when the problems started. It arrived by train in Toronto in August and was supposed to be put on a truck and delivered to Halifax from there. Halifax is the largest city on the East coast of Canada and it is a 16 hour drive from Toronto. Despite this, Relosmart's Canadian partner, Tippet Richardson, did not deliver our shipment to us until November 2! All our household items, fall clothing and furniture sat in Toronto for over two months for absolutely no valid reason. The employees told us time and again that we needed to be patient! The shipment took 5 and 1/2 months in total.
We were also told that our shipment would be in temperature controlled conditions, but when we finally received it after a litany of emails and phone conversations with agents and managers from both companies, it was damp and many of our belongings were covered in mildew. One of our favourite pieces of furniture and my husband's leather jacket are unsalvageable. This time, when they finally were ready to send it, they also had the audacity to charge us an extra 250 dollars to have it delivered on a 10 ton truck rather than a tractor trailer. A 53 foot tractor trailer would not be able to get into most streets and driveways anywhere! Previously, they delivered to the exact same address and we were not suddenly asked to pay this extra "shuttling" charge.
When we went to customs to declare our shipment, we met another gentleman whose belongings came on the same truck. He had been waiting six months!!! He was equally angry and frustrated, as they were immigrants who had nothing here and they were desperate for all of their furniture, cookware, clothing and other necessities to arrive. They had to go out and purchase things they had counted on receiving months earlier. They were also blindsided with this extra 250$ "shuttling" charge, to add insult to injury.
The manager at Tippet Richardson, said that this was the typical amount of time a shipment takes. That is absolutely NOT true. We have been shipping things for years with various companies. We also knew 20 other employees who were returning home this year, to Canada and the US, and nearly all of them received their shipment by mid August, except one, whose arrived the beginning of September.
We can't change what's happened, but we do hope that by sharing our experience, we will help others avoid this grief, expense and disappointment. Relosmart was in charge of our move and should rethink the way customers are treated from start to finish rather than making excuses for their partner company.
