International move from Switzerland to Italy – very disappointing expe
In April 2025 I requested quotes from three companies (Santa Fe, Gosselin and Bolliger) for a move from Switzerland to Italy, with the possibility of one to two months of storage. We chose Santa Fe because they sent a surveyor to our home who inspected every cupboard and room in person and provided a detailed estimate of the required volume. The other companies quoted via video, and we did not negotiate with any provider, assuming the surveyor’s assessment would be accurate.
Once we signed the contract and paid the deposit, communication became very limited. Despite repeated requests, Santa Fe did not confirm our preferred moving dates until just a few days before the move at the end of September. This created unnecessary stress.
The packing process was also problematic. On day one, three packers arrived but took many breaks and left early, having packed very little. On day two they left at midday and a second crew had to be brought in, who worked until after 8pm. At that point we were told that the actual volume was double the surveyor’s estimate. We had not purchased any new items, and in fact had removed three carloads of belongings to our UK home before the move. During packing, a large wardrobe door was also damaged.
Following this, we spent months being chased for additional payment. We ultimately had to pay the increased charges in order to receive delivery. Delivery itself took six weeks. When the team arrived in Italy, we were told we needed to pay for two additional people and a few more thousand euros more because we live on the 5th floor. In reality, only eight items needed to be carried by hand; everything else fit easily into the lift.
The unpacking crew in Italy were professional, but unfortunately many items were damaged due to poor packing. Several boxes contained mostly paper with very few items inside, which unnecessarily increased the volume and cost.
Having moved many times internationally, this has been our only negative experience. It was extremely stressful, significantly more expensive than quoted, and the overall service was poor. Based on our experience, I cannot recommend Santa Fe for international removals.
I commissioned a door-to-door full-service move from Shanghai to Paris in March. After the shipment arrived in Le Havre, the custom clearance was inexplicably delayed for several weeks. Santa Fe’s service provider(s) withheld the bill of lading due to claims of unpaid overdues — a fact that was never communicated to me. Instead, I was repeatedly told - by all employees involved in my project - that the delay was caused by uncontrollable factors including inefficiencies in French customs; everyday, they kept writing to me that it was impossible to have a clear timeline for clearance.
After a long and frustrating personal investigation, I discovered the real reason for the delay. Had I not uncovered the truth, they would have been prepared to make me pay port demurrage fees for a delay they caused! I had to change my plan for moving-in and incur unexpected and significant expenses in addition to significant amount of time spent in sorting out the issue.
Sante Fe has a Berlin team (Germany) and they really blew my mind with the service they provided. Mr. H Schulz and Ms. A. Hoenow executed my move smoothly, efficiently and always with a friendly attitude. They were polite and warm yet very professional.
I moved from Berlin back home to NJ and could not even be there personally when their movers went to my Berliner apartment. Yet we did it per Skype chat, took only 20 mins for me to virtually point to what I needed packed (I left some things there for the tenant who took over the flat).
They went WAY and beyond the call of duty. All of my things arrived quickly, safely, without any damage. I highly recommend this company.
My company uses Santa Fe to relocate employees. I must say my experience overall was okay but customer service does not exist here.
Unfortunately I was not there when they came to pack my things. Most of my things were packed well but two boxes had things just thrown into them and one painting was not packed correctly. The frame on the painting broke and as others have mentioned the insurance is of no use. If you use this company buy insurance for a third party if you can. They find every loophole to not pay you. I went back and forth with them for two weeks over $350. Yes that's it - $350. My company had bought $10,000 worth of insurance and they still wouldn't cover it.
The unpacking went well they arrived on time and worked very quickly. As I said the move was done well just don't buy insurance from the company moving you - they will find a way out.
AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COST!! We contracted Santa Fe to move our family of 6 from Northern CA to London, UK. We were promised "door to door service." Our belongings were frantically packed up in CA by a large crew, and then disappeared! I called and emailed Santa Fe for 2 straight weeks and was completely ignored - no one picked up the phone, no one responded to my emails, and no one attempted to contact me. We never received a copy of the inventory. We finally received a call 2 weeks later from the Country Manager of the Americas, Braxton Dailey, who told me that our moving coordinator had quit and at this point it was prohibitively expensive to insure our shipment (she did not insure it prior to it leaving). I let this slide, and hoped everything would arrive safely.
Our shipment arrived late, and they charged us demurrage charges. Again, I was willing to overlook this. Finally, our stuff arrived and I signed off for every box. We discovered a week or so later that ALL of our power tools are missing - thousands of dollars in power tools! I contacted Santa Fe and was told that there is nothing they will do because I signed off on all the boxes. What do you do when the items ARE NOT IN THE BOXES?? This is clearly a case of theft, and Santa Fe has essentially told me that it's my fault.
"Door to door service" implies that they will be responsible for getting ALL of my belongings safely from one place to the next. When a category of items does not end up in the boxes, that is clearly the fault of the movers!
I would absolutely never recommend using Santa Fe - their customer service is horrible! It would have been so easy for them to apologize and make this right, but instead, they are blaming the customer. SO UNPROFESSIONAL AND DISAPPOINTING.
Dear Ms. Wills,
Thank you for sharing your review here. This is not the typical experience our customers have as can be seen on Trustpilot and other rating sites. It is our understanding that this was addressed previously. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Braxton again. We wish you all the best in your new home.
Sincerely, Santa Fe Relocation.
In their form to delivery the move, all payed to the destination, they asked if the address had space to park a van of a size of two cars, I said yes, and by the way, one step from the parking space to the place to drop all the boxes, that easy. However, they sent a big truck with 2 big containers to the central London, and my move was only half of one container. I have pictures to proof. Hence, where is possible to park a big truck like this in central london????? No where! Therefore, the traffic in the area was disrupted and we quickly moved my boxes from one of the container to inside their Van (the one refereed in their form), and the Van drove literally 30 meters, cos would be easy and quickly than carrying boxes and had kept the big truck disrupting the local traffic. So now they are charging me this extra shuttle!!! Wondering if it was my fault?????!!!
On top of that, they also charged another fee due to the Increase on haulage charges, which was another £308 , as a surprise. But I’ve wrongly paid for that. unacceptable.Not trustworthy company.
Dont ever use those people!!! From the begining (miss calculating the volume needed and forcing us to have to use a second container at the last minute when at the port) to the end (a lot of items broken and their compulsory insurance bearly covering anything as they always consider "appearance damage" and covering only 20% of the value even for a destroyed sofa!) not mentioning their totally dubious way to recalculate the value of your items when insurance has to kick in.
Out of the 2 containers (on 2 different ships with the last one missing our port 3 times in a row and being delayed by 2 months), both were "magically" stopped by customs and we had to cover in excess of USD,4000 of fees...total racketing.
I moved (am moving) a box from India to West Africa. While their partners in India - Santa Fe - have delayed the departure considerably, it is understnable as these things take time. My gripe is with a gentleman by the name of Damon Hughes who works out of their London office and was supposed to be the coordinator. Not only is his behavior rude, his manner in conversation and servicing abilities are something I haven't even endured when speaking to a bank or an internet service provider. Lack of reponse and zero help. I will try and ensure that if its my box moving in the future, I will ask my organization to recommend another relocater rather than Interdean and mainly for the misbehavior on part of Mr. Damon Hughes.
I was recommended this company by the student housing building in which I was staying in London while I studied abroad this summer. They picked up my box right on time, and then the entire experience went down the drain. They took forever to send the necessary forms at the outset and never respond to any e-mails. I have been e-mailing them for weeks now wondering where my package is (it was supposed to be shipped to me within 5-8 business days, while it has been a month). I was finally responded to and told that they were going to charge me storage costs because I haven't paid an invoice! I was never sent an invoice, and there would be no need for storage if they had responded to my e-mails in the beginning. Note that all of my friends who used the company had a comparably awful experience. Regardless, I will be taking this horrifying excuse for a company to court if necessary. DO NOT USE THEM. Complete rip-off.
Have just read the review re move to Singapore. It almost exactly echoes my experience. Interdean conrtacted me regarding a move to Brisbane as they had our details from our new migrant bank. We were organising our move in 2 stages so this was essentially 11 boxes to be able to set up in a rental property. First contacts were very promising but once the deposit was paid they were impossible to contact regarding any questions we had. They never answered the phone or emails and anyone who has moved to Australia knows how much red tape there is attached to importing items. Two weeks after my belongings had left my house they rang me as if I were a new customer to sell their services - great record keeping!! I was quoted 3 months for sea transportation so sent my belongings ahead by 2 months so that I would have my possessions after a month in Aus. At the 3 month point I contacted them to find out about delivery only to be told that my stuff was still in London! So I had to go out and buy enough furniture/kitchen basics/bedding etc to get by. I contacted their managing director - only to be told that they had mixed my shipment up with someone who had the same surname who was moving to Sydney. They wouldn't consider putting the shipment on a plane or offering compensation for the hundreds of dollars we had to spend and as a gesture of goodwill offered 10% discount on any future removals with them. Laughable. My things finally arrived 5 months after leaving me - minus a 42" flat screen tv which they can not trace at all. Insurance claim now. Have notified the Aussie branch of the Bank who recommended them and will notify the London branch too. Will NEVER use them again or recommend them.They made an already stressful situation really awful.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! What a Horribal Expierence! The only thing that went well was the pick up of my goods. From there it all fell appart. I was quoted 30-40 days from door to door. It Took 70 Days!! Unacceptable! Despite my numerous attempts to contact them while I was waiting for my delivery, if they responded All I could get was excuses. When my things did finally arrive, there are boxes missing & lots of dammaged goods!! In a "sealled" container! Oh, & did I mention they are very hard to get a hold of. They were good, till there was a problem. I still can't get any anwsers from them & I still don't have all of my stuff. .
My goods were stored with Interdean in London. They had my contact info in Califonia and my sister's information in London. Yet they took an order from my X-Husband, a different name and who had not stored his items with me, and shipping my goods to the x-husband in Connecticut. I had to pay an attorney to retrieve my goods, found things missing and added (the company of x-husband?) then I had to pay to repack on a Saturday (unpakced all my things! and time and a half fee) then ship to CA. When I returned to live in Europe 2years later it was to Brussels. I went to see the managing director/family member at their office and he refused any compensation.
OUTRAGEOUS!
I have just received my delivery from Interdean in fine condition - only problem its at least 3 months late! It was meant to be shipped from London to Singapore, but it was actually sent to Los Angeles instead - which is a pretty bad error really. Initially I was quoted between 1 month and 3 months (tops). In the end it was just under 6 months. I had never considered that would even be possible to be so late (ie. a whole season late), and it basically meant I had to buy a whole load of replacement clothes for winter and skiing equipment, as my existing items were stuck halfway round the world (actually further away from me than had been in the first place). Once we found out they were in LA, I requested that Interdean fly them to Singapore so it would only be a 2 month delay (they said not possible as it was stuck on the ship and couldn't take it off) so it added another month of delay. I asked for compensation and Interdean have informed me they are not liable as it was due to the shipping company's negligence. They said they are trying to some from the shipping company - but I very much doubt they will get anything. Presumably as they subcontract out the transportation, Interdean will never be liable for anything - but it just means they shouldn't go with the cheapest incompetent subcontractors (that no doubt rarely provide compensation). I chose the company stupidly as I didn't research it and was in a rush and they have a nice looking website, but the above should highlight why you should definitely go with another company and do your research! I also found that in the UK they are very very hard to get hold of once you have paid your money and placed your order. The phone just rings out and no one picks up - so soon after the order I began to worry - guess I was right! Whilst I have now received the items (not damaged I think) it did make me think that if they can accidentally ship them to completely the wrong destination then they could just as easily lose them altogether - presumably that would be the shipping company's fault as well and so Interdean may not even be liable for that - whatever I won't be using them again!
I moved from italy on 28 Jun 2013. Three days before the move, I was asked to fill an inventory form..of the contents of a 3 stroey house.. while doing a job that kept me 10-12 hours at the office. I based my form on the one I used when I moved to Italy, doing the best in the little time I had to update it. Fatal. While onboard a flight home, I received a call saying hey will be one day late because "their truck broke down". But they needed 2 trucks so the first could have been punctual. All the box numbers were there but after seeing several unfamiliar items it was evident that they had mixed boxes with another client because rather than making a direct shipment, they ubloaded everything in Milan and reloaded everything 3 days later. About 12 boxes were missing. A lot fo furniture damaged (the furniture was stored in front trailer and there was space limitation with the rear trailer. As they turned the furniture round they hit the edges of the doors denting furniture and apploiances. When they opened the packages, they used a knife, damaging several surfaces.) I write this in July 2014. Still no compensation, lies, excuses and deceit. If you are considering Interdean, suicide would be a happier alternative. They do not give a [EDIT] about the customer. Bottom line is that they took a business that they could not handle. they got subtitute personnel (not interdean) to do the job and they messed it up. I wish I could turn back the clock.
A huge box of items picked up on time just to be lost on the way. You pay first, so when your stuff disappears don't even try to contct anyone. Noone mentioned I would have to fill in paperwork in Chinese and those I was put in touch with didn't speak English!! Lost all my staff, not even talking about the money AVOID BY ALL MEANS Its one of the worst things to happen when you are moving abroad and not having a contact with anyone from the company is so wrong.
DO NOT USE. The company they contracted with (Roy Trevor Removals) completely destroyed my brand new wood floors and actually tried to blame us for the damage. These were not tiny scratches, one was 33 INCHES LONG! Mistakes happen, but these are not fine scratches, they took absolutely NO care to avoid damage. Absolutely disgusted. Showed up late and their packing was atrocious -- wrapping plastic plates in 3 sheets of paper to fill up the box. Avoid at all costs.
I used this company to move abroad and then back, the one thing that you have to remember before you move is moving companies do anything to not have to pay insurance claims. When I moved from North America abroad I was quoted an additional cost for insurance to ship my things, now in my mind I'm thinking no brainer so I did. Now on the other end my things arrive, they are held at the shipping yard, then customs then at their depot because they have to arrange crews to unload. So everything arrives, they unload and items damaged, so I take the photos, send the emails and the response is, sorry you exceeded the 30days from when your shipment arrived in the country, I never saw a cent.
Now on my way back, the same company wins the quote with my employer, I am very careful to make sure that I have covered all of these bogus delays, when they ship my goods again there are damages but this time I am under the 30 days so I make my claim, SantaFe Relo is a very sneaky company, their claim this time is that each of their divisions in all of these countries that they are supposedly in around the world are independent, therefore I am left to try and deal with some foreign vendor, as of yet I have not see one cent from these [EDIT], save your money and pay some labourers to load a container for you, this company is a sham and the owners should be beaten. They "misplaced or lost", I say stole over $28,000USD in personal effects and furniture.
The delivering service was really disappointing we were commited 9-10 days it was picked on 21st may from Aurangabad (to gurgaon)and today is 10th day and now still there are no signs of delievery . Moreover this was lying in Aurangabad and wasn't shipped till 28th -29th as they were expecting for the vehicle to fill.
Also this really causing lot of inconvenience. Even though its a company tieup with Airtel they are not giving it a priority. If this is happening with domestic logistics , internalional parcels would be never be deliverd . Really very unrealistic. You should probably pay for our food bills and all other expences that has occured due to delay.
Have moved this year with Santa Fe my first time from Singapore to Austria and had a good experience with the both service teams for packing and the destination service. Staff was very friendly and helped me always. Only two small damages at all for our shipment which was a 5 bedroom apartment and things were claimed and get reimbursed.
I would consider to move again with Santa Fe as soon as this service is needed.
Avoid at all cost. Avoid avoid avoid. These guys are unresponsive and do not care about your time constraints. I have contacted these guys over 10 times this week. After the initial call and telling them I am moving overseas and need quotes they have yet to get back to me. I called and asked to speak with someone other than who I was previously dealing with and they sent me to the same person. Either these people really just don't care or there is a serious organizational issue. Either-way, I would not trust my valuables with them.
With a lot of moving experience throughout my life I can say that this was the worst of all! The movers were so tired they took from 8:30 in the morning to 11:30 at night to do a move which should have been finished by 5 pm for less than a 20 foot container. We had dismantled all furniture, taken all lamps down and prepacked 35 boxes. Removalists ran out of tape twice and they ran out of packing material because they had used all on a move the day before. 2 hours waiting for packing material to come from the head office! Movers did not do anything in the meantime. Plenty of boxes just marked "MIX". A nightmare for customs in Australia and for us when unpacking!! Plenty of boxes just marked "Tools" and there might be kitchen appliances in them. "Boy's Room" instead of "Bath room" written on the box seems funny, but what exactly is in such a box .. Things which we had put apart and marked with big blue tags saying: "Please do not pack, need to stay" were just packed and shipped! Lack of common sense when packing. Packing included e.g. an unwrapped fragile lamp and a clothes airer in the special box designed only for clothing on hangers. The telephone was in a box together with pots and pans without any writing on the box. The vaccuum cleaner was in an unmarked box and took ages to find and that is one of the first things you want after moving in.. Lots of damage due to unprofessional packing. The list could be continued.. I can only warn to use Interdean Germany! The Interdean counterpart in Australia is very professional.
I moved with Interdean and they destroyed all my goods, now I am going to court with them. They left the key in the moving truck and now everthing is gone.. I contacted my employer and they told me that they canceled already the global contract with Interdean, because many employees had problems with them.
Our move was contracted to Interdean by my husband's new employer, who paid for the move - please note that the estimate figure above is entirely random - we were never told what the move cost. Initial contacts with the UK arm of the company were very positive, and first encounters with the German branch were also encouraging. After having been given a date for arrival of the packers, we made travel arrangements to fit in with their estimate of how long the job would take and how long the transportation would take. At a very late point in the process, and only after I had happened to make a related enquiry, we were told that Interdean had altered their timings and would now be turning up on a different date, and that the transportation of our goods might take up to a week. This did not fit in with what we had initially been led to believe, and meant that we had to alter all our travel plans at very short notice. Given the stresses of an international move, this was unpleasant and surely unnecessary - with better communication from Interdean, it could have been avoided. The packing team, however, were extremely hard-working. They provided all boxes and packaging materials, and ensured that our belongings were, in the main, very well packed up. Sadly they managed to break some bathroom equipment in the house we were leaving and did not admit this to us - not impressive. The packing team also worked very hard to empty our removal van and place everything in the new house. However, they did not mention to us that, if we could not empty all the (296) containers by the time of their departure, we would be charged 150 Euros for collection at a later date. The head office then ignored all our emails asking for collection of the boxes and finally mentioned the 150E charge. This was yet another example of poor communication by the company and, while it was not major, it meant that our relationship with the firm was underwhelming. I do not believe we would use Interdean again. .
In a bad stroke of luck, I chose Interdean to store all of my belongings worth close to £2000. The items were supposed to be delivered last Monday (from time of writing {10 days ago}) and they still haven't shown up. I've phoned the head office multiple times each day since, and have been put on as "urgent" 8 times ("double urgent" is apparently a thing, as well) and once as "top priority". At this point, it is better off to let them keep my stuff rather than chase after them and pay the phone bill. Next time anyone asks me about using Interdean, I'll tell them to move bonfire night early and just chuck their stuff on top. Top side, cheaper than hiring a skip.
It was totally HORRIBLE. I used this company's service when I moved from Cambridge to London. Contact personnel often ignored my inquiries, and replies were insincere and obscure. But worst of it was that they DID NOT SHOW UP on the moving day (Monday) I had ordered! I had to move out from my previous flat on that day, so I was totally at a loss with my many boxes..after spending all day waiting for the collection (as they don't give customers any window for baggage collection). I made phone calls to the company to inquire the status in the late afternoon, but they kept me waiting for 1.5 hour. What was even worse, when I finally got a callback, the contact personnel told me a lie, that he had sent me a message about rescheduling for Thursday..! (Of couse, I didn't get such a message. And it is just irrational that moving company indicates customer's moving day, in defiance of customer's will.) I had to leave my belongings in an insecure, communal space of the previous property. They also kept me waiting for the final invoice. So, the day when I could finally receive my boxes was 11 DAYS after the initial collection day. It was just a nightmare. Definetely, I will NEVER use this company.
(To be fair, a driver who delivered my boxes was a very nice person, and it was the only one good point.) .
Santa Fe Relocation has registered their account, so they will be able to see and respond to your reviews publicly.
Their address is 1001 S Dairy Ashford Rd #380, Houston, 77077, but movers usually cover a much larger area.
Company Notes
We are a global mobility company.
We help people relocate and thrive in new place around the world.
Our unique global footprint allows us to leverage expertise that is both global and local.
We strive to make each relocation an exceptional experience.
About the Business
Santa Fe Relocation Services was formerly known as Interdean International Relocation Movers.
Community testimonials, ratings and consumer reports on Santa Fe Relocation - a professional company located in 1001 S Dairy Ashford Rd #380, Houston, 77077. Discover Houston, Hlavni mesto Praha moving companies.
*MoveAdvisor may not be affiliated with Santa Fe Relocation and the estimates may be provided from other professional movers in our network.
MoveAdvisor may not be affiliated with Santa Fe Relocation. By selecting the link to the left, you will have to opportunity to either go directly to the website or have other potential movers provide you with estimates.
MoveAdvisor may not be affiliated with Santa Fe Relocation. By selecting the link to the left, you will have to opportunity to either directly call or have other potential movers provide you with estimates.
MoveAdvisor may not be affiliated with Santa Fe Relocation. By selecting the link to the left, you will have to opportunity to either directly email or have other potential movers provide you with estimates.
*At MoveAdvisor we will connect you with a professional moving company. Please note that we may not be affiliated with
Santa Fe Relocation and you may be speaking with another licensed provider.
We use cookies to optimise your experience.Accept and close or Learn more
