Seven Seas Worldwide

Seven seas worldwide shipping….where do I even start? This negative review and manic ranting could be never-ending but I think its probably best to be short and snappy so nobody else makes the same mistake as me. Don’t do it. Don’t use this company. Not reliable. Not stress free. Yes hidden costs.

For context, let’s begin with my first shipment (by boat) from Shanghai to Glasgow (UK). This venture took 121 days for two suitcases. It took 12 days to move between Kent and Glasgow. But this wasn’t really a problem for me, it was my autumn/winter clothing (this happened in August/September) so I was patient, it would eventually arrive, I’ll give Seven Seas a call and just check up on it to be sure. The call centre staff are most probably the most unhelpful people I’ve ever encountered in the service industry. They had no additional information that I couldn’t see for myself on the website tracker, whether this is a management flaw (I suspect it most likely is) or the people just didn’t care (this could also be partly true) nobody was able to tell me anything further than “yes it does appear to be taking longer than usual” …why?..”call back again in a couple of days and we’ll see what the situation is” they were desperate to get me off the line, one can only imagine they are inundated with frustrated customers like myself. Calling back in a couple of days simply resulted in a different person telling me to call back in a couple of days and this cycle repeated itself for a good few weeks… Hey ho it eventually made it to the UK to my parents house and I used DHL to swiftly transport it onwards to Poland which they managed in 4 days. Well done DHL!

Now, my second shipment, this is the big one that nearly drove me to a nervous breakdown. My every-day and work clothes that went on an AIR shipment (this means they flew in an airplane although I now reckon they packed it on the back of a tortoise) took 74 days to transport from China to Poland. 74 days. 74.

Soon the cycle of calls began “oh dear longer than usual… don’t know why… give it a couple of days… call back”. This went on for weeks, 6 at least. Then, I get an email from Polish customs “why is this name on your shipment?”. By this point, my luggage had been at customs for a few weeks and seven seas had told me there was no problem and I just had to wait it out, it was out of their hands and all the fault of customs going slowly. I then received a call…and it hit the fan…the name on my shipment was not my name. So I tell customs that I don’t know that name or why it’s on my luggage and proceed to call Seven Seas where I immediately lose my patience (to put it politely). This was the reason for the delay, why had this not been picked up on, why had this happened in the first place. Why oh why. Well this outburst finally got the ball rolling. Something clicked with Seven Seas that I was not a happy customer. They finally pulled their finger out and lo and behold they were actually able to do something about the delay (why had this not been possible earlier when I was being polite and courteous? Who knows!)

Fast forward another 3 weeks, a further customs payment, yes there were 2 payments needed for some reason to TNT and FedEx (they were now involved and I don’t quite know why, no one seems to talk to each other and they certainly did not talk to me).

I am seriously out of pocket from the cost to begin with, additional customs costs, additional cost for masks being removed (apparently China won’t allow that in a midst of a pandemic) and then having to buy new clothes to keep me going until my luggage arrived.

I have no idea how they have a high rating on TrustPilot (more like UNtrust pilot, am I right?! I guess ‘bots’ are all the rage these days and get the ratings higher). I am so glad that this nightmare has ended, I have my stuff back and I will never use Seven Seas again and I urge everyone else to look elsewhere for their shipping needs.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £1000

Terrible service, hidden fees, unclear process

I will never use this company or recommend them to anyone in the future.

I shipped 2 bags from Hong Kong to Canada and it couldn't be more of a burden.

They don't clearly explain you need to sign for your bags at customs, and the location of customs isn't even close to city where I live. They give you 1 week to do it or else you need to pay Customs money every day as storage fee.

They tell you to talk to their Customer Service Manager Jane Elwell, who I don't even think is real as they outsource their Customer services to Malaysia. They send autogenerated generic emails that provide no help during the process. In fact it just adds more confusion.

I hope you come upon all these horrible reviews before you want to use their service rather than see this and be a casualty of Seven Seas Worldwides horrible service.

Move size: Studio Service cost: $700

THEY DON"T EVEN WORTH ANY STAR! RUN from this company

My cargo was hired on 23 July, 2019 to ship a small cube with boxes from Singapore to New York. The total bill was SGD$1259 and I paid $300 upfront. They collected my boxes then refused to ship due to my previous visa's remaining days was shorter than their request. They soon forced to put my boxes to their storage and started topping fee without my agreement. The bill ran up insanely to SGD3254.53. In between I explained my visa situation with pending proof from USCIS and attorney. I told them should just ship so the result should come out when it arrives to within their request dates, but the application dragged 10 months til last June, which was unexpected and out of my hands. After 1 year and 8 months now, they're still holding the boxes even my new visa has already passed and issued. I have over months of emails back and forth with them to explain my visa or financial situation and asked them to honoured the contract, but they refuse to ship still. They even threaten to dispose and sell my belongs with record of emails from their manger. I have all emails of conversations that are considered black and white for courts and am totally fine to expose online.

I will post this story in different languages on platforms plus ask help of companies wherever they base to make this known to people online so they can take my lesson and stay far from you.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: 1259SGD

This company is awful. They overcharged me and are still yet to refund me after nearly 3 weeks. The lost 1 of my 4 boxes that was supposed to be delivered with the rest of them. The customer service is horrendous and unhelpful. I shipped my stuff from Germany to Australia and honestly, it has been the most stressful process with this company. If you are moving overseas or sending stuff home, avoid this company at all costs.

I wish I had read the reviews first. I'm devastated my items are missing as they hold sentimental value to me.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: €800

AVOID AT ALL COST. Incompetent and arrogant. Got a written quote and bought an electronic organ in the US based on the fact that they will import it for me at a certain cost. Days later Celeste, Tian and Dinesh changed their tune. 'We cant import it. We didn't realise that an electronic organ useses electricity! Sorry, we made a mistake' . A R30,000 mistake. Forget trying to get in touch with management in the UK. The moment there is trouble nobody is available. There is a reason why they get such a low rating!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $2500

Be very wary of this company!

The tape was cut at the bottom of our boxes & items stolen. When you receive your boxes they look untampered. When all the photo's were sent to Head Office they refused to accept any responsibility, even though we had paid for the extra insurance. When you report this issue to police there is nothing much they can do about it as it is regarded as an overeas crime - Seven Seas realise this so really don't care. Be very wary of trusting this company with your belongings - zero care or ethics!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £2000

Background: Shipped 8 standard boxes including a non-standard bicycle box from France to the US

We were in France for 6-7 years and have accumulated a lot of personal items over these years, including personal artworks done by my daughters. Even before the shipment left France, I was notified that one of the boxes labelled kitchen items is missing (this is just a few days after the boxes were picked)!!!

While we comforted ourselves with the thought that the items are replaceable. After few months, when we received the packages here in the US, it turned out that there is miscommunication from the sevenseas side. As the box that is missing contained personal items/artworks/memorable/souvenirs to which one could not tag a value.

Note: During the application process - specifically for insurance purposes, it is advised by the sevenseas not to value the boxes for a large amount.

After raising this issue with sevenseas, we got a reply that they will check in the origin-warehouse (manager). To our surprise, we got a reply within FEW HOURS that they could not locate the box. This left us wondering how would it be physically possible to investigate in such a short span. Still, we are struggling to come to terms with this loss - as deep down we believe that the box is sitting somewhere in the warehouse..

Very unprofessional, I think I am paying for taking the risk and trusting in sevenseas despite the negative reviews.

Being part of the international office of a reputable University, from where I was recommended to sevenseas in the first place. This bitter experience is now pushing me to advise future students and faculty to stay from this shipping service.

Job reference: 000/378/034

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $2000