Sonigo

I would NOT recommend using Sonigo's shipping and moving services. You get a fair price quote but end up paying much more.

We've used Sonigo services to ship our furniture from the US (New-York) to Israel in August 2017. We had an inventory survey in which their company's representative came to our apartment and we've shown her all the stuff that will be shipped to get an estimated quote. We did it with several other shipping companies but decided to go with Sonigo because they seem to be the most reliable, even though their quote was among the more expensive offers. After packaging the furniture and sending it to the port, the end inventory volume came up 27% more than the estimated. That was around $1,300 more than the expected price! If it was 10%, I could get it, but almost 30% deviation is unacceptable. We were quite in shock because that's a lot of money and when we discussed it with Ed, Sonigo's rep, he started accusing us as if we hidden furniture from the survey. Not only that it wasn't the case and they refused to take responsibility, but we also managed to sell a bunch of things that were supposed to be originally shipped, so the final inventory was less than the expected. Since we were already out of the country, there was not much that we could do and we had to just "live" with it. Whether it was a miscalculation from the person that did the survey, or a terrible inefficient packaging of the movers, or an intentional bump in the price as we were captive clients, we declared everything and were transparent, and we shouldn't have "eaten" that extra cost. A company that respects itself and their clients would never act as Sonigo did. Hence, we will never use their services again.

As a side note, Sonigo works with "BestGuy Moving services" as a 3rd party provider in NYC for packaging the furniture and moving them to the port. The movers were unprofessional, messy (e.g., mixing a computer display from the office room with parts of a closet from the bedroom), and inefficient (many of the boxes were half empty). It took 5 people more than 6 hours to finish packaging a small 2-bed apt which could have been easily under 3.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4500

When relocating from France to Tel-Aviv during the summer 2018 our French relocation company used Sonigo as the Local Agent.
It turned out to be a terrible experience where our shipment was blocked in Asdod port for more than 1 month while Sonigo was charging additional demurrage and storages fee's.
Sonigo completely mismanaged the custom clearance didn't plan the delivery and send a team to deliver the furniture who only spoke Russian. The worst relocation services I have ever experienced.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: €7000

Moved goods from their warehouse in NJ to Israel. When they arrived at our home they mentioned that they were not aware of the items that we had or the weight even though they had packed the items. They claimed they needed a better moving truck to move these items as they were too heavy. Somehow they seemed to be content with the existing moving truck and had no trouble moving 2 heavier boxes off of the truck - but told us we needed to pay $800 more or else they would not unload the rest of our goods. Really a terrible experience on what is already a stressful day and should have been a more pleasant experience. There are a few other companies which are in the similar price range - please stay away from Sonigo.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

We moved a 20" container with an overseas shipping from Houston Tx to Israel.

I can't recommend ENOUGH on Sonigo. The partner on the US side was informative, knowledgeable, communicative and friendly. The packing company was by far the best packers I've ever worked with- nothing broke on the way, everything was wrapped perfectly and packaged extremely carful. Arriving in Israel, midst Covid19 days, the Sonigo office in Israel was efficient, transparent, no surprises and no extra fees we didn't know about in advance.

To sum up, we had such a positive experience I feel the need to spread the word so others could enjoy it as well.

They are highly professional, know what they're doing, very experienced- this is the type of company you'd want to handle your life belongings.

**Important to mention I'm a private person, payed for the shipping etc. on our own (no corporate involved) and have no incentive to write this review other that true satisfaction from the service level**

Move size: 4+ Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000

STAY AWAY from Sonigo!!! They are the worst moving company on the planet!

We have just relocated to the US, and needeles to say how difficult and expensive this process is. We've used their services to ship our container. They told us that it would take a maximum of 9 week for the shipment to arrive from the moment it's picked up, never mentioning that there might be delays.

From the time they've picked up our stuff and we've paid, we didn't hear from them at all. After arriving to the US, they haven't communicated with us to let us know when should we expect our shipment, basically nothing.

We've had to chase them endlessly, without understanding what's going on. Eventually, we have heard from the moving company they work with here (which are also horrible!), saying that our shipment has been delayed because the ports are congested. Having said that, they made us pay $15 a day for every day our shipment is at the port, as there is no option to transport it.

They are extremely shady as they ask you to provide them with a credit card over email which you have no option but to do.

Weeks and weeks has gone by, and we're not able to get an exact or an estimated ETA on our shipment.

Finally, the moving company called us and said that the shipment will arrive to us in 24 hours (when there's a tropical storm, great!), but they have stated a fact that the 18-wheeler will not be able to access our community and that we need to pay an additional $350 for the movers to rent a small truck + labor.

I have double checked with our community manager, who have confirmed that an 18-wheeler can IN FACT access our community but they've decided, based on Google Earth only, that it can't and that's it- nothing we can do.

Sonigo had our address from the beginning, and they could have updated us in advance that there might be additional costs but they chose to do it in the last minute when we need to get our stuff & our hands are tied.

Sonigo has never bothered to update us that there may be further delays, and that there might be additional costs. They don't care about the client after the shipment is paid and sent.

14 weeks later, and still no shipment. Shame on them.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: $4000

Shmuel and the Israeli team were exceptional to work with - responsive and informative. The final cost was actually lower than the original estimate (I guess I didn't buy enough).

Sonigo packers from the Miami area were professional and thorough; delivery in Israel was smooth and helpful. Everything arrived as it left, in perfect condition. This was a challenging time to bring in a shipment - every ship in the world was delayed. No reflection on Sonigo. These are not *normal* times.

My experience with the company was excellent and I recommend them highly.

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: $2500

Prior to speaking with Sonigo, we received a quote from another shipping company which was 40%(!) higher than the quote Sonigo gave us.

The actual payment ended up being almost exactly what they offered in the initial quote, which speaks to their expertise and fairness when providing the quote.

They connected us with a local company that provided great service, packing was super quick and professional.

Shipment arrived in less time than expected and we were continuously being informed about progress.

Finally, shipment to our home was coordinated with us, and the guys did it quickly and carefully. All of our stuff arrived in perfect condition.

I would wholeheartedly recommend Sonigo to anyone, they turned a potentially very stressful process into something we didn't have to worry about.

Thanks Sonigo!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: £3800

We just completed our move from Atlanta, GA to Israel—Thank G-D, Sonigo came through for us and the entire experience has been very positive. Pricing was fair and no surprises at the end. Movers on both ends, were first class. They did a marvelous job packing everything up in Atlanta and the team in Israel was extremely professional, courteous, and made us feel like they truly cared about us and our belongings. Shmuel and Alex were great points of contact along the way and answered whatever questions we had in a timely manner. So great to have everything in our new Israeli home and we truly appreciate the entire Sonigo team for actually making this big, international move a pleasant experience.

Move size: 4 Bedroom Home Service cost: $10000