Windmill Forwarding

Avoid Windmill Forwarding in any case!!

I chose them for my relocation from the Netherlands to Indonesia based on their "good reputation", which was a huge mistake. My experience with their services has been shocking and alarming, and I have written proof of the following:

- Unauthorized use of my name/documents: Although I signed up for a groupage container, Windmill stole my identity and documents to ship a full container with 138 items belonging to other shippers. This exposed me to serious legal and customs risks.

- Impersonation: Their local partner contacted the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague in my name without my consent, trying to legalize other people’s goods under my identity. This is illegal. Windmill’s General Manager even called me personally to pressure me to cooperate in deceiving the embassy and authorities.

- Misleading & delays: They misinformed me about a crucial requirement, which caused huge delays. What was estimated to be a 8–9 weeks shipment turned into 22 weeks (!!), far beyond any reasonable margin.

- Due to the delay they guaranteed me that “no duties or taxes will be charged for your shipment”. To my surprise, this was later dismissed as a “misunderstanding”, showing lack of any integrity whatsoever. These people cannot be trusted by what they tell you.

- Lack of professionalism: Throughout the process they showed no transparency, accountability, or professionalism.

They have ignored my requests to take accountability for their unprofessional and potentially unlawful behaviour to this day. They claim to follow ethical business standards, but the reality shows their true face. Think twice before trusting them with your shipment!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: €3500

Avoid them like you avoid the plague — the plague might actually be nicer.

This is hands down the most incompetent, insincere, and unprofessional company I’ve ever dealt with. From the very first interaction to the very last, it was one red flag after another — cold attitudes, zero empathy, and an astonishing lack of basic human or operational skills.

They sent a lone driver, completely unequipped, to move an entire apartment’s worth of items. No dolly, no lifting straps — nothing. It was clearly a two-person job, but they expected him (and ultimately, me) to do it alone. I ended up injuring myself just trying to help because they left him completely unsupported.

To make matters worse, they tried to charge me for insurance that didn’t even exist — and only after I pushed hard did they provide a half-baked appendix instead of an actual policy document. It felt like a scam from every angle.

Then, after picking up my items, the driver couldn’t even access their own warehouse — it was closed — so he offloaded my belongings at some foreign, off-site location without my consent. No notice. No accountability. No care.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, one of their staff — in an attempt to make amends — promised me a discount on the final invoice. That promise disappeared the day he left the company, leaving my case in the hands of a new team that somehow managed to be even colder, slower, and more incompetent. They held my shipment near the destination and refused to release it unless I paid more.

At every single step, this company failed. Miserably. Dishonestly. Carelessly.

Do not give these people your business. They are cheap, shady, and dangerous to deal with. Trust me: the plague would be easier to recover from.

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: €3300

This company has turned what should have been a hassle free move at the age of 74 into the worst nightmare that I have been through in my lifetime
They gave us a price for what we were led to believe was the international shipping of a40ft container of our house hold effects into a shipping of X amount of cubic meters at almost 200 euro per cubic meter.
Then tried to charge us almost 50%more than the quoted price.
Above all they have now placed a hold on the release of our goods refusing to release them until we pay the over charging in full
They are not a professional and trustworthy company
They have the intention of creating an excess of volume by under packing your goods with the sole purpose of charging you for shipping more than the quoted amount
Beware do not use this company!!

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: €8000

This company s*cks!

I paid them 6.5K euro's to take care of a "hassle free" moving from The Hague Netherlands to Manila Philippines, and what do I get?

I'm still forced to pay and additional 1.5K euros in import duties. It turns out that it is actually included in the contract but in the "small print" at the bottom.

WTF happened to "hassle free" and "door to door"???

Don't use this company, it's not worth the headache!

Move size: 2 Bedroom Home Service cost: €6500

I wish I could say good things about this company. Our initial contact was friendly, professional and courteous. Then.. 1) Incorrect quotations - we had to check so many times as it was in the wrong name and wrong insurance amount. Sure, we made changes too but there was a definite lack of attention to detail this early on. I was starting to get nervous but needed to get things moved. 2) Got the tracking information. It had the wrong container number, wrong port of entry, wrong date of entry. 3) Once that was resolved, the contract we had to fill out at the receiving end says they won't assemble anything with more than 8 screws and only specific furniture and it will be subject to extra payment. Understood, but we paid Windmill for the "all in" service so I assumed they would deal with the receiving agent accordingly given we paid for the service. (good thing I read that contract inside and out) So Windmill finally agreed (after a lot of back and forth first them telling us we hadn't opted for that service and I had to specifically highlight the bullet a few times to show that we did). 4) Then, we get dinged with extra delivery charges because we live just outside the main city we picked as our initial destination on the request for info form on their website. We are under an hour. Honestly, the city is BIG - even going across would take longer than going to our place. (EG Toronto vs Vancouver vs Montreal - we thought is was just a general form to give some basic info on where the goods are going and we'd be in touch and discuss further details.) When we filled out the form on the website it didn't have the delivery address portion, just country and city. Looks like it does now, but even now it's not a mandatory field. Honestly I wouldn't have given them my exact address if I'm just wanting them to contact me to discuss their services. THEY used that city in the quote, just a line that said something like "Moving items to Toronto". Looked like a header, not an official delivery address portion of a quote. There wasn't one on the quote. They didn't ask for our exact address in the quote. We thought, logically, they would use the specific "delivery address" paperwork they requested and that we had provided. No, they based it on the city from the web lead form, not the paperwork we provided. Our address was clearly marked on the delivery address pdf and on the customs documentation. I have an email saying everything was in order. Then we get an extra $365 charge from the receiving agent. Windmill refused to admit any error on their part. 5) Definitely NOT committed to customer service. They offer "carefree" moving on their website. It was the exact opposite. And on my final call with them, the staff member I was talking to (because they just flipped me around to different people vs the one account mgr trying to resolve this) said "I know you had a tragedy in the family and that some family members don't get along" WHAT? I have no idea what this guy is talking about and WHO says THAT?? Was he talking about another customer? I was ASTOUNDED. Rather than keep fighting this mess we opted to pay the extra because we would run out of free storage time here and have to pay $300 a day for storage. Too bad - they could have admitted their process was not clear, that they made a mistake in not reviewing the paperwork, eaten the few hundred Euros and ended this on a happier note. They opted to blame us and made me feel very bullied when dealing with them. We haven't received the items yet, and I'm hoping they were packed professionally. What a nightmare.

Move size: 3 Bedroom Home Service cost: €4420

Give this company a wide berth, you'll be forever sorry if you don't!

This company has caused me nothing but headaches.

They quoted us a fixed price for door-to-door delivery from The Hague (where we delivered our 9 cubic metres of cargo) to our house in Port Alfred, South Africa. We paid the quoted price in full in March and delivered our cargo to their warehouse in The Hague. They quoted us an average of six weeks to deliver the cargo, but it is now gone past fifteen weeks and we haven’t received our goods yet.

We were quoted to deliver the goods at Port Elizabeth, which is the closest harbour to us at 150 km. The clearing agent in South Africa informed us a month ago that the cargo will arrive in Durban, which is 800 km away.

Windmill promised and quoted us on a hassle-free transport in which they would take care of all customs related affairs and deliver the goods to our door in Port Alfred. They did nothing of the sort. Their clearing partner in Durban had to handle customs clearing and today we ended up paying an additional €600-00 for customs inspection and duties.

But to crown it all, they have now instructed their SA partner, Biddulphs, to place a hold on the release of our goods until we pay them an additional amount of €120-00 for another “customs inspection”.

This conduct is criminal in nature and I am not going to succumb to a gangster shake-down.

I am seeking legal avenues to force Biddulphs to release my property and will advise on the outcome.

Do not use this company!!!

Move size: Partial Move Service cost: €3000

I hope this experience will help others looking for a moving company and help them steer clear of the Riff Raff. We had an international move from NL to Canada and while things started off on a positive note it went downhill quickly and they were an absolute nightmare to deal with.

1) We meet with them at the house in NL went over services and set a move date. I went back to Canada, did some back and forth on the quote and got the paperwork back to them once we arrived back in NL approx 1 month later. I called the acct mgr with some questions and he said now that we have the papers we can set a date! WHAT? He said we needed the paperwork before we could confirm the date. I thought the date we picked was set (which is why we bought our plane tickets to be there for the move) But, they honoured the date. He also said he had never done a move like this before and was not sure of all details. Getting nervous..

2) Tracking info email had the wrong container number, wrong port of entry, wrong date of entry.

3) We get a note from the receiving agent and contract says they won't assemble anything with more than 8 screws, only specific furniture and it will cost extra. Understood, but we paid Windmill for the "all in" service, door to door, disassembly and assembly and packing of goods. So I assumed Windmill would deal with it accordingly. After a lot of back and forth with them arguing that we hadn't opted for that service and me specifically highlighting the bullet a few times to show that we in fact had, it was resolved.

4) Then, we get dinged with extra delivery charges because we live just outside the main city we picked on the initial request for info form on their website. We are under an hour. Honestly, the city is BIG - even going across would take longer than going to our place. When we filled out the form on the website it didn't request the delivery address, just country and city. We are rural. it's the closest city. Windmill used that city in the quote, just a line that said something like "Relocating items to Toronto". Looked like a header. They didn't ask for our exact address in the quote. We thought they would use the specific "delivery address" paperwork they requested and that we had provided as the basis for the delivery costs. I have an email saying everything was in order. Windmill refused to admit any error or admit any possibility that they should have checked the paperwork. They said you put Toronto on your request for info form. I kept trying to tell them it was the closest city to us. They wouldn't listen when I said I had provided the delivery address document with our full address on it. They are clearly trying to cover up their their mistake. If THEY request the delivery address in a specific delivery PDF to be filled out, then WHY don't they use it? If they had checked it and said we need to quote more, then fine, it would have been upfront and transparent. Now we are being surprised by this and we've already paid the bill!! So really, it's not DOOR TO DOOR. It's DOOR to customs storage facility. And their response is "ahhhh nooooo.. noooo.. come on.. whhhaaat? nooooo.. you did this.. not us.." Very very frustrating and arrogant behaviour. Talk about passing the buck.

5) Definitely NOT committed to customer service. They offer "carefree" moving on their website. It was the exact opposite. And on my final call, some random staff member (Boy Besseling) I was talking to said "I know you had a tragedy in the family and that some family members don't get along" WHAT? I have no idea what this guy is talking about and WHO EVEN says THAT?? Was he talking about another customer? VERY BIZARRE! I was ASTOUNDED. Rather than keep fighting this mess we opted to pay the extra because we would run out of free storage here in Canada and have to pay $300 a day for storage. Too bad - they could have admitted their process was not clear, that they made a mistake in not reviewing the paperwork, eaten the few hundred Euros and ended this on a happier note. They opted to make us feel very #bullied. We haven't received the items yet, and hope they aren't in pieces. What a nightmare. TURNKEY? Not even CLOSE. Steer Clear!

Service cost: €4420