This is our own little horror story.
Hopefully your bicycle trip won’t involve having to ship stuff from one continent to the other but ours did and things went badly wrong. Here’s what happened, so you can choose a better company to work with.
Before we left, we decided to sell our home in London and get rid of most of our things but there were a few precious possessions we couldn’t throw out. Family photographs and treasured books were among the things we wanted to keep so we enlisted moving company Anglo Pacific to send 13 boxes home to Canada.
At first all went well. Anglo Pacific were very helpul in the early stages, providing us with boxes to pack things in and showing up at the appointed time to take away our shipment. When we reached Canada, however, we learned one box was missing. First we were assured it had been found in London, then that was revealed to be a mistake. It seemed our box had disappeared into thin air.
Several weeks passed while Anglo Pacific, their cargo agent Spectrum and Zoom Airlines tried to find the box. It was eventually declared missing and we asked about compensation. We had not purchased extra insurance but we were entitled to some money through the Warsaw Treaty that covers lost baggage. This of course was not going to replace the contents of the box and the experience was already an emotional one for us (our wedding album, very old family photos and other precious things were in the box) but we couldn’t sniff at a few hundred dollars either.
Anglo Pacific asked us to deal with Spectrum and so we started the long process of trying to go ahead with a claim. We submitted a list of everything in the box. Weeks went by. We heard nothing. We contacted Spectrum again. We were asked to send the list again, which we did. More weeks passed. Every time we sent an email we were told someone was ‘working on it’ but nothing firm materialised. We were already getting frustrated because we never heard anything unless we nagged Spectrum by email and weeks would go between replies. Sometimes emails were never answered.
Finally in November 2007 – over one year since the cargo was shipped – we were offered $560.00 from Zoom, a message relayed to us via Spectrum. We now hoped for a quick resolution but it wasn’t to be. The old pattern returned of long times between emails and conflicting information. We were told Anglo Pacific would be in touch to reimburse us. Then a few months later with no word from Spectrum we wrote again, asking what was going on. This time someone was on holiday. More weeks went by. In April 2008 a few more days were wasted when they asked if items that had turned up in Toronto belonged to us, even though the contents were totally different to what we had sent and they were in a suitcase, not a box.
Things were looking up in May 2008 when we sent a frustrated email asking for the matter to please be resolved. Threats of a nasty review on our website seemed to help because they immediately offered to send us a claim letter to sign and promised payment soon afterwards. We received the letter after a little more nagging at the end of June 2008 and returned it promptly.
More weeks passed. People went on holiday. At the beginning of August 2008 we were asked for our bank details so we could conclude things. We hoped it was finally going to be finished. Luck wasn’t on our side though because time moved on into September and Zoom, the airline that carried our luggage and was responsible for payment, went bankrupt. Since we were travelling, we were unaware of this fact and yet no one at Spectrum bothered to tell us.
“I will have to check to see where we are up to with this one. As you are probably aware, the airline that carried this shipment has now gone into administration so will try and find out what the latest is,” was message we received from Spectrum in September 2008.
Early October arrived and with some more email nagging of Spectrum, and a copy of the message sent to another person at Anglo Pacific, we got this reply:
“Firstly, let me apologize for the length of time this has been dragging on. The whole process has been plagued with delays. As you know, Zoom have gone but I can still resolve this situation. The final letter was received and lodged so I can get this final amount paid …. I have details of the account. I will get it deposited without further delay to conclude this long running matter.”
We waited, and waited some more. Eventually – it’s true – some money did come through but given how long it took and how painful it was to reach that point, this was very small compensation indeed.
Of course we can’t blame Anglo Pacific or Spectrum for the fact that the box got lost or that Zoom went bust but we do blame them for being incredibly slow to act. Had they shown even the slightest bit of motivation this whole affair could have been sorted out months ago. Obviously, these are companies we wouldn’t deal with again or recommend to anyone.
28th August 2010 at 10:16 am #
Agreed, do not use this company – they couldn’t even manage to pick up the boxes on the agreed date which meant we had to leave them behind in the UK when moving abroad. Ie not managing the first step of a door-to-door move is pretty bad for a moving company and all they could do was to suggest a different collection date.
5th April 2012 at 7:12 pm #
Rather idiotically my partnetr and I opted for this awful shipping company when we moved to New Zealand two years ago: the other choice was Crown, which is retrospect would have been better. Anglo’s up-front sales team are brilliant at their job (and I guess collecting lucrative bonuses) but their initial estimate and calculation of cubic meterage was, like the Olympic bid, grossly underestimated. Some of our items were missing and others damaged, following their strategy as gleaned from this site, they prevaricated suggesting we take the matter up with their sub-contractor in NZ. Even though we paid Anglo and it could not be determined exactly where the damage and loss occured, they simply fobbed us off. Yes: avoid this company at all costs!
12th November 2012 at 10:39 pm #
NEVER USE THESE PEOPLE AGAIN. VIRTUALLY ALL MY FRAGILE BELONGINGS WERE SMASHED OR BROKEN. VERY LITTLE REMORSE AND BATTLE TO GET ANY COMPENSATION
7th October 2013 at 12:54 pm #
Such a bad experience also! I want to write a complaint but don’t know what good that will do. I was moving from London to New Zealand and everything went smoothly, until I decided to move to Australia before my items had arrived in New Zealand. I’d already been in New Zealand for 5 weeks and was then notified that my items were ready to be delivered but there was a customs fee of $52 which I was happy to pay but THEN I had to be IN New Zealand for the items to be delivered even though I’d given authority for my mum to receive the items and everything was accepted. I had to fork out $350 to fly to NZ for…what reason? Nothing. As soon as I sent them confirmation of my flights they delivered the items to my parents house. How does this make ANY sense??? Anyway. Be warned.
12th October 2010 at 4:36 am #
I couldn’t agree more; Anglo Pacific were very friendly and helpful upfront. All went well with our move from the UK to Canada — but they lost one small, but significant, item in transit. Then started a song-and-dance routine of prevaricating, spinning, deceit and a host of other routines to try to avoid dealing with the issue. One customer service agent in particular — a Fiona Goulder — was the most unhelpful person I have ever dealt with, anywhere. In short: if you’re moving internationally, avoid Anglo Pacific like the plague. If anything at all goes wrong — and in international moves, this is likely — they’ll leave you high and dry without any help.
12th October 2010 at 4:41 am #
Awful, truly awful. I agree — avoid Anglo Pacific at all costs.
14th October 2010 at 10:56 am #
Yes!! That is exactly what is happening to us at the moment!!! They leave us “high and dry”!! They don’t accept ANY responsibility from their side! The email you docs to sign (with no one to explain anything to you) Then they make you pay, and if you don’t they charge you interest. So they want everything done asap, and then that’s it from them. Doesn’t matter what you say, they just throw everyting back at you. When I said I’m not happy because they don’t use bubblewrap, their “manager”, Roz, said “Well, if anything is broken, just claim if from the insurance”????????? THEY ARE PATHETIC.
19th October 2010 at 4:33 pm #
My personal experience of Anglo was that they ripped me off beside some of my goods that were damaged. In one carton box I found 3 small items and rest of the box was filled with paper. I believe I could have saved on at least 8 – 10 cartons. My advise is to stay well clear of Anglo. I have informed all my mates returning from the UK to do the same.
19th November 2010 at 8:42 am #
I completely agree. My family and I have just moved from the UK to Australia and one box is missing. The agent here is avoiding all my calls and emails. I finally contacted the UK office and they have said that the box isn’t missing, they decided to re-pack some items in storage, which is completly disturbing, as we were promised nothing gets touched after its packed. Our entire shipment is being held to ramsom in Melbourne, because they are now wanting more money. I cannot believe how unprofessional and frustrating this company is, keep well clear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
15th December 2010 at 9:22 am #
I cannot agree more with your comments!
Very helpful upfront because they want the business, then they completely deny what they told us on the phone.
They assured us that our things would have reached us in Cyprus within a month or so. We had all the things packed on the 6 October and nothing has arrived yet (15 December).
“Apparently” things were not sent because of faulty loading equipment, which sounds like an excuse to me, and now we have been told that our things should be here on the 27 December.
We have a baby who needs the things that we sent, and we also needs clothes for winter, therefore we asked for some compensation to buy some essential items but the person we spoke to didn’t want to help at all. Now we are hoping that his manager will be more helpful otherwise we will have to go through a lawyer.
Terrible way to do business, I would not recommended them to anyone and had we known it would have taken so long, we wouldn’t have shipped our things at all.
1st March 2011 at 8:22 am #
I wish I had read this earlier! We’ve just spent £6 500 on shipping costs, and an additional £3 500 on ‘fully comprehensive’ insurance for our household contents and high-value German motor car from London to Auckland. The car was delivered to me covered in a cement-like substance on the boot, roof, bonnet, and down one side. Someone had taken a rag to it in an attempt to rub it off! Bottom line is paintwork scratched through to the metal, with much of the car needing to be re-sprayed. I’ve followed the Anglo Pacific claims process, sending them photo’s of the damaged car ‘in situ’ at the delivery location, and Fiona Goulder is saying I’m not covered! When I complained about the lack of response to my emails, I was informed of the company’s seven business-day reply policy! This is our fourth international move, and by far the worst one! They may have been good in 2008 (according to some reviews), but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
5th April 2011 at 10:28 pm #
I just moved from the UK to the US. Anglo Pacific was prompt and professional. They stored my goods for free (30 days) while I was in Europe (in the US you have to be in the country when your goods arrive). My items arrived as promised in good condition.
5th July 2011 at 11:56 am #
If Anglo-pacific are no good, can anyone recommend a better mover company? We are soon going to move to Canada from UK and would really appreciate some suggestions on the following
1. Which moving company to choose
2. How and what to pack
3. What should simply be avoided to take as it is more fuss to take that item and less value.
We have decided not to take any of the furtniture items as we are told that it is less hassle to buy furtniture in Canada and more hassle to take our furniture from UK. Is that true?
thanks
15th July 2011 at 8:38 pm #
I completely agree. I had the following problems with Anglo Pacific (and I believe these problems are symptomatic for the whole international moving industry and rather the norm than an exception:
a) They didn’t tell me that I had to book the pickup appointment (the guy on the phone was friendly but not very competent). I had to bring in my good myself by car, as they were completely and fully booked for weeks.
b) My “personal” customer contact was on holidays when I needed him.
c) Their agent in the US then asked me to pay ~200$ for “customs inspection fees” (occurs for almost *ALL* shared containers!), which are not he same as “customs fees” (paid already). This is perfectly legal, because in the small print they tell you that they won’t pay “inspection fees” in the target country, but I had already sent in reimbursement to my employer, and was of course not expecting any additional fees as the company tells you all the time:
“At Anglo Pacific we believe in total transparency. Our door to door service includes Customs clearance and delivery to residence. Others may exclude destination charges and demand up to $200 on arrival, so be sure to read the small print and compare like for like.”
Note that “customs clearance” does not mean “custom inspection fees”. They know of course that we don’t know this. AngloPacific is not the only company that handles this issue in this way, I have heard of many other companies. The trick is always the same: Make you pay once you arrived and they can hold your goods hostage. With international moving, the price you pay is NOT the final price. In addition, if you look around on the internet, you will see that shipments RARELY arrive on time. The shippers will tell you anything (short time + low price), once they have your goods, they will make you wait.
I have moved only once and does not know a better company. I have the impression that, given what I paid in total, I could have also reduced my stuff to 2-3 boxes and ship everything by air and as normal parcels. Now my stuff is so late that I don’t need it anymore, I basically had to buy most of it again.
I think you should avoid AngloPacific, but also most other moving companies. Just Google the topic and see yourself.
Reduce your stuff to the minimum possible, call UPS, TNT and Fedex, explain what is it that you’re shipping, pick the lowest price and have everything immediately available and for the same price. Buy stuff from Ebay otherwise. Avoid the whole international moving business, it’s a lot less stressful and in the end not more expensive via normal mail.
International movers require to take 2 days off work for their stupid delivery people, require you to fill out endless forms, take 2 months to ship overseas, are a real hassle to deal with and cost you tons of time.
27th September 2012 at 11:51 am #
Agree, avoid them, incompetent and useless (and expensive).
11th January 2015 at 6:45 am #
I also faced the same issue, firstly my stuff arrived in 6 months time, secondly they clearly told me in UK, no additional charges but in US there is an additional inspection fee which you have to pay or else you will not et your stuff. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY AT ANY COST >> they are cheap company with cheap tactics
10th September 2011 at 6:10 pm #
Anglo Pacific should be renamed Anglo Pathetic.
We have felt totally let down by the so called ‘service’ they provided… nice glossy brochures do not reflect the way the company operate.
Not all costs are explained, we paid for a 40ft container yet we then rec’d an additional bill for a few extra cubic feet of boxes – funny when we still only filled one container!
Then there is of course the other charges that do not seem to be explained clearly, both charges of Anglo and those of the receiving company – Transglobal of Perth WA – just the same level of service as Anglo.
This company are quick to demand money but very slow to respond to any query or complaint.
We were told our belongings would take 6 weeks to reach destination as we had a ‘sole use’ container – this 6 weeks turned into 12 weeks.
As mentioned by others in this list of unhappy customers, we found Roz and Fiona Goulder most unhelpful.
Watch it when your stuff is unpacked – the unpackers will rush you – not unpack everything and leave lots of rubbish and boxes at your house for ages before it is collected. I take it they are on a ‘job and go home’ contract.
The company could not even simply say ‘sorry’ to an obviously upset customer.
I cannot speak for other removal companies – but I will never use or recommend Anglo Pathetic to anyone. Take a chance on another company.
9th October 2011 at 11:51 pm #
Great to see this article and to realise that we are not the only people suffering from Anglo’s service.
I think it would be really useful if someone could advise on our options when our packages are lost.
We used Anglo a second time after our initial move form UK to Australia and although the first delivery was delayed all 6 boxes arrived. Since then we sent another one in May 2011 and we are still waiting for it to arrive. We have had multiple emails back and forth saying that they are looking for the box but cannot locate it. I’m sure they will say any day now, that the item is officially lost. So what are, our options in terms of compensation? Can we contact the shipping company and see if they offer any compensation or help? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
10th October 2011 at 7:33 am #
Damian, did you insure your shipment? This will determine what compensation you’re entitled to. Read from Clause 8 onsward to view their terms and conditions http://www.anglopacific.co.uk/terms_and_conditions.htm
as well as on the quotation you signed acceptance of.
With the my Anglo Pacific shipment, I had no issue with the fact that something was damaged, but I had a huge issue with the fact that they tried not to pay out, even when I had ‘fully comprehensive’ insurance. Fiona Goulder tried every bamboozling tactic in the book, and used stalling tactics, presumably in the hope that we would eventually give up. The matter eventually went for external mediation, and we was paid out fully, without quibble, and without adjustment.
10th October 2011 at 8:07 am #
Even if you don’t have insurance (we didn’t) – you are entitled to compensation under the Montreal Convention, based on the weight of the lost goods:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Convention
11th October 2011 at 9:04 am #
Thanks for your comments.
No I did not insure the packages as it’s quite a large cost and I see why now 🙂
Friedel: do you think the Montreal Convention apply’s to items that were shipped by boat and not air? It looks like it’s only for air travel.
20th October 2011 at 11:52 pm #
Well someone must be looking out for us, as we have just been advised that our box has been found! Yippeee, 5 months later. Fingers crossed that it’s all ok.
15th November 2011 at 5:01 pm #
Damian, can you advise me- did your box just happen to turn up, or were you constantly chasing them? If there is anything I can do to maximize my chances of my box being found, I would like to do it!
20th October 2011 at 1:08 pm #
Couldn’t agree more with the above comments. I spent $1200Aus to send my stuff from UK to Aus and foolishly didn’t think i would need insurance since it was air freight. Anglo Pacific ended up losing one of my boxes. When I received my other boxes I found my brand new expensive coffee machine had been dropped and damaged to the point where the casing had been dented beyond repair.
Just for all those who intend to ship your stuff, you should be very careful selecting the shipping company, it will save you disappointment, frustration and money. I posted this onto my Facebook to warn all my friends still in the UK…maybe everyone should too!!!
21st October 2011 at 12:28 am #
Ah and by the way, I blogged about this here: https://sites.google.com/site/maximilianh/the-international-moving-scam-business
I am not sure if other companies are that better…
1st November 2011 at 9:01 pm #
Hi all, I have just read everything thoroughly, I was just about to book Anglo for freight to Australia next year, thank goodness I haven’t gone with them, can anyone please suggest a reliable company? I work for a large distribution company and even they struggle with the likes of TNT, DHL, PARCEL FORCE etc.
I don’t want to be messed about, ripped off or lose out.
Any suggestions will be greatfully received.
Thanks!
14th November 2011 at 6:52 am #
We recently decided to go with anglo Pacific to move our belongings back from te UK to Australia. All I can say is, be VERY VERY CAREFUL with your personal information.
We filled out a number of customs forms, which we provided to Anglo Pacific when they picked up our boxes. These forms includes names, addresses, date of birth, and passport numbers. Everything a budding identity thief needs.
Anglo Pacific tell us they have no record of this, as do OSS, who are handling the other end.
So that’s at least ONE set of personallly identifiable information lost.
Now, OSS have just sent me the exact same info for a completely separate client.
Neither of these organisations should be trusted with your personal details, as they’ve shown they can’t properly, securely maintain it.
15th November 2011 at 4:49 pm #
Anglo also lost most of my clothing during my move from London to New York in March 2011- a giant teabox full of expensive items. Because I did not take out additional insurance, they are offering me 50 GBP compensation (for a loss amounting to thousands of pounds), which I have been advised not to take as they will then consider the matter closed. Initially I felt incredibly stupid for not taking out insurance, however having read numerous claims that they refuse to pay out anyway, I think their insurance would have been irrelevant. Does anyone have any advice to offer? Can they really get away with 50 GBP compensation? I realise this is all listed in the fine print, but are there not any safeguards for the consumer? If they’re only liable for 50 GBP then it’s quite obvious why they don’t care what happens to our personal possessions.
16th November 2011 at 1:57 am #
Hi Meghan,
We sent the box in March, my wife then chased in August.
We had back and forth emails for 2 months chasing it every 1-3 weeks.
They initally said they were looking for it and then could not locate it.
Eventually they said they were still trying to find it until early Novber when they reported found and set it to us two weeks later.
Best of luck in retrieveing yours
7th January 2012 at 11:25 am #
So agree, I had the worst experience with Anglo pacific!
– Boxes didn’t arrive so had to wait at home for two full days
– Charged me 10 quid more than original quote
– Wasn’t told they needed passport copy so held up shipment as I was away with no email access.
– They then lost pages 2,4 and 5 of my customs deceleration.
– My stuff still hadn’t arrived 4 weeks later (I paid for express courier 5-7 days)so emailed them to complain was then told NZ law had changed and they couldn’t deliver to my sister until I was in the country. – However after I complained it was immediately delivered so obviously a lie blaming it on customs!
Would never use and am telling all my friends that are relocating to uk or moving back to never use them.
29th January 2012 at 8:50 am #
Well they come across very professional first….and I mean first. My motorbike just shipped after 38 days!!! on a dock in the UK. The best is that I paid £1100 extra to ship it before our household goods and the bike got shipped 10 days after our household goods left port. No refund or discount offered. Not sure who is better but few can be worse. Wonder what will all go wrong at this end. To their defence the packing crew was awesome. Great honest guys. Probably subs for AP since there behaviour did not reflect the attitude of the back office folks I dealt with including senior management.
7th March 2012 at 10:02 pm #
Uh oh.
Why didn’t I read this blog back in November when I had Anglo pack up my house in London to join me in Melbourne sometime in the next few weeks. So far I’ve only had a pleasant experience with them and with the Australian receiving agent, but then I haven’t actually had anything turn up yet. A massive case of the fears has just hit me! I only read this because I was looking to see if (having had such a pleasant experience so far) Anglo would ship some stuff from NZ to Aus for us as well. Me thinks I might spread my risk having witnessed all of your experiences as above.
18th June 2012 at 12:38 pm #
If you ever need to ship again use Conroys , there a NZ company , absolutly fantastic , highly recommended
11th June 2012 at 4:26 am #
My experience with Anglo Pacific was absolutely awful. It has been overall the most stressful and upsetting thing during the whole international relocation process. Despite the good manner and professionalism of their Customer Service, my baggages were delayed and delayed and delayed.
I deeply regreted trusting their words and choosing them.
18th June 2012 at 12:27 pm #
I totally agree with all the bad comments in regards to Anglo Pacific , terrible company , we move to NZ from UK they were really helpfull at the begining , when our belongings arrived the company they use over there World Movers tried to rip us off wanting to charge nrearly $2000 to deliver our goods !! i contacted the UK office as i was not happy with this , the next morning i got an email saying they had made a mistake ( yeah of course they did ! ) and the actual price would be $700 , when the delivery camw all there was was a Mouri guy with his 12 yrear old son and 7 year old daughter to bring everything in !! my god no wounder more things were broken , mirror smashed after dropping it , ornimants broke , kids toys damaged , white goods dinted and so on , my little boys wii and some games were completly missing as were 2 ikea chairs , they just fetch everything in and left !! i think i was in total shock for a week , the lengh of time it took me to unpack everything and all the boxes and paper was terrible , i was told they would do all that , i sent email after email only to recive snotty ones back , situation still not resolved and will not pay out for items missing as they said i sighned for all the boxes , as i did , how am i suppose to know that a box saying games consoles would only have two in it when there should have been three same as dismantled chairs that only had two in it instead of four , the whole experience with Anglo was a knightmare , i would advice anyone needing this service to go else where , we have now come back to the UK and used Conroys who are a NZ company and use Robinsons on this side , FANTASTIC , could have wished for better service , everything arrived perfect not one thing marked , damaged ect , just in the same condition i left it , top marks
28th June 2012 at 9:42 am #
I am truly sorry to read the comments. We used anglo pacific in dec 2011 from uk to south africa. Highly professional people, nothing got lost or damaged. They were prompt and got all our beloongings on time. We moved a lot of things! I have recommended them to people and even thinking of using them in a few months to come
11th September 2012 at 2:17 pm #
hmmm I wish I read this site before using Anglo Pacific. Our boxes haven’t arrived yet – shipped from UK to Australia, and it’s now past the ’12 week guarantee’. I have written 3 times and since received only one reply which was to the extent of “we tried,… had the ship stuck to it’s schedule the boxes would have arrived in time – therefore it doesn’t fall within the guarantee..”
5th March 2016 at 11:41 pm #
Good luck with that. Ours took 8 months and they lost 2 of them. Damaging the rest. Keep on them by constant emails and calls.
22nd November 2012 at 9:00 am #
Dont ever use them! Our stuff went missing, broken and worst of all – we told we couldn’t ship our 2010 car because it didnt meet Australian standards – only to get here and that’s not the case.
6th December 2012 at 10:41 am #
BE WARNED – DON’T USE ANGLO PACIFIC.
1. They broke our fragile wine glasses by not putting protective packing around each glass. I attempted to make a claim under their £40 per item, but was sent an insurance claim form. Because of the excess we wouldn’t be able to claim. By this stage I’d read the reviews, so knew claiming was next to useless!
2. After I told them to quote me to the 25 floor, we had to pay extra to have the goods taken a little further than a house front door to the goods lift. Even though it was easier (no steps and not even a curb) than taking the items up to a first floor which they include for free! Mind you, a very good friend of mine who had moved a month before us using exactly the same companies wasn’t charge any extra to go up to a 5th floor.
3. We had to chase them to ship our car from London – which was finally sent about 6 weeks after they said it would be. They told us not to pack anything in the car, so it could pass through customs quicker. But when I finally got the car home I opened the hatch back to find 2 boxes belonging to 2 different people – this must’ve delayed customs. But we obviously paid to ship our own items which we could have put in our car – whilst Anglo Pacific avoided paying shipping costs on the 2 items which shouldn’t have been in our car! I even found a note in our car stating there were 2 boxes in the boot. I hope the strangers items we got with the car weren’t of sentimental value.
I wish we had read reviews before we shipped – very silly us.
I really hope they go out of business!
6th December 2012 at 4:16 pm #
Marton-sounds awful, and I begin to see why most of my belongings “disappeared” without a trace in my move from London to NY. Please do try to get those boxes back to their rightful owners. If only someone had done that for me, I may not have lost everything. (AP offered me just 50 pounds compensation for a loss of thousands of pounds, not to mention the sentimental value. Can you believe it??).
14th February 2013 at 3:06 am #
We also had a very poor experience with Anglo Pacific. I agree they are very good at the initial business until the money is taken and then it is all down hill. We had 2 clearly marked Fragile boxes of personal things shipped to Australia and not one thing survived unbroken. No one wants to take responsibility. Anglo Pacific have a subcontractor in OSS in Brisbane who decided to deliver or things when it suited them after a month in their possession. I would never recommend Anglo Pacific to anyone.
17th April 2013 at 9:09 am #
I sent 2 boxes and one suitcase by sea, and one box by air. This was some time ago so I don’t remember how much the total cost was, and I can’t find a copy of the invoice in my emails.
I shipped my stuff from the UK, London to Canada, Ontario. It arrived the very last day it was expected to arrive (which was slightly past 3 months, given it shipped in early Sept and arrived in mid Nov). I did everything I was expected to do – filled out the goods item properly, made sure nothing that wasn’t supposed to be shipped was shipped, when I arrived in Canada I went to customs and cleared my boxes as ‘goods to follow’, and the customs guy told me that everything would be fine, because I had described the items in the boxes accurately so my items wouldn’t be put on hold or anything.
However, when my boxes did arrive a) I was already out of the country by then, and b) they sent me an email stating that if I didn’t go ‘Clear’ my boxes, which I had already, supposedly customs had my stuff on hold and if I didn’t go I would inccur a hold charge of $25 a day. At the bottom of that email in smaller print it read:
‘Pls note: cntr had been put on hold by customs. action was taken and eventually it was released. there is a customs hold processing fee to be paid of CDN 35.00 on your arrival in our office.we accept cash, certified cheque or money order.’
Then they emaiiled me back and said it wasn’t on hold, and that it needed to be cleared. I only had a few days to get someone to go to their office, not customs, to ‘clear’ my stuff – which entailed paying a one day late charge of $25 and the $35 hold charge – though they said my stuff was not on hold and it needed to be cleared!!! I complained about how they handeled this, and how they didn’t tell me anything about this – no where was it said that when the boxes arrive I had to go ‘clear’ my boxes by paying Anglo Pacific!! Customs certainly told me everything was A-ok!! They wrote me back and said it was ‘my fault’ because they told me once my boxes arrived of these charges – wish i knew all this BS when I used this company!
They kept my stuff for a ransom! I am going back through my emails with them and I found this:
‘At Anglo Pacific we believe in total transparency. Our door to door service includes Customs clearance and delivery to residence. Others may exclude destination charges and demand up to $200 on arrival, so be sure to read the small print and compare like for like’
They are liars. They held my stuff if I didn’t pay them. They did come and pick up my boxes at my flat in London on time, and it was delivered in the expected time frame, but the trouble I had to go through with them was too much! So many back and forth emails of their many sales member emailing me asking for information I had already provided them. A headache. And not to mention the trouble and money I had to pay them to get my stuff from them!!! I had to pay them $60 to release my stuff and deliver it – they blamed it on customs but my family member who acted on my behalf did not go to customs, she went to Anglo and they took the money and gave her an ‘Anglo receipt’. Nothing proving customs needed my stuff to be ‘cleared’. I had already cleared it with customs and I had all the proof, but they didn’t care, so I had to pay them!! It was a disaster of an experience.
DO NOT USE!!!
29th July 2013 at 2:57 am #
Avoid any company that uses ‘cardboard boxes’ to ship your valuables across the world. I don’t even know where to begin with Anglo Pacific, I could write an essay about how bad they are. Instead I’ll keep it brief and constructive.
Cardboard boxes are shipped individually, not wrapped in shrink wrap and put on a pallet as you’d expect. Which is why the boxes that did arrive had holes, torn sections water damage.
No point buying the different shaped boxes you can only put 30kg in them unless your item is an odd shape stick to the smallest boxes.
The ‘lay flat’ box was tilted onto its end the minute the kid loaded it into his van in London and it arrived on it’s end in New Zealand.
You need to wrap your boxes with as much tape as humanly possible..they don’t tell you that.
Box 6 of 8 went missing and didn’t even make it onto the ship, that box had our photos, souvenirs, paintings, our memories…
We couldn’t afford to insure all the boxes at their actual value but please make sure you think of a number and triple it.. seriously!
If they do loose or damage any of your items don’t expect any remorse you won’t get it.
This is partly due to dealing with a different person every time you YOU make contact with them because the person dealing with your request is on holiday.
When Anglo Pacific do loose or damage something you’ll be doing all the leg work, so be ready to ring them daily and chase up.
The worst thing about Anglo Pacific is they make you feel so alone like you’ve got no one to turn to for help, nobody is on your side. It’s your fault you shipped your belongings wrapped in cardboard we just took your money.
Anglo Pacific are just a pretty front end to a process if I was to do this again I’d post my valuables and buy a massive wooden crate for the other stuff.
miss you 6 of 8…
16th September 2013 at 2:24 pm #
Wish we read all your comments before. We used Alpha international of Shoreham by Sea. They are a contractor that uses Anglo Pacific. All lovely until they receive your money, then nothing. Had to chase like hell to find out when the shipment was to move. When it comes to an insurance claim – the same applies. Now the battle starts. Has anyone kept the Anglo Pacific MD Stephen Gray informed?
30th October 2013 at 12:15 am #
Thank you to everyone for your comments
All companies can have mishaps – BUT the fact that nobody at AngloPacific really cared – That’s scary stuff
so I will research more before I commit to whom I use
23rd November 2013 at 10:58 am #
Most disgusting company ever. I’ve just wanted to make an international shipping with Anglo Pacific to the UAE. AVOID them as far as you can! Before booking the service, we agreed that the boxes would be shipped out with the next boat. It was the most important for me. They kept sending me preformed automated emails instead of relevant ones. Eventually, they missed the next available shipping date. When they were not able to give me another date and I arranged shipping with another company, this time-waster delayed to give me the collection address just to lose even more time although I asked him four times… In addition they issued me a very nice invoice for the collection from London to London. So they kept half of my money. I have never met such a crap service ever!
12th February 2014 at 4:17 pm #
Don’t suppose anyone can point me in the direction or a moving company in London (moving back to NZ) that is actually good? I can only find various sites complaining about Anglo specifically but no mention of what company has actually done a great job?! Much thanks.
16th June 2014 at 10:37 pm #
Karen, did you ever find a company to help you ship stuff back to NZ? I need to ship stuff home in a month.
27th June 2014 at 11:02 pm #
We used Anglo Pacific back in October 2013, moving from London to Australia, and we did have very serious problems which I will not go into. However, I have to be fair, once we involved their Director, things did slowly improve especially email communications. This did take some time, and some of the communication, was to say the least unpleasant. We also had damaged valued items which were covered thankfully by insurance, it was not a fortune, but more upsetting was the actual damage, but we have now settled with the company, and this took about 4/5 months. Their agents, however, Ossworld were brilliant and especially when it came to unpacking, 4 very professional guys came and within hours we were mostly unpacked. Have to say we were very impressed with this end of the process. It is vital that the UK Director of the Company is made fully aware of what is happening within his Company, in all fairness, unless he knows nothing will change. From my own experiences I would say, that if you have a problem with a company, then locating the Chief Executive mostly brings about a good result. In this case it proved true.
8th July 2014 at 1:49 pm #
Please avoid Anglo Pacific like the plague!
Once our items arrived in Australia Anglo Pacific didn’t really care. I told them they needed to deliver to a 25th floor with simply, no steps at all (not even a gutter) they quoted me no extra. But the company at this end said they needed extra. Strewth there wasn’t even a lip where the drive meets the kerb!
Our wine glasses were wrapped in 1 piece of tissue paper each and packed to the side of the box, so of course 3 of them arrived smashed to smithereens. They wanted me to claim via the insurance which had an excess of more than the glasses were worth. They say they will pay 60 quid, but didn’t even offer this.
As for our car it was shipped 2 months late and after getting the car home we found someone else’s boxes in the boot. And that was after being told that we shouldn’t pack some of our things in our car as it would slow down the customs clearance! We could have saved money packing our own things in the car, and it cost Anglo Pacific nothing to send the 2 peoples boxes that were in our car, but I’m sure they charged the 2 people the full amount.
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!
22nd November 2014 at 7:44 am #
I can hardly express my dismay when I opened the last of my boxes in NYC only to realize that my most valuable items and most of my pricey kitchenware was missing. What makes matters worse is that I did NOT choose AngloPacific. I had hired Schumacher Cargo Logistic from the USA because of their immaculate record and my very satisfactory past experience with them. As it turned out, Schumacher PARTNERED with AngloPacific and I had no say in the matter. We had 2 pick-ups scheduled for the day: my flat in Central London and my storage unit in Staples Corner near Cricklewood. The guys from AngloPacific arrived late, so they only packed my little flat. They seemed nice and one of the men had me PRE-SIGN loads of blank forms telling me that they were going to collect my property from the storage and then repackage everything at their warehouse. I did NOT see what they did. They work under the cover of their warehouse and the fact that they MUST repackage your items because of their insurance and customs clearance. Thinking they were good people b/c they had been contracted by Schumacher, I went along with it. HUGE MISTAKE. When I complained to Schumacher here in NY, they refered me to AngloPacific in London. The girl in charge of finding my missing items does not give me updates despite my emails requesting them. How difficult can it be to locate the two crooks on their payroll that laid their hands on my stuff?? Because their guys had me pre-sign the blank pages, I cannot claim compensation through the insurance. I’m fuming because: 1. They got paid to move me. 2. On top of that, they denied me my rights through trickery by having me pre-sign blank documents, and 3. my property in THEIR custody DISAPPEARED. CONCLUSION: they stole from me. No, I am NOT a happy camper. If they don’t make a genuine effort to find and return my belongings soon, I will go to the UK consulate in NYC and I will file a police report for stolen property through them. So help me God.
3rd November 2015 at 10:35 pm #
Morgan, was this ever resolved? This is very similar to what happened to me, and although I actually did file a police report in the UK, I have still received zero compensation for the loss (theft) of my most valuable possessions during a move in 2011. If anyone has looked into what our legal rights are, I would be very interested to know.
24th May 2016 at 3:43 pm #
Hi, Meghan.
I contacted the police in both countries. The US guys said that since nothing was stolen here, my report would go nowhere. They advised I file the report in the UK, which made sense.
When I filed my report with the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), an Inspector rung me back days later only to tell me that they couldn’t do a thing because there was no forced entry anywhere and for all they knew my stuff could have been stolen in the US. …
Evidently removers are aware of this loophole and exploit it to their advantage. Sad, but true. At least the British police was courteous enough to call me back and let me know.
Morale of the story: budget for the cost of insurance and don’t ship anything of value you aren’t prepared to lose. At least you’ll get some compensation as opposed to none.
I have since returned to Britain and let me tell you that neither Schumacher nor Anglo Pacific were considered. I don’t think they cared either, as they are more concerned with their bigger corporate clients.
13th September 2015 at 1:14 pm #
Anglo Pacific has the appearances of a competent international company that has been established for sometime, therefore suggesting that the service provided would be of the highest standard. The initial support provided when arranging the time for collection and delivery and the provision of boxes at speed supported this claim.
However, as soon as my posessions were collected the problems started!
1) Boxes lost – from Birmingham to London
2) Delivery to Spain – took over 1 month when it was stated that it would be 7-10 days
3) Highly expensive items were damaged on delivery
4) Insurance claim – final quote was significantly lower than what should have been paid
5) 6 months to conclude the process
6) Extremely unhappy and dissatisfied customer
Would never use this company again or recommend to anyone!!!!
12th October 2015 at 7:38 am #
9th September 2015
My self and my wife arranged Anglo Pacific to ship our belongings to nz, just coming up to year ago and what a total shambles. On the first day they packed our passports with our Visas inside they totally denied this and charged us an extra 110 pounds to open the boxes and try and find them. They said they were not packed and on looking could not find any passports. We had to put back the flight so we could get new passports and visas which vost us 310 pounds and the flight cost us an extra 1000 pounds. When the shipment arrived and we opened up all the boxes there wrre the two passports wrapped up with a calculater and a pen, there attitude was its you responsibility to look after them.found things missing and our round coffee table we had had been smashed and now we are getting it repaired by a cabinet maker. Then we also found out that a tin full of silver jewelry about 2 kilo worth had been stolen of cause they deny it . I urge people not to go with this company they are utter rubbish and do not take any responsibility what so ever of ant losses or missing Items.
10th November 2015 at 11:20 pm #
I too had the worst experience with Anglo Pacific. Like many of the other stories the initial contact with the sales team was good and they offered me a discount on what the other companies had quoted but that is where the good part ends. As soon as they collected my suitcase (luckily I had chosen to send my boxes home to Australia with seven seas – great moving company!!) all he problems began.
A) the delivery guy didn’t hand over any of my paper work to the office and then I was the one who had to chase down the sales department to find out why they didn’t have my paperwork. Emails weren’t returned and people were always ‘away from their desk’ when I called.
B) they quoted me an amount based on the dimensions of my suitcase and offered me a discount on that but when I got the bill it was considerably higher than what I was quoted. Again, I spend so much time chasing these people down and they finally agreed to refunding me the difference but only after I said I would be putting my story on social media. To this day I’m still waiting on part of that refund. I was so sick of how long it was taking to get my money returned that I pretty much lost the will to live and chase the last bit of money down.
C) then the insurance. They completely destroyed my brand new suitcase I had sent my stuff in and when I claimed insurance of £69 they accepted my claim (but I again had to chase down these people endlessly to find out what stage my claim was at) but they subtracted £50 excess off my total so I only ended up with £19 for a suitcase they destroyed.
I will never ever be using that company again. One of the most appalling companies I’ve seen in a long time.
9th December 2015 at 10:56 am #
i booked door to door service- from uk to india- was guaranteed max 12 weeks or else money back- luggage took 3.5 months and when i queried i was told that is only till the port- well thats no good to me is it?all this time anglo pacific did not give me a single call- i had to chase them to track my luggage with multiple calls which costed me a bomb, loads of emails- they completely washed their hands off and once luggage reached indian port they said their local agent is responsible and they hold responsibility, well i have a contract with anglo pacific and paid in advance but they just were not interested- their local agents were not trackable and demanded i send my passport by post which is so unsafe, which anglo-pacific had clearly said would not be required- they had no information at all on my luggage and took weeks to respond .i had to pay for sending my passport my post and pray i get it back.. i had to liaise with local agents and finally got my luggage-if i had to track and chase and liase why am i paying them- very horrible and indifferent service, will never recommend
9th January 2016 at 8:24 pm #
So funny to read all the comments for the past 5 years! Had exactly the same experience – brilliant sales team, friendly, and warm, and nice, and then nothing short of a disaster! I wish I came across this page much earlier!
Delays, daily calls, emails! We’ve been talking to them daily for a month straight! Plus emails, no one is ever at their desk, no one is returning the calls. Plenty of issues, starting from packing to the delivery date, logistics, extra payments and all that.
5th March 2016 at 9:55 pm #
I wish I could post a photo of what our boxes looked like when they arrived in NZ. Ripped and torn. Our big issue is the loss of two boxes containing our Bose stereo and my motorcycle gear among other stuff. I have made a claim of 2.5k pounds but after reading these reviews I doubt if we will ever see the compo. Bastard outfit.
12th March 2016 at 8:50 am #
Dave 12th March 2016.
My move was from UK to Malta, Feb 2016.
My rating for Anglo Pacific is less than zero! I could have employed the Keystone Cops for a better service.
The whole operation was a complete shambles from start to finish! It is not an independent company, it is an agent who, in my case used TNT for the collection, shipping and delivery to destination. They (TNT), eventually arrived 2 days late to collect the goods (at the third attempt), and then caused multiple damages before my consignment even got as far as Manchester UK.
When I complained to Anglo Pacific and asked to cancel the arrangement so that I could get a professional company to take over the shipping, Anglo Pacific effectively blackmailed me by withholding my goods unless I paid a cancellation charge of £254.84 (approximately 50% of the quotation) for the privilege of re-uniting me with my smashed belongings.
My story continues and I have lost the will to battle with them any longer which I’m sure is part of their mission statement.
If you want your belongings intact and you are looking for an efficient / professional organisation, DO NOT USE ANGLO PACIFIC.
30th March 2016 at 2:19 am #
What a disgcraceful company, they should be shut down, they dont understand the word FRAGILE.
I used this site because the ad looked very professional, but never judge a book on the cover, boxes sent to america with everything that was fragile broken, it has been a year and they think that they can just fob me off” well if i have to go to watchdog i will, they are going to pay for the damage one way or the other trust me. Never use this incompetent company ever. COWBOYS.
2nd April 2016 at 2:07 am #
Just HORRIFIED!!!! Their quote to collect packed & stored goods from South Africa to uk, has come in at an INCREDIBLE price!! NOW i come across ALL these YEARS of DISASTERS!!! HOW are these people STILL in business????? SURELY there is an Ombusban for these removal companies?? I feel SICK!! How do simple folk keep their ‘homes’ together, with MONSTERS like this waiting to TEAR everything apart? are there ANY HONEST REMOVAL COMPANIES OUT THERE???? or is this just the NATURE OF THE BEAST??
just DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW!
8th September 2016 at 9:53 pm #
Avoid them. I was quoted £140 to send ONE small box by air, and have ended up paying £312. It’s more than double. It’s insane. And they couldn’t care less. Someone is pocketing that extra money. It sounds as though they’re getting away with some very shady activity. I don’t think anyone bothers taking legal action against them. I’m considering it. Not for the money, but on principle. They should be shut down.
12th May 2016 at 2:14 am #
Wow, I feel so lucky. We booked them in 2011 with no problems. Even looking after the container when we weren’t ready to take delivery. Email communication was good and no items missing or broken. Now I need to use someone again and found this page – suddenly am feeling nervous!
8th September 2016 at 9:45 pm #
I used them 2 years ago, and it went fine, so I just used them again (for a much smaller shipment – 7 boxes – in June). It’s been the worst experience. I’ve gotten all my boxes now (took nearly 3 months, which is fine since they say up to 12 weeks) but they’ve charged me more than double what they quoted. And I only found this out after they picked up the boxes, and I was on a plane. I would seriously avoid them. Something has changed, since I used them 2 years ago. They seem to be extremely dodgy now, not to mention very rude.
8th September 2016 at 9:48 pm #
PS: They’re fantastic on the booking end, and picking up the boxes They’re polite, lively, efficient and I’d even say fun. Once they have your boxes though, they stop pretending to care, and add charges hoping that you won’t dispute them, I guess. I was quoted £140 to send 1 small box by air,
and have been charged £312. For ONE small box. It’s crazy. And it’s been 2 months of long distance phone calls and many emails, trying to be reimbursed. I guess they hope I’ll eventually give up trying, and they can enjoy a few team drinks on me. I’m contacting a lawyer next week, if they haven’t reimbursed me. On principle. They’re crooks, and should not be allowed to get away with the way they’ve been running their business. I reckon they’ll be shut down sooner than later.
8th September 2016 at 9:43 pm #
Yup!!! Avoid Anglo Pacific like the plague!
I received all my boxes intact, but was charged much more than what they have quoted.
I sent most things by sea, and one 22kg box by air. I was charged double what I was quoted, for that one small box. I was quoted £140, but charged £168 on my credit card (nobody at Anglo Pacific could tell me what the additional £28 was for). Then on the receiving end, I was charged £144, by their ‘affiliate company’ which I had to pay, in order to have the box released to me at the airport. I chose airport pick-up rather than door-to-door service, because I wanted to save a few dollars. Instead, it cost me an additional £144 just to pick up the box, from the airport warehouse. Nobody at Anglo Pacific can explain what those charges are for. The invoice was itemized as “handling” for $65 (there was no handling. I fetched the box myself, and had to pay a $15 handling charge at the airport warehouse), “documentation” (no idea what that is. I went to clear it through customs myself and got the forms stamped), “transfer” (transfer of what? My box was at the airport, where I fetched it) “terminal charges” of $100. Ridiculous charges. But unless I paid it, I couldn’t collect my box.
I’ve been dealing Bianca Fisher at Anglo Pacific for 2 months now, trying to be reimbursed. She’s offered to reimburse me half the additional charge, but that’s all. She also told me that the initial charge should have only been £123.75 for one small box sent by air, not the £140 I was quoted, or the £168 charged to my credit card.
There customer service I’ve gotten in trying to resolve this has been appalling. Utterly shameful. They’ve been rude, unhelpful, not answering simple questions, like “can you please explain what those additional charges were for”, and their affiliate company on the receiving end is clearly doing some serious dodgy dealings.
I can’t imagine that Anglo Pacific will stay in business much longer. They can’t stay afloat, by screwing their customers over, and charging more than double what they quote.
Really disappointed. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
23rd September 2016 at 8:52 pm #
Wish I had seen this before using AngloPacific. I used them to ship some funiture from the UK to the USA. It arrived smashed and they had the gall to use the deductible clause to avid paying compensation,
Don’t use these bozos.
28th September 2016 at 12:14 am #
How about their staff stole my kids games consoles (the only things that went missing) and their manager admitted they had this problem before. Then when I ask about compensation/insurance he firstly say the insurance doesn’t cover ‘door-to-door’ then ignores my subsequent emails. I have to go through their Trade Association and after some months get a derisory offer for this.
29th September 2016 at 6:31 am #
I am absolutely disgusted with them and the nominated shipping company in Brisbane OOS Worldwide. All was well at the beginning with the sales rep coming round doing the survey. I then had to chase up for the quote to be sent over 2 weeks later (should have known at this point). The guys came and packed our goods leaving behind our kettle and once they had crammed everything into the small van (and I mean crammed to the point they had to hold the doors together to shut it) they then proceeded to hold the doors together using a pair of scissors as the pin to hold the latch.
After several weeks of not hearing anything I chased up to see how things was going only to receive a certificate of shipment for the week before that they had forgot to send me.
Now don’t get me started on OSSWorlswide – what a shambles, – sent 1 email requesting money for customs clearance and the quicker they got their money the quicker I got my goods. I sent it the next day 22/08/2016 and today 29/09/2016 I’m still waiting. Not once have they contacted us to explain the hold upgicinf every excuse under the sun as to why it’s not here and still can’t give us a date. ive emailed Angelo Pacific in the U.K. to complain and they emailed back to say they would look into it but no response. Emailed agian this week and still not heard anything. Absolutely disgusting service from both companies once they have your money it’s goodbye we are not interested.
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