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I was foolish enough to believe the dozens of positive reviews which Viaddress has, and chose them as a forwarding service for some purchases I made last month.
1. When I received the bill for the items to be shipped from the US to Malaysia, I noticed that the dimensions they had quoted of a bag I ordered far exceeded its original description, so on July 14th, I sent them a message via their 'live chat' (which isn't very 'live' since they always reply two days later, if at all), asking why their description of the bag was so large. (Shipment costs are based on dimensional weight, so larger things are more expensive to ship, regardless of how light they are).
2. I received an email from one Jason Haas, Shipping Manager, on July 16th, explaining that the measurements they quoted were based on the box the items were shipped in, which was 22 x 19 x 10 inches.
3. I then paid the shipping costs based on the measurements they gave, thinking that they would be using the same box to deliver.
4. When I received my parcel via Fedex on Aug 2 (Malaysian time), the box in which my items were shipped measured only 18 x 12 x 3 inches, much smaller than the dimensions which Viaddress had quoted me. Why, therefore, was I charged for delivery in a much larger box?
5. I sent Jason Haas an email that same day, asking him why I had been charged based on the larger box, if the items had in actual fact been packed in a smaller box. They had charged me based on a total dimensional weight of 39 lbs, while the 18x12x 3box would only add up to 5lbs, which would reduce the shipping costs considerably. To give you an idea of how much I was overcharged, they set shipping at US$132.69 whereas if they had charged me based on the smaller box, the bill would only be in the region of US$38.23, based on the calculations on their website.
6. This is an extract of my email on Aug 2:
Dear Jason, My package has arrived via FedEx and I see that I was charged for shipping based on the box the items were shipped in from the vendors (based on what you wrote in your email dated July 16, which is 22 x 19 x 10) and not the dimensions of the box which Viaddress used (based on the box itself, which is the FedEx 'Large Box' measuring: 18 x 12 x 3).
Is this a normal thing? For customers to be billed not on the box Viaddress uses to ship the things to us, but instead based on the box in which Viaddress receives the things?
I'm a bit confused. If I'm requesting for items to be delivered from Viaddress to me, shouldn't I be charged based on the onward delivery from Viaddress to myself, since shipping from both amazon.com and ebags.com were already free?
Could I get an explanation on how the system works? Viaddress appears to have many happy customers but I would be grateful if you could get back to me soon and be clear on how your shipping charges are based, because it appears that I need not have paid you so much for shipping.
7. Finally on Aug 4 (Malaysian time), I receive an email from one 'Kelly Snow', Account Manager, whose brief email read: 'Hello, Sometimes we will have to change the box in which your item was originally packaged because of a safety issue. Regards.'
8. So much for customer service! There was no attempt at all by 'Kelly Snow' or anyone from Viaddress to reply in detail to my questions or to even explain why I was conned into paying for shipping based on a box which they DIDN'T use.
9. A few minutes after receiving that email, I sent another one asking why, if the box had to be changed, was I charged based on the measurements of the original box, and not the box in which my things were eventually shipped.
Four days later, there's still no reply from Viaddress. All I need to know is why I was charged based on a larger box and not the one they used, and they can't seem to answer that. Since they're in the business of shipping things overseas, the majority of their customers are probably foreigners but they seem to have little respect for their customers, probably because we're not American, we live far away, so why bother. Their attitude smacks of arrogance, smugness and sheer dishonesty.
I now wonder whether the thousands of positive reviews and the 'friends' they have on Facebook are genuine.
Cltgra005- Well, good luck to you. They haven't refunded me, let alone had the decency to reply to my last email. If they were concerned they would at least reply, but clearly they don't care about their customers or the need to give good customer service.
I'm convinced that Viaddress are a bunch of liars and cheats who have been paying people money to write positive reviews. I would love to see them get into trouble. But then you don't even have to look at reviews- search Viaddress in this website, and you'll see a reply from them to a complaint that was filed some time earlier. I don't think the reply falls anywhere near the definition of professional-the entire tone of the comment from Viaddress is immature and defensive.
I've made an expensive mistake with this company and since you'll be trying them out, all the best. But for anyone else who's even considering using Viaddress, DON'T!
Dear cltgra005,
I'vd heard of shipito but have never used them. Tell us how it works out.
David Feng - Well said! Apart from over-charging me and not coming clean about it to this date, I found the lack of, or delay in communication a sign of their incompetence. If they're too lazy to reply to our emails, they should just stop doing business.
Hi Luke,
All the best, I hope you get better luck with weship-it. As far as I'm concerned, Viaddress are a bunch of cheats and should be put out of business
viabox has lowest rates among other freight forwarders, and is the most reliable company, with best customer support.
Oh dear pity I did not find this thread before I fell for the lies that via address feeds us! I will tell you my experience in greater detail soon.
I stupidly did not do a lot of research before i decided to use Viaddress. I had my 3 clothing items sent to then via UPS who stated the package was 6lbs.
The following day i received an email from VIaddress stating my order had arrived. i logged on to find they want close to $200 to ship my items to Australia. My items are a dressing gown, a singlet top & a tshirt that cost USD less than $50. I bought them from the US because they were much cheaper than they are in Australia..if I pay that much shipping i could have bought 3 times those items in Australia.
I have emailed them, as their site states
Get your own US shipping address and start shopping from ALL US merchants and ebay sellers
Lowest shipping rates guarantee
HI ALL,
MY NAME IS ALEX AND I HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE WITH THEM AS ALL OF YOU...
ACTUALLY I WAS PRETTY HAPPY TO HAVE RECEIVED MY ITEMS AT ALL, BECAUSE IT TOOK ALMOST TWO MONTHS FROM MY ORDER BEFORE I'VE ACTUALLY RECEIVED ALL OF MY ITEMS.
THE THING IS THAT THEIR EMPLOYEES ARE DISORGANIZED AND I HAD A FEELING THAT THESE GUYS DO NOT TALK BETWEEN EACH OTHER AT ALL ! EVERY TIME I'VE BEEN ASKING TO THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE ABOUT THE STATUS OF MY PACKAGE, THEY BEEN SIMPLY FORWARDING MY REQUEST TO THE "SHIPPING DEPARTMENT" WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION ... THIS "PING - PONG" GAME HAPPENED EVERY TIME I'VE BEEN SUBMITTING AN E-MAIL THROUGH THEIR "HELP DESK" SYSTEM.
IN THE END AFTER ABOUT 10 E-MAILS AND TWO MONTHS I'VE BEEN ABLE TO RECEIVE ALL MY ITEMS. THEY ACTUALLY GAVE ME A GOOD SERVICE. I'VE PAID ABOUT 170 $ FOR HAVING THEM SHIPPED TWO LARGE DESKTOP PRINTERS (EPSON R200 AND BROTHER MFC 845), SEVEN 3, 5" HARD DRIVES, TEN PLUG ADAPTERS, TWO USB PLUGS AND AN IPHONE 3G
THEY HAVE DIVIDED MY ITEMS INTO THREE FEDEX PACKAGES :
-ONE SMALL ONE FOR THE IPHONE 3G
-ONE FOR THE BROTHER PRINTER
-ONE FOR EPSON PRINTER AND FOR HARD DRIVES AND PLUGS
THEY ACTUALLY BEEN SORRY FOR THEIR INEFFICIENCY AND FOR THEIR SERVICE AND THEY HAVE UPGRADED FOR FREE MY "FEDEX EXPRESS" TO "FEDEX PRIORITY" SHIPPING METHOD !
ALL THE ITEMS I'VE RECEIVED HAVE BEEN WELL WRAPPED AND IN GOOD CONDITION ... WELL, I WILL NOT USE THEIR SERVICE ANYMORE, BUT I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS: IF I WOULD HAVE SHIPPED MY ITEMS THROUGH FEDEX BY MYSELF I WOULD PROBABLY PAID 4 TIMES AS MUCH AS I PAID !
SO I THINK THEY OFFER THE LOWEST SHIPPING RATES ON THE MARKET ... BUT THEY ARE TOO SLOW INTO DOING THEIR JOB AND THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS !
I AM INCLUDING TO THIS MESSAGE A COPY OF MY SHIPPING ORDER, SO YOU CAN SEE BY YOURSELF THAT THEIR SHIPPING COSTS ARE ACTUALLY REALLY LOW... THE ONLY THING IS THE FACT THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO GAIN SOME MONEY THROUGH "CONSOLIDATION PROCESS", SO I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO USE THEIR SERVICE FOR SMALL ITEMS, BUT JUST FOR LARGE WELL PACKED (SMALL VOLUMETRIC WEIGHT) PACKAGES ... AND SHIP ALL PACKAGES TOGETHER SO YOU WILL GET LARGER DISCOUNTS ON THE SHIPPING.
SO THIS IS ALL FOLKS !
REGARDS
ALEX
Sorry for the late response. Everything went as promised.
In the paypal request they send, they make a note of the box dimensions and the weight that is being shipped so you can check upfront yourself what the charges are. Everything checked out to the penny. I think the experience I just had is what you should encounter with most companies out there. I like this one because you get a lot of personal attention and he makes sure that you get what is promised on his website. He also educates you on how to be smart about it http://www.weship-it.com/Advice/Shipping101.aspx . That was very helpful to me. So if you try the shipping thing in the future, this page has lots of useful knowledge wether you use him, myus, shipito or other companies. I will do this again in the future. Too many bargains in the states we cannot get here
Luke
When I was looking for a package forwarder I also checked in with Viadress since there shipping rates were so incredibly low and they claimed to charge nothing else but for shipping. I checked around more and one of them, a smaller company I found (www.weship-it.com) offered a lesser discount so I wrote them an email asking them why they were more expensive than Viadress who is also shipping fedex? He had to check the viadress website and this was his reply.
They claim they do not charge for anything and you get an incredible shipping discount, close to 70% compared to fedex regular rates.
So take an example. You buy something that needs to go to Germany. Regular rates are $100. Viadress does it for $30
What happens with the $30?
Well fedex needs to be paid for taking care of the package from picking up in the US and delivering this in Germany and turn a profit. Can they do that?
Probably, but wait Viadress needs to get paid too! Which should come out of the $30 too? He did not see how they could make money that way.
Only thing he said was that he thought he got great rates and provided good customer service. However matching the viadress rates he could not do.
So when I landed on this board here it all fell into place due to the post from anisto and decided to do some math.
He writes they based it on 39lbs dim weight when it came in however outgoing it was only 5lbs.
According to the viadress website he must have paid $163.98 but 5lbs would be only$45.88. They paid fedex for the 5 lbs so even if there was no profit in the $45.88 they made at least a $118 profit!
So I went back to the guy from weship-it.com and asked him what he would charge for 5lbs to Malaysia.
He said he would charge me for 6 lbs because it would be cheaper (which made sense since you get a better discount over 5 lbs.) It was a total charge of about $80 (fedex). For me it is clear now how viadress makes its money. You get a lot of one time customers who will never come back that end up paying since they want their stuff. Glad I did my home work. I am going to try the weship-it guy and see how that goes. So far he always answers quick, even on weekends. I will keep you posted
Luke
I have sent 1800 emails to viaddress and made atleast 300 phone calls about my package that they have since 19 Nov.
However, NO RESPONSE.
I guess they have already wound up and run away with the loot. Don't forget that there was huge inflow into viaddress due to the holiday season, esp thanksgiving.
I am now 100% sure that the people behind viaddress are professional thieves. They never steal your first or second package to gain your trust but the moment you ship an expensive one after that, it will be gone.
I am preparing to file a formal complaint against these scammer and prevent them from fooling other people like us.
IF YOU HAVE ANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST VIADDRESS.COM THAT CAN HELP ME SUBSTANTIATE MY/OUR COMPLAINT, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING.
Send and email to me at againstviaddress (at) gmail (dot) com
with the following details.
Your details :
Name :
Address :
Phone:
email :
Shippng detais : (to contact you in case of refund/recovery)
Initial shipment carrier (from seller to viaddress) :
Initial shipment tracking number :
Item Value :
Status (where is the shipment now)
Did viaddress add it to your shipping manager:
Did viaddress ship it to you?
Shipping promised by viaddress shipping calculator:
Shipping charged by viaddress:
Your complaint description:
If possible, please send this on a word document.
Also, please post your negative reviews on as many sites as possible. (not only about viaddress but about any service that has cheated you)
Again, I am a victim of viaddress and not associated with any of its competitors. My deails are in the post below. Only that I have decide not to let these bugger go off so easlily.
Help me, help yourself and help other who might be thinking of joining viaddress.
Okay, this is my honest review and I hope that I can provide some insight for someone not to stumble through the frustrating steps I’ve been already.
Life is full of expenses and there’s simply never a time to really buy what you want. Nevertheless, I got my annual bonus, and I wanted to import stuff from the US, at least for the last year and a half. I have searched many forums, and read about user experiences of other people – all about what and who they suggest to use as a shipping forwarded company.
After a lot of research, I already decided a year and a half ago, that I’ll use Ship It To, when the time has come to order from the US. So the time has finally arrived, and I decided to order a Nokia N900, Some Otterbox protection for the nokia, two Bluetooth headsets, a Bluetooth mouse and a Bluetooth dongle. Mmmm I think that’s about it. I ordered it on the 15th of October 2010 at amazon.com
I did not want to spend a lot of money on amazon.com, and I’ve selected only items with free shipping and sold by amazon. I chose items sold only by amazon, cause I wanted one single package. Nevertheless. I checked my calendar and the frees hipping option would’ve taken a couple of day just to deliver the items to Ship It To. So I then gave it much though and chose the 2 day air shipping.
However, just before I placed the order, I opened my Ship It To account. The once-off shipment option had no consolidation and even though I knew I just order items to ship in once single package, I purchased the monthly plan which include consolidation – just for in case I might need it. Ummmm….
I’m not a person to badmouth others, but I’m really trying to be honest here.
So, I wanted my items to be shipped to the Memphis warehouse. Cause one has multiple warehouse options in the shipping calculator, before purchase. Nevertheless. From the accounts panel of Ship It To, after signing in, I apparently did not have enough verification status to have the addresses, other than Torrance and I think Hong Kong, available to me. The verification process include sending a signed form by mail to shipito in the US.
Earlier this year while I was in the US, my sister sent me a christmas and birthday card in November 2009 and I only received it in March 2010. So I will have to wait at least 2 months, at least, for my signed form to arrive in the US, unless I courier it.
Nevertheless, I had no other option than Torrance, US. Also, the max. spending amount is US$75.00 until you get 100% verified. I uploaded all the verification docs that I have, and apparently I am now “+30%” but that does not apply to increasing the US$75.00 one is allowed to “spend”. I phoned shipito to discuss this and to ask a couple of questions I’d like to know, because this is the first US shipment for me, I have not done it in the past, and I just wanted a peace of mind. I mean, I just spent a couple of hundred dollars on my purchase.
Sergey, to whom I spoke to, as really unfriendly and he “doesn’t care” and can do “nothing about the situation” – my concern was that I think the shipping costs will be more than 75 dollars. And since I’m only allowed to spend 75 dollars, what will happen to my package if it costs more than 75 dollars to ship with FedEx?
Sergay was really unhelpful, and told me after 6 minutes and 34 seconds, that I’m wasting his time for keeping him 20 minutes on the phone, etc etc. And honestly, I really kept is short and simple.
I was really astounded by this response, but I decided that its okay.
My packages arrived on time at Ship It To. Impressive.
I phoned my local fedex just to ensure that everything will be in order and how I should proceed to get my package, because we only have two FedEx branches in the country, which is located in the larger towns. I also phoned FedEx’s import and customs agent – to ensure how I should proceed in regards to paying the import taxes, etc.
So, FedEx – Checked.
Import Customs – Checked.
Everything was checked. I’m so afraid that something might go wrong!
In the meantime, I sent an email to shipito – but with no response after a day.
I sent 4 emails to Daniel – and no response since.
I sent 4 emails to Mandi – no response since.
I phoned shipito – and after being treated as if I am really disturbing them – I decided not to call again.
Sergay spelled it out last time that if I have a problem, its my problem, not theirs, whatsoever.
I also tried to load funds to my account – but my card failed. Which is impossible, but the response time was so instant after trying a couple of times, it seems impossible that they’ve actually tried to authorized it.
So, as Sergay said, I have to do a wire transfer, and in addition to the fees charged at my local bank for wiring a payment to the US, which is more than an arm and a leg, they charge 4.something percent as well as 16 dollars something, for receiving a wire payment – and that’s all my problem.
So, the 2 packages is now in the warehouse, and through my admin I chose to have them consolidated. The shipping for both packages should have been 120 dollars something, but after having them consolidated to actually pay less for the shipment, I now own shipito 192.52 dollars.
I emailed shipito just to get a confirmation in regards to this, but no response.
I emailed and asked them to please please just respond – but no response, since.
So, I don’t like to give bad scores. Honestly, I don’t know what to score them. At some stage I though of just forgetting a package and if it arrives some day, be happy, if not, forget about it. But then I have to remind myself that I cant just give up, and that I’m paying shipito a lot of money, for providing a service.
So, to score them, I’ll rather do this – to get my score.
1) Living up to their promises : 2/10 – I don’t know why I score them 2, cause it should be 0.
2) Responding to a question – mmmm, do I really have to score them 0? Yes. 0/10
3) Customer support and providing polite support - … 0/10? Should I really be this harsh. No, I’m just being honest.
4) Well there must be a good point… Okay, consolidation service, 10/10. But no, my packages now cost far more after the consolidation. So it cant be 10/10. Okay, 3/10
5) Okay, advertising a good product, even thou not living up to their promise, lets give them 5/10
Just a note – for some reason I have a lot of invoices in my account stating NOT PAID and I phones them in regards to this, and the lady said I should just wait until they disappear by themselves.
I’m really really sad. Really. This is not just disappointing. The thing that really upsets me the most, is that I don’t get any response from Ship It To, not at all. And when calling them, they are really really impatient and rude.
I’m so so so sad. Not because that I wont receive my package in the projected 7 days (that’s why I paid Amazon far more for shipping, to have it delivered at shipito in 2 days time) and not because, well, yeah, not because I can only “spend” 75 dollars in my account.
I’m so sad, I feel like just forget about the package, totally. I’m sad because I feel like being mislead and now that I’ve paid them and now that the package is in their warehouse – I simply cant get a way communicating with them.
I’m really disappointed. Really.
My average score based on my single scores above : 10%
I am so so so sad, and so disappointed. I feel like being ripped of.
And I know the costs just to get it here in Namibia, is about to cost me far more than what I paid for my items.
@ David_Feng
Coz you're a good guy, and good guys help others.
Geez, I'm still trying to raise capital for my first shipment. It sucks to be a university student.
@gbaccin and @laodyy
You need to harass them on the phone. It's the only way to get things done.
Why do I Feel like I belong to the customer service trying to help customers? :)
I have a request received and paid transportation to 15 days.
I contact 5 times a day via email.
and I totally unresponsive.
Company simply does not seem to exist.
my record: VIA9962395 September 15, 2010.
after the company receives the product and I pay shipping, the company simply does not answer more e-mail.
I was robbed by viaadress. company does not exist. is a scam to steal money from people ... WARNING
Whaaaat? Why was my comment deleted? Well, whatever.
@ laody y
Keep on pestering Viaddress until they tell you what's going on. Don't let them get the impression that you're happy with being ignored. Also, don't email them. Call them. They always ignore their email, but apparently they will help you if you call.
yah still waiting and hoping that one day they will eventually end this misery and decide to ship my things, its been 13 days still praying, now obsessed with checking my suite, nothing new just went back to "TAKE ACTION" like pay us again...yah nt responding to emails ii did call and the lady was like Uhhhhh Yes mam i just wok here i donno...like ok now c`mn enuf with this i need to know if I shud give up or keep spending more money to get those kinda answers?
do you guys ship "express priority" or "economy" ?
Yes, there hasn't been a case where your money and parcels go missing. However, there's always the uncertainty of just what it is you're paying for, and whether they began processing your order or not.
guys same thing as david happend alexandra marks Mr` Assurer did respond about 4/5 days back saying you will receive your tracking number later this afternoon but yah that was it, do they really ship things whats happening will i get my staff eventually?
Just had a look at Shipito and they're incredibly cheap with their 40kg parcels, which amounts to R58 per kg, or $7.95 per kg, or $3.61 per lb. They have some extra charges, like the fuel surcharge, but it's very little compared to the shipping costs. For a 40kg parcel, the fuel surcharge is $20, versus $300 for the shipping.
I'm almost definitely gonna go with Shipito, but I'll look around a bit more.
I'm glad things are working out for you. Like I said earlier, I don't think they're engaged in scamming activities, but they sure as hell need to work on their customer service. I actually didn't think I would mind being ignored, but after reading the above posts I've come to realize, that I can easily get frustrated if things seem out of place and there isn't anyone from Viaddress to reassure me that my shipment is underway.
Anyway, it's a good thing I do my homework first before I spend large amounts of money of a company I'm not familiar with. I got another problem I'm dealing with now. Our (South Africa's) internal revenue service just replied this morning to an inquiry I sent them regarding my registration as an importer. They reply to me with an email that says, they have an average turnaround time for email inquiries of about 21 working days. UNBELIEVABLE! Who in the world takes 21 WORKING DAYS to respond to an email. I hope it was just a typing error and they actually meant 2.1 working days. If I don't hear anything from them within the next few days I'll just fill in the importer registration form then go to the revenue services building and hand the form to them myself.
Well, at least the revenue service had the decency to tell me how long I will have to wait for a response, and not simply ignore me like Viaddress.
In anycase, it appears that Viaddress DO fulfill their clients orders, but they just take very long to do it.
Hi cltgra005,
I actually did not finish my story.
29 July 2010: that is forwarding (and payment) + 48 hours. Still no shipment notification. At around 10am EST, I decide to call them. I am repeated that payments take 24 hours to process and I am confirmed that there is no problem with my payment. I am told that my "shipment is on the list to go out tonight".
30 July 2010: forwarding + 72 hours. My customer dashboard has changed, it now does not show my orders anymore. I think this is good news. However no tracking number shows on my account, nor did I receive any confirmation email.
02 August 2010: that is forwarding + 144 hours (incl. 4 business days). As nothing has moved, I sent an email through the "Live" form at about 10am EST. I was lucky enough so that somebody was monitoring emails at that time. An hour later, "Alexandra Marks" apologises and grants my request to have my package shipment upgraded to int'l priority. That's the least they could do. Later that day (my night), I received a FedEx email with a tracking number. It seems they auto-subscribed my email to the FedEx notification. I am checking the customer dashboard, the tracking number does not even show there. What is funny is the FedEx notification shows a shipment weight of 8 lbs, vs the 10 lbs (real weight) shown on the dashboard.
Anyway. I am glad this is over. I don't know of any other service where I would need to check in every so often. When dealing with them, it seems I have to deal with my chinese suppliers, calling them everyday to ensure they keep moving.
I will probably look elsewhere next time, and I would not need to waste so much time and energy trying to get things right. I don't really consider myself being ripped off. However, here are the things that should be fixed:
- Communicate on the Dimensional Weight rule in the website FAQ. It would help people to choose a forwarding provider based on what the need to be shipped. You CANNOT set the rules afterwards once customers started to trust you with their orders. Unless not paying attention, I wonder how customers keep faith in the service.
- Communicate on any service delays.
- The FedEx weight SHOULD reconcile with the Viaddress weight.
- The Viaddress contact page should state that NO communication will be replied outside of US business hours, anything sent outside of that time window will be thrown into a black hole.
- Viaddress should engage on Social Networks where they obviously spent time and money being present. You Facebook and Twitter page look nothing like empty shells. I am also convinced these means of communication would remove a certain share of emails.
- Open the Customer Service outside of US business hours. For a corporation doing business with overseas customers, this is amazing to see how hard it is to connect with Viaddress. If this is too expensive in the US, outsource it.
- Allow customers to communicate with Viaddress within their account with a special form/email/phone number. That will help filtering down the volume of important communications, and won't turn off actual customers.
If Viaddress would like to discuss this: thechinamomo@gmail.com. I cannot promise I will answer your email though! (at least I have the decency to admit it).
Dang, my previous post didn't go through. I guess I'll just repeat what I said.
From the above poster it looks like Viaddress really do rip people off with the incorrectly quoted prices. They also didn't reply to the mail I sent them.
MyUS are only $10 more expensive so I'll just use them. I would prefer paying a little more if I can get good customer service, and not be overcharged in the end.
Viaddress made their first strike when they paid people to post positive reviews. Their second strike/s was to mis-quote people for the shipping costs, then overcharge them in the end.
I haven't used them yet, but I'll listen to my gut feeling and avoid them.
Hi there,
I was looking for some feedback after I started doing business with Viaddress as Customer Service appeared to be lacking. I found this website, so let me tell my story.
12 April 2010: Created an account - I was looking at the time at parcel forwarding alternatives. I thought the next time I would order, I would use Viaddress
18 July 2010: I started to do some online shopping (worth of $900), and have 5 orders forwarded to Viaddress
20 July 2010: Looking at my Viaddress account, I start wondering how I could change my account postal address as I have my US Credit Card billing address there so far (my mistake). I sent an email through the Viaddress.com form. Result: no answer
23 July 2010: 2 of my orders arrive at Viaddress, I am duly notified. I replied to one of the notifications with a question asking how it would be possible to swap my account address to outside the US.
Result: no answer
23 July 2010: As I get no response, I sent the same question to contact@viaddress.com, to which I get an answer from "Dallas White" who just pasted 3 lines of the VIiaddress' Terms in Conditions stating the account address cannot be changed to outside the current postal country set in the account. Well, that does not help me much. Third order arrives.
23 July 2010: By email, I try to explain my situation: my current US Billing address is set under my account. I am a road warrior, and I happen to stay few days in Macau pretty soon so I would like to have my parcels forwarded there. I explain I can send relevant documentations (identification, bank/credit card statements, trip itinerary). Result: no answer
24 July 2010: By email, I send that documentation: passport copies, ID copies, employment permit copies, airplane booking, hotel reservation, order invoices, order shipping confirmations. Except sending a copy of my social security card, there is not much more I can send... Result: no answer
26 July 2010: Outside of US business hours, I leave a voicemail to the Viaddress number, explaining briefly the situation, giving away my unit number and name. I ask to be contacted at the number or email address under my account. Result: no answer
26 July 2010: At about noon EST, I called the Viaddress customer service. A customer representative (picking the phone with a "hullo") explains me my address change request cannot be completed over the phone, which I understand. She asks me to send my information (unit #, current address, new address, name) to contact@viaddress.com, which I do in the following several minutes. I was told this would take 2 hours to complete. Result: nothing done.
27 July 2010: Sent a "feedback" message through the website contact form with the above message. Result: no answer.
27 July 2010: I call the Customer Service again. Being 12 hours behind me, it is hard to overlap timezones. I try several times over 10 minutes. Result: nobody picks up the phone.
27 July 2010: I try again few minutes later, I can reach a customer representative. I tell the whole story again, she asks me to send her my address my email, to which I replied I did a day before. She looks up in her system, finds the email in 5 seconds and corrects my record live. She was knowledgeable and professional. "Thank you, bye!". I immediately forward my packages, pay the shipping fees (charged for 22 pounds for a real weight of 10 pounds, but that's another story).
28 July 2010: I wake with no shipping notification from Viaddress. Worse, when I log in to my account, I can still forward my package again. By the time I wake up, a full working day has gone by in the US. So, I start to wonder. Then comes 9AM Eastern. I try to send an email from the contact form asking for an explanation. In less than 10 minutes, "Kelly Snow" announces that payments take 24 hours to process, and that I should expect a shipment notification at the end of the business day.
Here are the lessons I got from this:
- Viaddress is working as expected: you order, they forward, you receive.
- Customer Service does seem to lack. It is very frustrating to be ignored.
- If you need to contact them, go for it during the business hours Eastern. Picking up the phone will definitely help.
- If you have not created an account yet, be sure you have the final address you would like to have your packages forwarded to. If not, create a new account prior to ordering anything!
- If your situation is pretty straightforward (you have a US credit card, you did not mess up the address, and you wait when you are supposed to wait) then I believe you should not have to complain from them.
- Shipping fees are questionable. I will definitely closely compare vendors next time.
All in one, I think can live with the delays, the lack of etiquette, the strict policy, the security rules, the fake staff names, the (very) poor website, but it's hard to be ignored.
I'm going to follow this thread for a while. Please post any updates you receive.
Viaddress are new to the industry (since 2008 with around 40 employees - I googled Viaddress company information) so it makes sense if they take a while to reply to emails.
What I will not accept however is a freight forwarder scamming people into paying more. It is plain wrong to charge people more than they were quoted originally, and even MORE wrong to do it in such an OBVIOUS manner (i.e. charging you more for an obviously much smaller box). Such behavior is unacceptable.
However, you have to wonder. For such a large company they must be processing hundreds of orders a day, yet I've only found 5-10 negative reviews about them. (Ignore the positive reviews, since I'm sure you've heard about their alleged scheme to pay people $10 for 25 positive reviews.) If their company really was a scam, they wouldn't still be in business.
I'm guessing they just downright suck with their customer service due to them having too little staff, and for all we know, it could have been an administrative error that caused them to charge you for a much larger box.
I always say, give people 2 chances. After that, tell your family, friends, forum buddies, and the authorities that there's a scammer on the loose.
I'm going to try Viaddress in a few weeks, to test their legitimacy. I'm telling you now already that I'm a South African citizen and I DO NOT work for any shipping company, although if Viaddress turn out to be legit then I might just start my own importing service. I'm telling you so that you will know you can trust my review.
In my review, I will try to be as critical and unbiased as I can. I will even include photos of my shipping receipts, snapshots of my Viaddress login, and scans of anything that may help to prove Viaddress as either, an inexpensive, legitimate freight forwarder, or as a bunch of scammers who should be thrown in jail. The worst thing that could go wrong, is I would spend a lot more on my purchase, but my purchase is already much cheaper than I can get it locally so I'm willing to take that risk.
Hi,
I am experiencing the same thing with Viadress as well currently. Still waiting for their response as to why they are charging me based on twice the weight of my item.
The story goes like this, I bought some stuff from Victoria's Secret last week. I usually use shipito.com (no, i'm not affiliated to them in any sense, no worries) But recently VS stopped shipping to shipito for no obvious reasons. So I went to do my research and found viaddress.
I signed up with them and now my package is there at their place. According to VS shipping, UPS, my package weight is only 23.9lbs=10.841 kg. But Viaddress is charging me for 25kg shipping weight! I'm pissed and tried to email them, but no reply for 4 days straight. Sigh, guess i will just pay for this once and not use them again.
If you have any other freight forwarder to recommend me, I would appreciate it if you can email me at eppie_cranky@hotmail.com.
Viaddress needs to be defamed!