CombatCritic's TravelValue™: November 2023

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Friday, November 3, 2023

Sanelo - Houston, Texas: Nothing But Problems, Massive Add-On Charges, And Threats ... Sanelo Obviously Cannot Be Trusted!

Sanelo US - International Relocation Services

1880 S. Dairy Ashford Road

Houston, TX 77077

+1 (832) 371-9778

Sanelo.com

Prices: $$$$

We had nothing but problems and massive add-on costs after the initial estimate.

This move was an absolute nightmare from the very beginning, starting when Sanelo refused to perform an in-person, pre-move survey, leading to extraordinary additional costs being incurred by us due to my having underestimated the shipment weight.

Original Payment For Our Small Shipment

Excess Charges IN ADDITION To €6,732 Paid Initially

Had a pre-move survey been completed by Sanelo as I requested, we would have had a much more accurate estimate of the total cost which could have then been compared to the other quotes we received, likely eliminating Sanelo from contention. After all, I am not a relocation expert and should not have been required to perform the pre-move survey myself.

I have made six (now seven) overseas moves, so I know how the process works. In each of the six other moves, the transport company packing and shipping our belongings at origin came to our home and performed an in-person pre-move survey to make an accurate estimate. Sanelo will not do this! Sanelo will do it via a video call, apparently, or rely on the customer to sort it out for themselves, no in-person surveys.

The problems we had are far too numerous to go into here, but, besides the absurd amount of money we spent on this move, includes poor communication and coordination by Sanelo and its partners, complete incompetence, and massive last-minute charges, two of which were highly questionable in a legal sense.

Once our shipment arrived in Europe, their partner in Belgium, Gosselin, insisted on a €350 payment for a 'rented' van to shuttle our shipment from a much larger truck traveling through Europe, stating:

¨a shuttle van will be necessary to transport your belongings from our moving truck to your residence. Unfortunately, due to the limited access to your residence, we are unable to use a larger truck to deliver your belongings. Let me explain: The delivery will be made on a groupage basis. This means we don't have a dedicated truck for your shipment only, but a consolidated truck traveling through Europe with shipments for Spain, Germany, Italy etc. That is why we use the big trucks. As you have indicated that large trucks can not access your street, we will need to come with a dedicated smaller van/truck, which we need to rent.¨

Gosselin also insisted on a €250 payment for a parking permit from the city in addition to the €350, which we paid.

However, after asking the delivery crew chief during delivery on September 15th, 2023 for a copy of said parking permit, I was informed that there was in fact no permit, hence the questionable €250 charge.

Additionally, the crew chief informed me that there was no 'rented' shuttle van and that the three men drove our shipment from their Lisbon warehouse that morning in one of their company vans, so the €350 charge was also very questionable.

Let me explain in more detail ...

We were originally told that a large semi-trailer truck would bring our belongings to our apartment which is on a one-way street with limited parking.

Instead of procuring a €20 parking permit from the city and offloading our goods from the semi in front of our building, then parking the truck nearby while our goods were unpacked, Gosselin's solution was to park the semi nearby and rent a van to shuttle our goods to our apartment. We were told that the €20 parking permit would cost us €250 and we would be charged €350 to rent the shuttle van.

I was not happy about this solution and believed that these costs should have been included in the €8,572 we paid for a mere 3,000 pounds being shipped, but paid Gosselin the additional €648. The extra €48 was because the men had to ride in the elevator an additional two floors, taking about 10 seconds.

I served in the Air Force for 20+ years and made several overseas moves, having shipped in excess of 17,000 pounds of household goods on more than one occasion. Extrapolate the €8,752 paid for 3,000 pounds to 17,000 pounds and you get the equivalent of €48,575, an absurd amount of money.

After complaining to Sanelo about those excess charges - the nonexistent parking permit and shuttle van that was never rented - they agreed to refund the €250 for the parking permit, but not the van that was never rented.

As I mentioned, the whole €600 problem could have been solved by getting a €20 parking permit. Instead of the semi-trailer delivering our goods, they decided to offload our shipment in Lisbon and transport our items in a van owned by the transfer company and driven by their employees, employees who would have been required in any event. One trip, one vehicle, and three delivery employees, that is what we paid for, but Sanelo and Gosselin charged us an extra €350 and has refused to refund the money.

In the end, a vehicle and three men were required to unload our household goods, whether it was a semi or a van is completely irrelevant and that is exactly what happened. They actually saved money by delivering our goods in a small van versus a huge semi-trailer truck.

So why did we have to pay an additional €350 because of their poor planning and logistical deficits?

Had I not complained, we never would have received a €250 refund for the non-existent €20 parking permit, they simply got caught in their deceit.

fraud (noun - ˈfrȯd)

: DECEIT, TRICKERY

specifically : intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right

- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fraud

Now, Sanelo's COO, Josh Sims, is threatening me - a retired military officer, a veteran of four combat operations, and disabled veteran - with legal action, simply for threatening to file complaints with regulatory agencies:

Everything I have stated is ¨factual¨. I made ¨no threats¨ other than a promise to file complaints with Sanelo's federal and state regulatory agencies as is my right under the law, but Mr. Sims definitely threatened me:

¨ ... we do not like threats, but you are of course free to tell anybody what you feel, as long as it is factual. We reserve our legal rights to defend any incorrect information spread.¨

Regards

Josh Sims

Instead of doing the right thing and refunding the entire €600 we paid because of their poor planning, Sanelo COO, Josh Sims, decided to double down on their deceit and poor business acumen by threatening me for simply stating the facts.

The deceit and, now, threats from Sanelo and Gosselin, as well as having charged us €600 for services NOT rendered is beyond belief, but I am not at all surprised after all we have gone through.

Finally, as if that were not enough, when the crew arrived that morning and started bringing boxes to our apartment, I asked the crew chief why they were not unpacking the boxes. He told me that 'unpacking is not included' and showed me a work order from Gosselin which clearly stated, under NOTES, 'No unpacking of boxes'.

I immediately called Gosselin in Belgium and asked them why they were not unpacking the boxes, to which they replied 'you didn't pay for that'.

I corrected them, referring to Sanelo's and Gosselin's list of services/what to expect pdf's, insisting that unpacking of the boxes was included and paid for, but she told me that Sanelo had not paid them for that and the crew would not be unpacking the boxes.

I told her that she needed to fix this error immediately, but told me that it likely would not happen until Monday because it is Friday and she couldn't talk to Sanelo until Monday. I told her that she had better figure this out immediately.

I finally received a call from Gosselin 30 minutes later where they informed me that unpacking was in fact included and that they would contact the delivery manager to ensure that the boxes would be unpacked before the men left for the day. More confusion, miscommunication, and incompetence, what a shock!

Based on what we have experienced with Sanelo and their partners, I asked for the names and contact information of the government (state and federal - US) regulatory agencies responsible for complaints against Sanelo as well as Gosselin (national and EU). Sanelo refused to provide their regulatory agencies.

I also asked for the Bill of Lading at origin, something they are required to do by law, but they have refused to provide it. They sent me this scale receipt which could have been produced by weighing two large boulders or two different vehicles differing by 3,000 pounds in weight.

A Bill of Lading would identify us, our address (at origin), the company and vehicle registration, and weights before loading and after loading our goods among other things, but this is all they provided. There is nothing to indicate what the two weights on the document represent, so their basis for charging us as much as they did is completely baseless.

The truck should also be weighed on a certified scale, but I checked Chipman Relocations website and there is no mention of certified scales in Portland, Tigard, or anywhere else for that matter. More smoke and mirrors?

I will request a thorough investigation of the issues listed above as well as an audit of this entire move to find out what else we were, potentially, unjustly charged for. I also asked for a copy of the Bill of Lading at origin to be sent to me immediately as well as a refund of the €350 we were charged for the 'rented' van. Again, they would not comply.

I recommend not hiring Sanelo or any other company that refuses to perform an accurate, in-person, pre-move survey.

My wife and I are appalled by the unprofessional, unethical, and alleged illegal behavior we have experienced as a result of this large financial transaction paid to Sanelo as well as their business practices and the practices of their partners in this move.

We have many people asking about relocation services from the USA and elsewhere, and Sanelo will not be recommended, in fact, we will recommend they be avoided like the plague. What a nightmare!

CombatCritic Gives Sanelo US - International Relocation Services 0 Bombs Out Of 10 And A Spot On My ¨WALL OF SHAME¨

Zero Bombs Equates To: