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Report: #383843

Complaint Review: Schumacher Cargo - Gardena California

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  • Reported By: Miami Florida
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  • Schumacher Cargo 550 W 135th ST Gardena, California U.S.A.

Schumacher Cargo Logistics Instead of shipping the car, they decided to hold it for 6 months!! Federal Maritime Commission had to get involved to sort things, but still... Gardena California

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In my home country of Poland nice American cars are still a dream to many. So when in March 2008 I saw on eBayMotors.com a very nice 79 Vette and decided to buy it, I was about to see a dream come trough.

Little I know about what kind of nightmare I was just getting myself into.

Before bidding on the car I contact the seller and I explain that I was in Europe. I also found on Google.com a car transport company called SCHUMACHER CARGO LOGISTICS. I contact them and I got a transport quote of about $1500 from Florida to Poland in container.

So there I go, last minute on the eBay auction as the higher bidder. Won!!!

Next day at the bank for wiring funds to the seller and to Schumacher.

***FIRST RIP-OFF: $40 incoming wire fee
WEEK 1 After one week not hearing from Schumacher I call to ask on which ship my dream will be sailing. The dry reply was:
"Sir, your account shows that you still owe us $40". What? "Yes, the invoice amount was $1500, you wired us $1500, but you should have wired us $1540 since there is a $40 fee for every incoming wire. As soon as we receive the complete payment we will be able to ship the car. Please note that if you are going to wire us the balance you should include another $40 incoming wire fee, so $40+$40=$80". And there I was again at the bank for wiring them $80 in fees...

***SECOND RIP-OFF: Consular Notarized Power of Attorney n.1
WEEK 2 Already two weeks had passed when I call them to ask how the operation was progressing and they tell me: "We will need a Power of Attorney notarized at the US Consulate in order to be able to clear export Customs on the vehicle".
They e-mail me the Power of Attorney along with the information to include in the document.
There I go the next day to the US Consulate with the filled Power of Attorney and I am not even let inside the Consulate. I learn that Notary service need to be scheduled in advance by the means of a complicated internet procedure.

I finally got an appointment for the end of the week, get the PoA (Power of Attorney) notarized at the cost of $30 and the same day I send it by DHL ($45) to Schumacher Cargo correspondent in Miami.
I check DHL.com and the envelope had been delivered, so I call Schumacher to ask if everything was OK and the confirm me that the car has been picked-up and everything is on track. This is already WEEK 4 after initial payment.

***THIRD RIP-OFF: Consular Notarized Power of Attorney n.2
WEEK 5: I call Schumacher Cargo to ask about the sailing ship and I am told that they will inform me in a couple of days. After 4 days I call them back and they tell me that the PoA was wrong!!! But how is it possible if they provided me the information to fill it out? They provided me the wrong name.

So I already knew the tricks for getting the appointment at the US Consulate and there I was with another PoA with the newly provided information overnighted to them (another $30+$45).
WEEK 6: I call: "Now we are all set to go. We should load the car Thursday".

***FOURTH RIP-OFF: Consular Notarized Power of Attorney n.3
WEEK 7: I call the next Monday: "The Custom has rejected the PoA!" But why? "The name on the PoA was wrong". But you e-mailed me John, now you are telling me it's Jose??
Another trip at the US Consulate, another $30+$45.
The PoA n.3 gets there Friday of WEEK 7. I call them Friday: "WE ARE SORRY BUT THE PERSON NAMED IN THE LAST PoA DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE FOR US" "WITHOUT A VALID PoA WE CANNOT SHIP YOUR CAR".

***HIRING OF A LOCAL ATTORNEY TO GET THE CAR
WEEK 8 At that point I started to get very frustrated since I already should have been driving my Vette. Suddenly the dream was becoming a nightmare. A friend that lives in Miami advices me to hire an attorney. I explain to the attorney the issues and he contact Schumacher Cargo asking explications and they say that with a fourth PoA everything was going to be OK.
I did not believe anymore in what Schumacher was telling me, so the attorney suggest me to change shipping company.
He arranges pick-up at Schumacher Cargo warehouse of my Vette by a flatbed, and delivers it to another shipping company (that proved to be extremely good).

***SCHUMACHER GOING AWOL
WEEK 10: We request a refund from Schumacher Cargo and provide them the wire informations. At that point they go AWOL (the do not reply us anymore).
WEEK 15: My attorney contacts the FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION.

***CAR ARRIVES THANKS TO THE SECOND SHIPPING COMPANY*** (it's a real beauty)

***FEDERAL MARITIME COMMINSION INVOLVED
WEEK 20: the FMC gets a detailed complaint by us, and an FMC attorney contacts Schumacher Cargo. Schumacher Cargo replies: "We have attempted to contact the client (false) because the wire information provided are wrong and we cannot wire funds unless we have them corrected".
I contact my bank and the indeed confirm that those were the ONLY correct wire information. Schumacher continues in claiming that the coordinates were wrong and the FMC contacts SWIFT and confirms my coordinates.

***FIFTH RIP-OFF: PARTIAL REFUND (60%)
WEEK 23 The FMC starts pointing at Schumacher's surety bond in order to recoup the funds. At that point something happened and after 5 days I receive a partial refund of $1000. But what about the rest??
Schumacher Cargo has gone AWOL again replying neither to us nor to FMC.

***DOCKET FILING
WEEK 27 The FMC say that at this point the next step will be the filing of a Docket.

C O N C L U S I O N S
DO NOT CHOSE AN UNKNOWN CAR SHIPPING COMPANY.
Always rely on feedback from friends or dealers (or attorney as in my case).

I still don't know if I will ever be able to have my money refunded in full by Schumacher Cargo. One thing for sure I will never use them again. It's horrible the way they made me feel for all of those months that I was hoping to see my car depart from the US.

P.S.
I forgot to mention that when the car was picked up at Schumacher Cargo warehouse it had a flat (brand new tires), a cracked bumper, the chrome Vette logo stolen, full of ants and roaches (they left the window open), and the white leather interior badly stained. And I have pictures taken by the seller that proves that those conditions were not pre-existent.

Daniel
Miami, Florida
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 10/22/2008 01:58 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/schumacher-cargo/gardena-california-90248/schumacher-cargo-logistics-instead-of-shipping-the-car-they-decided-to-hold-it-for-6-mont-383843. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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