SEFCO Export Management Company Added $550 above contract without permission, attempted blackmail for payment Forest Hills New York

Like Matt, Sefco Export did the same to our organization when the trucking company they contracted with showed up two days late to load and then charged us $315.00 more for going over the load time. Sefco was responsible for miscommunication but refused to pay and put a hold on our container.

Ultimately we sadly lost the contents in the container due to the malicious business conduct and practices by Sefco.

The bright ray of light was - we did file a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission and received justice when the FMC found Sefco violated several rules of maritime law.

My recommendation is never use a company that holds your container hostage, maliciously and spitefully witholds paperwork (bill of lading) and causes thousands of dollars in extra fees.

Matt Holley's grip was over the increase in US trucking costs that was paid to a domestic auto trucker to move his car from
Seatlle WA to Baltimore port, and he was apprised of this info honestly and the net diference in cost was passed along,
and all actions by SEFCO were found to be true, honest and correct, Mr. Holley simply decided to blame the ocean freight
forwarder which is nothing more than sour grapes. He complained bitterly. Thats is true. Like people complained biterly when the proice of gas spked to over $4.50 a gallon.
Perhaps Mr. Holley believes thats our doing as well.
We will share the redacted file of this fellows shipment particulars with anone who asks,
and our company has rejected to false claim presented by Mr. Mathew Holley,
who is bitter about payin a small increase due to a trucker that was found to be 100% true, correct and honestly handled.
Even after being double and triiple checked by every consumer group he contacted which were many.
Mr. Holley is throwing rocks in a glass house.

Further research indicates that they gave us a bad faith estimate, quoting $975 for transport across the US to a port for further shipment. After the agreement was made and payment sent, they added over 50% to the price - now $1550, without my consent.

I spoke with the trucking company they used, which confirmed the two reasons for the price increase Sefco gave were bogus - my Ford Focus was not priced as an SUV and there were no express fees paid. They also let me know that $975 is not a reasonable cost for cross-country shipping (from our home in Seattle to a Baltimore port), which means that the two "professionals" at Sefco were fully aware that the quote was unreasonable, but aimed to win our business.

On top of this, when I told them that I would go to the Federal Maritime Commission to complain, they threatened me, with an email that simply says "Now this will become a big problem", then they cc'd me on a request to put a hold on our car.

If these guys do the same to you, contact the Federal Maritime Commission and the BBB and share your experience! There are plenty of forwarding companies to choose from - do yourself a favor and avoid this one.