Excess Baggage Company

Some very strange things are happening with Excess Baggage (http://www.excess-baggage.com/). I have 2 shipments containing basically all of my family's belongings on the way to NZ from the UK. The first of these is due to arrive in a couple of weeks.

Today I received an email from the company in Auckland which handles the shipments at this end, saying that Excess International has gone into receivership and that I will probably have to pay the fees for the shipment again.

I phoned Excess Baggage and they were extremely cagey, saying that yes Excess International has gone into receivership and because my shipment was sent with them they couldn't do anything about it. But I didn't even know Excess International existed until now, I booked through Excess Baggage. They said "well all your invoices are from Excess International." OK so I checked my invoices, they have the Excess Baggage logo in big print at the top, Excess International appears in small print at the bottom. Their other excuse was "Excess Baggage is just a brand name." They were telling me that Excess International is a completely separate company and just one of the various companies that they use to ship goods, and then sort of admitted at Excess Baggage does own Excess International. Is this sounding confusing? Does it make no sense? Let me tell you, it's more confusing and makes less sense when you're on the phone to them. The only point they wanted to get across clearly was "sorry we can't help you, go away" ... but I've got my families life possessions in the hands of this company!!

I contacted the British Association Of Removers (http://www.baroverseas.co.uk) a trade association which may be able to offer some compensation for the shipping costs. The lady I spoke to was a lot more helpful, though there is nothing they can do at the moment as apparently the company hadn't formally started the receivership process. They have been struck off from the association however, another reason you shouldn't use them as future shipments probably won't be covered. She also confirmed that Excess Baggage and Excess International are in fact the same company.

What I find most shocking is that this company is still trading as if everything is fine. There website is still up and they are still taking people possessions. This, alongside the fact that they pretend Excess International is nothing to do, seem to be completely fraudulent. 

This may all seem strange, you may have even sent goods with this company in the past, but at this time things are definitely very suspect. There isn't much information about this online but I can provide proof if asked.

There are a few comments on the Excess International facebook page relating to them going bankrupt. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Excess-International-Movers/74404703378 You can also contact BAR to confirm.

Also a the webcheck lookup on Companies House (http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk) confirms that EXCESS INTERNATIONAL REMOVALS LTD has the exact same address as EXCESS BAGGAGE COMPANY LIMITED.

Just don't trust them with your stuff. If you're lucky you'll just have to pay for shipping a second time, if you're not you'll never see you're things again.

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Do not use!!! My boxes arrived totally destroyed, smashed and wet and my electronic appliances, amongst other broken things, do NOT work anymore. Even though we had insured the goods, they do NOT want to pay. We have exchanged numerous emails with evidence and their only answer (when there is one) is that they won't pay because they can't see enough damage on the goods. Very rude and unprofessional customer service on top of everything. I am left with broken goods, a fortune paid to them for shipping and insurance and no compensation at all. Very frustrating.

DON'T EVER USE THIS COMPANY...BEWARE!! I recently sent household goods via Excess Baggage Company to India. The company mentioned there will be certain destination charges and custom clearence which i would have to pay in India. Thereafter I questioned how much will it be and heard no response. By that time they had picked up my stuff and sent it via cargo. Now after 3 months, I received an invoice from the local company Globelink which they have a tie up with for GBP 250 approx. Apparently the local company is claiming that they have a fixed charge of Rs 14347 ( GBP 250 approx) for goods upto 1000kg. This is also been informed to the Excess bagge company and have been having issues with few other customers as well who were equally surprised by the destination charges. Excess bagge despite asking several time didn't bother to tell me the exact destination charges or for that matter give me a ballpark figure. This activity seems an excellent way to dupe customers and charge whatever they wish for. IN THIS SITUATION, YOU WILL BE STUCK WITH NO OTHER OPTION AND LAND UP PAYING DESTINATION CHARGES WHICH ARE EQUAL TO WHAT THEY CHARGE ON DOOR TO PORT SERVICE.

I was put off a bit by their price (it was higher than some other companies i contacted). Their sales rep won me over though and i booked. I can only say that you get what you pay for --- service was quick, staff were polite and helpful and everything went as planned. Will use again.

I sent a box of my shoes (shopping spree in my last week in UK!) from London to New York and I was very impressed. They delivered the packing box to me and the guys & girls on the phone were always helpful, even when i asked what i'm sure were very daft questions. After it was collected i paid just £80.00 to send the box and it arrived at my new Apartment in NYC in 4 days! Wonderful - Highly recommended!

unhelpful, unorganised, one person tells you one thing whilst another tells you something different...over three weeks since pick up and our boxes are still sitting in UK whilst we are already in NZ...'staff sickness', 'holiday period'...so much for their claims on website...my wife and I are so upset and so powerless to do anything from 12,000 miles away...terrible.