Shipping? Beware - Long

[Dave's_Not_Here]

I recently purchased a Techno Isel LC 4896 Plus Series router with only a couple of hours on it. It needed to be shipped about 1,500 miles. I did the best research I could and received a quote from FreightCenter out of Florida (basically a freight broker). I could not find any negative info online.

They quoted $997 through YRC (a merged company of Yellow Freight and Roadway). Just before shipping, they added a fuel surcharge of $50. I paid the $1,047 and received the machine five days later. The Bill of Lading showed they reweighed the shipment and had increased the weight by 925 pounds. Seeing how the machine was palletized, I had little reason to doubt the additional weight. This should have cost an additional $650 at .70 per pound.

About a week later, I received an invoice from FreightCenter for $2,500+ reflecting no previous payment and a reclassification of the load. I was advised up front, that a reclassification might occur and that there could be an additional $370 cost, plus the $650 for additional weight. There are hundreds of freight classifications the transportation industry can use and the individual is at their mercy. Many, many questions (including classification) were asked up front to avoid a possible horror story like many other people have experienced.

When asked why the reclassification did not include the additional weight as before, (the original quote included the weight estimate and was a part of the total "rate") and how could the load see a 240% increase, all I received was an admission that the invoice was in error regarding the previous payment and an adjusted invoice for $1400+ and a notice that the payment had to be made by 5/11/09 to avoid action on their part.

So, needless to say, no matter how hard I tried to avoid a bait-n-switch like so many other's freight experiences, I still got hammered.

In the end, I have a great machine at a great price. It would have cost as much or more to fight the freight broker as it was to pay the extortion and move on. So beware: FreightCenter is no different than the other freight brokers that take advantage of the individual shipper who lacks the resources and industry knowledge to protect themselves.