uh they're giving you the run-around.

I've lived outside the states (Canada and France) and packages just need a general description (i.e. car parts) and a value that you've provided. Customs will hold your stuff until you pay any taxes. The shipper isn't held liable. Customs may open the boxes and you might have to show receipts upon pickup to prove values, but usually customs is pretty lenient as long as it looks like you made an attempt to show the correct value.

I would not trust giving them a credit card number or any other form of payment. Paypal is your best bet.

Did they actually refund your paypal payment? Did you ask for a refund? If you didn't ask for a refund and they did this anyway, I think it was to avoid further dispute.

If they have refunded your paypal payment, I would schedule another using paypal and make it clear that you expect shipment confirmation within a reasonable time (you decide what that is). If you don't get confirmation of shipment then dispute the payment. Immediately escalate the dispute so paypal investigates for you.

If they haven't refunded your payment, then escalate with paypal immediately.

From paypal's website:

 

Dear Elliot,

Do you think I was threatening you for you to have my item shipped? I have explained the reason for all those action taken, I need to protect myself as a consumer who has not received any updates from your team.

For PayPal payment, as long as you can show them that the shipment number and everything has been posted to me, there's no way that a dispute will be filed. The problem isn't about me at all.

And as I have mentioned, I have provided the necessary customs declaration on time and that is not a excuse. If you guys don't follow up the email I sent previously, it's not my fault. What kind of customer service is this? PayPal dispute was opened after 10 days I have provided the shipping details. Is 10 days insufficient for your team to go through the emails?

Like I said in the previous email, I want you to let me know what is the way that I should pay so that your team will ship my item out without any further delay? And how long will it take to ship out my item after making the shipping payment? And will I be updated with the shipping number?

Yours Sincerely,
Patrick


From: Team VIAddress <contact@viaddress.com>
To: Pat <patyong@gmail.com>; Patrick Yong <patrickyong@ymail.com>
Sent: Thu, 26 August, 2010 1:10:19 PM
Subject: Re: Refund for shipping fees (Items in your Suite)

Dear Patrick,

We regret to hear that the shipment of your packages has been delayed because our shipping department has not received the nesessary customs declarations on time and because of the paypal dispute.

Please note that no law inforcement agency can make us ship items if we do not receive the payment for the shipping fees, so there is no need for your threats.

If you want to use Viaddress service to forward your packages, you simply have to log into your Viaddress account and make the payment for the shipping fees. Your packages will be shipped within 2 business days according to the shipping method you select.


If a dispute is filed again before the delivery of the packages, they will be intercepted and returned to us at your expense and the shipping fees will have to be paid by Bank Wire Transfer.
Since it is your 1st time shipping with Viaddress, I have told the shipping department to waive the storage fees for the packages that you're going to ship, if they have been at your suite for over 60 days.

Best regards,

Elliot Davidson
Account Manager
Viaddress Team
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I feel like this viaddress are running by crooks. They refunded me.

I foresee that they wouldn't ship my item even if I pay for the item to be shipped. And by the way this guy put it, my guess is they won't ship the item and when I opened a dispute again, they gonna come out with loads of crap stating that they have recall the shipping and get me to wire-transfer money over. Which is good, because I will have more information and evidence to file a report.

Would it be cheap to get a lawyer to sue them? I have an impression that Americans like to sue people - make it look dirt cheap to sue

 

I just called (they actually answered!) and spoke to them at length.

They were very reluctant to give out their names; they just answer "viaddress." First I talked to Lori Sallee (sp?). She told me she couldn't discuss private information. I explained all the issues you had reaching them by email or telephone. I asked for another more reliable phone number where they could be reached and she hung up on me.

I called back; she answered again. I again requested another phone number so you could call; this time she put me on hold for a few minutes and Jason Haas picked up. I told Jason I was calling for a friend having problems using their service.

I explained your problem communicating with them (phones not answered and emails not returned). He opened up a bit. He said their policy was to not ship if disputes are opened "because sometimes paypal sides with the customer and we don't get paid." I'm not kidding. It may be their strategy is to wait beyond the period for disputing paypal payments before shipping anything.

He said they still have your stuff.

I asked what they needed besides payment to get the shipment sent: Jason told me they had all the information they needed.

He said to send payment and they would ship the same day. I told him it's 2AM in Australia and payment might not get to them until tomorrow (Friday here in the States). Jason said if he received payment by tomorrow morning (about 24 hours from now) he would ship on Friday and you should immediately get shipping confirmation from Fedex.

I told him you had contacted local agencies and would take further action starting with immediately opening a paypal dispute if you do not get shipping confirmation by Monday August 30. I asked Jason if this was "reasonable" and he agreed it was. He assured me he would personally ship your items the same day as paypal payment is received.

It sounds like a very small operation, understaffed, and unprofessional.

Hope you get your stuff.

P.S. lawyers charge $250/hour. to sue would probably be 8 hours minimum and about 16 hours if it goes to court. If you won the court would probably award legal fees as well as damages, but you'd have to pay the lawyer before starting.

 

Thanks for the update Steve, you're the man!

Yes I have in fact received a couple of emails from these people by the name of Elliot Davidson - account manager, Kelly Snow - account manager Jason Haas - CSR Team. With Kelly and Jason asking me to pay for the shipping.
I've paid for the shipping via PayPal at around 1030pm, Thursday - Indiana time.

This Jason actually told you that they have all the information that they needed BUT Elliot, the account manager actually told me that they don't have the information needed to send the item over. Sounds to me that Jason is slapping Elliot in the face. Anyway, I told them in the most straightforward way, I just wanted my stuff and if the item are posted and received in their original state, then I'll not pursue this matter.

I'll do an update on whether or not I've received a tracking number by Monday.

 

Talking to them they sound like a bunch of unprofessional idiots (or worse) that paid for a fancy web front. They sound like a few people that decided to start a business with no experience or ethics and they are in way over their heads. Their titles and logos are just a front for a few people with a store-front operation. They have paid for reviews to be placed on websites around the world, and are in the practice of bullying customers. This is not a reputable business.

If you don't get shipping confirmation by Monday, I think you should raise a dispute with payal and immediately "escalate" so paypal contacts viaddress for you. At the regular dispute level paypal just alerts the seller to contact you.

It's about time for "sarah van dyke" to make an appearance on this thread.

I hope you get your stuff.

 

It's pure unethical and irresponsible. For the amount of effort spent paying people to write reviews about them, why not pay more attention to customer service? These people doesn't seem to even have a company goal, vision etc. And if they pay people to do fake reviews, I am pretty sure the company doesn't have a very good culture - sorry I don't mean to judge but which company filter out calls, and hanged up on customers? This company is just an empty shell with insufficient substance. Sigh.. and as of now, there's no sign of any email stating that they have received my payment and is preparing my item for postage - 1038am Indiana time

 

Just an update for those who keep track to this thread. I have just received the postage for viaddress today. Thanks to fitfreak community and those who have assisted me in reaching to viaddress (you know who you are.)

 

Steve rocks! Nice job guys. Feels good to be a part of FF

 

Yes! Steve has been very helpful along the way. This is how I will rate viadress:

1) Service: 2/10 (They did get my stuff over)
2) Communication: 0/10 (Reason being not able to get through their phone lines. For goodness sake, why do they even offer a phone line if customers from overseas can't get through especially in this line of business where customer should always be kept informed.)
3) Price: not sure (They're the first freight forwarder I used but they might be one of the lowest out there, I wouldn't mind paying a little more for better service)
4) Attitude: 0/10 (No apologies, explanation after all the trouble I put everyone into. They can't even explain why overseas customers are unable to get through their line.
It seems like these people are working from home because they don't communicate with each other.)
My suggestion for those who are thinking of using a freight forwarder, unless you have someone in U.S to call them, I'm not sure if their service is going to improve in the future but I wouldn't recommend their service at this point of time.

 

yay!.......

 

I hope I am not breaking any forum rules, I came here via Google search about Viaddress. I wish I had seen this before but anyhow, their customer support number doesn't seem to work. I get 'extension can't be reached' and to record a message... No response from their Facebook/Twitter account either...

I tried calling from Skype and Google Phone but as mentioned, goes to recording. It has been only 3 days since I paid them to ship my packages but after reading some customer comments on their Facebook page and esp. this + the phone number not reachable, I am worried.

Patyong: This will be the last time I use their service for package forwarding. Have you looked into any other alternative? Since there are still a few things I need to get which are US shipping only.

 

Check your pm

 

Unfortunately !
I wish to read this post earlier :-( When i open an dispute in Paypal.
They said:
Then I closed the dispute and wait. After 7 days of waiting, they never shipped my item. I tried to contact them via thier Help Desk and this is thier answer:

I do not understand why they always want me to talk to someone named Cianan Black (ciblack@paypal.com). Does anyone know who is that?

 

Please check out Better Business Bureau also:
Check Out a Business or Charity - Northern Indiana BBB for Viaddress in 46514
This information tends to be a little more precise, less opinion, and more useful in general terms. It is an excellent supplement and context for specific instances conveyed on our fitfreak.net site; without prejudice for or against any opinion expressed.

Moved to Off-Topic-Discussion since there is little if anything about Fit. Certainly related so not wasteland- though the discussion may be headed in that direction (no offense intended).

 

BBB is a scam.

 

Guys i have also been screwed recently by Viaddress.Below is my story.

Guys i wanted to share this story with you guys where i literally lost 5000 USD.Viaddress which is a mail forwarding company in elkhart,Indiana USA,i opened some accounts with them as i own a business out side of USA and import alot from USA.I thought it would be a good idea to have an accounts of my customers to that i can ship them directly from viaddress to them.One account that i made for a customer (that was with his permission) which i used for a 5000 usd shipment from the supplier in USA to Viaddress.Shipment came and it showed our cost for sending the item to the selected destination (price was 40% higher then what other companies were offering) and we paid it.
Now after 2 days they come back to us through email that Paypal has asked for to hold the shipment as the address in Paypal does not match and we require the following documents to to get this shipment moved.Below is the actual email.
We have been notified by PayPal regarding your last shipment payment telling us that your PayPal address in unconfirmed and that they are telling us to hold your shipment until your PayPal address has been confirmed. SHP1368718617

To have your items shipped we will need the following from you:

1. Two Government issued Picture Identification card. (2 ids under your name, 2 ids under the Paypal account holder name)
2. Utility bill that is the same as the PayPal address.

Once we can confirm that this account is legit, we would be able to proceed with your shipment.

Simply reply to this ticket with the above documents as attachments.


After which we called and checked with paypal to see if the that was the case from their side.But to my surprise they said that they did not had any issue with the payment i made through them to Viaddress.This really got me angry and i called viaddress (i had to search for their number as they did not listed it on their website but found it) and asked them to straight away ship out my package.Which they declined and then admitted that they needed that items.I told them i can provide the documents which i have now and the rest will send you later but they never agreed as it would have taken me a month to my ID as it was in the process of renewal in my country.

Then at one time they even hang up the phone on me and the operator was very arrogant and said that they dont deal on the phone and that i should email them.Then i told them to ship the item back to a friend of mine in Salt Lake City Utah who agreed to help me in this shipment but Viaddress said that they will only ship back to the supplier from where the shipment came.The supplier also helped me and agreed to receive the shipment and resend it to my friend.Then i purchased a return shipping label and sent it to Viaddress to send the shipment back to the supplier.

Its been 2 days as i am writing this post now and they have not shipped out my package and all this time i lost almost 15 days with this package.My client was so angry at me that he said that he will never deal with me again.I contacted another mail forwarding company and explained them all the details and they agreed to ship the items without any documents just that they will open the box and inspect the shipment.

They gave me a huge huge lose and i wanted to share my story with you guys so that you avoid using them.Especially if you are planning to use them for your business purpose.