Shipping Companies-Any Info Please!

I have not used Managed Freight. I used Tropical Shipping and they did a great job, lived up to the timeline provided and were helpful in walking me through the whole process.

I've used VI Cargo for business and Tropical Shipping for personal and was satisfied with both.

Lee Fleming (Managed Freight is his family's business) is great! He's honest, reliable, and experienced.

dntw8up,
How 'big' does your cargo have to be, in other words, can it be an alternative to mailing supplies from the states to STX? Also, where are they located, if at all re:STX? If not available here, any others?

SunshineCruzan - depending on what you are shipping you can use either VI Cargo or Deliver It for packages big and small. In my opinion, VI Cargo has gone downhill in regards to Customer Service and reliability. The last two times I used them they raised the price on my shipment and did not inform me until I went to pick it up (the "quote" had only been given 2 weeks prior). I have spoken to others having the same issues with VI Cargo in the past few months. I have not used Deliver It yet, however, everything I have investigated about them has been positive and I plan to use them for my next shipment. Their website is www.deliveritvi.com

Although they are the same family Flemings Transport and Managed Freight are two separate operations. I used Lee Fleming's Managed Freight to ship my boat here last month and got outstanding service. The boat arrived unscratched and the price did not exceed the quote. I was out of town when the boat arrived so they even took care of Customs and other paperwork and parked the boat in my driveway where I found it upon my return (they sent me pictures by email after it came off the ship so I could see it while I was on the road.)

I believe you will be very happy with Managed Freight.

Thank you everyone! I have decided to go with Managed Freight because Lee Flemming might just be the friendliest person out there...oh, and the fact that he went above and beyond the 'freight business' to answer many of my random questions. I truly believe that everything will work out with shipping my vehicle and I will put up another post once my vehicle arrives so others planning on shipping large items can expand their moving searches. Nothing beats personal experiences when making such big decisions. Thanks again everyone!!

I'd like to chime in on my shipping experience.

We were not transporting a vehicle or a boat, but I thought that this info may be helpful to some.

My husband and I were doing a complete renovation to say the least, all new plumbing, electrical, jackhammering out concrete floors and the like. We were not moving our houshold down, this was for investment purposes so I needed to purchase everything new from various vendors and have it shipped. We used Tropical and it was a breeze for the first stage. All that I had to do was line up all of my orders to be delivered to them (we chose Miami, but they do ship out of other locations), within 14 days or I would be charged a holding fee if other items were back ordered and the shipment had to wait or be shipped seperately.

So hear I come "click and pull", I ordered everything from glassware, bedding, small furniture, small appliance and the likes to the tune of 46 boxes and 1000 cubic feet. My credit cards were smokin' by this time.

Tropical recieved everything as planned with the exception of one rogue box from target.com. It was a breeze beginning to end with them. The true challenge started when I contacted Griffin transport to go through customs and deliver my items for me. When I dropped off my bill of lading (firstimer with Griffin) she said that I would need to know the country of origin of everything that I purchased. I was somewhat shocked (again a newbe at this), I thought that if my items had already entered the US and were being shipped from the US at a different port their would be no questions asked. I was at a loss for words, how on earth am I to find out where each item that I purchased was made? Once again, to my delight, she had obviously done this before. I had all of my original order confirmations and after a day she was able to collect the neccessary information needed. Whew! They delivered all of my items intact (almost, I was the stupid one to have hand painted wine glasses with palm trees shipped. Of the 3 dozen that I orderd, only 5 were broken).

Interesting facts that I have learned in my personal order of importance:

I was somewhat shocked that my entire order from American Hotel was exempt from customs, obviously because the box says "American Hotel". I have been in the hospitality business for almost 20 years and have dealt with this company extensively. They stand behind everything they sell. What they sell is the most extensive collection of anything that you could ever imagine. You can buy everything from hospitality soaps to grand pianos. They sell commercial kitchen equipment to custom built bars. They have a complete concierge service that will find anything that you can describe, I would hope at this point you can understand the megacompany that this is. In addition, all I had to do is sign a waiver that the merchandise that I ordered was shipped to a non taxable state and they waived all of the taxes.

Sams Club I would also include as an asset to shipping. They shipped 2 flat screen LCD TV's withing the US for free. They also reimbursed me for the state taxes that I did have to pay once I faxed them the bill of lading.

Target was somewhat great, maybe I should have done the homework that the wonderful people at Griffin Transport did for me. It was somewhat of a challenge to them to find out exactly the country of origin each item came from. Did I mention that I had over 300 items orderd. I have still yet to be reimbursed for the taxes that I paid, but I will have good faith on that at the moment.

Finally, all of you Ladies and Gentlemen of taste, I have a new favorite. Designer Linnens, hands down. I was never charged for the taxes even though the original shipment stayed within the US to be forwarded to the USVI. The collection that they keep on hand is exellent and they ship promptly. I priced out my Liz Claiborne Bonaire collection elswhere and the price was higher. Designerlinnenoutlet.com had everything and more and shipped it within 24 hours and they were 30% less than the competitors.

Hope this helps someone, I'm stateside at the moment but there is no doubt that the islands captivate me.

Molly

I forgot to add this:

American Hotel is a mega supplier, they carry every thing I added above but forgot to mention that most of what they sell is from overseas. They cater to every market. So all of you asking for Egyptian cotton sheets, no customs no problems, just pick your thread count. I do have a catalog on island for anyone interested. Otherwise if you can prove yourself as a business entitiy they will send you one. I'm still somewhat amazed, but not surprised that the hotels have been using this useful company to their advantage.

I am only speaking as a forun of one. I don't sell anything, and I don't ask for anything. I thought that this may be helpful to someone.

Cordially,

Molly