I like when people mention how honest they are in threads, then proceed to spout marketing semantics.. I'm am independent business owner who uses these services from Europe and the US at least a few times a month. Saying the addresses are cheap means nothing..all vendors have cheap addresses.. It's the actual freight rates that matter along with quality of shipping. FYI: All these companies have about the same freight costs, they use the same carriers and adjust profit margins to compete.. I've even dealt directly with the freight companies they use, and saved about $20, but went back with bongous to streamline things. If you can get a person in the US to relay for you, you can save a lot on typical small freight like PC parts and such by using UPS or USPS. UPS actually even reaches rural parts of Europe..
An absolute scammer website. I was going to use them to purchase items from US websites but because of some problem with the USPS form they make you fill out i was unable to do so. When i asked for my money back because i was unable to use their website they straight out refused me. I would avoid.
Hi there,NEVER EVER EVER EVER use BongoUS. I had a parcel shipped to them for shipment to South Africa. The parcel according to BongoUS weighed 30lbs. The product inside the parcel weighs 16lbs, and will packaging, probably no more that 20-25lbs. This is rather irrelevent. The package cost me $300 in all, with shipping and all to BongoUS. This then to ship to me was quoted at time of processing at ~$380 Which is already high, but I though i could live with that... I miss read the site, the $380 was with a proposed discount I would get if I upgraded... my actual ripping off was $580... for shipping a product to the value of $300... This was only seen after the amount went through on my Credit card... So, I establish contact with the support people, they attempted to assist me, but could not, and could not cancel the transaction. I was forced to do a chargeback on the credit card.bottom line... DO NOT USE THEM, they will rip you a new one.
I had a mail forwarding account with Bongo US. An item arrived from the Department of the Treasury. I did not know at the time that this was a check. I forward my mail in a batch as usual, but this item was not included - I contacted BONGO and they did not know where it is....So how did it go missing from a sealed DHL envelope? Only if it never got put in in the first place..... Clearly someone in their firm stole the check. Never use BONGO US - they will steal your mail!
Check this site: http://www.american-checkout.com/ This is a great site that has all American online shops that deliver international. You don't need to go to a shipping company to deliver your products. Don't pay extra shipping and handling charges. Check them out. They are a new site, bringing new stores constantly. I used them to find some of my beauty products that I buy from US and I received them in perfect condition without paying those shipping prices. They write about their stores and products, and some of the stores that have free shipping world wide. Check it out!
DO NOT USE BONGOUS. They will mess you about. Very bad customer care. We lost over $250 with them. They are as bad as it gets. BOGUS BOGUS BONGO BONGO BONG !!!!!!!!!!!
I've been with them for nearly two years. As of late, they can't seem to do anything right. AVOID THEM, or be prepared for lots of frustration and aggravation! Customer service is apparently there to merely placate you, not for the purpose of actually solving any real problems. You will hear the same thing from other people. They are Unreliable! Take your money elsewhere!!!
They charged $48 to ship a $40 leather 6 inch e-reader case for a Christmas present. WAY more than their shipping calculator quoted. Then I was then charged $16 in duties and taxes by DHL, fine... I open the item and it is a crappy DVD!!! They shipped the wrong item... After hours of customer service chats, I finally managed to get them to re-order and ship the correct item over a week later... They then charged me another $42 to ship it again. Then I had to provide the DHL invoice for the duties and taxes refund of $16 dollars....they refunded that but I guess they "forgot" to refund the first $48. They claim they will refund the first $48...we will see... The replacement item did arrive before Christmas, but it was damaged...I didn't care enough to spend the hours on their "live chat" service to get them to re-order it again, as the replacement wouldn't have arrived prior to christmas... So far I've paid $106 to ship a $40 item, and when it arrived it was damaged because they didn't bother to package it properly after they opened it (yes they open each item). I gave up...I'm out $146
I'm pretty sure that they didn't "forget" anything. In my experience, I can only believe that they simply do not care to make things right with their customers, even if it might cost them a little bit in the short term. They make mistakes, and then we pay for them; Not a good business model. In the long run, it would save them money, as they wouldn't be losing customers such as you and I. I feel bad for all the victims of these nincompoops at bongo. I imagine there are boatloads more that don't post their bad experiences. Please, if you are reading this and have had a bad experience with bongo, take the time to tell your story. I'm not asking anyone to lie, and neither does it have to be long. People should be informed of their ineptitude. Good money is being wasted on them for bad service, and I am of the opinion that it should be more widely know that bongo is not a company to be entrusted with such important things as forwarding your packages.
And one more thing... I called them once about picking up one of my items from them in person. They said something to the effect that is was a "closed facility". Really? How odd!!?? What are they hiding? UPS allows you to pick up packages in person. Fedex does the same. This certainly arouses suspicion. It raises all kinds of questions, such as.... How, and by whom are my items being cared for? In what kind of environment/conditions are they being kept? Hearing that it was a closed facility certainly does not inspire confidence!
I think their policy is 90% favor on their websites. They don't' care about their website users. So my review is
Shipto.com is legit. My friend worked for them here in california, torrance. Go check em out, if your looking for mail forwarding. I`m not sure about the other website being mentioned. From all the previous comments, it seems to me they have high pricing issues.
I think their service sucks - - its been 3 weeks and I still don't have my mail. To have 6 letters and 2 magazines forwarded to me in the Bahamas they want $60 - - what a rip off. And don't get me started on their customer service. They read a script and refer you to the fine print in the Terms and conditions. Find another service.
I have had a very odd and unpleasant experience with Bongo. So unpleasant I have set up a website to share the details. have a google on bongo-international.com and you will find it. The long and short of it is that they made a right mess of shipping parcels to me without the right customs declarations. Fex ex took part of the responsibility and refunded me, sent it to Bongo who kept the money themselves!. Cost me a fortune for the shipping as well. You cannot contact them directly you have to leave a message via a web forum. You can ring them up so that whilst you are spending fortunes on the international calls they can shout at you down the phone. I very much suspect that the reason they have held on to the money is so as not to show what they paid Fed Ex...but that is supposition. The rest is fact and on the website where you can share your experiences about these lovely, people as well
Bongo US is a ripoff. Outrageous fees and you can never get a real person to follow up on a question or problem. They continued to bill my credit card for 6 months after I cancelled the service. They closed their Connecticut office because the Attorney General was bearing down. I have since used St. Brendan's Isle in Florida and they give excellent service at reasonable rates - - and you always get a helpful person when you call. DO NOT USE BONGOUS - - you will regret it.
I used them for the first time, because I did not know better, now it has been nothing but a headache, I have my doubts about ever receiving what I paid for, but if I do receive it, then it will be because at least the site owner where I made the purchase is going to send it. Maybe technically they (bongous) is not a scam, but they are not very straight forward either, I would say, DO NOT USE them, now,..if at all possible try to contact the site where you are buying from, and see if they will use some other method, if not look for the item somewhere else. If you have a "online store" and are thinking about using them, I would say, better not too, I think you will end up losing a lot of customers. Bongous uses a lot of "hot shot" lawyers, to make it all "legal", so technically it is not a scam, it is legal, but does that make it RIGHT,..? I did not understand what they meant by "uses a third party", when I checked on the site where I made the purchase from, that was why it had a low confidence rating, Now I do understand, and will never buy from somewhere that uses a "3rd party", in fact I hope I never need to make a online purchase again,after this. Fortunately I was able to contact the business/site owner, where I made the purchase, to my surprise, at first he thought, and said, " I don't think you bought it on this site, there is no record." So I sent him the confirmation, and a copy of my bank statement, showting, that I had been charged for the item, ... later he wrote back, and said he would send my order himself,.. the thing of it is , these "bongous" people, I now call them "bogous",..because that is what they are, it appears that once they get the money ,and have your card number, oh, and that is another thing, they made additional charges, unauthorized, to my account,..but once they get the money, they do not even bother to place the order , or contact the business that the purchase was made from, only after publicly telling about this, then they responded,... So no I definitely do not recommend anyone use them, and I am making every effort to inform the public about them.
I suspect, you are right, or partially, I think what they count on, is many people do not want to lose more money, on the long distance calls, etc. Like wise, and I am really busy with my job, I did not really have the time, nor can afford to lose the time, it took to start investigating this, I think they are "working" both ends, in some cases they do not tell their clients a order was placed, just keep the money, and hope the customer gets lost in the "runaround" , never able to file a claim, If I had the money, and could afford it, I would start a professional investigation, ... I do wish I had looked around, before I used them, "oh well, now I know better",..thanks to sites like this, and my own experience.