A1 Freight Forwarding Inc.

I needed to ship a box weighing 135 kilos (300 pounds) from Vancouver to Luxembourg (Europe), and was astonished by the fact that there were so few possibilities in terms of companies offering shipping for such heavy weight items. Despite the poor reviews I read on the internet I decided to try A1 forwarding. First I made a number of quotations to check the sensitivity of the shipping price to the dimensions of the package and the weight. The weight seemed to be the most relevant factor for shipping by air. As I had bought the item through Ebay, my plan was to have the seller drop off the item at A1, so I asked them beforehand where the drop off location would be. As I had not yet placed the order, they gave me an indication of the area instead of the actual address. I then contacted the seller who was okay to drop it off there. I then placed the order, and A1 requested me to fill in some forms along with a copy of the shipper’s passport (formally that was me in this case). When filling in the forms A1 told me I had to provide an address in Canada (that I do not have). After some discussion we decided that I provide the address of an hotel in Vancouver (even though I was in Europe). A1 then provided me the actual drop off address, and charged my credit card for the amount originally quoted. The amount was charged in Canadian Dollars, as per the quote. I subsequently asked the seller to drop off the item along with two A4 print outs provided by A1. Shortly after this, A1 told me which flights the goods would be shipped with. The flight dates were just a few days after the goods were dropped off. I noticed that the dimensions of the box were greater than I submitted in the quote but I was not charged extra by A1, probably because the weight was a more relevant factor. Subsequently I just waited and about two days after the flight I received a mail from LuxCargo in Luxembourg that goods had been received with the question whether I wanted them to do the customs clearance. I agreed and they asked me the invoice to determine the customs charges, which turned out to be only the VAT and no duties. LuxCargo then asked me pick up the goods and also pay the customs invoice and their handling and admin charges (92 Euros, approx. 100 dollars). So I drove to LuxCargo, paid the fees and the VAT in their office and then was directed to a loading bay, where a pickup driver put the box in my car. So overall an excellent experience, as long as you are aware that A1 is not a ‘door-to-door’ delivery company. You have to understand that you will need to pay some handling and potentially also customs charged in the port of arrival, but those fees certainly do not go into the pocket of A1.

We had a GREAT experience with A1 Freight Forwarding. The process was simple, and efficient. They worked out the details for our shipment and found the most cost effective solution that got our shipment to our customer in a very timely manner. We would certainly use them again when the time comes.
Thank you.

We use this company to move our personal belongings to Budapest, Hungary in beginning of December 2018. Nice people and easy to work with them. They have online service for quote and we download shipping documents from their website. This safe a lot of time.
Shipment was received in Budapest as scheduled. Thank you guys for your service!

From the beginning to the end, I was in touch with very efficient people. My belongings arrived in perfect condition. The persons picking up and delivering were very careful, and I had immediate answers to my questions or requests. Definitely worth the price!
I recommend A1 Freight Forwarding !

A1 Freight and Forwarding caught my attention while doing my online search since they provided an instant quote!
It seemed to go downhill from here.
1. The cost was quoted in USD, but charged in CAD at an exchange rate that was 6.7% higher than the prevailing exchange rate. I asked to be charged in USD but no responsive and said they said it in the fine print but that is not the case.
2. Charged me for a pallet at $65 yet it was paid for at the loading dock at $25. Other than attempting to double charge, it was an extra $40!
3. The dimensions they charged me for final package were significantly different from the ones measured with the loading personnel, a difference amounting to $317. When I asked for the invoice from the loading persons, they did not provide one and just wrote the dimensions and charges on the email body.
4. A1 Freight is unclear and unhelpful on what costs you are paying them for, especially when it comes to costs charged on the destination end. Needless to say, I ended up paying more than double of what I paid to A1 Freight and Forwarding.

The Company left me with a bitter taste, especially since they were not apologetic for any of their genuine errors and were unclear on the costs to anticipate. Poor customer service from the expectations we have of Canadian businesses. Good customer service even if not making the the highest returns is key to longevity and higher consistent returns in the long run. It felt the company was myopic and all about making an extra dollar, legit or not.