Is Shipito.com a scam, fraud or a legit service?

[stayingalive]

Originally Posted by alexthunder

Why would a Shipito employee write the following article:
Complaints after 18 months of using Shipito ?
Want to see my messages in the Shipito forum as well?

I deleted my post after reading your list of complaints as I was wrong to accuse you of being a Shipito employee.

I still don't get why you're defending them so much, especially after they've obviously treated you fairly badly.

[stayingalive]

Originally Posted by alexthunder

You may share your experience in the Shipito forum, so that they can reply to you and confirm that you're a real customer of theirs. Post a link to your forum thread here.

I'm not posting in the Shipito forum. I do not want anything more to do with them. My only interest is in sharing my experience so other people don't have to through it.

I wish I had read a thread like this before I used Shipito - I'd have saved myself a lot of money and unnecessary hassle.

[alexthunder]

Originally Posted by stayingalive

I still don't get why you're defending them so much, especially after they've obviously treated you fairly badly.

They didn't treat me badly.

Shipito services were very cheap. Now they are more expensive compared to many russian freight forwarders. But I haven't found any US freight forwarder that is cheaper than Shipito for countries besides Russia and which is reliable, offers many shipping methods.

Originally Posted by stayingalive

I'm not posting in the Shipito forum. I do not want anything more to do with them. My only interest is in sharing my experience so other people don't have to through it.

I used to work in a support team for a software company. Few inquiries were positive. By reading their forum you could think that their software was just awful. It was the time when I realised that glad customers don't really tend to post anything. But as soon as they have a problem, they do leave negative feedback.

There are many Shipito competitors who make fake reviews on how bad Shipito is (we had the same problem in the software company). Plus I saw many customers in the forum who just didn't want to admit their own faults blaming Shipito for everything. I must repeat that Shipito is not ideal. It has some growth problems, but all 2 their old warehouses in California and 1 in Oregon are full of packages. This proves that Shipito is good for thousands or even tens of thousands of customers no matter how many negative reviews you read.

Few companies (like Zappos) try to satisfy their customers by all means. Such companies usually have lots of positive feedback. But everything costs money, so goods and services of such companies are very costly. Shipito offers moderate and low cost pricing, so I don't expect excellent experience as a customer. I get what I pay for.

Posting in the Shipito forum will prove that you really were a customer. Besides the forum allows to understand that the company is very transparent and its employees try to solve problems.

[stayingalive]

Originally Posted by alexthunder

They didn't treat me badly.

Shipito were very cheap. Now they are more expensive compared to many russian freight forwarders. But I haven't found any US freight forwarder that is cheaper, more reliable and offers so many shipping methods.


I used to work in a support team for a software company. Few inquiries were positive. By reading their forum you could think that their software was just awful. It was the time when I realised that glad customers don't really tend to post anything. But as soon as they have a problem, they do leave negative feedback.

There are many Shipito competitors who make fake reviews on how bad Shipito is (we had the same problem in the software company). Plus I saw many customers in the forum who just didn't want to admit their own faults blaming Shipito for everything. I must repeat that Shipito is not ideal. It has some growth problems, but all 2 their old warehouses in California and 1 in Oregon are full of packages. This proves that Shipito is good for thousands or even tens of thousands of customers no matter how many negative reviews you read.

Few companies (like Zappos) try to satisfy their customers by all means. Such companies usually have lots of positive feedback. But everything costs money, so goods and services of such companies are very costly. Shipito offers moderate and low cost pricing, so I don't expect excellent experience as a customer. I get what I pay for.

Posting in the Shipito forum will prove that you really were a customer. Besides the forum allows to understand that the company is very transparent and its employees try to solve problems.

I have dealt with many international suppliers in building my company. The vast majority of my experiences are positive and I am a loyal customer.

Never, in all my years of doing business internationally, have I come across a company with such poor customer service as Shipito.

You say that there are customers who don't want to admit their "faults". What happened to the customer is always right?

In Shipito's case, their terms of use are incredibly complicated and draconian. You need a degree in shipping to understand how their business works.

I saw that there was a monthly limit but I presumed that having the funds on deposit would mean that packages could be sent. After all, the system accepted my $500.00 deposit. How was I supposed to know that Shipito wouldn't let me spend my own money? What company does that - stops a customer spending money?

Shipito may appear to be cheap but it's actually more expensive than alternatives by the time you add up all their charges. And they charge for everything. Even to return your deposit, there's a $6.50 charge.

I predict that Shipito will end up closing, leaving loyal customers like you stuck. No company with their reputation and poor customer service can survive in a competitive environment.

[alexthunder]

Originally Posted by stayingalive

I saw that there was a monthly limit but I presumed that having the funds on deposit would mean that packages could be sent. After all, the system accepted my $500.00 deposit. How was I supposed to know that Shipito wouldn't let me spend my own money? What company does that - stops a customer spending money?

Were you transferring your money to Shipito using your own credit card / paypal? They do block your account when you use someone elses, so you may need to add another person to the account and validate it using his/her IDs, form 1583,...

What documents have you provided to validate your account? What percentage did you see on the validation scale?

Originally Posted by alexthunder

Shipito may appear to be cheap but it's actually more expensive than alternatives by the time you add up all their charges. And they charge for everything. Even to return your deposit, there's a $6.50 charge.

Can you mention any reliable freight forwarders that are cheaper and offer better customer service? Many customers report about MyUS and VIAddress and their reports are much worse than the ones about Shipito.

Originally Posted by alexthunder

I predict that Shipito will end up closing, leaving loyal customers like you stuck. No company with their reputation and poor customer service can survive in a competitive environment.

I read a lot about other package forwarders (parcel forwarding companies, freight forwarders). Some of them open your package without your permission. I also saw many reports when some items were stolen supposedely by employees. And I saw some cases when packages were sent to wrong addresses.

I don't have any problem with their limits, because my account is 83% validated. And $600 allows me to send two 36"x17"x17" packages per month, and my limit is much higher than $600. I have sent many packages already and their fees are very predictable. They are not much higher than you get for shipping only when using Shipito calculator.

I got all 20+ packages from Shipito. No items were stolen or damaged. Of course this is not only because of Shipito, but also because of the customs and postal services. But all these reasons are good enough to stay with Shipito, although I'm not loyal to Shipito at all.

[stayingalive]

Originally Posted by alexthunder

Were you transferring your money to Shipito using your own credit card / paypal? They do block your account when you use someone elses, so you may need to add another person to the account and validate it using his/her IDs, form 1583,...

What documents have you provided to validate your account? What percentage did you see on the validation scale?

Yes, I was using my own credit card. I had supplied enough documents to get to 63%.

Can you mention any reliable freight forwarders that are cheaper and offer better customer service? Many customers report about MyUS and VIAddress and their reports are much worse than the ones about Shipito.

Shipito seems to have the worst online reputation. Bongo gets better reviews but I haven't investigated their pricing. I would be prepared to pay more for better service. I'll look into MyUS.

[alexthunder]

Originally Posted by stayingalive

Bongo gets better reviews but I haven't investigated their pricing.

DHL and Fedex are not an option for me at all no matter what kind of reviews Bongo gets. Not to mention that their Fedex rates are much higher for my destination (Shipito has great Fedex discounts because of the volume, plus their MPS shipment allows to save even more).

[stayingalive]

Originally Posted by alexthunder

DHL and Fedex are not an option for me at all no matter what kind of reviews Bongo gets. Not to mention that their Fedex rates are much higher for my destination (Shipito has great Fedex discounts because of the volume, plus their MPS shipment allows to save even more).

Shipito didn't work out to be cheaper for me. I'm paying a $40-50 "fine" to have a $150.00 shipment sent (wire transfer fees + lousy dollar conversion rate).

But some good news - I discussed it with my credit card company and they said I am entitled to a chargeback on Shipito. They were concerned to hear that Shipito is refusing to take credit cards or Paypal and said I should be very careful about a wire transfer.

Bongo's reviews aren't stellar. Not as bad as Shipito's but I'm pretty wary after weeks and weeks of headaches.

I'm going to try MyUS next - thanks for the tip, Alex. Fingers crossed.

[stayingalive]

Alex, MyUS say they have free consolidation.

Given I was paying Shipito $8.50 per package plus another $8.50 for a special request (my orders wouldn't fit in a small box) = a minimum of $42.50 per shipment, even if MyUS shipping rates are more, I will probably be better off.

The only thing is that they don't have TNT, who tend to be cheaper to my country than DHL or Fedex.

[alexthunder]

Originally Posted by stayingalive

I'm going to try MyUS next - thanks for the tip, Alex.

From what I have read, people usually switch from MyUS to Shipito. But hope you will have better experience.

Try to use coupon code shipito20 for getting 20% discount onto DHL and Fedex. MyUS gives it to unhappy Shipito customers.