From New York, United States to Madrid, Spain - December, 2006

I used Air Parcel Express (APX) through their website http://www.shipping-worldwide.com and http://www.freight-calculator.com to ship a motorcycle from Washington, D.C. USA to Madrid, Spain. I was told it takes 1 week for air shipping, which includes the time required to get the motorcycle cleared by USA customs. I was also required to pay around $150.00 beyond what I had been quoted by the website, for a "title fee" or something along those lines.

I dropped the motorcycle off on November 30th. I made my flight arrangements for 1 week later, arriving in Madrid on December 8th expecting to pick up the motorcycle and drive to Morocco. I am on a tight budget and have a schedule to keep as I am filming a documentary, and can really only afford to travel in Africa where I can get by on a few dollars a day (or less if camping).

I contacted APX on December 8th to find out what building to pick up my motorcycle at and was told that my motorcycle hadn't even left the USA yet. I was then told it would arrive on December 17th. This was 10 days more than I had budgeted for, and Spain is expensive. I asked for a discount to be applied to my account for this, to help offset my additional expenses from being stuck in Spain an extra 10 days. It should not take more than half a month to get something shipped by air. My request was ignored.

December 17th came and I was told that the motorcycle would not arrive until December 25th! That is nearly 1 month since I dropped the bike off, to have it shipped by air. Ocean shipping costs 1/2 as much and takes that long, but I shipped by air on APX's advice since it would only take a week and made all my travel arrangements based on the 1 week timetable that I was given. I asked for a discount two more times, and was ignored.

After delaying it from November 30 until December 23 they were going to ship it on December 23 and have it arrive around Christmas time (which would be a complete disaster, since the time from December 24 - January 1st it would never get through Spanish customs because of their holidays, etc. and I would be paying storage fees). So I said that was crazy and send it so it arrives on January 1st or 2nd.

I made this request on December 19th. They decided instead to send the bike so it arrives on January 6th, telling me this by email and not allowing me to make the decision when faced with such a later delivery than I had requested. I had told them I couldn't be in Madrid during Christmas to New Years because there was nowhere to stay (everywhere was booked), and had to leave Madrid for another city or be homeless during that time, but I would have taken homelessness if given the choice between that and a January 6th delivery.

After I was to wait 25 days they should have made the effort to get me the bike right after the New Year, even if it cost them a little of the profit they were making on me.

It will have been 37 days since I dropped off that motorcycle in the USA before I receive it in Spain. That is insane, and is four weeks more than I was told when I paid APX. They have cost me A MONTH of expenses living in Europe that I had not budgeted for and cannot afford, totalling nearly $1,000. I am living as cheap as possible day to day in hostels and still going broke. What it has cost me to live in Spain for a month could have gotten me about 2-3 months on the road in Africa, my intended destination.

Worst of all, I am on a tight filming schedule and they have cost me a month of filming time in Africa that I cannot get back or make up for. It has been a disaster for my film project, both in lost time and financially.

Air Parcel Express replies to my emails but always ignores my request for a discount to offset the month of expenses I have incurred because of their ridiculously slow air shipping and dishonest shipping time estimates.

I have never heard of any air shipment taking 4-5 weeks, and they refuse to make any effort to set things right by giving me a discount. And instead of even acknowledging it and apologizing, even if they refuse to give me a discount, they just always ignore my requests for a discount.

A discount would have been a wise business move on their part, cost them very little, and helped somewhat to set things right regarding my transaction with them. Even if they lose 1 customer from this and other postings I am making on the internet it has cost them several times that discount, and there is no doubt they will lose several customers a year over the years once those potential customers read these postings.

Not to mention all the customers they won't get when I don't recommend them to other motorcycle enthusiasts through my website and motorcycle message boards that I belong to. I have come to the conclusion that they care very little about their customers and will neither go the extra mile for you to get your shipment there on time, or do anything to set things right when they screw up. They ship your shipment whenever it is convenient or cheapest for them, regardless of any time estimates or promises given to the customer.

I would be very careful about using Air Parcel Express even if they give you a cheap quote on their website, because you will likely be asked to pay more once you start making the arrangements with them, and will certainly end up paying more in lost time and money when your shipment arrives weeks late.

Remember that every day that your shipment is sitting in a warehouse somewhere it is more likely to be lost or damaged.

Be aware that Air Parcel Express (APX) uses a variety of urls that all lead to the same website. Some of these are http://www.shipping-worldwide.com http://www.freight-calculator.com http://www.apx-air-cargo.com http://www.apx-air-courier.com and others.

In conclusion, don't use this company. They will delay your shipment weeks to a month or more and place your cargo at risk of loss or damage by having it floating around warehouses during that extra time. I'm not the first one to complain about Air Parcel Express (APX), and I surely won't be the last given their business practices.