The company has gone bust. Matthew Winter, the owner, cannot be found. I have a 35k motorbike stuck in the UK, as we cannot gain the required paperwork. The entire fiasco is a nightmare. They have lef... See more
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Do not use this company. Waited a year to have 2 pallets of household goods shipped to Malta. Little to no help from this company and you always have to wait ages to get a response. Stickers and... See more
After I send them £220 for trainers this was there response. They are a scam company Hello there I have just spoken to my company accountant and he has informed me that the payment hasn’t been... See more
Company replied
Following my original complaint that I was sold the wrong product for my personal items being shipped, I am disgusted to discover that I am being deceived about what I was apparently told about the se... See more
Company details
Contact info
Christchurch House, Upper George Street, LU1 2RS, Luton, United Kingdom
- 0845 463 4656
- info@rapid-shipping.co.uk
- rapid-shipping.co.uk
Hasn’t replied to negative reviews
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The company has gone bust
The company has gone bust. Matthew Winter, the owner, cannot be found. I have a 35k motorbike stuck in the UK, as we cannot gain the required paperwork. The entire fiasco is a nightmare. They have left customers high and dry with goods stuck around the world. You would think there would be some way to address problems that arise when a shipper goes broke. The stress of it is unbelievable. We just keep going around in circles, being told we need to contact Rapid Shipping. Even when you explain it is impossible as they have gone broke, you just get hands in the air, we cannot help, and that is the UK Gov.. What are we meant to do!
Seems to have gone bust
Seems to have gone under - no reply from emails and the phone number doesn't work. All my personal items lost. No idea how to claim compensation.
Please read the reviews and avoid this firm
I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone about this company and its CEO Mathew Winter.
I requested a shipment of a small item to Washington State in America. Three weeks later I had not had a quote so I rang back and the phone was picked up by Mr Winter. He took my details and as stated in other reviews he was initially friendly and helpful. However when I rung back he said the destination town was very remote and he could not find a delivery company to deliver in what he described as a remote area. When I told him it wasn’t remote and pointed out there were 5 companies within 40 miles he got very arrogant and belligerent.
I am so glad I I found out what an unhelpful person he is.
This appears to be a husband and wife team working from a house in Northampton.
Avoid this company at all costs and read the other reviews on here because they accurately describe my experience with this obnoxious little man
Do not use this company.
Do not use this company.
Waited a year to have 2 pallets of household goods shipped to Malta. Little to no help from this company and you always have to wait ages to get a response.
Stickers and felt pen marked all boxes as fragile and I was horrified to see the state they arrived in (basically crumpled) and several boxes were opened, have not had time to fully check all contents yet - have photos. Cowboy company.
Shipping my items with this company has…
Shipping my items with this company has been very stressful, I can't personally recommend it.
I'm moving from the UK to the USA and wanted to ship four small boxes of personal items. I've never shipped anything overseas before so wasn't sure how to go about it, but decided to contact Rapid Shipping as their website suggested they would handle everything for me: I would only need to pack and label my boxes, then pick them up from the airport.
Communication was fast and efficient for the most part, and though there was a 10 day delay in shipping my boxes, I understand that these things can happen, and it didn't bother me.
I only had problems after my goods had been shipped and they'd arrived at their destination. I thought Rapid Shipping would take care of the customs so I could pick my goods up, as per the import guide I was sent by a rep at Rapid Shipping, which says (and I quote) "Our agent in the USA will contact you before your goods arrive at the port to confirm exact arrival date. They will submit your documents to US customs to obtain customs clearance." This is not what happened for me, however.
I only discovered after my goods had arrived at their destination that Rapid Shipping do not handle customs clearance after all; I was expected to do this myself. I was told I had to hire a customs broker at an additional expense so my goods could clear customs, and I was given 4 days to sort this out before my shipment would start incurring fees from the airport for being held too long. 2 of these 4 days fell on a weekend, so I realistically had 2 days to sort this out to avoid potentially high fees from the airport for holding my goods.
This might be an unfair complaint as the invoice I received from Rapid Shipping did say "You will be responsible for all local airport charges, customs clearance and collection from airline" in smallprint, but I missed these lines and instead deferred to the advice I was given in the informational PDF (by the same representative, which was attached to the same email). I understand that this issue is partially my fault for not reading the invoice clearly, but I also think it was careless of Rapid Shipping to explicitly tell me "our agent in the USA... will submit your documents to US customs to obtain customs clearance" when this was not true.
I don't want to be too negative when the company was generally helpful, but I wish the customs clearance process had been explained to me more clearly and I hadn't been given contradictory information.
Miss sold services
Miss sold services, additional chargers, team not supporting and understanding of misselling goods which can't be recovered in Canada, additional chargers been incurred from Canada due to the poor representation of what this company does and don't. Issues in processing cargo with little to no help.
I DON'T RECOMMEND USING THIS SERVICE UNLESS YOUR LOOKING TO DUMP YOUR CARGO
Dealing with Matthew at Rapid Shipping…
Dealing with Matthew at Rapid Shipping was a joy. Everything ran extremely smoothly from organising his agents to visit the property on Vancouver Island to the collection then delivery in the UK. I was kept informed every step of the way. I cannot recommend Rapid Shipping highly enough.
Matthew and Karen were so prompt with…
Matthew and Karen were so prompt with any replies or questions I had, they went above and beyond to make sure that all details were taken care of and that I had no worries on my end of the shipment. I trusted them fully and they did not disappoint.
It’s the worst company I’ve delt with…
It’s the worst company I’ve delt with and your items are not safe in their storage, they only communicate with you on their own term, their customer service is worst and don’t even try to make an effort to communicate effectively through at least a phone call.
They have disposed all my items which are worth thousands of pounds with no proper warning period at least or even a protective procedure like fine/charge extra for example if there were delays of any sort before deciding to dispose people’s storage items.
I am so upset that I lost all my belongings due to lack of communication or even a proper warning period or at least a fine before deciding to dispose my items like they were nothing.

Reply from Rapid Shipping
I’ve had nothing but fantastic service…
I’ve had nothing but fantastic service from Rapid Shipping. I am a complete novice to shipping and customs and after initially asking for a few quotes from different businesses for shipping goods from China to the UK, I settled on Rapid. I had a great initial experience, with Matthew being very patient with my lack of knowledge and guiding me through the customs process very well.
Fast forward 2 years, and I’ve defaulted to quoting with Rapid (and subsequently proceeding with them) for all of our shipments. Sometimes shipments can be delayed (due to issues which are completely out of anyone control such as weather at sea, or port / customs hold ups). But Karen & Matthew always keep us up to date of any unforeseen circumstances and resolve any matters as soon as possible.
I’ve recently contacted them for a more complex shipment which Matthew has been exceptionally helpful organising - I’ve received replies way after the standard office hours where he’s really gone above and beyond to help us with the complexities of US customs.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their services.
First time buying from China
Tasked to import goods from China to the UK, I had no idea where to start. Luckily for me, I found Matt at Rapid Shipping who kindly guided me through the process, giving me useful advise and updates throughout the whole process. Very, very happy with the service and would recommend.
I have been waiting for a quote for…
I have been waiting for a quote for three weeks and despite calling Mathew back four times I am still to receive a call back or a quote ! It’s like they don’t need the business !
Sports Equipment to Singapore
I have used Rapid Shipping several times for shipping gymnastics equipment to Singapore. I am a novice shipper and Matthew always provides clarity and explains whole process. Very good customer service. Would recommend.
Very poor customer service,
As the previous reviewer has stated, this company start of very helpful and then service goes down hill very rapidly, they don't reply to emails or phone call. We had the shipment sent by another company transglobal express and it was cheaper and sorted out in a couple of days, much better service all round.

Reply from Rapid Shipping
Thank you for everything!
Sorry for the very late review! Thanks Matthew & Karen for being so patient and for getting back to me with every enquiry I made. My sister was very happy to receive her items after her big move to Abu Dhabi. We will definitely use you again.
Very Costly Calls
I rang for a quote as Peru was not on their drop down list though the text said they shipped to Peru. I got an answering machine and I was on the phone 18 seconds. This cost over 60p, needless to say I won’t be calling them back. A respectable company would not want to lose customers this way, I would avoid them.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Shipped household goods to Dubai. So much stuff was broken. When it was unpacked it was clear nothing had been packed properly hence so much damage. Emailed Matthew to complain, no reply. List of items broken;
55 inch curve tv screen,
Large clock
Glass tray - clearly damaged whilst packing as broken pieces were wrapped separately.
Dressing table - mirrored front and sides smashed
Black chest of drawers - damaged
Grey chest of drawers - damaged and badly scratched
Mattress soiled - disgustingly so
Plates/cups/serving dishes
Picture - frame and glass broken
2 large bathroom mirrors - corners snapped off
Black glass table - smashed into thousands of pieces
Standard lamp - leg broken
Every lampshade - 7 of them bent/damaged
OH AND THEIR SHIPPING TIMES OF 6-8 weeks is incorrect. Took 3 months.
After I send them £220 for trainers…
After I send them £220 for trainers this was there response.
They are a scam company
Hello there I have just spoken to my company accountant and he has informed me that the payment hasn’t been received, this has happened before. In order to solve this and ship your item we require the payment to be sent again with our faster payments reference (1111) once this payment is completed we will receive both payments sent by you and I will issue a refund straight away,
please can you send your sort code and account number so I can set up the refund now.

Reply from Rapid Shipping
Please do not use this company
Please do not use this company. I had a shipment to Abu Dhabi. Everything arrived aside from a case that had many expensive clothes but more sadly my photo albums of my children. I had to keep contacting Matthew at the company but no response for a couple of weeks. Then he did email saying that he admitted fault as the case was collected from my address but never arrived to the port. He offered to pay me directly rather than going through the insurance which I would of been happy to do. I calculated the cost to be £1500. £75 arrived in my account. He has refused to reply back to my messages ever since. Even in response to asking for the insurance details. Gutted. Worst company I could of chosen. My colleagues all had normal experiences. Feel so let down.
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