Intertrans did not want to accept liability for their mistake
I wished I never heard of Intertrans. Intertrans failed to resolve problems they caused, which effectively cost over 30% extra when considering the €2594 purchase and shipping price for Sequence pumps I purchased from Wouter Meeus, Trome; the consignment took over 3 ½ months to deliver even though it was sent airfreight and was very expensive; and caused a significant amount of stress as I was forced to identify and resolve their problems.
Trome was the exclusive distributor in Sequence pumps (MDM Inc) in Europe, Middle East and Africa. MDM Inc referred me to Wouter Meeus as I had initially made an approach directly to them. Trome used Intertrans as they shipping agent, and the pumps were sent by DHL.
Wouter Meeus was very particular about ensuring information was correct in the shipping documentation. He provided the correct consignee information to Intertrans, but Intertrans made a mistake with the consignee details when they created the waybill and returned it to Trome. Wouter Meeus failed to identify the mistake which resulted in the consignment being delayed in Vietnam because there was an issue with the waybill when compared to the shipping documentation. I had no contractual relationship with Intertrans; they were engaged by Wouter Meeus to deliver the consignment.
Intertrans denied any liability. Cindy Gullentops, Branch Manager, Intertrans, twice attempted to shift the blame back to Trome, even though she had personally received the correct consignee information that differed from the waybill Intertrans created. The evidence was obvious that Intertrans made the mistake, and Cindy Gullentops confirmed Intertrans prepared the waybill. I escalated the issue to Steve Kelly, Chief Operating Officer, Intertrans, hoping to get a resolution. He referred my issue to the Airfreight Director, and despite being subsequently emailed several times about Intertrans continued failure to resolve their mistake, I never heard from Steve Kelly again. I felt Steve Kelly effectively condoned the deliberate and repeated denial of any liability, even though Intertrans were instrumental in the fault and Steve Kelly had been provided with documentary evidence showing Intertrans incorrectly prepared the waybill.
When there was in issue in Belgium and it was possible that Intertrans would be charged with storage, they were very quick to get a solution. However, once the shipment arrived in bonded storage in Vietnam, no such urgency was evident. The shipment arrived in Vietnam on 11 December 2024, and the issue was identified by DHL Vietnam the following day. I began attempting to resolve it myself on 31 December 2024 because there was no obvious traction from Intertrans, and it took over a month to coordinate a solution between Trome and DHL Vietnam with limited assistance from Intertrans.
I resolved the waybill issue, and then Vietnam Customs would not release the Sequence Pumps after their inspection because the labelling on the pumps did not match the shipping documentation. Wouter Meeus and Intertrans were unable to satisfactorily answer DHL/Vietnam Customs’ concerns. I was required to personally visit Vietnam Customs and travelled more than 10 hours by bus over 2 days just to be lectured by Vietnam Customs for 10 minutes about the importance of getting shipping documentation correct; shipping documentation that was the responsibility of Intertrans and Wouter Meeus, I was just the end customer. If I did not make the journey, I was advised by Intertrans that DHL could consider the consignment abandoned.
When the consignment was finally cleared by Customs, DHL Vietnam claimed an additional USD364 bonded storage fees because of the delay; a delay which was not a result of a mistake I made. They would not deliver the shipment until it was paid. Even though the delays were caused by Trome and Intertrans, Wouter Meeus, with the agreement of Soufiane El Moussaoui, Regional Sales, Intertrans, suggested the storage fees be divided into thirds, meaning I would end up paying USD121.30. Intertrans then advised DHL Vietnam to charge the USD364 bonded storage fees to their account, but DHL Vietnam advised they could not. It became a fascial email exchange that never reached a solution. Again, Steve Kelly and Cindy Gullentops were aware of the problem, but did not resolve the issue. In the end, I paid the USD364 myself after approximately two weeks as it was evident Intertrans and Wouter Meeus would not.
Neither Wouter Mees or Intertrans denied the facts as outlined in this review, and the chronology was supported by documentary evidence. No apology was ever forthcoming from Intertrans or Wouter Meeus, and Intertrans never accepted any liability even though they were the cause of the issue.