worst ever experience. unprofessional and rude staff, a bunch of headless chickens, No one knows what to do and everyone is handling the same task. never again.

If you dont want your goods within a month then they are ok. If needed with any haste, then no good. No response to messages, no updates from them. Changing delivery dates without contacting us.

We have received the item through this company and we had a very bad experience through their bad organisation, we had to pay more money than we should and the day they promised to delivery they did not .
No more working with them.

Nowa firma szybki rozładunek

Having recently been helped by the Team at Cardinal I would have no reservations in recommending them. Their Team worked with us on a potential major issue and in the end managed to get our cargo where it should be and importantly on time. The customer service we received was outstanding and it these hard times it made all the difference to be able to work with a company who have a "Do Care" and "Can Do" attitude. As a company we will certainly be Utilising THE CAPTAIN" and the services offered thanks again Sharon

I have used Cardinal Maritime on several occasion and can highly recommend. There rates are fantastic, the staff are always a phone call away when I have needed them - they have gone above and beyond with every delivery and their knowledge has been invaluable to me! I would highly recommend to any small company wishing to start their importing journey. A huge 5***** from me

Worst company for customer service.
Would never use to clear any imports as they don't communicate to let you know goods have arrived, nor arrange delivery on time. They leave the goods at port and incur huge demurrage costs without giving it any thought to contact the consignee.
Did contact by email and by phone. Rubbish service. Absolute disgrace.
Have already asked them to look into this complaint but they don't care. Nothing done about it. Please avoid!

Be aware!! I have a very bad experience with professional thi**vs ' they taking scam & excessive charges .they asking custom clearance £180 & sorted with my broker just £29 custom clearance. They sent a invoice of Total charge £616 ' I found out very honest company uniexpress 'They took just £29 for custom and £105 for Express delivery and sent reference for custom and VAT charges which was just £156 so I paid my self as I wanted' Total invoice as I paid just £290 instead of £616.55 .Don't trust them ' ripping off.10 times think If you still want to go. I given 1 star as have not choice.

Unprofessional, disorganised and over charge.
Having read other reviews, I see we are not alone. Complete lack of communication and lots of excuses for not having the correct information.
Over charge and cannot contact them, so you have no choice but to pay extra for storage charges until they contact you. Plus when on the phone, say yes there is only one invoice to pay, then send two more invoices over a week later to say now incurring storage. Provided me with false information and I think they cannot cope with shipments.
Avoid at all costs! Unless you like to be overcharged.
Cannot leave no star, would not give them one but people should be aware of this company.

I have used Cardinal Maritime on a number of occasions and have been extremely pleased with the service they provide. Communication is excellent and I am delighted that they act on my behalf and work with my overseas suppliers to ensure that the goods are delivered as requested. Cardinal Maritime also act on my behalf for the import documentation so it really couldn't be easier; thank you Chris for a great service!

An absolute shocker of a company. Their paperwork is not clear and a minefield for new importers or trusting individuals. My advice is to stay well away from this company and find another handler to deal with your imported goods.

so bad I wish I never use them

The worst company ever I wish I could live 0 star

Scam artist do not use them check google reveiws hundreds of complaimts . Will charge £1000 import fees for£300 chairs.
Do not buy from alibaba either. Check youtube for scams. Import customs numbers ect scam. Hm customs have no record of clearing item or charging a fee.went to wathouse item not there.

In response to your response.i did not abandon goods I requested you arrange delivery. up The warehouse set the collection time because you stated you custom cleared the item by sending divan notice. You stated the shipper or myself owed you money.i sent documents proving delivery address was my address. Therefore you are withholding my goods. I will take you to county and bankruptcy court for my money back.
Many bad reviews confirm that you are con artist

DO NOT PAY THEM A PENNY! When they call you asking for money just ignore them its a scam. If you have no contract with them they cannot legally pursue you. Just call your bank and tell them you were scammed and someone is holding your goods so you can be refunded. I was lucky I paid by western union so I got a refund for scam immediately. They will try and threaten you with storage charges but its all smoke and mirrors. YOU OWE THEM NOTHING! Let them keep the goods, its a burden on them to destroy the goods. Evil company and terrible business

Worst service ever, actually their main activity is cheating, yes they cheat you.

They hold your cargo until you pay all the money they ask.

I can't believe there are such service providers in 21st century.

AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!!

Avoid like the plague. They will mis manage your shipment and then charge you for using their warehouse, racking up thousands of pounds. You have been warned.

Prob the worst company ive dealt with, quoted rediculous amout so i got quoted elswhere rang them to let them know, was told they would match that price so gave them the benifit of the doubt.They then failed to send my new quote for three days even though i rang them every day. They then said they would give me extra free days to make up for that delay, i got everything needed from my side, my delivery had cleared customs and I was all payed up 2 days before the end of my extended free time, they didnt organise onward delivery i had payed for for five days and charged me storage for it, i emailed to tell them this but they said they had absorbed half of the storage time but both delays were down to there office team... unreal never dealt with a company like it there looking to rip you off at every chance. Not one to write bad reviews, but if your unlucky enough to find out this is whos dealing with your delivery get quoted elsewhere and go with them

A Big Thanks for Beth and Mike, we couldn't of ask for better communication and assistance.

Cardinal maritime charged me 1100 for clearance and delivery of my marble goods I imported. They charged me for services that where actually not carried out, furthermore my goods arrived smashed to smithereens. Unhappy with the outcome enough, it would seem their cloak and dagger service will not refund me for the delivery that was not fulfilled as charged and itemised, that they’re insurance only covers me for a fraction of my costs. I am thousands out of pocket and issuing court proceedings for cardinal maritimes fraudulent charges and gross negligence of my delivery. I have video and audio recordings that will paint a clear picture of the lies and insurance frauds committed by cardinal maritime and the haulier they appointed. Disgusting!

I would strongly advise to avoid this firm, and appoint a more professional outfit.

Will update on court outcome at a further date.

Brandon

Avoid this company if you have a choice, unfortunately i didn't get a choice and had to pay their extremely high extortionate prices and experience their prehistoric customer services. Dont bother arguing with them, just hand over your hard earned cash and wait for the Gods to give you a sign on when the goods will be delivered

Worse place in my 30 year driving experience.Takes an age to get unloaded despite numerous fork truck drivers .Don't seem to have any transport managers taking control . Regularly takes 1.30 hours to unload 1 pallet ...yes 1 pallet.These guys would not last a day at a proper organisation.Manchester sharston dept .

I use cardinal maritime Ltd on a regular basis as the have always been efficient and always meet the needs of my company . Sabeena is always helpful and gives us a good service every time we use cardinal maritime i would highly recommend the company for all your shipping needs.

Great service all along. Consignments collected and shipped in good time at reasonable costs *Like*

Excellent customer service, good prices. They will always find a solution to your seafreight needs.

Cardinal have been both professional and diligent with all of my exports. Highly recommended in the freight forwarding world. With a special thanks to Lynsey :-)

These guys are so friendly and helpful and they are a great bunch. I'd recommend anyone shipping a container to use these guys as they are professional and friendly.

Having used the services of Cardinal Maritime for well over 100 shipments now I can honestly say that they offer an efficient and cost effective service; their friendly and knowledgeable staff are a pleasure to deal with: I am not easily impressed but I AM impressed!

Great Customer Service, friendly and professional

Lynsey, Gabriel and everyone at Basildon Cardinal Maritime,

My boxes arrived safely in Dubai (within a month) and I just want to say thank you so much. Words cannot express how happy I was with the service I received but throughout this whole process you have been amazing, I have had no need to stress. You have saved me so much financially and I do really appreciate it, if you ever come to Dubai- feel free to stay with me.
My new place, feels like home....Thank you :)

Always found them very quick to respond to quote requests and bookings team are great on the phone!

Always an excellent service with quick responses and brilliant communication. John and James on imports are a credit to the team.

Lynsey was very helpful, very efficient and professional. Will be using again!!

John and James certainly know their stuff, and are a credit to Cardinal Maritime's good name in the industry. Incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Long may they continue in their roles...

Extremely efficient service, helpful staff. Highly recommend. keep up the good work guys.

Great company, kept me up to date at every step of the way, would reccomend

AWFUL EXPERIENCE....The company has no sympathies for their loyal customers at all, they initially quote very low and attractive freight to grab the customers but overcharge them at destination through their appointed overseas agents. Booked one tiny cargo to Doha/Qatar (3CEI8074031) after getting an attractive low freight quote as compared to other consolidators in the market but unfortunately this company ripped off the consignee at destination through their overseas agent for charging him 3 times higher price. When the consignee protested at destination he was told by the foreign agent that they are charging whatever been dictated by the UK office. Hence, it is an easier way to rob the customers that comes under no law as the UK company put blames on foreign agent and the foreign agent put blame on UK company, ultimately, the customers being screwed from both sides front and back...For all customers who still want to use this company try it on their own luck otherwise never expect anything favorable or help at any stage......

They ripped me off properly. But no doubts I will be filing a complaint to trading standards, as luckily I do have all the proof I need.
I received a letter about and arriving notice, with form including,to fill to form out I had to apply for EORI number, so I did and I understand it was my delay, so they signed for the form on 22 of June. the invoice was paid 20 June. Accept this letter none tried to contact me at all, no email or phone call or any letters. 0. I called many times, and all I was getting, that they can't find the shipment by invoice number so probably it is not here yet. I wrote a thousand emails- no reply, later I was told I was emailing to wrong email address, but there was not written on the website, just the one email address -info@ -question why is none replying to these emails if they see someone is looking for the shipment, they should at least give the email address to send an enquiry to. And finally when I was already really angry they found my shipment and the form I send - 6 of July, so today- 16 of the July the shipment is still with them even I already paid all the fees - including 1000 pounds for storage, which apparently was reduced by half, but somehow I feel It is the company's fault. I’m not going to leave it like this, as I had to borrow money to pay the bill. And the other thing- there is no communication with the company they just not responding to anything, as I read reviews much to late I do understand now why….

This is my first time leaving a review and I had to. I imported goods for the first time and was very scared. I had no idea what was required of me. I was told by my supplier to get in touch with Cardinal so I did. I spoke with Zuhair and his patience impressed me a lot. His knowledge really made me believe that my shipment is in the best hands. I received regular updates and I remember calling him again and again to confirm little things as I needed to be absolutely sure and each time he gave me his full attention which really surprised me as Cardinal is quite a big company. Now, I look forward to import more often and deal with him again. My experience has been tremendous and I urge everyone to let Cardinal Maritime handle your shipments. They know what they're doing and workers like Zuhair are hard to find.

This was my first time importing goods so the entire process was a little unfamiliar. I received an email around the time my shipment was due into the port, a very assumptive email from Cardinal Maritime, I copy and paste a section from the email here:

"Dear Client,

We are delighted to confirm your cargo will be arriving imminently. The team are working hard to have the container unpacked and your cargo available as quickly as possible.

We will need your release instruction and payment before we can release your goods. Please also take note as to whether an original bill of lading is needed or not to avoid unnecessary delays."

Their invoice was attached and the bill totalled £696.70. My shipping charges had been paid to the manufacturer, all I really needed to do was get some help with the customs clearance paperwork and onward shipping. (this price quoted didn't even include shipping to my door, I would have been expected to collect this from Felixstowe.) The charges seemed excessive.

I should probably add at this point that the goods I was importing totalled 110kg and had a trade value of around £700. I was now being charged the value of my goods to have the goods I had paid for.

Assuming there had been some misunderstanding I called Cardinal, I was told to sign the document they sent and they would see what they could do over the charges. I felt a railroaded by the whole process.

I called a separate freight forwarder who explained the process and offered to look at the documentation. They managed to do the whole lot for a 3rd of the price which included shipping to my door. The other company will remain nameless as I want the purpose of this review to remain pure: Cardinal Maritime are aggressive and ruthless, whilst their practices may be legal, they are certainly immoral- (verified by others in the industry.) The only thing I can really liken this to is having my own goods held to ransom. I run a small business and advise anyone planning on importing goods to ensure that the manufacturer does not assign Cardinal Maritime as your freight forwarder. There are decent companies out there. The other reviews speak for themselves.

I try to keep a balanced view with anything like this but I've struggled to find any argument in their favour, my advice would be to avoid at all costs.

**Update, Cardinal Maritime have since replied to this review. I believe they've done more 'passing the book' than addressing the points raised. Unsatisfactory but not unexpected. I would welcome a phone call or a meeting to discuss this further with Rick as I live locally**

PATHETIC !!!! WORST COMPANY EVER. PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS....

I contacted them on on numerous occasions requesting for their complaints procedure and for details of their regulatory body. NO RESPONSE. They fail to response despite the fact I have been chasing.

You do NOT have to use this company when they contact you.
Run away as fast as you can and go to a legitimate company that won't scam you out of thousands in pounds. How is the SCAM & FRAUD called Cardinal Maritime still operating? We need to unite and keep reporting Cardinal Maritime to Trading Standards or something to get them STOPPED. They lie and manipulate to do whatever it takes to delay the delivery of your goods.

They charge over 10x what the going rates are for customer clearance, etc.
They literally make up prices as they go and because they have your goods as hostage you don't have a choice but to pay.

Now seeking legal advise and will be taking the appropriate action. They have given me enough evidence to prove that their invoices do not reflect the stories"given".

Five stars are not enough for these guys - they need 10 at least! Best service I've ever had! They went above all expectations and Helen and Gina are truly amazing people to work with!

Company of very high standards and personal attitude beyond the common business relationships! A trustworthy partner that will move mountains to get the job done! Thank you, guys! Keep it up!

for the HGV driver there is no trouble finding a warehouse company working quickly and efficiently

If you have any sense do not use this company!!! Their charges are outrageous! they would charge you for breathing if they could. complete joke of a company! I should have learnt my lesson 1st and 2nd time around. I now know better. please heed my advise. I know have my goods. I had to arrange my own pickup of seven pallets from a warehouse in Ipswitch after being told i would have to pay another £1500+ for storage over the Xmas period. It gets better, they then said we are all square now and we will offset the money already paid by me for delivery. Notice the reviews, only 5 stars and 1 stars. dont beleive the 5 stars!!! this is a minus star setup. massive rip off!! Next stop is trading standards, although these days true reviews can be more help. read the 1 stars!!! dont let this company near your imported goods. *** The response is as expected - not their fault. Blame the chinese. My advice stands - deal with the cardinal pirates at your peril :( £££££

Was looking for a while for a forwarder to ship to Philipsburg in the Caribbean. I by chance stumbled across Cardinal Maritime and spoke to the commercial team who got a brilliant rate across to me within 30 minutes. Before I knew it the shipment was with Cardinal and on the water over to the Caribbean. Fantastic service

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COST!

They charge unreasonably for jobs others will do at a fraction of what they charge. They just don't care about customers. They are like vampires, sucking every penny out of you at the least opportunity! I could go on and on about this company but just AVOID THEM if you can.

Standard of customer care from this company was second to none. We were helped through the whole process from start to finish by a excellent advisor Mike Wilson who went to great lengths to sort everything out as our shipper had not put us down as the consignee but the company we were delivering our goods to so we couldn't get customs clearance til paperwork was redone. Mike helped us every step of the way and even sorted out our storage fees as they were mounting by the day. Can't recommend these guys enough. They emailed and phoned us constantly updating us and talked us through the paperwork on the phone. Will definitely recommend these to all our friends. Unbelievable service . Couldn't of done it all without there help Thanks for everything Mike and Cardinal Maritime .From Brynner and Louise

Cardinal have been a great help to me over the years providing a fast and reliable service. The Freight calculator has been a fantastic tool which provides fast quotes which is available 24/7 this is a great bonus to me when dealing with overseas agents. I use them frequently for my Customs clearances which are always completed Promptly. Keep up the good work guys!

Regards
AG

Great people who can handle anything you throw at them, I have been working with this company for 10 years and I will continue to do so, keep up the good work

Quite fast and professional services.This company provides some high quality opportunities for those interested to send or receive shipments parcels.

In the past I have had to ship my goods, but have always been stung with extraordinary charges. I made the team aware at Cardinal that I need to be informed of everything and they kept to their word. The prices were very reasonable and there were no issues whatsoever. Wish I had used them years ago.

If I could give a lower score I would of. This is the most arrogant, rip off company I have come across. They make up fees on the spot and will hold your goods to ransom. I was charged 174.50 x 2 for two days storage which was a lie, the warehouse allows 7 days free storage, but Cardinal Maritime claimed 5. Items were released by Customs on Monday, they did not pick up till Tuesday and state that as the reason. The delivery came with paperwork from the warehouse which stated no storage fee was charged.

After arguing they deducted 50 pounds which I reluctantly paid in protest to get my goods. Strange how they are charged apparently by the warehouse and simply refused to give me proof that a charge was levied by the warehouse. I contacted trading standards as well as the warehouse about the shipping invoice from the warehouse. The warehouse confirmed my goods were in line with the 7 day free storage so no storage fee was levied.

Will not be using again, not even if my life depended on it.

I dealt with Carolyn on my export to Australia, she is very friendly and more importantly easy to get on with. Highly recommended

I am a very panicky person and when I had to move back to the UK I was dreading having to get my personal belongings back. I had a look online to see what needed to be done and I stumbled across Cardinal Maritime. When I contacted them the team took care of nearly everything for me and made my life easy. I can't thank them enough

Fantastic customer service from start to finish. We mainly dealt with Helen from the office who was polite, courteous, always happy to help and seemed to be very well organised.

The handling and delivery of our goods was just as good. There was no delay with the expected date of delivery which took place very soon after the goods reached the UK port.

We've had an excellent after sales service too. This is not something we expected due to our past experience with importing goods into the UK.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! Charged £2500 fee for clearing the goods without any explanation about the charge before. We didn't sign anything to suggest we would have to pay that fee. After arguing a few days they gave a £250 discount. But then when they goods are getting ready to be shipped they pass on a £2,300 storage fee of which we didn't sign any documents that agreed to these fees. We then did our calculations based on the figures they gave us they over charged by £150. So making figures up as they go along!

There attitude to resolve this issue was:
Well if you don't pay the bill you don't get the goods.

Always an excellent service from Sharon, Sarah & Chris!

Paid over £2,500 to import and deliver goods worth a fraction of that. They have terrible customer service, extremely unhelpful and made no attempt to offer any guidance or service. Charged over the odds, they are purposefully deceptive, unapologetically misleading and I would advise everyone to avoid them. Use TRB Freight instead, 10 times cheaper and nicer.

DISASTER, THE WORST EVER THIEVES I HAVE SEEN. If you hear their name, do yourself a favor and run away.
Here is the trick they do, they send you Emails to confirm things such as address or other details, you confirm with them, they send again and again and if you delay, (as you may be travelling etc due to your business) they cancel your delivery and put charge on you, they keep doing this until they get what they want, to rip you off for unfair warehousing charges, they do not keep goods in local warehouse, they dont want to, this is their game, this is how they, according to companies house built up 13m assets and cash, buy robbing people like us.
You call to the manager there? a word of apology? any sympathy or cooperation? No chance. will never forget this company's name. it is a real shame to the UKs trade industry.

WORST COMPANY - PURE SCAMMERS!!!
I got a gift shipped over from USA valued at £200 and Cardinal Maritime tried charging £500 for delivery PLUS £1000 for storage fees. A friend in the shipping industry has told me that they are called "hijackers" because they keeps people's goods for as long as possible because their business model is based on "storage fees". For a start they never told me my goods arrived for 10 days but wanted me to pay £29.50 per day for this mistake. Then they kept charging me £29.50 per day for the next several weeks by asking me for some documentation, then I'd send it, then they'd wait a couple days to reply, then they'd ask for something else, I'd send it, then they'd say they didn't get it (even though I have proof it was sent), then they'd wait a few more days to respond... And it just keeps going on and on. The shipping company from the USA tried to step in and Cardinal Maritime just wouldn't even respond because they knew she was calling them out on the scam. I could go on and on but just google their name and you'll see they actually have dedicated websites with all the complaints.

If they ever get a hold of your goods, I'd do everything in my power to get it transferred to a legitimate company or else they will make up excuses and delays to get their beloved storage fees! I still don't have my goods yet so God only knows what else they will do to delay this. Nothing can give me back the days of stress, lost sleep or crazy amounts of money this has caused but if this stops one person from dealing with this awful company that its worth it.

Used them to ship some goods to Australia. Whilst the sea freight charges seemed reasonable in comparison to other similar service providers, their catch is the local fees at the destination country. I am no rookie in shipping and perhaps sent Cardinal half a dozen of emails trying to get the local costs. They avoided replying, using any excuse conceivable, until i had the deadline and released cargo to them. Their local charges in Australia were quadrupled, and it did cost more to ship with them than with the most expensive competitor. Low life and scum and employ such.

If I were you I would not use Cardinal Maritime. I had an awful experience importing ston into UK. They are not good at all with customers and they try to make you pay extra fees for everything. They didn't answer my email for entire Christmas holidays and we couldn't pay for duties. Once they answered the email and once they gave us import duties invoice they charged us for stocking fees even if we would not have paid for the if they would have been on time. They charged us 200 pounds a day... DO NOT GO THROUGH THEM, SOME OF MY WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!!

If you shipping agent has used this company to clear your goods. Do not use their services what so ever. They charge 100% more than the standard rates and tariffs you'd normally receive from a fair and competitive clearing agent.
Please take your time and review your DL and find someone else to clear your goods, you will save your self a lot of time and expense.

Best guys in business by far !