Why be aware not to hire just any Freight Company:

Last year my wife' best friend was expecting her first baby which was born at the end of November in her native country of Venezuela, the parents decided to come to the State of Florida around four months prior to the arrival of the baby, the trip was well planned with the purpose to buy everything that was going to be needed during the first months of the little one. When the couple arrived in Miami they rented a car, checked in a hotel, and at the next day starting visiting malls from around South Florida buying everything that they considered was necessary, after a week and a half of extensive shopping and with more  merchandise that was planed, the couple realized that such amount of products were more than they could carry in their way back to their country, my wife's friend already knew that probably a freight courier will be needed to send part of the merchandise especially big items, a friend of her recommended a popular courier in Miami specialized in shipping to Venezuela with good prices, the name Olarte Transport Services located in Miami.

Very exited with all the shopping and the arrival of the baby my wife her friend and her husband went to the courier in Miami in order to ship by sea articles for the baby such as the infant car seat, the baby playard, a bassinet among other items, they were told by Olarte Transport Services the shipment would arrived at Venezuela within three weeks from August the 5th.

Well, it is January 2011, already two weeks have passed for this new year and the baby is a little more than a month old, at this point the Miami based freight company Olarte Transport Service has failed to deliver the merchandise in the stipulated time for several months now, the excuses, because so far the have giving many of them, some of them very original and I quote.."The merchandise is already at the port in Venezuela but customs do not  not release it yet", "The merchandise is now released but the guy that makes the delivery to the destination in the city had an accident (good one)", "Customs in Venezuela is having problems to release that specific shipment, but we are working on it, and it will be delivered in three days...",  "The shipment is ready for delivery and will be made next week (again it never happened, and when they called Olarte Transport they informed it will be delivered next week, again...) and so on, and on, and on... According to my wife's friend, this is just one of the most absurd, outrageous,and worst services offered by a shipment courier ever!! and my wife and myself of course think the same. I do not have to tell how frustrated and disappointed is my wife's friend, this is not the first time we ship goods, "I know about time frames and this is just unbelievable". So far the couple has contacted Olarte Transport Service for refund of the merchandise worth, they sent all support receipts for every item in the shipment along with a claim letter, but Olarte after a month reviewing the case decided that they will not refund anything because the merchandise is in fact at the port in the country and they are just waiting to be release so they can make the delivered, again just unbelievable!, not to tell how awful is the customer service by phone, more than 25 mins. either to answer your call or waiting in the line for and answer for your inquiry for a shipment 5 month late in delivery :-(

Coming to the United States to get merchandise is popular, full of advantages and great selections for people outside US, but if you do so, take extra precautions in order not to loose what you buy with so much effort, don’t hesitate to research courier companies before doing business with them, check the reviews of other customers, read blogs, research about public records of companies and so on, and finally remember it doesn't matter where you are located and where you are shipping from or to, as a customer you always have rights, and you deserved to get the service it was promised to you on the items you are purchasing and time of delivery, your time and money deserved respect, problems in shipments can occur, especially when shipping to other countries, but how a company handles such problems and take care of their customers it's a whole different story. 

And remember if you will ever ship through the service of  "Olarte Transport Service" it will be under your own risk!!, they are located at 8542 N.W. 72nd  street, Miami, FL 33166 / Phone: 305-4237539..
PS: As today 01/17/2011 the couple is still trying to solve this matter with this courier with not successful outcome yet...