Livingston Sucks...

M

Manitoba Moose

Member
Jul 27, 2009
322
0
16
Otterburne, MB
10
:mad:I'm so pissed at these guys that I want to scream.

This is the 4th time in 3 weeks that they have held up my trucks at the border for some stupid f n thing like we're not the brokers or some other stupid reason and they are indeed the broker. It's just that the agent was too lazy to do his/her job and actually look up information.

Is it possible to start a petition against Livingston like boycotting any shippers that us them as a broker? I figure it would only take 1 day considering the amount of clients they have and if every transport company refuses to take any loads that have Livingston as the broker, their clients would be calling Livingston and raising stink as to why no transport company will take their loads because they are the broker...

I'm so tired of missing re-loads and having to explain as to why my trucks are late because of these bast****.

Thank you for letting me vent and please advise if this idea has any merit.
 
Bill the wait time (complete with satellite and or drivers log, agents name. border crossing etc.) to your customer. Let the customer fight it out with Livingston... they chose Livingston - not you.
 
Livingston

I.ve hated them for years, worst broker in the industry.

I.ve found there really is nothing you can do, no recourse for the delays they cause from not doing their job.

When I see Livingston as the broker, I know I need to stay on top of them and make alot of phone calls, I also move the border eta up to be sure the driver is clear before he arrives.

I.m with ya on this one buddy !
 
In agreement

Not surprised to see that Livingston is not well liked.

The have also been our most problematic broker over the years, although I must add they have improved greatly over the last 6 months.

Never ever give them the proper ETA. Your driver is crossing in 2 hrs and that will give you enough time to see if they have processed anything by then.
It's useless to try to get additional information from the parties involved after standard business hrs.
 
They don't care about any Carrier submitting an entry for clearance. This way if any of their Customers complain about a delay and/or a charge in clearance, they will always blame the Carrier. Then they will advise their Customer to call them to arrange shipping (thus becoming our direct competitor) and there would be no delays/extra charges in clearance.
=========================================

What a joke these Customs Brokers are.....importers/exporters paying a fee for something that could be done online.

Carriers - stand up for our rights. We know the Customs procedures and we will not be subject to be held ransom by Customs Brokers. Educate your Customer(s) how Border crossings are effected and that we are experts in the processing of required documents. Be very vocal to them regarding delays/extra costs due to the incompetence of their selected Customs Broker.

Also (previous thread on this)...make your Customer aware - put in writing on rate quote submissions...that any unloading charges at Border for Customs inspection are to be invoiced to the Customs Broker. Don't think for one minute that these Customs Broker will not add a "fee" for the processing of this invoice. As for Carriers...if we ever did this....Importers/Exporters would challenge us...more than likely say that this is "just a cost of doing business" and that the Carrier must of acted in such a way that alerted Customs for an inspection.

As Carriers, we have carried these Customs Brokers on our backs too long in the logistics cycle. Time for them to do what they are getting paid for....and if they are not....let's make sure our Customer's are made aware of this.
 
I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one that think they suck...

And I do agree (since I started this thread) that they are the absolute worst broker, bar none.

Had a call from some area manager from Montreal this morning and after a about a half hour of telling how poor a company they were and him telling me how good a broker they were, we finally agreed to disagree because there is no way that he was going to see my point of view.

I did say that in the future, every time and every minute we would be held up at the border due to Livingston's screw ups, we would charge them accordingly. He did say that we could do that and that many other companies do that and the costs are past on to their customers.

See how they don't give a rats ass about anyone other then themselves? And yes, we will be billing them and will advise this board as to the outcome.

BTW, can I bill them for everytime we fax over documents and then follow up 20 minutes later with a phone call and they say to re-fax because they haven't recieved? If my driver faxes from a truck stop and faxes 20 pages, that's minimally $15 everytime and if he has to re-fax 3 times, can I bill them for that?
 
A way to correct Livingston

I share everybody's thoughts regarding Livingston. I had it up to there with them many years ago. I charge my customers a 2% surcharge if they use, or continue to use Livingston as a customs broker. Of course my customers didn't like it, but when the rational for this was explained to them, that in a sense, whatever they may save in costs by using Livingston, they were going to pay more than that for Livingston's dismal performance. This issue with me was non-negotiable and I didn't lose one single customer over it.
 
A lot of carriers call it a "border fee" or "border security fee" and have been doing so for years so feel free to justify charging one, after announcing it. They tend to be anywhere from $12 to $25, depending on what you can get away with.
 
Deal is deal!

Nawk said:
Don't get too excited... charging it and collecting it might be two different things.
Click to expand...

I don't see any problems collecting this if the customer is made well aware of the surcharges prior to moving their goods. In order to maintain the personal and professional integrity and ethical standards I set for myself, I live up to the terms of any agreement I make. I expect the people and firms I do business with to do the same. If they don't, then I terminate the relationship, regardless of how much "potential" profit there may be in the future. If a customer will only sometimes honor their agreements, you will eventually wind up with a liability rather than an asset.
 
I have had more than my fair share of bad experiences with Livingston and their customer service is almost non existent.

Lately, I have found them to be much better but, many customs brokers, still, do not seem to realize that the carrier is NOT the customer and that their failure ultimately results in extra charges and headaches for THEIR customer.

I find that an ounce of prevention is way better than a pound of cure.

Whenever I get a load confirmation, I call the broker to confirm that they are still an agent for the shipper or consignee and I confirm the team name or contact info as well as the fax number.

I never put the exact border time. I always put the border crossing at 2 hours from the time I am sending the fax.

As far as livingston goes, I have not had any problems with them in over a year. Usually, within 45 mins of faxing the documents, the PARS \ PAPS tracker on their website will either show "DOCS RECEIVED" or "AWAITING GOODS".

I know it can be a bit of extra work to take these extra precautions but, in the end, it's worth it. I would rather take the extra time to make sure that I have everything in place than get a call in the middle of the night from my driver, who is stuck at the border.

You can blame the broker for their incompetence and many are but, ultimately, we, the carrier, will loose money as well as reputation if we are constantly plagued with border delays.
 
Advertise this link

If I were an upper level manager at Livingston, I would be having a talk with my customer service VP and find out what is causing this little revolt!!!

Please someone say something good about Livingston.
Personally, I like their Logo.

Does anyone recognize the voice of the lady that gives out the spsheil (please check spelling), when you are waiting for your PARS info. Whas she once a dispatcher with PPB Brokerage before they were bought out?
 
We actually use Adminserv (owned by Livingston) for night and weekend PAPS clearing and they are fantastic.
 
Something good about Livingston

alx said:
If I were an upper level manager at Livingston, I would be having a talk with my customer service VP and find out what is causing this little revolt!!!

Please someone say something good about Livingston.
Personally, I like their Logo.

Does anyone recognize the voice of the lady that gives out the spsheil (please check spelling), when you are waiting for your PARS info. Whas she once a dispatcher with PPB Brokerage before they were bought out?
Click to expand...

alx, about the only thing good I could ever say about them would relate to many years ago, when we had to walk our "paperwork" to the broker's office. At their office in Windsor, from their counter, you could see the whole open office area. Somehow, they seemed to have hired the prettiest girls to staff the place, and they all seemed to try to out dress each other. Heaven!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom