Livingston International Customs

D

Dave in London

Member
Aug 19, 2011
274
0
16
London, more or less
10
OK folks, its 1130 PM and I want to bitch.
I've been in this business almost 30 years, and for that entire time, Livingston has had a bad name in customs, no matter which way you are going.
How can 80 percent of the brokers handle a PARS or PAPS in 5 to 30 minutes, yet these yahoos think 3 hours is fast? When they receive your documents at 8PM, and at 1130 after 2 calls they still havent assigned it, something is wrong. I love the "you should have faxed it sooner" line too. Sorry dude, truck loaded in Toledo, would you like me to send him via Chicago to give you a bit more time?
The paperwork is straightforward... we've done multiples, and I know Livingston isn't necessarily cheaper than the other brokers.
Lets start a revolt. From today forwards I will be charging a Livingston surcharge if they are the broker. Anybody with me....anybody....
 
Surcharge

I have done this in the past, the client eventually changed customs brokers in the end.
We had two occurences when the paperwork was sent to them early on friday am for a Sunday crossing, with the time clearly indicated on the cover sheet.

Livingston noticed on Sunday @ 5:00am that there were documents missing and called. Seeing everyone else was closed there was not much to do. In bond went the trailers full of ltl.

When we charged the client several hundred dollars for re routing the deliveries that we could not consolidate, they woke up.

Mind you, we have found that Livingston has greatly improved over the last 18 months.
 
Livingston and LTL. I cringe at the thought.
That load I mentioned, they finally inputted it at 4:37 this morning. Just absolute indifference.
I have brokers that don't even need a PARS, they just ask for the number over the phone and before you know it, you have a trans#. Same going into the states, you call to see if they received the fax, and they already have the entry number.
I find if you can convince the customers to go to a smaller broker, generally inland from the port, things are much better.
As an aside, I find DHL Danzas has gone to pot too lately.
Cheers
 
We have all had the horror stories with Livingston, and I've had my fair share with Russell A. Farrow as well. Paperwork sitting there for hours before someone realizes it needs a steel permit and the permit people are gone for the day. Even when I would call immediately and remind them the shipment needed a steel permit the end result was the same. Like Alex, I have too noticed that Livingston has been a bit more on the ball lately. I would call them to tell them the driver was approaching the border and every time they have messaged the team or even put me on hold and contacted the team by phone. And they have been phoning me back to tell me it's been set up. Looks like their improvements are not accross the board, though. Sorry Dave in London for your long night. We all feel your pain!
 
Livingston is brutal for sure... always has been... always will be.

I remember years ago one summer loading used vending machines from a state park in WI. Just myself and a guy with a bobcat from a parking lot. They were heavy, covered in bird poop and it was hot. Called in my clearance (back before the days of a fax even).

Arrived at the bridge... handed in my documents and sat there for over two hours... inquiring every 30 minutes. Finally after over two hours... she comes to the window with all my documents in hand "This isn't our customer - we can't clear this" Nice huh?

They got a little better on the southbound side. But that's really Great Lakes doing.

As far as DHL... They are the absolute worst broker out there. I've actually turned away freight that clears through DHL... because I know the hassle won't be worth any profit there is to be made.

Sorry for your pain Dave. If your shipper is not a huge company and you have a relationship with a small Customs Broker... Give them the sales lead. That way you don't look like a 'dick' to your customer and you look like a 'great guy' to the broker ;)
 
I've posted many times regarding Livingsucks, their performance, and my feelings toward this company.

Unfortunately, other that asking your clients to stop using them, there is nothing anyone can do about these morons.
 
Dhl

We have never had any issues with them, although we seldom encounter them as a broker out of Montreal , unless it is a large multinational's as the account.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
We had DHL clear an outbound load for us on Tuesday. We faxed the paperwork to them at 1:30 with a 3:30 eta. After 5 calls made by us, the paperwork was processed at 7:35pm. We don't have many customers that clear through DHL, but it was not a pleasant experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom