Recently I used this company to ship handmade rugs to relatives out-of-state. They did a stellar job: always answering the phone, picking the rugs up from the rug cleaning establishment, crating them for safety (they can only be rolled, not folded), and getting them to their destination safely. I have also used this company to ship delicate scientific equipment. And they have done it well: equipment arrived at their destination in the condition they were in to begin with. This is a trustworthy company. Perhaps not the least expensive, but definitely worth it to get such valuable items to their destinations safely and intact. read more

Craters and Freighters are a world class company and shout outs to Shasta and Claudette for their expertise and attention to detail. Every step of the way we were informed of our 'priceless' one of a kind artifacts that were shipped from Tempe, Arizona to the Seattle All-Star Game PlayBall Park for our historic exhibit. We also shipped our artifacts from Seattle to California for a smooth transition. We plan on working with this amazing company in the near future. Their honesty, work ethic and promptness deserve the M.V.P. award! read more

I work for a local Helicopter Repair Station and needed to ship out a fire extinguisher, hazmat. So, I called the experts, Craters and Freighters in Kent, WA. We paid $435.00 for their service and a week later, I received an email from them saying FedEx declined the package because there was something wrong with the paperwork. What exactly did I pay for? The ironic thing is after I had dropped off the package and signed the contract with Craters and Freighters, a quote from Hazmat Express in Tukwila, Wa came in at $165.00. UGH! read more

I had one piece of furniture to ship home, and after driving two hours to deliver it I got the quote for $500 and dropped it off. After crating it up, I received the invoice which was significantly more money. I had no choice, but be prepared to spend $700 for one piece of furniture for just the crating - no delivery, no shipping. I should have shopped around, because this was way expensive! read more

What a fantastic team! Despite living in Seattle I bought a baby grand piano at an auction in NYC which needed to be crated, shipped, delivered to my home and reassembled. The C&F teams in Boston and Seattle made it super easy... they took care of everything and kept me updated along the entire way. Would use them again any day. read more

We purchased a very expensive and very fragile automated distillation unit for our lab. It could not be completely disassembled by the seller in Seattle. The frame weighed over 100 lbs and would not fit into any standard size box offered by UPS or FedEx. Craters and Freighters built a fantastic custom made, cushioned crate. Everything made it across the country intact. They were one of the most expensive but we got what we paid for. They showed up to crate it right on time and called 30 minutes prior to arrival exactly as requested. The critical piece arrived on time without a scratch. I would use them again to ship valuable laboratory equipment. Jezabelle, who took our order, was also very professional, patient and courteous with many questions. A+ read more

Don't use this shipping service! Not the Seattle one anyway. In January 2015, the Boston Craters and Freighters did a GREAT job, excellent customer service, transparent pricing, communicative. I paid $1150 for 730 lbs of household goods, packed in several large plastic tubs, a standing lamp (which they packed very nicely), and a minifridge. That amount included the additional cost I paid for a second man to help with pick-up on a weekend, and the 3 wooden pallets they built. So I thought I'd use the same company on the shipping back to Boston, in March 2016. I only had 435 lbs this time, and did not require a 2nd man for pick-up. 2 pallets, perhaps even one. The shipping would take the same route, back to the same place in Boston. So how did it happen that I was quoted $1222? Pay MORE money for the SAME ROUTE (albeit the opposite direction), for LESS WEIGHT, SAME category of household goods, FEWER PALLETS, NO EXTRA MAN, and the cost of oil/gas is CHEAPER in March 2016 than January 2015??? What??? I was told shipping West to East costs more - but at 40% less weight and the above differences, a price increase...just does not compute. It did not help that Cynthia, the woman who picks up the phone, was incredibly incompetent and rude. You can hear it in her voice when she gets on the phone - she's angry at something and taking it out on you. When I first inquired about the shipping, she was evasive about actually trying to issue a quote, kept trying to give me qualifications for why this won't work or that won't work. Silly me, I thought it was just a communication issue and she had me talk to a manager who was more helpful and actually seemed to want a customer. After talking to Cynthia, I had the explicit thought: "Does she even want a customer? Sure, turn down my money if that's what you want." She also doesn't seem to actually know anything. Maybe her role is to make up excuses and be so rude that you pay the absurd price or you back off her cold front. Hey Cynthia - learn customer service! Your customers are paying for a service. Do it right. Be happy you have a customer. Make it easy for them to work with you and do business with you. Since I had already left the city and I was desperate to have my stuff shipped (and they already had my items in their warehouse, threatening to charge me $100 for every additional day of holding my stuff), I went ahead and paid their absurd price and received my items in Boston just fine. They were packaged well and there was no damage. But PLEASE, BUYER BEWARE, Craters and Freighters is a franchise and the pricing is not consistent from location to location, nor is the customer service. Do not use Craters and Freighters in Seattle! read more

My boyfriend found Craters and Freighters and signed up for moving our things from Seattle to Hawaii before I had a chance to check them out on Yelp. When I went to Yelp to check them out - I sort of freaked. These other reviews are really awful and I almost didn't use Craters and Freighters based on these. Super skeptical. The owner, KJ, was very straightforward and attentive in answering our questions. We had C&F pick up our items from our storage unit (which included high end professional audio equipment/electronics, art work), crate them, ship to Hawaii and have them deliver to our new home here. We also discussed insurance with them as well. Definitely have that conversation up front. The employee who picked up our things in Seattle was incredibly kind, showed up on time and was efficient. Our things arrived in Hawaii with only one item broken - a small ice cream dish that I didn't pack well. I was thrilled to see all of our equipment here in great condition. This would be 5 stars, but we did have some communication difficulty with the administrator, Cynthia. Nice person but not the most efficient communicator. Would likely recommend and use KJ and his crew again. read more

I brought three fragile works of art to Craters & Freighters that needed to be shipped to CT. I spoke at length to the woman at the intake desk about how delicate they were. I paid them over $1,400 to build a wooden crate and ship the works insured. Instead they put all my work in a cardboard box, called FedEx, and left said box in the snow on the ground. Two of the three paintings shattered. When I called them they said I didn't have the box insured? What? I had listed out the contents line by line, and they knew the value was $5,400.00. Then later, after I tried to arbitrate via the AG's office, they put my initials on some form that said I didn't want insurance. I don't recommend these people - they are not honest. Now I owe my clients their money back, AND I can't get the art back to resell it. read more

Efficient, Fast, Reasonably priced & super customer friendly orientated. What should have been a stressful & difficult day turned out to be a pleasure. These guys lovingly packed my furniture up, crated and shipped them all while staying in constant contact about the whole process. Kari was wonderful and detail oriented! read more

I had the opportunity to use this company when the crate builders I had been using decided to close shop in the Puget Sound area. They were very responsive to my requirement (I'm a shipper), and the crate was professional done and fairly priced, I will most certainly use them in the future. Owner, The UPS Store read more

Buyer Beware. I used Craters and Freighters last October to seperately crate ahd ship to Florida two antiques I purchased in Seattle. Much to my Surprise, I received one huge box with both pieces heavily damaged inside. KJ at C&F has refused to pay for anything other then the cost of repair of one item. I incurred appraisial costs, as well as loss of value. They are great at excuses, the movers on the receiving end ruined it was the first excuse to the new excuse that the itmes were broken prior to shipping. The places a statute inside an antique trunk when both items were to crated separately. These items will never be the same. Do not use them if you are shipping anything you care about! UPDATE After working with the head office we were able to reach resolution, I am completely satisified but at least I had appraisals and repairs paid. read more

I recently used the shipping and handling services from Craters & Freighters in Seattle, Washington to deliver two large pieces of coffee equipment that I won at an auction. I had both of these two heavy items delivered from Seattle to Yuma, Arizona. Craters and Freighters always kept me in the loop as to what was the status of pick up of my items, and also how they were safely stored at their warehouse. They took the time to package both items correctly, and safely for transport. Once they sent the items for delivery, I was also given a tracking number, and the staff was sending me email messages to update me on the status and ETA of my items. When I received both my machines they were in excellent shape, thanks to their proper shipping and handling methods, and the best part was that the delivery was made exactly on the date that they told me that they would be delivering. I definitely would recommend Craters and Freighters! I want to say, "Thanks again" to all the staff at Craters and Freighters for providing me with a positive experience and an excellent service! read more

Seconding negative reviews from Addie, Becky, and Sam. Shady business practices - stay away. When I asked to re-quote for the same item and route following a quote from 6 month earlier (asked for an itemized estimate), received one bundled number with a 40% increase. No reason given. Asked to check for errors and shared with C&F their original quote. Received a lower quote, but again no line items and they unilaterally lowered my declared value. Huh? Called to ask what happened to the declared value. KJ tried to bully me to lower my declared value or demanded that I provide him with a sales receipt (from 15 yeas ago in Europe?!) or get an official appraisal. I am not an easily bullied financial valuation professional with additional art business education. Stating that and asking questions made him call me combative. He also refused to elaborate if it is his personal decision or a corporate policy. He even refused to tell me whether C&F is a franchise (they are)! Very unsavory. read more

DO NOT USE THIS CRATERS & FREIGHTERS! I used them to ship a painting because in the past, artwork had been shipped to me from Texas using C & F and it arrived safely, however I think it's a franchise, which means all C&F's are not created equal. The painting I shipped was damaged in transit beyond repair and, like the other review on here, they were good at excuses, but refused to cover the cost of the painting EVEN THOUGH IT WAS INSURED!! As shady as it gets! read more

I used this company to ship several art pieces. Items were broken, lost in transit, and damaged. The price crept up every time I spoke with them. I specifically told them I wanted the items insured and provided an itemized list with appraised values. When I contacted them about filing a claim, they informed me the shipment was never insured. I'd recommend staying away from them if you value your items at all! read more

DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE. I dropped my deceased mother's treadle sewing machine (circa 1914) off on 12/12/16 with the understanding that it would arrive in CO the next week. I had traveled to Seattle to take care of family business after my sister's death. They quoted me $550 on the phone but after unloading on their dock it ballooned to $630 with insurance, etc., etc. In as much as I had to catch a plane I had no choice but to accept their outrageous charge. I returned to CO and after 10 days with no word I called them. It was still sitting on their dock! Not boxed or protected in any way. It still took them a couple of days to ship it and because of the incompetent trucking company they chose I did not get the machine until 1/16/17. The final insult is that they charged me an additional 3% for paying with a CC, read more

this business is awful. they made 3 deliveries to me and never had the right address. they never come on time and they deliberately lied to me on the third delivery - telling me I would be the first delivery at 8 a.m. the driver arrived [nice enough guy] 1 hour and 25 minutes late announcing I was his third delivery. the person who answers the phone is grumpy and not interested in the customer. she even argued with me about what my home address was. read more