My company exhibited at a tradeshow called CompTIA ChannelCon on 8-3-15 thru 8-5-15 located at the Hilton in Chicago. As a requirement to get our booth equipment onto the show floor we were forced to use Viper Tradeshow Services as there was no alternative provider. Their task was to take our two rolling containers weighing a combined 207 pounds from an advance warehouse in the Chicago area to the Hilton exhibit floor and then back after the exhibit along with all other exhibitors shipments at the show. Over the phone with Krista D'Amico with Viper Transport I was given a quote of $625 which is high price for the 20 minutes of work requires to do this task. Then we receive the bill for $1,291 for this service upon completion. They added an additional $359 for the 7 pounds that it was over 200 pounds and $170 for a "Small Package Fee" since it was not on a pallet? My immediate call to Ms. D'Amico ended with her unwilling to do anything about what we discussed and led to a call with Rob Olis the COO and brother of the founder of the company. After much debate, Rob agreed to the original terribly high price we were told in the first place and felt as though he was doing me a favor.
After the show was over on 8-5 I had setup with FedEx to pick up our containers from the same warehouse they were shipped to for return to our office in Phoenix. Then, on 8-6 I received an e-mail from Ms. D'Amico stating that because our freight was left on the show floor, that caused our shipment to be re-cosigned to Viper Transportation and they charged $525.00 to ship that to us on their shipping company. Then on the 7th of August we received the paid invoice for $543.37 that was charged top my company AMEX without my authorization. Also, the note sent on the 6th let us know that the package had already shipped through their company. They never attempted to contact us to say there was any issue with our shipment. It was left at the show site for them to return the shipment back to their warehouse
We do 6-8 of these shows a year, and the ones that have included an advance warehouse shipping have always been handled the same way The tradeshow service company brings the shipment onto the show floor before the event. Then back to the warehouse after the event and FedEx has picked up from there. Otherwise what are we paying them $625 for? It is a round trip, not a one way for $625. This company deliberately turned FedEx away and effectively stole their shipment at almost 5 times the price as FedEx without so much as a call or e-mail until after the shipment was already on the road with their shipping company. It is the shadiest business dealing that I have ever been a part of, and I have seen some unethical business, but, this takes the cake.
I contacted Ms. D'Amico who was unwilling to do anything yet again and the phone was taken out of her hand by some guy that is yet another relative of the owner of the business who effectively said they were not doing a thing about the problem.
Upon receipt of our package, the one item of value in the shipping containers, which is a 27 inch All-In-One computer/monitor that cost approximately $1,400 has a crack that is approximately 18 inches through the center of the touch screen rendering the device useless. I cannot say if this was deliberate or not, but, the device was inside a plastic shipping crate, inside foam that was well wrapped in bubble wrap. You be the judge. We opened the crate with the delivery driver present and noted the damage on the shipping document that was signed for delivery. read more
