Pak Mail — Local services in Bellevue

Grossly over priced with aggressive sales tactics and offensively rude customer service. Don't take my word for it, check out the pictures of the sales invoice I posted in my Yelp review for proof of extreme mark-ups and read the other one star reviews which tell the same story as mine.

In short, if you don't have time to read this or the other one star reviews, then you definitely don't have time to waste dealing with this company.

Details: I was shipping an item pre-packaged in a wood crate from the manufacturer. Packmail offered me what they refer to as a "deeply discounted" shipping rate of $765. Others quoted $200-300 including pickup.

Nas (the sales clerk) was upset that I had this knowledge on fair market shipping rates, rude in his response and indicated "If I know so much about shipping, I shouldn't take advantage of their services." I had already told him I had no issue paying $150 above retail rates and wasn't looking to save a few bucks, but that was insufficient mark up for him. Clearly they wanted to gouge me on the sale. I stated I wish to get my item back and take my biz elsewhere. He responded I had to immediately pick the item back up ""today" from their store, which they knew I could not do as we discussed during the drop off I was leaving for Montana for a week. (Reference other reviews that cite the storage fee, short on space excuse, and other high pressure tactics, etc). On top of the price being absurd, Nas noted it was deeply discounted off their normal rate of $1390 (repeat customer discount, terminal fee waiver, etc). Yes, if you are a new customer you would have paid even more. It appears $625 more! This level of discounting alone is a huge red flag as it documents just how crazy of a markup they would "normally" apply. The alternative explanation is these are marketing tactics to make the customer feel good if they don't know true costs. Get educated and go to freightcenter.com to get actual rate quotes in 2 clicks.

For comparison: A chartered 22 wheeler semi truck full of timber with no other cargo from Montana to Whistler, BC is only 2x the prediscount pakmail prices quoted for a 150 lb 14x50x60 poster display to ship domestically along the west coast.

High pressures sales tactics include: Would not provide even a ballpark estimate range of shipping costs when I dropped off the fully packaged item off. Nobody else was in the store. It was 30 mins before closing.

Knew I was heading out of town next day and said they would call with an estimate, but when they emailed the estimate they told me unless I took the offer I would have to immediately pickup the item or I had no other option than accept their price.

Performed work on the item I never requested or authorized (inspected interior contents despite me showing pictures of the inside on drop off, wrapped wood crate in shrink wrap, added 2x4 foot to bottom of crate - even though we explicitly discussed it was not required at drop off).

Alternative businesses to consider: Craters & Freighters will pickup, pack and ship any item. They are honest and polite. I had them crate up 7 paintings for me over several years.

If you already have the item packed up and just need LTL shipping go to: freightcenter.com. You will save a ton. You may also want to try North American Van Lines for household items you don't want to pack up. They have wrapped pinball machines in blankets and shipped coast to coast for $400. Never an issue.

Save yourself a headache and major money. If you are a new customer, bring extra money as you won't get the same $625 discount as I thankfully got. :)

Response to the owner: Nas would not provide a ballpark estimate at drop off, I have zero relationships with any of the several other competitors suggested as alternatives and I would stand behind all of these facts written in this review! Nas is correct the sale was approved by me, because I had no other option to protect my property and meet his pickup deadline of "today". There is a reason why two other reviewers use the word "unethical"....

I went today for passport photos. I sat down and within 15 seconds the man working there (who claimed to just be an employee but something about him makes me think he's the owner) had taken a photo on his digital camera and asked me to wait a few minutes for them to be printed. No other customers were in the store while i waited about 2-3 mins for the photos to be printed. I was then handed my photos. Two of them about 3" x 3". The photos were AWFUL and it looked like i was staring up at the sky. I kindly asked the gentleman why i wasn't asked to approve the photos before they were printed (which seems like common sense if i were in this industry, as this would take 2 seconds). The man replied "this was brought up in a company meeting once and we were told not to have customers approve photos because they will ask us to re-take the pictures too many times." To which I replied "why not take 10 digital photos in 5 seconds and have the customer tell you which once they want to use?" Seems simple. Anyways I asked him if I could re-take the photo that will be on my passport for the next 10yrs. He said sure but that he would be charging me double ($18.99 x 2). I told him that seemed a bit unfair, and if I could please get a discount since i wasn't actually purchasing two sets, he told me no that his "system wouldn't allow it." I paid for the 1st set, left, and went to another passport photo office and got exactly what I was looking for. Don't go to Pak Mail. The owner is petty and lacks common sense.

(btw look at the other 1 or 2 star Google reviews this company has received, they all claim similar pettiness, drop off fees,...

Avoid this place at ALL COSTS. The owner, Nas, is incredibly unethical. First, when you reach out to them for a quote, he might give you one. But he'll contact you immediately after and apply high pressure to bring all of your items into the store to get a "real" / "accurate" estimate. What he conveniently doesn't tell you is that he'll take all of your items, pack it into a box/crate without notifying you, then start racking up the labor/material hours -- all in the name of getting you a "real" estimate. By forcing you to bring in your items to get a "real estimate," he's actually trying to lock you into a payment. It's an extremely unethical business practice.

When I went to reclaim my property, Nas also tried to threaten me with an extra "storage fee" without having mentioned storage fees at any point up until that day. And finally, he tried to get me to sign a blanket invoice under the guise of "releasing" my own property back to me. Absolute insanity. Do yourself a favor and avoid everything about Pakmail and Nas in particular.

Other reviews on here mention that he's incredibly rude and unhelpful, I should have listened. And you can add unethical to the list. Don't make my mistake folks!

The kicker is, when Pakmail put everything in a crate (racking up labor hours without communicating any charges to me), the end product was absolutely terrible. No padding, foam, or anything to secure the clearly labelled fragile items. For a company that prides themselves on custom packing, this would've been a...