Consumers Say They're Out Thousands Of Dollars As Items Sent Through Adelove Shipping Aren't Making It Overseas
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man says he paid $1,500 to an Uptown shipping business to ship a car overseas for his mom.
But as CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Tuesday night, the man now has no idea where the car is.
There are a lot of people looking to get answers about their shipments from the company, Adeolve Shipping. Items involved range from as small as luggage to as big as trying to track a sport-utility vehicle – and they were all supposed to be shipped overseas.
Take a quick glance inside the window of the Uptown busines, and all you see are boxes and shipping tape – leaving Adelove Shipping customers furious.
"Where is my car?" one man complained. "You took my money. I sent them the full payment."
You heard right. That man, who did not want his name used, showed us he paid Adelove $1,500 to get a Toyota SUV to his mother in Nigeria in May.
"My mom is really mad, for real," the man said.
The SUV should have arrived in 30 days.
"Now it's over like 75, or closer to 80 days," the man said.
And he can't get anyone from the Uptown business to tell him anything.
"He has just stopped taking my calls," the man said, "I called him up to like 10 to 15 times a day."
What's worse, he handed over more than just the keys.
"Everything - I gave the title," the man said.
Yet when he contacted the port on the East Coast to track the SUV, as he explained it: "I said, 'I need the document for my shipment.' They said I have to be in touch with this same guy, 'Adelove.'"
And it's not just the owner of the Uptown location. Complaints are pouring in nationwide about Adelove Shipping. The Better Business Bureau in Houston, where the company is based, gives it an F rating.
These are some of the complaints that have started piling up since January:
"Dealing with Adelove Shipping is the worst experience of my life."
"Over two months later, the goods have not been received."
"The value of the goods was worth more than $2,000."
"Found out a week or two later the person who received was a scammer and left me with a bill for all items supplied."
"Not only are people out of the money they given to the company to ship the items, but they also are not getting status on those goods either," said Leah Napoliello of BBB Houston, "so it really is very concerning situation."
Terry stopped by the business on Broadway in Uptown on Tuesday, and met one woman who said she had also paid, and now can't get her shipment from Nigeria.
"I was told they're having trouble with the store at this location and they were going to resolve my issues," the woman said. "But they have not been able to resolve my issues."
And when the woman came to the Adelove Shipping store on Tuesday, it was closed.
As for the man who was trying to have the SUV shipped, he has filed a complaint with the state Attorney General in Texas. But he is worried the vehicle could be sold.
"That is my worst fear right now," he said.
On Tuesday night, the doors to the Uptown business were locked. Those working in neighboring shops said someone stops in maybe once a week – but they haven't seen the owner since he opened back in May.
As for the man whose SUV is missing, he is not only out the $1,500 he paid the company, but the $2,000 he spent to purchase the vehicle too. He said his next move will be a legal one.
