Frequently Asked Questions

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Volume weight refers to the overall size of a parcel. You may often find that the price of your shipment is dictated by the volume weight rather than the actual weight. This is because our pricing is calculated based on whichever is the greater out of volume weight and actual weight. Please view our guide to help you understand volume weight: Apex Cargo Volume Weight Information

You can send practically anything
via sea freight! Just be aware that because of the time it takes to send
something by sea, food has to have long expiry dates so it doesn’t get spoilt.
We don’t recommend sending food on this service, so you send this at your own
risk if you choose to do so.

Only to send via DHL, other
courier services or to the airport uncleared. On the odd occasion, we may ask it for our Duty Paid services such as India/Pakistan, but this will be communicated in advance or created for you on your behalf.

Our packing service involves a lot of care and attention  – we take pride in our packing standard, skills and knowledge. We consider each item and package individually and our staff know the best and most efficient ways to pack items of all sizes and weight. It’s important to consider the amount of labour that
goes into packing each box.

Of course! See our packing page for tips on how to pack in the most efficient and safest way. Please note some services require wrapping to be done, so if you boxes aren’t wrapped we will have to do this for
you and charge accordingly.

Yes – you can purchase bubble wrap, tape and boxes from us from our office or warehouse.

Invoices for DHL & Courier
services are usually sent within a few hours of us sending for you. For other cargo such as duty paid, airport and sea freight, invoices are sent within 3-4 working days. Please remember to check your spam and junk folders before asking us to re-send your invoice.

We use WhatsApp Business to
communicate with most of our customers as it’s a great way of creating client focused groups where we have 10+ team members on hand to help you. We respond during our working hours (using the GMT timezone), aiming to respond within an
hour of your message being sent. Please note our team may take longer to respond during our busy periods, e.g. Christmas; for anything urgent, be sure
to call us.

You can leave us a review via Trustpilot, Google or Facebook.

To leave a review on Google,
please visit: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJIZTJ7Dhhd0gRtyQjIMVx4E4,

To leave a review on Facebook,
please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/apexcargoltd/reviews/?ref=page_internal.

Please note we may use your review for marketing purposes – you may tell us if you aren’t happy for your review to
be used.

If you are unhappy with our
service for any reason and need to raise a complaint, you can email us on info@apexcargo.com, call us on 0116 254 0480, visit our office or warehouse or send us a message on our social media pages.

If you are unhappy with our
service for any reason and need to raise a complaint, you can email us on info@apexcargo.com, call us on 0116 254 0480, visit our office or warehouse or send us a message on our social media pages.

This is the fee that helps cover
our interaction with the agent and the basic handling of your goods. It can include the basic wrapping of your item too.

This is because the minimum to
send via air is 5kg; even if you are sending less, you will always get charged for 5kg.

This depends on each destination,
but as an average our Courier service takes between 3-7 working days.

Unless you are sending on our duty
paid services, you may have to pay duties and custom charges, depending on which service you are using and where you are sending to. We are unable to tell you the exact amount as this is decided once the package has arrived in its final destination by each country’s customs.

If you are sending on our Courier service, we will provide you with a link to track your package. If you are sending on any other service, e.g. via air or sea freight, we will be in touch with you either via WhatsApp or your preferred way of communication to update you on when you can expect your package. There isn’t direct tracking on those services as all of our customers’ cargo is consolidated together, so in line with GDPR protection laws we can’t give out sensitive information such as names
and phone numbers.

An area where there isn’t a DHL
office or where DHL don’t normally deliver to, hence an additional £25 surcharge.

Elevated risk: Surcharge applies
when shipping to a destination country where DHL is operating at elevated risk due to continuous state of war, civil unrest, or continuous threats from terrorism, and is surcharged at a rate of £25.

Restricted destination: A surcharge is applied when shipping to a country with trade restrictions imposed by the UN security council.

Exporter Validation: Surcharge for
countries that are subject to trade restrictions imposed by the European Union. Include: Afghanistan, Belarus, Lebanon, Myanmar, Zimbabwe.

This is a requirement by that countries customs; for example, India has a ‘Know Your Customer’ policy. The name on the waybill must match that of the receiver’s ID.

DHL charge according to the ‘zone’
the country falls in. To send to a country within the EU would be cheaper to send than to say China. They take into consideration the fuel surcharge, and price accordingly. We constantly liaise with our suppliers to ensure we get the best and most competitive rates for our customers.

Our warehouse team aims to process parcels within 24-48 hours. We may not be able to process parcels on Saturdays and Mondays due to our weekly air freight departing, but we’ll process everything that has come in as soon as possible.

Yes, that’s no problem; however
there is an admin fee starting from £12 a return. Please contact us to find out more.

With that Mailbox owner’s
permission, yes!

Yes we can! Our extensive purchasing service includes in-store purchases from most places in Leicester and surrounding areas. There is a charge for this based, on distance and location. However, this is all confirmed before the purchase is done.

Until whenever you’re ready to
send! Please note for long storage periods, e.g. from 6 months on, storage fees may apply.

If this happens, just make us
aware of what to expect, which store, the expected arrival date and any other information and our team should be able to allocate the parcel to your Mailbox.

We can set a fixed rate for you
within the UK via DHL and Parcelforce or any other courier. We review what you
are sending, so if there is anything unusually sized or extra large, we can send this via an Economy Courier such as Parcelforce unless it is a time
sensitive item. We will always offer you the best rate possible to help your business. If it is better for you to open your own account with Hermes or other
couriers, we will advise you as such.

Yes, we can! We have helped many businesses send internationally whilst keeping costs low. We can make you a fixed tariff from
as little as 0.5kg for those all important samples to 20-100kg, anywhere in the world

We can send items as such, but we would need the manufacturers MSDS certificate. MSDS Stands for Material Safety
Data Sheet and breaks down the nature of the hazardous component. We may also
need to pack these for you if they are not already packed suitably for hazardous exports. Hazardous shipments usually incur a surcharge for the documents and packing.

When we send you the invoice with a VAT element, we will always put the amount along with a breakdown of costs;
this includes VAT as a single line. You can arrange to claim back the VAT using this information. We don’t however arrange VAT returns for items that you ship
with us. You can either request your supplier to charge you for the item without VAT, if this is needed we would have to issue a certificate of shipment and make a specific customs entry showing those items have been exported. The certificate of shipment will incur an admin fee to process. The other option is, you can go to third party companies that can assist to claim your vat back
– its important to follow their process accurately to ensure they can process the VAT for you, there are usually commissions charged for this service. The
third option is to send the items via a UK based Limited company, and with the production of a shipping Waybill or Certificate of shipment, they will be able
to claim the VAT back.

Contact Us

Thank you for visiting our frequently asked question page. If you have any other questions we are here to help, feel free to contact us by phone, email or using the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

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