This post is a warning about working with or using the services of Gaston Etchart and his business called SAmericaXplorer (samericaexplorer.net). This man solicits his services for vehicle transport/shipment on a lot of overlander-type websites. We utilized his services to ship our vehicle from Cartagena to Houston, TX. He required an immediate and full payment for his services and all of the port charges and shipping fees. However, once we were in Colombia, we had to pay all of these costs in person. Then, once in Houston, Gaston was not communicating well, and we ended up having to pay all fees and costs ourselves to get the vehicle out of customs. (All of these payments were supposed to be paid by Gaston but never were.) This caused us to pay twice for everything, and of course, paying these costs in person was cheaper than what Gaston had charged us. Since then, we have not heard from Gaston and never received a refund. Recently, we even received an email from a man who was directed to us as a reference from Gaston. Unfortunately, he too was missing money from Gaston and had spoken with others who had dealt with the same issues. This man's business is a scam. We are fairly certain we will never get our money back, however, we would like to help to prevent others from losing their money as we and many others have. Please pass this on, and if you have any questions regarding this issue specifically feel free to contact us at homelesshoneymoon@gmail.com

Same thing happened to me. Stay away. He has been charing in advance and paying late for years, and now his pyramid scheme is collapsing, missing payments, home foreclosure, ... STAY AWAY!

Read my review here:

Review of Gaston SamericaXplorer Shipping: BEWARE! | Adventure Rider

Gaston / SamericaXplorer is definitely a scammer and thief

Yes, Gaston has been operating on ADV Rider a long time, I remember him from YEARS ago. If you care, you may be able to dig in and find thousands of posts and threads he started to promote his SCAM.

I figured the guy was a crook from the start. He's a rich, spoiled Venezuelan kid who came to Miami along with thousands of other scammers there. He talked a good line and sadly, quite a few guys got screwed.

Shipping bikes is a major PITA even on a good day, and you find crooks and scammers at every turn. Use caution, don't deal with unknown "agents" or freight forwarders and the like.

Even if you found an honest agent, that guy would have to be a magician to navigate the dirty waters in this scam ridden industry.

Fortunately there ARE good shipping companies which we are happy to have advertise their services with us.
Motorcycle Express (USA)
James Cargo (UK)
Motofreight (UK)
Ferris Wheels (now known as World on Wheels) (Australia)
are all well-known and recommended by us as good companies to deal with.
I'd start with them FIRST, see what they can do, and if they can't help with some odd shipment. Be sure to tell them where you heard about them for the very best service!

Also be sure to check the How to ship your bike page with a ton of good info and links to more, and of course the HU Shipping Database has thousands of shipments already done with full reviews and info on how it went. YOU can add to this with YOUR information on ALL shipments you make s it's a complete and up-to-date reference for all. It only takes a few minutes and is an invaluable reference for travellers.

Next port of call, is the HU shippers links pages where you'll find loads of reputable - so far as we can tell - shippers.

I hope that helps!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com