Saia
Reviews and Complaints

SAIA is by far the worst company to deal with for freight. This company had a driver show up at our shop, pick up equipment, the equipment was fraudulently charged and picked up. Our company found out what was going on and got the equipment stopped and requested to be returned due to everything about that shipment was fraudulent and the person that used fraud ordered the delivery. SAIA turned around and charged us over $1500 for a fraudulent shipment, order, and return! Will never use this company again and we ship things daily!

I ordered an electric awning from Carefree of Colorado invoiced on 03-22-22 in the amount of $2418.90. When it arrived at my residence on 03-31-22 shipped by SAIA, it looked as though it went through a shredder. The shipping box and SAIA's shipping manifest clearly stated, "ALUMINUM ARTICLES-FRAGILIE HAND CARRY HANDLOAD TUBES". With that said I immediately took pictures of the visible damaged goods in the shipping box with the SAIA truck. I did take possession and did NOT sign the received paperwork. The visible damage with the packaging (bent awning arm, damaged/bent aluminum headrail was evident. After breaking down the delivered awning for concealed damage, I found the awning material with damage when the arm was struck/bent. This unit was $2418.90 Total w/TX & Freight. Note: On 03-08-22 SAIA sent an inspector to view and photograph the damaged electric awning.

saia has horrible customer and the lack of attention for a company this big is unprofessional. I have been trying to get a claim processed since Aug for items that were lost and no one will response or deal with the matter. i will never recommend them to anyone and i have asked all my vendors to stop shipping on them as i will refuse any shipment sent saia.

AWFUL COMPANY! We returned an item that we ordered but did not have the proper circuitry to run. Saia delivered at their convenience. WE DID NOT TAKE IT OFF THE PALLET. Arranged at our expense to have Saia return at a higher rate because we don't have a corporate account as does the seller. Agreed to terms of $319 and paid at drop-off. Weeks later we received an "adjusted additional bill" of over $600 MORE because it weighed a few pounds LESS than the original BOL! When we called for an explanation we were told to pay the additional fee or be turned over to collections!

I have a 6 pallet delivery that I have been awaiting since Wednesday it has not shown up and I have yet to get a call back. I have called several times and today I requested a Saturday delivery because I stand to loose a $20, 000 deal because I did not have the delivery on time. I am now being told that I will be upcharged for a late delivery which is unacceptable. So now because of the incompetency of Saia's customer service staff I will have 6 pallets of a special order that I lose on. I am trying to salvage the deal and come in on my day off to do so and I have to pay extra for this? Saia is unwilling to do what is needed to correct their own late delivery. 100% unacceptable. I am livid beyond words and will be sure that no one shipping to me in the future will be using SAIA LTL Freight. pro# [protected]

On April 22, 2020, I purchased a desk and chair from Office Depot. It was originally supposed to arrive next day. Then I was told it would be delivered by April 28, 2020. When it did not arrive by 5:00 p.m. on April 28, 2020, I called Saia Freight and was told that Mary was in charge of my shipment. I was then transferred to a fax machine - not a voicemail. I called back and left a voicemail for Mary. Mary did not return my call. The afternoon of April 29, 2020, I attempted to call Mary again. Mary did not answer, so I left another voicemail. Midday, April 30, 2020, Mary still had not returned my call, so I called again - left another voicemail. I then called Office Depot. Office Depot was going to follow up and return my call, they did not call me back. On the morning of April 31, 2020, I called Mary again - and she finally answered her phone. She failed to apologize for not returning my previous calls. Her response was: "you mean you still have not received your delivery?" She then promised that it would be delivered the following Monday, May 4, 2020 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Well, it was not delivered on May 4, 2020. at 5:05 p.m., I called Office Depot again. Office Depot put me on hold and called Saia Freight, only to be placed on a hold for more than 10 minutes. Office Depot said there was no reason for me to stay on hold, that they would stay on hold until someone answered and then Office Depot would call me back. Office Depot failed, again, to call me back. The morning of May 5, 2020, I called Office Depot and asked for a supervisor. I was put on eternal hold and eventually hung up. I had decided that I would physically go to Office Depot to settle this matter. However, Saia Freight showed up at my door. The shipping label clearly said: "Inside Delivery Pre-Approved" and "Residential Delivery". However, the delivery driver refused to bring it into my home. The desk weighed 166 lbs. At first, he was just going to drop it on my driveway. I asked him to put it on the porch - which he reluctantly did. When I questioned him about not delivering it inside, he told me he wasn't allowed to so. I then called Saia to complain about this entire fiasco. The girl that answered the phone agreed that the shipping label said "Residential Delivery" "Inside Delivery Pre-Approved". However, she told me that this was just "standard language" that automatically printed on every shipping label. She said that it was there policy not to deliver items inside a residence. I was DONE. I told her that I would be leaving a bad review; filing a complaint with Saia and Office Depot.

I'm writing this review so that other current and potential new customers be aware of what this company do to their customers.

I used saia for few months, and I stopped using saia services after they rebilled and reclasiffied our shipments at will.

A simple $150 shipment (that with other company like road runner, or estes, or old dominion would cost $5 to $15 more) became a $350 to $450 shipment after they changed dimensions and weight at will.
A 220lbs shipment became a 500lbs shipment just by their error.
A 55x33x31inches became a 60x48x48inches after they loaded on their own pallets, by their own, for their own convenience.
Therefore the class was being changed to a higher class, therefore the rates went up 2 or 3 times sometimes even more of their original rate quote.

When I realized they were changing the original rates to those outrageous new rates, I immediately contacted the sales rep eric caltabiano, who promised to take a look into it and have those errors fixed.
But weeks passed by, we continue shipping, and the rebilling continue piling up.
When I saw that saia was doing not much to have the issue solved, I decided to stop shipping with them.

Believe it or not, on few shipments with an average bill of $180, suddenly I "owe" them over $7, 000 dollars.
I paid every cent of the original given quotes that we received before shipping out.

But they changed these rates on a unscrupulous bait & switch manner, and now my company ended up owing them over $7k on overcharges.

I told them there was no way I was paying them, and they closed our account and sent it to collections.

After dealing with a crazy collections agent that called every 2 hours for weeks, at the end even calling us names, he finally stopped when I told him that I have his calls recorded and that I was planning to sue both saia and his so-called collections agency.

Months passed, and amazingly, saia's eric caltabiano reached us again, offering apologies for the past, and assuring us he has worked a way to avoid shipments to be rebilled or reclassified, he even came with his regional manager to our office to offer their shipping services again.

We accepted their offer and have a 1 shipment test, to confirm that there were no more rate changes.

We shipped a $1, 000 massage chair on feb.18, 2019.
On feb.19, we got an email indicating that they could not deliver, move or return to sender the $1, 000 massage chair, unless we pay the now due amount of $9, 490.96.

Do you believe saia had the nerve to do this?
Approached us with their extended hand in a sign of new business friendship, only to hold our merchandise hostage, and not moving it, keeping it on their dock, until we pay the new inflated due balance?
A due balance that shouldn't exist in the first place.

Eric caltabiano's only explanation was that "he though that all due balances were paid already", and that's why he approached to us again.
All he needed to do was to take a look at our account on his screen, for him to see that we have not paid that made-up balance.

Do you believe that he honestly made that mistake? I don't, at all.
Most likely, he and his supervisor knew what they were doing, in an attempt to have some leverage to collect their own made up balance.

By eric's own words when I talked to him over the phone today feb.19, he admitted that now saia had some leverage with keeping that shipment until we pay them. What an sob.

Saia did not care about our customer's shipment. Eric simply told us to ship another massage chair with another carrier to replace the chair they were holding hostage on their end.

I'm attaching here a screenshot of the email conversations with saia about this matter.
You won't believe how this company reps handle themselves.
What a way of doing business and try to rip customers.

I told them they can keep the massage chair. I should sue them, I know. But I won't spend any more time with them. Instead, hopefully I can explain this situation to other people.

I wonder what saia's top management would say about these business practices.

I ordered an aviary from K9 Kennels, not a cheap item, and it was supposed to be delivered on a Friday.The log sheet showed SAIA had the item for at least two weeks. The log sheet showed there was a scheduled delivery for Friday, September 1, 2017 between the hours of 12 P.M. and 6 P.M. and I would receive a phone call one hour prior to delivery. At 6 P.M. I called and talked to a dispatcher who said, "I'm sorry, it wasn't picked up for some reason like it should have been." It was a holiday weekend. So on Tuesday Sept. 5, I called SAIA who could not explain why it was not picked up. The shipper also called and spoke with management and the delivery was scheduled 'at my convenience, ' LOL. SAIA scheduled the delivery for Friday Sept. 8 between the hours of 8 A.M. and 6 P.M. At 3 P.M. the log still showed It was not loaded on the truck but was scheduled for delivery on Sept. 8. I called SAIA who told me, "I'm sorry it was not loaded for some reason." Again, the same excuse from customer service. She told me I would have to reschedule. They don't correct their errors, they make no attempt to correct their errors, and they want business? I notified the shipper I'm returning the Aviary, I am not dealing with this company.
I will not be receiving any delivery from this irresponsible company and they can eat the shipping charges. This type o business should be put out of business.

When you make a large purchase and pay for delivery to your residence, you expect the delivery company to actually do their part of the job, which is to deliver your large item to your home. That is NOT what you will get if you choose Saia LTL Motor Freight to deliver your package. Their driver refused to drive 7 miles out of town to make a rural delivery, then lied and said I refused delivery. I never refused delivery, the driver refused to deliver. The road getting into town was the hard part, the last 7 miles were easy in comparison and just happen to be a County Highway. If a 100-foot tractor-trailer can deliver a shipping container to my house, what could possibly stop a 40-foot truck from driving the same route? If the drivers are afraid to drive in more rural but easily maneuverable County Highways, then they should not be delivery drivers at all…maybe a nice desk job would be more to their liking. They actually expected me to drive into town to meet the driver and put a 254-pound package in the back of my car...really? The driver that actually delivered the unit was from another company and laughed because he could not figure out what was so dangerous about the road to my home. Don’t expect customer service to help you, because they won’t...customer service there does not actually exist.

Set up freight movement from Oregon to Alberta, Canada. Started process with quotes etc. in April. Multiple emails, phone calls regarding shipment. Saia picked up the freight on June 12th - on the 13th they phoned to say our freight was in Seattle and ooops by the way they can't take it over to Canada. WHAT? How stupid can you be that multiple departments are in on this shipment - there is a quote number and they can't figure out that they can't take it into Canada at least a month before the shipment moves? Idiots! Do not use Saia Freight.

I was waiting for my shipping to arrive today. I had an appointment between 12:00 pm and 5 pm. Called them at 11:30 they told me estimated time by 2:30 pm. 3 calls later it is now 511 pm. I called their operator and she told me the delivery guy "should be" here in another 30 minutes but not guaranteed as there may be accidents on the road etc. I let her know I have a guest that needs to go to the airport and that we are hungry. I asked if it is possible to call my cell when shipment arrives so we can eat. She said that this is not possible. I do not recommend anyone who values their time to do any business with this company.

Three (03) Color Copiers totally damaged by SAIA Motor Freight.

This incident is very clear that the units were shipped well secured with metal strap bands and well packaged when left the Xerox warehouse.

The units weight over 500lbs each and there would not be any cardboard that would have hold that weight if the pallet is dump like they were.. All the pictures shows a clear and total mishandle of the cargo and SAIA needs to honor the responsibility.

I've contacted the shipper who guarantees that they deliver a perfect equipment well packaged to the SAIA driver and they claim that they are not responsible for the mishandling and damages of the shipment.

In 8 years in business i've never seem so many equipments arriving with so much damage and pieces held together by tape:. A total of $2300.00 in damages and SAIA wants to pay only $165 IS THIS A JOKE?
Claim Pro Number # [protected]-5
A new law has to be put in place that holds those companies liable for their actions.

SAIA was a great company about 10 years ago. That’s why I chose to work here. A few short years ago, things began to change. The Big Dogs decided to overlook the qualified, experienced workers for available manager positions in order to hire Paper Managers those with degrees but no common sense or people skills. The company is suffering greatly for it. All the sit-down meetings to hear employees comments and suggestions are a waste of time since the ideas fall on deaf ears. The supervisors, managers and salesmen do not know the meaning of customer service. Customers are unhappy and we lose more of them every day.

The ones that just don’t care jeopardize all our jobs and need to leave. Dock supervisors are more interested in clearing the docks in order to show their proficiency than handling the merchandise with at least some care to ensure no damages occur. The drivers are then just as surprised to find the damage as the customer as it is being delivered. Simple solution: Big Dogs spend some time out of the press box and get a lateral look at what’s going on.

Listen to the ones who deal with the customers face to face. Your supervisors and managers are killing us. Listen also to the customers. Good service bears more weight than pricing even in these difficult times. I still love my job. Its just harder to do it when I have to look at these people in the face while delivering damaged merchandise. I’ve been at it so long that these people have become a friend which is why they continue using us for now.

SAIA was a great company about 10 years ago. That's why I chose to work here. A few short years ago, things began to change.

The "Big Dogs" decided to overlook the qualified, experienced workers for available manager positions in order to hire "Paper Managers" - those with degrees but no common sense or people skills.

The company is suffering greatly for it. All the sit-down meetings to hear employees' comments and suggestions are a waste of time since the ideas fall on deaf ears. The supervisors, managers and salesmen do not know the meaning of customer service. Customers are unhappy and we lose more of them every day. The ones that just don't care jeopardize all our jobs and need to leave. Dock supervisors are more interested in clearing the docks in order to show their proficiency than handling the merchandise with at least some care to ensure no damages occur. The drivers are then just as surprised to find the damage as the customer as it is being delivered.

Simple solution: "Big Dogs", spend some time out of the press box and get a lateral look at what's going on. Listen to the one's who deal with the customers face to face. Your supervisors and managers are killing us. Listen also to the customers. Good service bears more weight than pricing even in these difficult times.

I still love my job. Its just harder to do it when I have to look at these people in the face while delivering damaged merchandise. I've been at it so long that these people have become friends which is why they continue using us for now.

My shipping broker hired SAIA Motor Freight to ship a pallet of solid bamboo plywood to a customer in Chicago. I took several digital pictures of the pallet of plywood IN THE SAIA TRUCK and eMailed it to the customer and cc'ed shipping broker the day it left my shop.
A week later my customer emails me with a pic of the pallet they received and said that SAIA damaged the pallet and destroyed a sheet of plywood. This stuff is expensive, so I asked SAIA to compensate my customer $117 for the sheet of destroyed plywood.
They refused, saying that the material was not damaged!
I asked them to investigate and they re-stated that they did not damage my customers material.
I have pics of the material leaving and my customer has pics of the material they got, it's beyond obvious that the SAIA driver LIED.
I threatened them with small claims and they offered me $65!
I told them to stuff it, that I have told my shipping broker to never use them again. I have already cost them hundreds of $$$ in lost contracts, and as time passes they will lose thousands.
What a bunch of low-life petty jerks!
Get another company to move your stuff, this company is the worst!

This is by far the worst shipping experince i have ever had... I order a gym set from step 2 for my little boy and Saia was the delivery company used (Big Mistake)! I was supposed to recieve my order on 4/14 then it was cancelled and rescheduled for 4/15. I was told it would be about noon when it arrived and that I had to be here to sign for delivery. Well noon rolled around and no show! Then i called at 3 pm and i was told it would be between 4 and 4:30 well a No Show again. So guess what I called again at 5:30 and was told it would be within the hour! NO SHOW AGAIN! So i called back and was told that the driver could not reach me on the phone so he was headed back to the shipyard! You gotta love that! And that I should called back in the morn and reschedule my arrival! Yep they left it up to me to figure this out! And there was def no remorse on their end! So we will see if it comes tom!

We are a furniture retailer in Seattle, WA. Our manufacturer from CA shipped items to us and Saia showed up unannounced. They would not release the shipment without a check. Now our inventory is slated for redelivery and we are forced to pay almost double of the original shipping cost (from CA), due to the redelivery charges associated. We are told that if we dispute the redelivery charge, our shipment will continue to be on hold indefinitely. Their manager, the only person who is authorized to waive this fee refuses to talk to us on the phone.

It is unreasonable to expect that our staff in our store would know exact dollar amount, and have a check ready without any prior indication. It is also unreasonable to expect that in a company, the person that is authorized to write checks, would also be the same person receiving inventory.

This is not about the redelivery fee but about principal. The fact that they refuse to admit fault, and their willingness to contribute to further delay of our shipment, speaks for itself. We ship and receive very frequently, rest assured I will never give another dime to this company again.