What to Do When the Goods Arrive at the Port but the Customer Doesn't Pick Them Up? Only a Responsible China Forwarding Company Can Handle This Unexpected Situation

What should be done when the goods arrive at the port but the customer can't be reached and doesn't pick up the goods, leading to huge storage and container rental fees?

Let me recount some personal experiences of foreign customers not picking up their goods. Typically, these customers are small companies or even one-person businesses where the boss or a family member unfortunately falls seriously ill, or the boss whimsically goes on vacation. At this time, the customer's phone and computer are turned off, making it impossible to contact them. This may sound unreliable, but it has indeed happened several times. Watching the storage fee rise by $500 a day, we also worry about the customer when such unexpected situations occur. As a China forwarding company with many years of experience, we have encountered many seemingly unreliable surprises. How to handle these situations is a critical test for any China forwarding company.

Storage and container rental fees are not fixed; there is one rate for 1-7 days, another for 7-15 days, and yet another for 15-30 days, increasing like usury. When faced with such unexpected situations, China forwarding companies with strong capabilities, like us, have warehouses in many overseas ports. I would transfer the goods to our warehouse first to reduce these additional costs.

Therefore, as a responsible China forwarding company, I always insist on gathering as much information as possible about the customer and the goods when the customer books a shipment. However, some customers get impatient when asked too many questions, which I also understand. Collecting enough information helps us handle any unforeseen circumstances better and maximize the customer's benefits.

In fact, as an experienced China forwarding company, we not only provide logistics services but also help customers with other tedious tasks. Whether it’s contacting suppliers to purchase specialty items or handling various odd jobs, we can manage it all. Moreover, our principle is not to charge additional fees, only the logistics service fee. This way, customers can save themselves from tedious tasks and focus on their core business.

For example, some customers find it troublesome to send me a booking list. Of course, I can accommodate the customer’s convenience; even without a booking list, I can book a shipment. But once an unexpected situation arises and the customer can't be contacted in time, it becomes very passive. Therefore, I always insist on having the customer send a booking list. In emergency situations, having more information about the customer and the goods allows us to know what emergency measures to take to reduce unnecessary losses. I believe this is what a responsible China forwarding company should do.

Last night, I had a video call with my partner at the overseas warehouse in the United States to check on the storage situation and the problems encountered. The US warehouse now offers a new service for clothing customers. If goods are stored in our warehouse, we can arrange for simple tasks like ironing, sewing buttons, or replacing labels to be done. This is an extension and upgrade of our logistics services. These tasks may seem simple, but if a customer has already shipped goods overseas and encounters a request for label replacement, it would be a very tricky problem without the services provided by a China forwarding company like ours.

As a China forwarding company with 26 years of experience, we care more about our customers' needs than the customers themselves. Except for natural disasters, our punctuality rate is 99%. If you have international transportation needs, please contact us.f at jerry@swwlogistics.com.cn. We are confident that you will be satisfied.