Just Take Care of It!...

The final straw that triggered the creation of this blog was client CC. CC was told by an unnamed forwarder to call my company. Forwarder left him a message-- call Shit Out of Luck (SOL) Broker (that would be us) and they will "take care of it!" This CC doesn't know why he has to call my company, needless to say, he doesn't know what a customs broker is.

CC took a vacation to a Southeast Asian country and went on a shopping spree. CC paid some store for the goods and "shipping", thinking that his stuff will magically appear at his house like a Fedex package. In sum, CC knows jack shit about importing procedures.

Don't you guys love those customers? "Why do I have to clear customs, I already paid 500 bucks, then I had to pay some freight company 200 bucks, then why do I have to pay you guys? what am I paying you guys for? everyone in town is taking me for a ride!!"

So after some extensive bitching and whining, he decides to hire me to clear his stuff. Lucky for me, his stuff went General Order. In the meantime, exam is required by Customs. So GO 400 bucks plus exam 400 bucks, lucky me has to break the news to CC.

CC bitched and complained more, of course. He says he is going to call his credit card company to refuse payment. He also told me he "spent all this money" and I should talk to Customs to "justify" these ridiculous charges. My favorite: "You are a Customs Broker so you should know someone to talk to at Customs" about "justifying" his charges, getting his money back....etc. etc.

He has not paid a penny to our company, and probably will never pay me.

The thing that bothered me the most is that this dumb ass has never taken any responsibility of his ignorance. Everything has been somebody else's fault. The broker's fault for making him "waste all this money" , Credit Card company's fault for not giving his money back, Customs' fault for wanting to examine his stuff... blah blah blah.

It's almost like wondering why you have bad credit when you do not pay your bills.

I just hate it when an importer doesn't take responsibility for their actions. He is going through this because he didn't do his homework before importing. and his shit went GO because he sat on it for three weeks. Of course, it is always the broker's fault in the end. Not to mention all the hours wasted explaining and listening to the whining... and getting stiffed in the end.

I try not to take it personally... apparently I do otherwise I wouldn't be here wasting more time blogging about it.

OK.. Here is one reason being a broker sucks

Being a Customs Broker, our job performance and hence customer satisfaction is mainly dependent on the performance of a governmental agency. so, we have little control over our job performance.

Broker sends entry- Customs releases entry- broker off the hook - importer hopefully doesn't complain and may be thankful if having a good day

Broker sends entry- Customs loses entry- bad broker, all broker's fault- importer pissed at broker

Broker sends entry- Customs requests exam- exam is expensive- broker is the unlucky messenger- pissed off importer whine, bitch, complain at broker, and sometimes stiffs broker.

Tell me this is a great job!

Virgin Blog

So I took a deep breath, and here I am, my virgin blog.

Just heard on TV tonight... People go on the Internet for two reasons: porn and complaining. Yes, cliche--but right on the money. Having been a customs broker for four years, I have finally mustered enough energy to publicly complain about my job, though the desire has always been there, since day one. I know I am not alone here-whenever customs brokers get together, all we do is complain and compare nightmare stories about clients, customs, FDA, and the anticipation of the endless possibilities of problems (or challenges if you are an optimist) for your work day. Even with all the endless variety of 'challenges', this career is absolutely faithfully unrewarding.

As I begin this adventure of creative 'therapy' and God knows I need it, I will pull a story out of my hat of work bullshit, and rant on...