Is the starting price and fees for sitting on the ground opaque? Some exhibitors roast that they encountered "black logistics" exhibits | women | charges during the move out of Shanghai exhibition
On May 25th, after attending the 23rd China International Agricultural Chemicals and Plant Protection Exhibition in Shanghai, Ms. Hu arranged for the removal and transportation of exhibits and returned to Xiamen to wait for the instruments to return. However, a few days later, a logistics bill arrived with the item, which caught her off guard. "I didn't inform you of the specific pricing method in advance, and only then did I realize that the logistics company charges based on volume, and there are also many hidden charges." Ms. Hu was furious about this and quickly dialed the complaint hotline.
Recently, complaints about logistics fees like this have not been uncommon. Some exhibitors have reported encountering varying degrees of "ground price hikes" when withdrawing from the Shanghai exhibition after its completion. Exhibitors are calling for standardized management of relevant logistics service providers to provide a better exhibition environment.
Pricing method repeatedly jumps horizontally
In fact, the organizer provided a logistics company responsible for the transportation and storage of exhibits. However, since we were relatively small, we found another logistics company to transport the exhibits to Shanghai ourselves. As the logistics company that brought them in failed to obtain relevant documents in a timely manner, Ms. Hu was unable to enter the exhibition when it was withdrawn. She had to search for a logistics service provider herself, and the exhibitor at the nearby booth recommended "Anneng Logistics" to her.
"The staff at the Anneng logistics network said that they have already processed all the documents in advance, and we only need to hand over the exhibits to them." Ms. Hu said that she had repeatedly negotiated with the staff and agreed to price the items based on their weight, which is 2 yuan per kilogram. But due to the inability to weigh on site, they first signed a logistics contract and asked them to bring them back to the station to weigh, and agreed to pay on a "collect payment" basis.
A few days later, Ms. Hu received a bill from Anneng Logistics. At this point, she realized that the originally agreed upon method of pricing by weight had been replaced by volumetric billing. Moreover, the measured volume provided by the other party was even larger than the volume of the exhibits when they were transported to Shanghai, which puzzled her. "When they arrived in Shanghai, only 5 cubic meters were measured, but when they were sent back to Xiamen, 6.2 cubic meters were actually measured. We also consumed a lot of things during the exhibition, wasn't this a false report?" Ms. Hu was even more angry when the other party also revealed many hidden charges: "An additional fee of 171 yuan will be charged on delivery, and additional taxes will be added to invoicing. These were not mentioned before transportation, and the total amount reached 2800 yuan, which is twice the transportation price at the time of arrival."
Due to the urgent need for irrigation equipment and many samples in the exhibits, Ms. Hu carefully considered and agreed to the negotiation plan of "each step back" provided by Anneng Logistics. Afterwards, she recalled the process of signing the bill and found that there were many traps hidden in it: before transportation, the relevant staff verbally promised the weight pricing method and did not include it in the logistics transportation bill on the grounds that it could not be weighed on site. During the process, they quietly changed the pricing method, saying, "If it was agreed to be based on weight, we would not specifically remind the warehouse to pay attention to the appearance and packaging. Even if there were objections to the logistics company's calculation after opening the package, there was no evidence, which made it difficult to protect rights." As for other charging matters, they were not reflected in the logistics contract. "The overall impression I have is that these logistics companies have seized the opportunity of the exhibition, and being able to dominate one is a good thing," Ms. Hu said.
Frequent occurrences of ground price hikes
Mr. Fu from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu has also been involved in a dispute with a logistics service provider. On June 7th, the Shanghai International Environmental Protection Exhibition was not yet over, and there were already more staff promoting logistics services in front of the booth. Among them, the introduction from Yimi Dida Logistics Company moved Mr. Fu's heart. "When I participated in the exhibition, I had to handle the relevant documents myself, and it was quite troublesome to come back and forth. I wanted to find a logistics company that had already processed the documents when I withdrew from the exhibition." However, Mr. Fu did not expect that this choice would actually add more troubles to him.
According to Mr. Fu, both parties agreed on a price of 600 yuan to transport the exhibits from Shanghai to Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, and immediately signed a "logistics delivery note". "Later, it was discovered that only the location, time, and amount were written on this note." I thought I would receive the exhibits the next day, but Mr. Fu checked them for several days and found that the exhibits remained stationary at the logistics point. ". Helpless, he had to quickly contact the relevant staff, but the news he received made him extremely angry. "The other party said they would charge a total of 2650 yuan for packaging and logistics fees, otherwise we would have to go and pick them up ourselves." Seeing the price increase several times, Mr. Fu decided not to let the logistics company transport the goods anymore. He went to find a truck to pick up the goods on his own. At this time, the other party proposed to charge a transportation fee of 600 yuan, "said it was the money from the exhibition to the branch."
"Isn't this a starting price for sitting on the ground?" Mr. Fu immediately complained to the logistics company headquarters, and after multiple negotiations, he finally succeeded in retrieving the exhibits from the branch. However, upon receiving the exhibits, he found that the acrylic panels on the outer side of the packaging were all damaged. Mr. Fu suspected that this was intentional damage by the branch staff, and the two sides were once again embroiled in a new round of dispute.
The reporter noticed that on the 12345 Citizen Service Hotline, complaints about logistics service providers raising prices and violent transportation are not uncommon. As Mr. Guo reported, the hydraulic press that was supposed to be packed and transported together was missed, but a replacement was required to pay an additional 300 yuan for the installation fee
Exhibition logistics management still needs further standardization
Since the beginning of this year, the energy accumulated by the Shanghai exhibition industry has been fully released. According to the introduction of the Municipal Commission of Commerce, judging from the exhibition hall reservation data as of February, it is planned to hold nearly 300 exhibitions this year, which also poses significant challenges to the organizers and management.
Sun Qi, who has been engaged in exhibition logistics services for a long time, told reporters that in order to provide convenience for exhibitors, most exhibition organizers will designate a home transportation service provider during the exhibition period to assist exhibitors in obtaining truck waiting certificates, unloading certificates, etc., ensuring smooth entry and exit of exhibitors and providing transportation services for exhibitors. "When I served as the contact person for transportation service providers, my business mainly focused on the entry and exit of goods after they arrived at the exhibition hall, and the logistics transportation for the exit and return journey was relatively less." Sun Qi explained that this is because on the one hand, there are some larger resident logistics service providers in the exhibition hall, which has diverted the exhibitor group, and on the other hand, it is related to the "black logistics" inside the exhibition hall.
Sun Qi stated that the so-called "black logistics" mainly occurs in the "withdrawal" stage. "Some logistics companies with ulterior motives will apply for relevant certificates in advance, and then go to each booth to promote. Exhibitors will take the bait when they hear that the price is lower than that provided by the official transport service provider." However, there is often a bigger "pit" behind this low price. "It is very common to start the price on the ground during transportation, and it is also the damage of goods. Many exhibitors and even organizers have roast in previous communication."
In fact, in response to the phenomenon of "black logistics" soliciting goods at exhibition sites, relevant authorities have also introduced corresponding restrictive measures. Recently, the relevant departments of the Municipal Commission of Commerce replied through 12345, suggesting that exhibitors choose the main venue transportation service provider designated by the exhibition organizer or the exhibition hall resident service provider during the exhibition setup and removal period. If they choose third-party transportation of exhibits, they should report to the exhibition main venue transportation service provider. However, Sun Qi stated that the so-called "reporting" is difficult to implement in practical operations. "Home transportation service providers cannot restrict exhibitors' choices, and logistics service providers find it difficult to restrict their cargo collection behavior as long as they can enter the exhibition hall."
In this regard, many exhibitors suggest that the organizers and exhibition halls should further increase the management of inbound logistics service providers. "If logistics companies are found to have entered illegally, punishment should be increased." On the other hand, it can also be considered to create a unified exhibition platform, including exhibitors, logistics, organizers and other different entities. This can not only avoid the back and forth rush of exhibition companies to obtain relevant documents, but also supervise logistics enterprises, reduce disputes, and provide exhibitors with a better exhibition environment, helping Shanghai's construction as the "International Exhibition Capital" from a subtle perspective.
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