The Kenya we live in is just plain amazing. I have been living in BH for a while now so when i decided to move back, which was like three weeks ago, i had alot of personal stuff (60 kgs) that i had to send through cargo.
Normally when you send stuff you pay for shipping and handling fees in the country of origin, which is what i did. I had my waybill number even before i left. The shipping company told me it would take 5 to 7 days to get here but when it did someone would call me. And call they did, my mom received a quick call from these guys at swissport saying that my shipment was here and that its ready for collection and then hung up. Now i had never dealt with these people before so i thought to myself i should call them and find out how to go about collecting my stuff, hello people!... no one was answering the phone on any of the numbers i tried so i said to myself the stuff only arrived on Tuesday and its Friday today,surely they give you like five working days to collect your stuff before they start charging you for storage right? Wrong!...and anyway how bad can it be when the package is only 60kgs and not so bulky? trust me my darlings it was bad, really really bad.
Here is my itinerary for a clearing and forwarding day at the Airport
Friday at 1300hrs: Arrive at the Airport and there i was told there is no way i can clear my package today s so i should come back
Saturday 1000hrs: I find out that they dont open on weekends and public holidays of which that Monday was, so i could only do it on Tuesday...
Sunday: Closed
Monday : Closed
Tuesday at 0830hrs: Trust me the crap i go through is unfathomable. This whole day is total waste of my time as i dont get to take my stuff with me,and you know why? because somewhere along the way after tax has been exempted someone from Times tower on the other end of the city has to approve it so you cant move along until they get a message saying you can. Unfortunately for me officer No 4433...? or something like that, doesnt feel like doing his or her work and so from noon till 1700hrs im just sitting around waiting for him/her to do finally do what she is paid to do, she/he doesn't, and my suggestions to call the person are ignored for a while and then later at 1715hrs im gleefully informed that they, (times tower) dont have phones..WHAT??? Anyway that isnt the shocker of the day as it turns out my storage fees at the so called swissport warehouse are Kshs11.00 per Kg per day, yes people per Kg. so in a day im being charged Kshs 660.00 per day.... aaand... they give you two days to come get your stuff so Tue and Wed are free but from Thur onwards its Kshs.660.00 per day including these three (days weekend) they are closed by the way. Im furious when im told once again that i have to come back the next day as they will be closing shop now. Another Kshs. 660.00 all care of Customs times tower.
Wednesday 0830hrs: I get there and my agent is trying everything he can to make sure i don't waste another single day doing nothing, plus ive kinda told him that if he doesn't clear them today he ain't getting paid.So trust me he is running up and down all over the place and in like and hour, he tells me to go pay my handling fees so my package can be released . At the swissport counter my bill is presented to me and im in shock, my storage is for 7 or 8 days, because i find out they are charging me for today as well...today? its1000hrs on the same day im taking my stuff home and they are charging me a full fee for it, i ask why and the lady tells me we charge per the hour. EXCUSE ME! if you charge by the hour why on this earth im i paying you a full days rate when its only bloody 10am in the morning and she goes like ''thats how we do it'' . There are taxes and an additional handling fee of like Kshs. 800.00 all of it in total for my forwarding and clearing experience has cost me Kshs 13,000.00....TO CLEAR OLD USED PERSONAL ITEMS.
This is my advice to you please please find out from your Cargo company where your items will end up at the Airport if its Swiss port, FIND AN ALTERNATIVE! I know i will never allow them near my stuff again.
I
Normally when you send stuff you pay for shipping and handling fees in the country of origin, which is what i did. I had my waybill number even before i left. The shipping company told me it would take 5 to 7 days to get here but when it did someone would call me. And call they did, my mom received a quick call from these guys at swissport saying that my shipment was here and that its ready for collection and then hung up. Now i had never dealt with these people before so i thought to myself i should call them and find out how to go about collecting my stuff, hello people!... no one was answering the phone on any of the numbers i tried so i said to myself the stuff only arrived on Tuesday and its Friday today,surely they give you like five working days to collect your stuff before they start charging you for storage right? Wrong!...and anyway how bad can it be when the package is only 60kgs and not so bulky? trust me my darlings it was bad, really really bad.
Here is my itinerary for a clearing and forwarding day at the Airport
Friday at 1300hrs: Arrive at the Airport and there i was told there is no way i can clear my package today s so i should come back
Saturday 1000hrs: I find out that they dont open on weekends and public holidays of which that Monday was, so i could only do it on Tuesday...
Sunday: Closed
Monday : Closed
Tuesday at 0830hrs: Trust me the crap i go through is unfathomable. This whole day is total waste of my time as i dont get to take my stuff with me,and you know why? because somewhere along the way after tax has been exempted someone from Times tower on the other end of the city has to approve it so you cant move along until they get a message saying you can. Unfortunately for me officer No 4433...? or something like that, doesnt feel like doing his or her work and so from noon till 1700hrs im just sitting around waiting for him/her to do finally do what she is paid to do, she/he doesn't, and my suggestions to call the person are ignored for a while and then later at 1715hrs im gleefully informed that they, (times tower) dont have phones..WHAT??? Anyway that isnt the shocker of the day as it turns out my storage fees at the so called swissport warehouse are Kshs11.00 per Kg per day, yes people per Kg. so in a day im being charged Kshs 660.00 per day.... aaand... they give you two days to come get your stuff so Tue and Wed are free but from Thur onwards its Kshs.660.00 per day including these three (days weekend) they are closed by the way. Im furious when im told once again that i have to come back the next day as they will be closing shop now. Another Kshs. 660.00 all care of Customs times tower.
Wednesday 0830hrs: I get there and my agent is trying everything he can to make sure i don't waste another single day doing nothing, plus ive kinda told him that if he doesn't clear them today he ain't getting paid.So trust me he is running up and down all over the place and in like and hour, he tells me to go pay my handling fees so my package can be released . At the swissport counter my bill is presented to me and im in shock, my storage is for 7 or 8 days, because i find out they are charging me for today as well...today? its1000hrs on the same day im taking my stuff home and they are charging me a full fee for it, i ask why and the lady tells me we charge per the hour. EXCUSE ME! if you charge by the hour why on this earth im i paying you a full days rate when its only bloody 10am in the morning and she goes like ''thats how we do it'' . There are taxes and an additional handling fee of like Kshs. 800.00 all of it in total for my forwarding and clearing experience has cost me Kshs 13,000.00....TO CLEAR OLD USED PERSONAL ITEMS.
This is my advice to you please please find out from your Cargo company where your items will end up at the Airport if its Swiss port, FIND AN ALTERNATIVE! I know i will never allow them near my stuff again.
I
