Hi there.
Many thanks for your feedback.
I am sorry that you feel dissatisfied with the shipping rates from our Japan warehouse.
Our shipping rates are reviewed each year, with each of the courier services, to make them as cost effective as possible based on the volume of packages that we receive and we do also apply our service charge to the overall shipping prices, with the couriers, as a percentage.
Please be aware that it is a service that you are paying for through our company as well as shipping.
We understand that everyone is facing financially challenging times worldwide and the fluctuating fuel surcharge rates with each courier service are causing increases in the overall shipping prices we are currently offering. Some courier companies review their fuel surcharges once a month and others review and amend the fuel surcharges on a weekly basis and the courier services' are also having to apply additional emergency surcharge fees in relation to COVID restrictions from country to country.
We apologize for any inconvenience or difficulties this may be causing all of our customer's.
I can see that you did not opt for a combine and repack service for your package prior to shipping from our Japan warehouse. The items, decorations, that you were shipping, although fairly light in weight, will have been packed into a larger box for safety/ handling purposes by the original seller. We may have been able to save you further costs on shipping if you had requested a combine and repack service for your package to try and reduce the size of the package further and lower your overall shipping price. The concept of the combine and repack service would usually refer to removing or reducing as much unnecessary excess space or voids in order to consolidate as many times together as one piece to reduce as much volumetric weight as possible but this would be dependant on the type of items being repacked. Because your package was containing fragile items then we would have more than likely assessed and carried out a repack for safety purposes rather than to reduce excess volume and this would not have necessarily resulted in any potential savings on the original shipping costs.
I can see that the shipping cost with DHL Express for your original package had been based on the size of the package at 2.98 kg rather than the actual weight of the goods 0.82 kg and although repacking the decorations into a smaller package may have been more economic and could have saved you costs on the shipping, we do not feel this would have been the safest option for your goods. It is not guaranteed that a combine and repack/reduction service will provide sufficient cost savings on the original shipping price with the courier as this would be dependant on the types of items that are being requested for a repack inside a package.
We must make you aware that we will always assess and repack fragile items, such as ceramics and glass items, for safety over volume for onwards shipping and we could not make any guarantees that a combine and repack service will always assist with reducing the overall chargeable weight for the shipping price.
If you should have any further questions or concerns please do not hesitate to get back in touch with our Customer Experience team who will be more than happy to assist you further.
I hope the information provided to you is useful, we hope this issue will not deter you from shipping with us again in the future and you will reconsider your current rating of our services.
Kind Regards
Hayley
