All the experiences are helping me to become a stronger person.
A tragedy I did not expect at all
The story you are about to read happened in 2017 after my husband left me.
I was alone with three children (one of them was adopted) and had not yet recovered from the loss of a loved one when another financial disaster came along. That was the deepest painful time of my life.
My visit to the USA for my American client
A customer from America, I visited him in the USA that year, he picked me up at the airport with a truck and didn’t take me to his company.
A plain sandwich at a supermarket was what he offered me for lunch.
I understood through our conversation that he’d been in critical financial difficulty for many years, and he is a divorced father with one child.
Yet he hadn’t seen his 85 years old father for over 30 years; their relationship was fragile.
Payments issues and delays
The end client was HD Canada; anyone in the market knew about this company. They own big supermarkets, and the payment terms of such customers are usually long and need lots of requirements such as factory inspection and item testing.
Payment between HD and my customer was OA 60 days. We were LC AT SIGHT.
You may wonder how LC AT SIGHT can have unexpected financial problems as LC is one of the safest payments in international trade.
We had to confirm the documents submitted to the bank after shipment with the customer, and it took nearly a month.
Deceiving is what I received
At this moment, the customer came to discuss with me that his payment was about to be due. He could get the payment from his client after the documents arrived at the bank.
Could we make the payment by TT directly and let him pay me after receiving the payment from the client and disregarding the LC. I was considering that the letter of credit would have more bank charge, he was in financial difficulty, and we had been working together for three years. I had lowered my cautions in my mind. So I agreed to his request.
As a result, when it was time to pay, he began to write to us the goods had defective but with no photos to show.
We called HD’s main office to verify that there was no problem with the product quality. HD strictly inspected the goods before shipment. We discussed the matter again with no result.
All of our effort vanished in the air
It took a tough time for our team to make this order. From the mould making, he could not afford to pay for it and asked me to help pay in advance, plus the payment of the goods, which was worth millions.
It seems so easy to write the case now, but at the time, it was very desperate indeed. I was looking at the kids and wondering how I would raise them? How is the company going to survive?
The supplier did nothing wrong; they needed to receive full payment; and we didn’t have that much cash flow at that time. So I had to sell my house, pay off the goods and employees’ salaries on time, and raise the children.
I had no shoulder to cry on after the love of my life left me
I sat alone in my car crying desperately; why was this happening to me? We tried so hard to do a good job and provide them with quality products. I helped him so much! How could he do this to me!
As I recall now, based on his financial situation and how he treated his elders, I should have stopped working with such people.
A large part of his situation is because of his bad character and attitude. This experience almost bankrupted the company; although every setback made me grow up, such expertise is too critical and should be avoided as far as possible in life.
I want to conclude by saying that everywhere in the world is the same, there are people of good and bad characters, personality should be the first thing to be considered in any cooperation.
Principals are the pile that construct us
I have learned another lesson that we must stick to the principles in business. I was hurt, but I determined that I needed to speak up for the character and integrity of my company and China, keep my passion and kindness and make it a pleasant experience for all the people who work with us. With challenging efforts in these years of all the team members, the company has finally survived and continued to grow. At the same time, we decided that no matter how others treat us, we maintain our business philosophies. To keep helping with integrity.
Continue to do our best to serve every friend who has the chance to cooperate with us. To be one of the most reliable companies in China!
I hope my experience can give you some reminders and make your business and life smoother in the future.
If you want to start your business importing from China or are just looking for a reliable partner and have the integrity to give yourself a chance, You can contact me at any time. Remember that you are safe doing business with us.
My Email: ttrudy@enjoygroup.com.cn
This was Trudy, the President of Yoho furniture with 21 years in the garden furniture export business,
I wish you all good, become better and be the best as always. Thank you.
