Shipping with Maersk Spot: How to navigate customer support service

Maersk is committed to providing you with a seamless and efficient shipping experience. Here are the key features of our robust suite of online and self-serving tools:

• Accessible anytime, anywhere: Manage your business on your terms. Our digital platform empowers you with real-time insights and tools from any device, laptop or mobile.
• Unmatched support, guaranteed accuracy: Your success is our priority. Our team provides live chat assistance and expert support, ensuring your questions are answered accurately and efficiently.
• Stay informed, stay ahead at all times: We offer a variety of self-service notifications to help you keep track of all your shipments, keeping you updated about your freight’s progress.
• Redefining speed and efficiency for your business: Our streamlined digital solutions and responsive support deliver faster turnaround times, saving you valuable time and resources.

We’re committed to continuous improvement to exceed your expectations.

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Now, let’s explore how you can resolve your queries about Maersk Spot, your booking, and case management on maersk.com

Okay, we know you have questions. But let’s start by explaining how you can get the most of the information on our website before contacting customer service.

We’re sure you’ll get your answers here!

‘Maersk Hub’

When you log into your user account, you land on the ‘Maersk Hub’—your dashboard for managing all your shipments. Click on the hamburger menu at the top right corner.

You can explore the guidance material available through the ‘Local offices & information’ and ‘Support’ tabs here.

Local offices & information

When you click the ‘Local offices & information’ button, you’ll find regional contacts and detailed shipping information related to specific routes, demurrage & detention charges, shipping costs, holidays, and cut-off times for your selected region or destination.

To access information from the local information page, simply select your region, such as North America, and then the specific country (Canada or the United States of America).

Next, you can navigate through various tabs like ‘Overview’, ‘Import’, ‘Export’, ‘Payment’, ‘Local solutions’, and ‘Routes’ and view related information for your region. We’ll explore them further:

Overview

• Under the ‘Overview’ tab, you can access most of the essential details for the region you’re shipping from/to.
• First, you’ll find information related to local Maersk offices and utilized ports, such as contact information, address, and opening hours, as well as port information and website links.

• You can scroll down further to see the specific regulations related to the region, along with downloadable PDFs. For example, clicking on ‘Local charges and fees’ will give you detailed information about that particular region.

• Scroll further down, and you’ll find the ‘Useful forms’ button—where you’ll find all form-related information about diversion requests and making changes in your ocean port or inland destination.
  • In this section, you’ll also find a form for ‘Arrival notice’ along with other vital shipping documents such as a BL print agreement, No genset request form for import and export, brochure, and more.
  • For example, filling out the BL print agreement and submitting it to our registration team will allow you to view and print bills from the website. It’ll also allow you to order secured BL paper for printing and perform electronic cargo releases. All you need to do is download the form, fill out the relevant information, sign it, and email the file to the registration team to have these functions enabled.
  • Filling out any form will create a case for you, which we’ve discussed later under the ‘Case Management with Maersk Spot’ section.

Import

• The ‘Import’ tab provides up-to-date local information about import procedures, restrictions, demurrage and detention, container drop-offs, and more.

• You’ll also find useful links to information on activity codes for demurrage and detention, tariff, terminal location, and fees based on container type and size.
• So, if you have a question like, “How much will I pay for demurrage at such and such terminal?”—you can directly visit this link and self-serve this information easily and quickly.

Export

• The ‘Export’ tab provides information on export procedures, demurrage and detention, container pick-ups, export service, procedures, guidelines, restrictions, shipment details, and more.

Please note: There is additional information under the Export tab related to the Maersk Spot to address different Spot shipment scenarios and their potential impacts, such as change of vessel or cancel, change in the transport plan, and scenarios related to equipment and split & roll.

Payment

• Under the ‘Payment’ tab, you’ll find an overview of the payment options: Smart Pay and Credit card. It’ll also give you additional information on how to set these up on your Maersk user account.

• Apart from Smart Pay and Credit card payments, you can also do ACH, Wire Transfers, and Paper Check—and it’ll also tell you how quickly your freight will be released depending on your payment type. If you pay via Smart Pay or credit card, the freight release will be done immediately.

• Scroll down further, and you’ll find further advice on MyFinance—Maersk’s digital payment interface—simplifying your billings and payment and instantly reducing your paperwork.

Local solutions

Next, you’ll find the ‘Local solutions’ tab. Here, you’ll find resources for Maersk Spot, booking inland freight on Spot, submitting shipping instructions, amending your shipment, and more.

If you have questions about Maersk Spot processes, this page is an excellent self-service resource. Its collection of videos, webinars, and step-by-step blogs is worth bookmarking for future reference.

Routes

To explore vessel routing options, click on the ‘Routes’ tab to view all the available shipping routes and schedules between ports for your selected country/region.

Please note: To view vessel routings for specific regions/ports, navigate to the Schedules section at the top of the page to point-to-point vessel routes, port calls, and vessel schedules.

Still have questions? Don’t worry. Let’s understand how to contact Maersk’s expert team to resolve your queries! Keep reading…

In your Maersk Hub dashboard, click on the hamburger menu and then on the ‘Support’ button to access additional assistance and resources.

Here, you can:

• Use the ‘How can we help you?’ search bar to look for specific queries, such as submitting shipping instructions. This will bring up a list of related topics and available resources on the website.
• Access guides on various topics, including how to navigate the different tabs in the shipping instructions process.
• Explore related FAQs that can help answer your questions.

Once you login to your account on Maersk.com, you’ll find ‘Settings’, where you can:

• Check your user profile and change preferences like whether submission forms should reflect imperial or metric units.
• Review permissions for your customer code and other associated company users.
• Set up payment methods, such as adding a bank account for use with SmartPay or a credit card.
• Search for customer codes to check if they are active in Maersk’s system.

Managing your subscriptions for notifications:

Our ‘Subscriptions’ section allows you to:

• Sign up for event-based notifications, such as load, discharge, gate-out, or gate-in.

• Receive alerts for Spot offers that match your specified routing, and container size.

• Create subscriptions to receive alerts when bill of lading, arrival notices, and transport plan changes are published.

Did you know you can also sign up for news and advisories—to stay updated with the latest news, press releases, and announcements from Maersk? Click here to subscribe!

You’ve browsed our support pages and advisories, but still have questions? Or are you looking for specific information about a current shipment? We’re here to help you.

Exploring Maersk’s revolutionary 24x7 virtual assistant

At Maersk, we are revolutionizing customer service with our chatbots. These bots are designed to assist you with your queries with a single click, making it easier for you to find relevant information quickly without the need to connect with a customer service agent.

The virtual assistant can guide you efficiently on non-urgent matters. For instance, when you select a question about new bookings, additional relevant topics will appear, allowing you to proceed with your queries instantly.

Connecting with human customer experience agent

If you have an urgent issue that needs immediate attention, you can also ask the bot to transfer your query to a human agent directly.

With Maersk’s Live Chat, you can connect with our customer service team easily:

1. The chat bubble is available on every website page, allowing you to initiate a conversation with a virtual assistant.
2. The chatbot will try to resolve your issue first, but you can always choose to transfer to a live agent, especially for urgent matters.
3. The live chat team will assist you with all your inquiries, except for certain financial matters, such as clearing a hold or creating an invoice.

Important note: Our technical chat team is available to assist with registration-related questions and tasks like adding or removing customer codes. This team operates 24 x 5, i.e., five days a week, round the clock. However, for general customer service inquiries, our live chat team is available from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET.

Also, note that while we offer email support through our business address and an 800 number for phone inquiries, engaging with our live chat team is the fastest method to resolve your issues and the most efficient way to get support online.

Our ‘Case Management’ is a digital platform to facilitate communication and resolve customer issues related to your Maersk shipments. It serves as a centralized hub for customers to:

• Raise cases: Submit inquiries, complaints, or requests for assistance regarding their Maersk Spot shipments.
• Manage cases: Track the progress of submitted instances, provide additional information, and engage with Maersk customer support.
• Communicate directly: Interact directly with Maersk’s customer experience team within the case for efficient problem-solving.
• Receive updates: Stay informed about the case status and receive timely updates from Maersk.

How to access and use ‘Case Management’

Here’s a step-by-step of how you can get support using the Case Management portal:

1. Log into your maersk.com account.

2. On the top headbar, navigate to the ‘Manage’ tab and select ‘Case Management’.

3. Click on ‘Raise a new case’.

4. Select the topic related to your inquiry, such as a booking confirmation request.

5. Provide the details of your case, including the subject and a description of your issue.

6. Optionally, attach any relevant files, such as screenshots.

7. Click on ‘Submit’. Once a case is created, you can monitor its progress and communicate with the customer service team through the online ‘Case Management’ portal.

Please note: If you cannot see the case you want, search for it directly by entering the case details or via the category filters in the case overview. You can then click the case you wish to view and update the case details as desired.

Did you know? Cases are automatically generated when you submit forms through the website. You can track these cases directly on the ‘Case Management’ portal for details, progress, response, and resolution.

Understanding ‘User Permissions’ on maersk.com

At Maersk, we value your privacy and allow you to review your user permissions and the default permissions assigned when you log in. Here are the steps:

• In your profile, you can view both your personal permissions and your company’s permissions. This allows you to see who can access various functionalities. However, do note that self-service permission updates are not available at this time.
• If you notice any discrepancies or have concerns about your permissions, our chat support team can assist you with a quick resolution. If you have specific questions about a live shipment, even after exploring our support FAQs and resources, you can contact our online customer service for further assistance.

If you have specific questions about a live shipment, even after exploring our support FAQs and resources, you can contact our online customer service for further assistance.