Yamato Bleeding Moving-Service Customers over Billing Scandal

August 26, 2018

Toyko- The recent revelation of overbilling cases involving Japanese logistics company Yamato Holdings Co. is forcing customers of its corporate moving services to seek alternative providers.

The Yamato group stopped accepting orders for the moving services after announcing in late July that it had overbilled 2,640 companies, or about 80 pct of the services' customers, by a total of 1.7 billion yen since May 2016.

Yamato Holdings President Masaki Yamauchi has said the group will not resume the services until it "confirms that preventive measures are functioning." The service suspension is seen as likely to continue until the fiscal 2018 end next March.

Among customers, Renesas Electronics Corp. has used the Yamato services for most relocations of its offices and its employees' homes. The company is now receiving and examining cost estimates from other moving firms.

"We're considering our response, including a possible change of contractor," an official of Renesas' corporate communication department said.

Against the backdrop of the Yamato scandal, Nippon Express Co. is seeing a surge in inquiries from Yamato customers.

Yamato Home Convenience Co., the group's moving service arm, had remained in the red until it swung to operating profit in fiscal 2013.

In fiscal 2017, the Yamato unit posted an operating profit of some 500 million yen, but it may have fallen back into the red without the overbilling of 1.7 billion yen for some two years.

Yamato Home Convenience is seen as almost certain to suffer a large operating loss in fiscal 2018, bracing for a revenue decrease of about 10 billion yen from the service suspension. Jiji Press