Fed Ex screw up seller / buyer resposibility

[mgny]

Had a package get stuck in Memphis this week and showed up a day late. Corals were packed well with heat packs but i still expected the worst. Get the message from the buyer that the frags don't look good at all. I immediately plan to send him replacements but want to ask him if any survived . Don't want to be a pita , his experience is already crappy but i get the feeling that he did not immediately deal with the frags, instead dealt with them when he got home from work that afternoon, givng them no shot at survival. The other time this happened to me the guy did the same thing, opened them 7 hours after they arrived. I have had packs delayed an extra day in memphis and the frags suvived. Maximus back in the day was nice enough to send me the oregon tort and tyree watermelon which got stuck in Memphis in the dead of winter. Made sure to be there when the pack arrived 48hrs later, all survived . Just venting here a little. Me being a big customer service guy i'm gonna take care of the guy but would love to know what is a reasonable way to handle this nightmare in the future. I had to scold him a little for not being available the 2nd day. I told him this is why we don't ship on friday, because a delay would mean a monday delivery. I say it like this.... i did everything i was supposed to do and did not get the same from the other parties and i will be the one paying. Sorry for the long rant but would love your thoughts. Also i think ther should be some buyer responsibilty note posted somewhere to let the newbies know what the deal is. Thanks.... and FED ex bites!!!!! Mike

 

[drainbamage]

my take- it's FedEx's fault, and the story ends there. If he made plans to be available the scheduled day- well, it's hard to expect someone to make plans away from work 2 days in a row, at least in my life it would be.

Because FedEx messed it up, unless he was the one insisting on FedEx, it's on the seller to deal with the fallout of a bad situation. Totally reasonable to ask him what all survived, and just explain that you'll comp him on all the DOA's, as long as it's all done politely, buyer should be willing to be honest with you. If you feel he's not being honest- not much you can do except just not deal with that person again.

 

[mgny]

I hear ya, and he is being honest but i disagree with the 2nd day thing. If the corals arrived at 9:30 and were alive and they died hours later because he did not deal with them, got a problem with that. Our hobby is full of extra ordinary things we do to keep these things alive and that is just one more thing. Like i told him i have done some pretty crazy stuff to find some lost shipments through the years, but then again i have no life!!!

 

[drainbamage]

I hear ya, and he is being honest but i disagree with the 2nd day thing. If the corals arrived at 9:30 and were alive and they died hours later because he did not deal with them, got a problem with that. Our hobby is full of extra ordinary things we do to keep these things alive and that is just one more thing. Like i told him i have done some pretty crazy stuff to find some lost shipments through the years, but then again i have no life!!!

Lol- I feel ya. But I realize I go to extreme lengths because I have a coral addiction, and I just try and remind myself that others aren't as horribly addicted, so I can't judge them using my own standards, lol. I don't have a dining table, I have a coral dosing/dipping/fragging table- a table for people to actually eat at just seems weird when I picture it in my head, lol.

It's just one of those cruddy situations, where noone is going to come out 'ahead' on it.

 

[Troylee]

I had this exact same thing happen to me I just ate the bullet and refunded the guy no need for the headache...

 

[mgny]

Hear ya too Troy. He will get taken care of , but i still had to give him a little lip.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Hear ya too Troy. He will get taken care of , but i still had to give him a little lip.

Understandable on your part. Most vendors i know expect you to take photos of the corals max of 2 hours once you receive if you are claiming DOA...granted this is a little different since FEDEX screwed up....but the guy has some slight fault for not being there in time to atleast try!

 

[Wy Renegade]

Tough situation whenever a shipping carrier drops the ball. I do have to chuckle though at how we all complain about the carrier. Every carrier, be it UPS, USPS, or Fed-Ex, all have strict rules against shipping live corals. By shipping with these companies, we are in fact breaking the rules, so I find it humerous when people complain about the carriers (not targeting anyone here), just pointing out the double standard. We ship illegally, but we're upset when they don't handle our package right LOL. Regardless, I have to agree with most the others; if the shipper dropped the ball, its their fault, but it is on you, the seller, to make it right. That is one of the risks you agree to take as a seller. Part of why I seldom, if ever, offer frags for sale over the internet.

 

[Troylee]

Arrrr stupid phone I just had a nice long post and lost it... Anyways short and simple that was my case the guy had to work the next day and didn't get the package till 5pm well we all know that's a loss... fwiw also Randy it's not illegal to ship corals or fish when fed ex lost my package I told them straight up hey there is live coral "saltwater fish" in that box it needs to get there today the lady said she was terribly sorry and there was nothing she could do she put it in the computer it was live coral and refunded me my money for the delayed box due to there screw up.... Not once did they question me or say anything about it being illegal.... If it was I think they would have mentioned it don't you think???

 

[Wy Renegade]

Lee did you get refunded the cost of shipping the package next day or the cost of shipping plus the cost of the coral? I'm betting just the cost of the shipping. All carriers have a written policy against shipping/insuring live materials. Perhaps "illegal" is too strong of a word, but bottom line is they will not insure anything living, because according to their own policies they don't accept living materials. They may ship them for you, because most offices have a don't ask/don't tell, many may even know what you are shipping, but under no circumstances will they insure that package or reimburse you for lose.

 

[Troylee]

Yeah they just refunded the shipping cost no money for the coral... I know there policy is no garuntee on live animals but that doesn't mean it's illegal right????

 

[Wy Renegade]

Yeah they just refunded the shipping cost no money for the coral... I know there policy is no garuntee on live animals but that doesn't mean it's illegal right????

Right, sorry - missused the word. It is against their "policy" to ship live animals, hence why they don't garauntee them. So you're not violating the law, you're violating their policy.

 

[dougers31]

So they can basically body slam and drop kick a package but don't have to pay up if something dies or is damaged from mis-handling???

 

[SWINGRRRR]

I would take care of the guy as you said you plan to, but also there is a 50/50 relationship, IMHO. I as a seller will do my best to provide the best possible specimen, in good health, packaged well and appropriately. You as the buyer must be a available, acclimate well, and have knowledge of the animals you are buying. I hate seeing post where people put so much on the sellers. The buyer plays a huge part in the exchange as well. Im not saying the guy was wrong, but the second he knew the shipment was delayed, arrangements should have been made to be available the next day.

 

[Wy Renegade]

So they can basically body slam and drop kick a package but don't have to pay up if something dies or is damaged from mis-handling???

Yep, if you read their policy, that is exactly correct. Also, I used to work for UPS in one of their hubs - they aren't handling the packages any better. I seen packages fall off of conveyer belts 20 feet in the air. Its the nature of the business. Personally I think anybody who is shipping with any of these companies regularly oughta visit one of the big hubs so they understand how this works.

 

[SWINGRRRR]

So they can basically body slam and drop kick a package but don't have to pay up if something dies or is damaged from mis-handling???

That's not what he is saying. Its against company policy for them to ship corals. Most of the time we do it anyway because its a plain brown box. If the coral die inside, you cant expect them to pay for something that is against their policy to ship.
I say its like jumping a fence then trying to sue the owner of the property when you get hurt. You skirted the device to keep you away from danger so its on you.

 

[drainbamage]

is it really against policy to ship live animals? I've gotten numerous shipments from Fedex ground, express, freight, UPS, USPS with boxes clearly labelled "LIVE FISH" or "LIVE ANIMAL" and so on- if it was against policy, they wouldnt take those shipments, right?

I know it's one thing with the sealed boxes, but I've had shipments of things like Cockatoo's, Chinchila's, Hamsters, etc- all come from those same shippers, and those boxes aren't sealed up in the same fashion- they have a metal screen on at least a side or two to allow air flow.

 

[Wy Renegade]

These companies will ship anything you wanna ship. Bottom line, they're in it to make a buck. The national policy however, it no live organisms. That way, if something dies in transit, they cannot be held liable. Think about if from a logical standpoint, neither their hubs, their semi trailors, nor their planes are heated in the cargo area. They are simply not set-up to handle live organisms. Does that mean people don't ship them? No, they're not going to turn away buisiness, they simply have the policy so they are not liable. Its like the fragile stickers - you can put all the fragile stickers on a package you want, when that package is moving down a conveyer belt and a single person has to sort and load everyone of those packages into a semi trailer as fast as they come down the belt, all the stickers in the world are not going to matter. That fragile package is going to get handled in the exact same way as every other package. Same with the belts, if the packages are 20 feet up in the air, and the belt backs up, it doesn't matter if the box says "handle with care" or "live animals", its going over the edge just like every other box.

 

[cdness]

Been there done that on both sides... I have received a box of corals from a supplier that was draining water out all edges when I went to pick it up at Fed Ex. It was a plain box with a hard plastic cooler inside with corals in bags. They beat it up so much that the cooler was smashed into 5 or 6 pieces and the bags were mostly popped. They were not held liable for the package, but the seller reimbursed me for the DOAs.

I have also worked for a packaging company and see the way some UPS/FedEx workers handle the packages. No matter what company they both have the good and the bad handlers. Some people just don't care, and sometimes they have accidents. It's not always because they used your package as the nightly football.

From a seller standpoint, any time I have sold corals over the internet I have put the restriction that any DOAs must be received in picture form within 2 hours of delivery. I would rather ship to their work address or have it held at the distribution center for pickup as residential delivers can get delayed easier. In this situation though, FedEx should be reimbursing the cost of shipping. Also since the buyer wasn't available he "should" accept some of the responsibility as well since his delays could have caused more die off. All in all crappy situation and no real great way to handle it without some grief somewhere. I think you handled it well though.

 

[sexycorals]

OMg goodness!! another fedex screwup! MAtt i told you we made a good decision yesterday!! :bigsmile: