Akwarius
2500 Club Member
Today I had to unpack a small shipment of corals in front of Federal agents.
Here's how it started. I was expecting an overnight package from Florida, packed with a precious armageddon frag. My carrier usually shows up between 12-1p, so I headed out to run errands at 11. When I returned at 1145 there was a missed delivery pink slip on my door with instructions to call for redelivery. This confused me, first of all because I thought the seller had waived signature confirmation, and secondly because of the redelivery number. Typically the carrier would have just delivered the item the next day, unless I attempted to retrieve it myself. So I call the number, give them my tracking number and address, and the woman instructs me to wait for a phone call. I question her about this new redelivery policy and she simply states that she is an outside call center and does not have that information. About 45 minutes passes and instead of a phone call, I get a knock at my door. Two men, who are clearly not postal carriers, are standing at my front door with the package. They identified themselves as federal employees and ask for my identification. Dressed in buttoned shirts and khakis, they looked more like guys from a dockers commercial than the "men in black". I ask them what's going on and they tell me that my package was flagged as potentially hazardous. The package was clearly dry and unopened, I questioned them about this and they tell me that it may have been off balance and suspected to be liquid. The men then ask me to open the package, which I do and pull out the two sealed specimen cups. One of them asks whats inside the cup and I simply tell them live coral specimens. They eased up and curiously inquired about the corals and I spent the next five minutes giving them a crash course on how the hobby, fragging, and selling of corals works. They appeared genuinely impressed and interested in what I had to say. I signed and dated a couple of forms, we all exchanged in some small talk, shook hands, and then they left without confiscating the shipment. I was relieved, perplexed, and then angry at myself. I had never asked to see any physical identification from the two men and I did not carefully read what I had signed. Plus I was not given any sort of receipt. My conspiratory mind started conjuring up a scenario where I was being scammed. Did I just sign over the deed to my house or car? Has anyone encountered anything like this?
Here's how it started. I was expecting an overnight package from Florida, packed with a precious armageddon frag. My carrier usually shows up between 12-1p, so I headed out to run errands at 11. When I returned at 1145 there was a missed delivery pink slip on my door with instructions to call for redelivery. This confused me, first of all because I thought the seller had waived signature confirmation, and secondly because of the redelivery number. Typically the carrier would have just delivered the item the next day, unless I attempted to retrieve it myself. So I call the number, give them my tracking number and address, and the woman instructs me to wait for a phone call. I question her about this new redelivery policy and she simply states that she is an outside call center and does not have that information. About 45 minutes passes and instead of a phone call, I get a knock at my door. Two men, who are clearly not postal carriers, are standing at my front door with the package. They identified themselves as federal employees and ask for my identification. Dressed in buttoned shirts and khakis, they looked more like guys from a dockers commercial than the "men in black". I ask them what's going on and they tell me that my package was flagged as potentially hazardous. The package was clearly dry and unopened, I questioned them about this and they tell me that it may have been off balance and suspected to be liquid. The men then ask me to open the package, which I do and pull out the two sealed specimen cups. One of them asks whats inside the cup and I simply tell them live coral specimens. They eased up and curiously inquired about the corals and I spent the next five minutes giving them a crash course on how the hobby, fragging, and selling of corals works. They appeared genuinely impressed and interested in what I had to say. I signed and dated a couple of forms, we all exchanged in some small talk, shook hands, and then they left without confiscating the shipment. I was relieved, perplexed, and then angry at myself. I had never asked to see any physical identification from the two men and I did not carefully read what I had signed. Plus I was not given any sort of receipt. My conspiratory mind started conjuring up a scenario where I was being scammed. Did I just sign over the deed to my house or car? Has anyone encountered anything like this?
