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Shipping Delay - Fedex runaround

omni

antiunresemiretirismic
Well, I have a shipping woe to tell you :\ Bottom line was the snake arrived healthy as described, lovely and no prob there. And is doing well after being with me 1 month now.
BUT it did not arrive on the day we agreed. I paid $57 for Priority Overnight thru Fedex. I was given a tracking# the same evening my pmt cleared. The next day, my schedule arranged to recv the little Diffused Lav Motley, it was not there. Several times that day checking the #, it showed as in Tennessee. The temps that day, last month were mid-40's here, same in Tenn., and warmer in Vegas where it was shipped from.
I called Fedex that evening asking where it was. They said they'd 'check' and get back to me.
They called about 10pm and told me it was enroute to Cleveland and would arrive by 10am next day. They told me 'We are sorry for the inconvenience'. I was mad. They also asked if it was a live reptile because evidently they are very familiar with the seller. And again, 'We are sorry, you'll recv your package tomorrow morning.'
I was worn out and frazzled after this stressful day. I don't know how many trips to the front door back to the comp I made, fearful of Dora coming shipped improperly, getting cold. That night I think temps dropped to 30 in my area (Canton, OH).
Dora is the single most expensive reptile I ever purchased. I was sick over it but what could I do? I also asked the fedex rep since I paid for a service that was not delivered, will I recv a refund or credit? The rep was 'Sorry, I hope it makes it ok', and later 'I will forward this to our Claims Dept.'
The rep I talked to was a customer service rep, Sheila. She actually was nice to talk to, and I understand it was not her fault, and in talking to her I was calmed down.
I thought there would be no problem receiving a refund for not getting my shipment on time that I paid for. Or at least the difference between 2nd day and the 57 bucks I'm out.
Kudos to the seller for excellent packing and heat pack! After I somehow got to sleep that night, I got up and immediately checked the tracking# for an update. It was in Cleve, an hour away from me. Yay, she's gonna be here!

9:23 they come, and nervously I take the small box and get ready for the worst. Whew! 2 mins later, after snapping a pic of the box and getting a temp reading inside, I open up a small snake bag and see a precious little grey head looking at me and flicking her tongue!! WOW what i relief... I had worried for nothing.
But I was still mad! She shoulda been there YESTERDAY. I called Fedex again later that day, and asked if there was any update on my claim. I also wrote the seller or called and asked if he had heard anything. 'Nope'

A few days later, Shela from Fedex calls me and asks how was doing today, and just wanted to tell me the claim was forwarded to Claims and Billing. I already knew that! Or at least was told this when I 1st called! But I was not mad now, just really wanted the money back as they had caused me difficulty. 'We're sorry, your claim will be investigated and resolved soon.'

That was last I spoke to them. I later called the seller and asked if there was anything they told him, and he told me they claimed 'Weather Delay' and was denied. What delay?? The package spent 24hrs in Tennessee, weather for flying was excellent clear skies, no flights were cancelled as we had called United and Eastern at Cleveland Hopkins to see if any incoming flights from Tenn. were cancelled for weather.
BUNK! Fedex did not deliver on time as I paid for them to, and I had previously trusted them to handle my shipments over anybody else. So I am out about $30, but so glad Dora made it safely...

Forgive the epic, but needed to let at least one fellow keeper hear my rant. This is the only bad shipping incident in years of recv and sending out critters. So glad it wasn't worst case DOA. 1 in maybe 150 shipments made/sent out. I make a claim, and got the runaround... phooey!:headbang:
 
Me too! haha no I don;t write songs, I'll hafta see that link...

here's the tracking# if anyone wanted to see how long Dora spent in Memphis
Are they laid-back and no rush down South? Maybe there was a siesta after sippin on that moonshine lolz

871015941068
 
Thank you Mrs. Z! (sends rep) That actually makes me feel better. 'United breaks guitars' haha I had to smile. PPL are telling me now to don;t just accept that, to call and tell them I will use a competitor from now on, if they won't refund me.
 
The seller is the one who needs to be making calls to Fed Ex. They have an account and they have the power when it comes to getting a refund on shipping. I would demand the seller refund your shipping costs as it is their responsibility to deal with the shipping company and it is they who would be getting the refund if any is forthcoming.
 
Actually if the shipper was certified to ship reptiles through Fed Ex, you can not claim a refund due to late delivery anyway. It's in the contract you sign when you become certified that no late delivery refunds will be given. It doesn't make any sense to me, but that's what it is. :(
One of the reasons I hate to ship Thursdays. Fed Ex is pretty good, but not perfect. Shipments will be delayed sometimes and when they are you are in big trouble if it should have been a Friday arrival. :awcrap:
 
Yea, I am glad it all ended up well. I called fedex today to see if they would hold mine at their office for me to pick up when i got off work and they told me it was illegal to ship live animals..i said it was just a snake and get them all the time by fedex and she was like
"well, if they are found out they can get in a lot of trouble because it against the law to send them through fedex." Like she knew what she was talking about...hello fedex..your help dept lady needs help!! I didn't tell them who I was or who the shipper was. They even talk to me when they come about the snakes!!
 
Not all FedEx employees are aware that there is a live animal shipping certification process and contract (I have a part time kennel assistant who has worked for FedEx for over 15 years and had no idea).

Also, not sure when the shipping took place, but recently FedEx's site specifically mentioned potential delays though the Memphis hub due to weather conditions (I believe it was when we were getting torrential down-poors & lots of rain here in the Mid-Atlantic/Ohio Valley area).

I'm glad your snake arrived safe & sound! It's a bit stressful but they really should be able to survive several days in their shipping packages.
 
I ran into this yesterday, when I shipped off my test package. I actually had to have the lady at the staffed location, call and talk to my sales rep. Thank goodness she was available.

I was getting a real hard time at the staffed location. I didn't have an account number for the package testing facility, because there isn't one. It was a real pain! Then todays I received an email from a person at the packaging facility saying I used the wrong submission form, even though it was the form that my account rep faxed me. Fortunately, they were going to use it this time. :shrugs:

I'm really glad you received your snake and it was OK. I would love to see some pics of her.

Wayne
 
I have had two shipments delayed thru the Tennessee shipping depot so far. I'm not sure what the problem is thru there, but they are always the ones that hold it up. One shipment was to California that arrived a day late (yes, I was refunded the shipping, which I passed on to the person who bought the animal) and the second was to a small town in Mississippi that was right over the border from there. After 22 calls by the client and about 10 from me (I was at work when she called to tell me it was a delay) I was on a conference call with two supervisors and the client. They asked me how long the snakes would survive in the box? After a moment of incredulous pause, I asked them how was I supposed to know since they couldn't tell me where they were at the time. Were they in a truck in the heat...in an airconditioned depot there? I told them I shipped them with heat due to temps being low here in SC when they left, but that it was now 75 degrees in Tennesssee and Mississippi then. If they were in an enclosed trainer in the sun, the internal temps would be even higher. They assured me "that they would refund me the shipping and the value of the animals"...WHAT?????? I told them I wasn't concerned about the money, I was concerned about the animals! They did arrive the next day safe and sound, but it pissed me off!They had been sitting on the loading dock the whole time and had accidently been put in the priority shipping trailer not the priority overnight. Very frustrating but I've heard worse stories about Delta Dash and SYR....
 
Actually if the shipper was certified to ship reptiles through Fed Ex, you can not claim a refund due to late delivery anyway. It's in the contract you sign when you become certified that no late delivery refunds will be given. It doesn't make any sense to me, but that's what it is. :(
One of the reasons I hate to ship Thursdays. Fed Ex is pretty good, but not perfect. Shipments will be delayed sometimes and when they are you are in big trouble if it should have been a Friday arrival. :awcrap:

I've had shipping charges refunded before because of a foul up in delivery. I don't recall the contract stating no refund on late delivery, I do recall it stating that they will not refund the cost of the contents in case of the snake's death.
 
I have never had them not refund me for late delivery. I am a certified shipper. If it's due to weather they will not refund, but if they just didn't get it there due to their normal screw up, they will pay. I've been shipping with them for 6 years now and they've never failed to refund a late shipment.
 
Well at least that's one area where Fed Ex employees being clueless about their own policies has a benefit. LOL.
 
As a seller, I would still refund the shipping costs, regardless of who's to blame or why. I guaranteed it would be there by a certain time and it wasn't. Good customer service means sucking it up and losing money sometimes.
 
I would do the same of course regardless. It's never come up though, they've always allowed me to file a complaint and they've always refunded. That was their argument with the three snakes that were delayed there last time...BUT we'll give you your money back....as if that mattered!
 
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