reptile contract with FedEx ?'s

[The Reptile House]

I sent in my test box and just got back my contract to go over. I know everyone is not shipping business to business so how is everyone getting around "J" on the contract that states that you can not ship to a residental address? If you do not want to answer here please e-mail me directly at mysnakehouse@aol.com.

Any info would be greatly appriciated on this, thanks.

Also if they are not guaranteeing our reptile shipments then why do they care where we ship them.

Shanell Sepulveda

[thomas davis]

good question,i havnt sent my testbox off yet,but plan to soon, but what is the deal w/residential vs business?
thomas davis

[The Reptile House]

I am having problems with uploading and scanning item onto my post so e-mail me and I will send you a copy of the contract. Yes they have you send in a test box, yes they do "accept" it but they will not cover any part of this shippment. You can not claim the shipping cost at all either.

It states under "J" in the contract

" Company acknowledges that all shipments tendered to FedEx under the Agreement are for Business to Business delivery only. No residential deliveries are allowed under this Agreement."

James Brown stated that this was originally set up so pet stores could ship to pet stores and then they allowed private breeders to be welcome into this contract as well but only to ship to Business.

Well I am a home based Business, I sell to pet stores, the general public and we also vend at shows when we can so I am shipping from a residential address and they have that address on file but they say I can not ship to a residential address or my packages will be returned and my contract void.

They will not guarantee my shipments so why does it matter where they get shipped to?

My Rep does not even understand this as well but Mr. James Brown in legal is sticking with it and will not amend it so we will be unable to ship through them for all my customers are at residential address as all other shippers customers I am sure are as well.

Shanell Sepulveda

[Mickey_TLK]

Ive been hesitent to send my test box for many of the reasons mentioned above, plus price.

However the other day I seen an add stating someone was getting 15$ next day from fed ex by shipping all on the same day.

Im not sure if its bs, but I plan to take the add to a local rep, and see what can be done.

However the way it sits now it sounds as if its 40-50$ per box with no protection, or way to ship to residences (allthough I thought that clause was ignored). At that rate my snakes will still just have to go delta.

That being said Im still more then itching to do whatever I can to level the playing field. You still considering sueing UPS Rich? If soo let me know what I can do to help. I will save emails stateing my shipping is too high due to delta, ect. I can PROVE LOSS OF SALES without a doubt. Half the time I just sell my snakes at the shop or at shows to avoid posting the dreaded 70$ per box shipping fee. What really sucks is Ive got about 200 snakes to sell now, with little chance of selling any online due to shipping cost/hassels (you wouldnt believe how few people want to drive to an airport theese days)

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

[The Reptile House]

Well I do not know who Rich is but yes there is no coverage and not able to ship to residential address ignored or not. Not sure about the shipping charges but if they are going to charge me more to ship live reptiles than a normal package and still not guarantee it then forget it. I am loosing business not being able to ship also(legally) that is.

Thanks, Shanell Sepulveda

[Mickey_TLK]

Rich is WebSlave (the owner of this site).

As for them charging more then a normal package, that is not the case. However FED EX, allong with all other shippers, has a dimensional system. For a standard 12 x 12 x 12 box UPS its approx 30$ overnight to most locations (includeing residential address). However fed ex it appears from what Im being told would run about 40-50 for the same box.

Here lies the problem, if EVERYONE had to pay the upcharge to ship snakes, EVERYONE WOULD. However seeing as UPS and other carriers provide some with the ability to ship snakes, while not allowing others to do the same, creates un uneven playing ground. As such people like yourself, and many others, ship snakes "against company policy" not neccisarily illegaly, but not the most legitimit way to ship.

I personally will not do this, as it can cause problems for all of us. Look at the dip Sh!t that sent the hots ups that were intersepted recently. Its situations like this that could spell the end of ALL INTERSTATE SNAKE (AND MAYBE LIZARDS AT THAT POINT) SHIPMENTS.

The reason I say they would have to shut it ALL down and not just snakes, is we all know, and they all know, that people are shipping snakes as lizards. Even if they shut it all down, Im sure many people would still ship illegally for a while. Hopefully the day doesnt come where we are forced to find out.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

[The Reptile House]

I hate to ship as well but am loosing 2 much business and if I do not start shipping I will have to close my business that I love. I had a UPS acount, it was written uner my notes on my account that I can ship reptiles. On my 6th shipment I got a call from a supervisor and allthough he said it stated that I could not do it any longer and they would not ship my last package. Have I got caught a few times since then with the different companies yes and I know alot of others that have a s well with a slap on the wrist and told to go away.

So we all ship and just keep our fingers crossed that all will be ok.

I really wish these shipping companies would just get completly on boared and realize how much business they would get from us.

I have 2 small dear children that I can not take constantly to the airport to ship delta and alot of my customers will not pay for that as well, so oh well we will all just get by as we can for now, I hate to do it and am always woried everytime a package goes out but what can you do?

[Mickey_TLK]

If your trying to ship LIZARDS UPS, and have a LIVE ANIMAL ACCOUNT TO DO SO WITH UPS, FIGHT THEM ON IT.

However if you are trying to ship snakes, or have been caught shipping snakes UPS, thats a different story.

I have a UPS account to ship LIVE HARMLESS LIZARDS AND AMPHIBIANS. However I am not allowed to ship SNAKES. That being said, I have often been told I am not allowed to ship ANY LIVE. At that point I pull out my approval letter, and after doing that a few times, its no longer a issue. In all honesty I likely could even ship snakes at this point, as they no longer open my boxes. But I dont want to risk my whole account, so I just ship lizards on it.

Fed ex will give you a live account for snakes, and you CAN AS FAR AS I AM AWARE ship to residences, they just perfer you didnt. However you will be paying more, so dont short estimate you shipping cost.

I hope someday soon the playing field is level for us all, trust me I do. Even if it means we all pay a bit more.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

[jbouton]

I know alot of people do not like jeff b. at ks but maybe we could talk to him about posting the petition on ks. He has alot more traffic to his site, and i think that he will see the potential $$$ in that being there.
Jason Bouton

[The Reptile House]

I did fight UPS on it and WON big time. Got UPS to pay for the reptiles and ship it to my customer for free, she paid nothing. That was a few years ago. I am getting out of the colubrid side of my business and will be mainly dealing in leos and beardies but still have a few snakes left to sell.

FedEx- yes did the whole test box but it is stated in my contract I can not ship to residential. I really don't see why they really care?

So do I just call UPS na dopen an account ot ship lizzards? Do I have to do a test box thing with them as well? Is there a certain dept. I have to contact? Any info would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks Shanell Sepulveda

[The Reptile House]

As far as Jeff at Kingsnake goes sure if you want him to see if he will, dought it, that's jeff. He will never get anymore of my hard earned cash. I am a foster for a rescue for reptiles as well and he pulled my rescue add stated I was adopting out a native to California reptile and that was illegal. He would not accept any of my paperwork I had on that Gopher snake from the people who turned it in or any paperwork stating the rescue was recognized through the Humaine Society and Fish and Game in California. Ok so pull my rescue add but nope he pulled all my paid classified adds as well and said I violated his rules. I have so far herd he has done this to alot of people. So anyway Yes his site gets alot of business but he will no longer get mine.

Shanell Sepulveda

[Mickey_TLK]

As for getting a permit via ups.

There is no test package that I am aware of. You just need to contact your local sales rep. You have to set up an account, and explain to them you wish to ship live harmless LIZARDS. If the first person says no, tell them to speak up the chain. You will likely need a occasional shippers account, costing approx 11$ a week (less the more you ship). It took me many many tries to accomplish this, but it should work.

As for fex ex caring about residential or not. They likely feel delivering to a residence is more costly then hitting a business, I am sure that has something to do with the decision.

Lastly I will warn everyone, I spoke with my local Fed Ex guy, and the trucks they use are only climate controlled in the drivers cab. One would hope labled live boxes would be placed in with the driver. However if you ship a unlabled box, be prepaired for a disaster. My Fed Ex guy said the back of the truck is consistently above 120 degrees in the summer. He breaks a sweat just opening it to get a box out. Any non labled live will be hauled as frieght, and exposed to the extremes. I personally would not willingly accept non labled packages, too much risk to the animal.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

[The Reptile House]

Thats good to know about that. Although I have had boxes delivered to me stating this end up live harmless reptiles and out comes the driver flipping the box over and tossing it to me. Ya he got an ear full!!!

But then again I had a company reverse the address on my shipment and when I found out I called and explained that they needed to get off the truck if I could go meet the driver, well that was against the rules to do so, so the superviser personally located the truck and went to go get my package and bring it to me so it would not be on the truck till the end of the day for the driver to bring it back

Shanell Sepulveda