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My Fedex Live Animal Waiver SNAFU

Rextiles

Rextiles

There is no spork.
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To save retyping what I've already emailed to my Rep, I'll just quote it here:

I am having a lot of problems trying to get a box off to the Packaging Design and Development facility for testing so that I can get my waiver for shipping reptiles.

I first went to a Fedex/Kinkos this past Friday in with my box and paperwork all ready. The clerks there denied my box because I had it as billed to Recipient which I was told was invalid as I did not have an account number for that department. I told them that I was instructed that this was not necessary as it was for a legal waiver and that it was going to a Fedex facility but they still refused the package because they claimed they needed an account number for it to be billed. I tried calling the Packaging Design office but they were already closed as it was 3pm my time (Pacific time). I then called and talked to a customer service agent while at the store and had him speak to the clerks directly and he told them the same thing as I did but they still refused the box claiming that they could not send a package anywhere without have an account number to bill it to.

So, I then drove to the Fedex Hub at the airport and the clerks also made the same claim of not being able to send the package due to the lack of an account number to be billed to. They tried looking up the name of the facility to acquire an account number but nothing came up in their system and they told me that the department did not exist. I showed them all the legal Fedex paperwork I had which even showed the address of the packaging facility but this was not evidence enough. They refused my package.

Today I called the Packaging Design and Development department and told them my ordeal. The gentleman I spoke with agreed that both places should have accepted the package and was baffled by all of my problems. He was going to arrange for a driver to come to my house to pick up the box instead. He asked if the address I had in the system was correct and asked if this was my house or my business. I told him that I operate my business out of my house and he informed me that the live animal waiver was only for business to business transactions and that I was not qualified for such a waiver being that my business was out of a home and not an actual business store. I asked him if I could still get the box picked up and tested while I tried to work out the details with you, but he then refused to arrange a driver to pick up the package claiming that what I was trying to do was illegal by Fedex.
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Today I received a call from my Rep in regards to my email. He asked me if I had a state issued business license and I told him that I did not. He informed me that this could be my main problem as the waiver does specify that it is for business to business transactions. He did not believe that the stipulation of running a business out of my house was an issue, but it was still something he was going to talk to one of the legal people to ascertain as he was not entirely certain about the definition of what specifically a business is (whether on commercial property or residential) to Fedex specifically for this waiver.

This of course poses a lot of issues. Mainly, how many people are there that are Live Animal certified and are operating their business out of their home? Of those, how many people actually have a state issued business license? If Fedex defines that your place of business has to actually be in a commercial zone and that you have to have a state business license, then there's a lot of people that are operating and sending packages illegally by Fedex standards.

If Fedex were to verify and eliminate everybody that was not operating within their waiver guidelines, how many people would it affect and what alternatives would those of us that no longer have a means to ship through Fedex have?

I know all about ShipYourReptiles.com, but to be honest, the UPS service here is adequate at best for standard packages and I do not know if I would trust them with shipping live animals. I've also been concerned over some of the hand waving that ShipYourReptiles has done in the past with people that have had shipping problems with suggestions like 'don't write on the box what's inside' or to carefully misguide the clerks about the exact nature of the contents when asked what is inside. I'm not slamming ShipYourReptiles at all as I might end up having to use their service if Fedex does not come through for me, but those are issues that have concerned me about using ShipYourReptiles in the past. Can anybody shed some light on their long term experience with using ShipYourReptiles?
 
I've used them around a half a dozen times so far this year, and it's been perfect every time. I mark my packages legally, with the species and common name, and plenty of warnings that they contain live animals and should be kept from temperature extremes. I even took the precaution of adding a note on the sticker with the species name that shipyourreptiles.com has an agreement with UPS to allow the animals to be shipped.

No issues. No questions. The UPS office lady recognizes me now, knows I'm bringing in snakes, and even asked for a business card to see my website (she apparently prefers lizards, but was curious anyhow, lol). :)

I've shipped to Oregon, North Carolina, and a bunch of places in between. One is on its way to New York right now.

Fed Ex, on the other hand, accepted my test package, gave me the OK, I sent my signature in, then they failed to send me back my waiver. After trying every couple of weeks for several months, I still don't have it. Then shipyourreptiles started. So I've sort of given up for now. ShipYourReptiles.com has my business, and UPS has been great.

I used to use UPS when shipping geckos--they were fine then, too. Never had a problem with them.

Both Fed Ex and UPS can be equally reliable--but there COULD be problems with either one (and there have been). It's important to remember that these packages pass through a lot of hands, and shipping animals is always risky, no matter which shipping company you use. Pack them as though someone is going to punt them down a staircase, because you never know.

Find a local office that isn't hostile, and chat with the people there. Be friendly. Develop a good relationship, and they'll treat you well.
 
WingedWolf said:
Pack them as though someone is going to punt them down a staircase, because you never know.
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:iagree::iagree::iagree:

I worked at UPS and at FedEx in the main hubs, its crazy busy work and people get mad or have bad days and get frustrated and many boxes that get in their way can get this type of treatment. So pack them in goooooood!!!!!
 
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