Reptiles Express - interesting situation

I thought I should share this experience with all of you:

A couple weeks ago I signed up at Reptiles Express. I had some internet problems while signing up so I sent Debbie an email making sure everything went through. She responded VERY quickly and helped me get everything in order. Right off the bat I was impressed with their customer service.

On Tuesday (8/10) I was ready to ship my first package using Reptiles Express. I printed out the label, packaged everything up, and made my way to the nearest UPS drop off. When I got to the UPS store they told me that they wouldn't take my package. I showed them the letter Reptiles Express suggested I keep with me. The letter is signed by UPS's Director of Dangerous Goods and basically states that UPS agrees to ship live non-venomous reptiles through Reptiles Express. They UPS employees still refused to take my package.

I called Debbie and she spent the next 20 minutes making phone calls. about 35-40 minutes later everyone tells me that I have to drive to the St. Louis UPS hub and drop it off there. They said that they are expecting me over at the hub and that they will take the package.

So I make the drive out to the hub and when I get there - they refuse. More then just refusing they were all being pretty rude about it. I even heard some of the employees joking about killing the snake!!!! So I get back on the phone with Debbie and she spends the next 30-45 minutes making more phone calls. Apparently someone Debbie had spoken with was supposed to call the hub to let them know they could take the package, but the call was never made and when Debbie tried calling this person back she couldn't get a hold of her. I was really impressed with Debbie's effort. It felt great knowing I had someone fighting for me.

About an hour later UPS calls in one of their lost prevention employees. She comes in and takes a look at the letter from Reptiles Express. She asks me a lot of questions and then goes to make some phone calls. After about 20 minutes later she comes out and tells me that it was all cleared up and that I was allowed to ship the package! This lady was the only UPS employee that treated me with any kind of respect that day. She made sure that all the employees knew that they had to accept packages from me and Reptiles Express. She was very helpful!

So I finally send my package out. The next morning they arrive at their destination healthy! ...End of story? I wish it was...

The next day I receive a phone call from the helpful lost prevention lady at UPS. She tells me that the letter was fake and that the signature was copy and pasted. She says that Reptiles Express had a temporary pilot program that allowed them to ship animals but that it didn't work out. She informed me that the customers of Reptiles Express had no way of knowing any of this so none of the customers are held responsible but Reptiles Express is in a lot of trouble.

Now, UPS has really gone all over the place with their position. They went from telling me it was ok to ship to no it's not ok back to everything is fine and then back again to it's not ok. I'm really not sure what to believe here. I sent Reptiles Express an email explaining the phone call I received and Debbie emailed me back saying that she forwarded the email to the owners and that she hoped everything would be worked out soon.

I'm not sure what to think of all this. I did want to share it with all of you to get your opinions.

Hmmm. Seems to me this should be alerting us of UPS and not Reptiles Express. I think that if there was a problem and if Reptiles Express was in "a lot of trouble", we would be hearing about it here.

Not sure what to think of all this but I'm sure Brendon or Debbie will come on here to explain! Hopefully it's just a mistake on UPS's end but who knows until proof is shown!

I'd like to see the email to reptile express notifying them of the comments of UPS

This is interesting for sure. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, lets wait for Reptile Express to comment. It seems odd that one minute UPS said it was good to go, and then they say that it's bogus. Any emails anyone has about this should post them.

Originally Posted by ExoticEmporium

The next day I receive a phone call from the helpful lost prevention lady at UPS. She tells me that the letter was fake and that the signature was copy and pasted. She says that Reptiles Express had a temporary pilot program that allowed them to ship animals but that it didn't work out. She informed me that the customers of Reptiles Express had no way of knowing any of this so none of the customers are held responsible but Reptiles Express is in a lot of trouble.

This is the part that stands out to me. Why would UPS go thru the trouble of finding a shippers (the OP) contact info if it was NOT a fake. As big as UPS is... why would they spend the time to conatct one person... and on a package that has ALREADY shipped.

Not sure I know what to make of this... but Id like for the OP to expand on it a bit.

I too would like to see some more details regarding this situation ..

If this is true.. I am not gonna lie.. I'm not going to be shocked.. everyone kind of expected it.. I, as well as many others, (after the syr thing) worked towards just getting Fed Ex certified..

But I do hope to see some details/explanation of what is going on here

Originally Posted by Southern Wolf

This is the part that stands out to me. Why would UPS go thru the trouble of finding a shippers (the OP) contact info if it was NOT a fake. As big as UPS is... why would they spend the time to conatct one person... and on a package that has ALREADY shipped.

Not sure I know what to make of this... but Id like for the OP to expand on it a bit.

The person that contacted me was the UPS employee that had helped me out before. She was the only helpful employee I dealt with at UPS and she actually went on to say how she thought snakes were great animals and that she had a family member that keeps a bunch. She also made a point to offer any future help that I needed in the future. So, I think she called me to give me a 'heads up' just to be friendly.

Originally Posted by brd7666

This is interesting for sure. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, lets wait for Reptile Express to comment. It seems odd that one minute UPS said it was good to go, and then they say that it's bogus. Any emails anyone has about this should post them.

I completely agree!

Originally Posted by Ameivaboy

I'd like to see the email to reptile express notifying them of the comments of UPS

Here is the email I sent and Debbie's reply:

Theodore,
I have passed this on to the owners
I again apologize for all your troubles
Although we are a new company and there are still items we need to address
as a customer you should not have been subject to what I feel is unprofessional ism and plain rudeness
I am comfortable UPS and the owners will work all this out and we both will learn and grow from this.
I can only again tell you how sorry I am and hope to do business with you in the future.


Thank You,
Debbie Price
Shipping Dept
debbie@reptilesexpress.com
404-477-4102

On 8/12/2010 10:37 AM, Ross wrote:
Hello Debbie. This is Theodore Ross Hyman. You helped me a couple days ago when the St. Louis/Earth City UPS hub was giving me all kinds of problems. I wanted to thank you for all the work you put into trying to resolve the problem. My package was sent at the end of the day and the snakes arrived at their location safely!

The reason I am writing you this email is because I received a phone call from UPS yesterday. They told me that the letter you provide was a fake and that the signature on the letter was copy and pasted. They told me that Reptiles Express had a temporary pilot program for shipping with UPS a while ago but that the program ended and that Reptiles Express and their customers where not allowed to be shipping animals. In a very short amount of time UPS has gone from telling me everything is ok to no you can't ship back to everything is ok and then back again to no you can't ship - because of this I am definitely inclined to believe you over them but for now I think I'm just going back to FedEx. There has been way too much confusion over all of this. I hope all of this can be worked out, and, if it does, I would love to come back and ship through ReptilesExpress again.

-Theodore Ross Hyman

This is strange. I just recently signed up with Reptiles express, so i'm looking forward to their reply.

Ross... since she was so helpful... do you think she would be willing to submit something to you from UPS that you could post? Or maybe just where she got her information?