Qiuck Question Shipping cost on a DOA

Sorry, Rob....I guess I misunderstood what you were saying...
When you deal with the "public"...that's one thing....but, when you deal with "wholesale", that's a whole different animal! Rob is correct about it being easier to replace the animals as a credit on the next order, because, most wholesale customers are not just a one-time customer...they shouldn't have any problem with credit on their next order....of course, I'm sure that if they really wanted their money back, that would probably be arranged....the point is....shipping charges would be included no matter what scenario you used....Neil

Does anyone else here think that there are large wholesalers out there that actually send dead animals to GET repeat business??  I think that is sooooo ridiculous.  It's the absolute opposite of how it's supposed to work.  I guess I just don't understand it.  Maybe it's the only way to stay in business as a large wholesaler.  Seems to be one of the major things wrong w/this industry.
Lucas

Lucas,

I know almost all the Large wholesalers here in florida and I can without a doubt they do not send Dead animals to get repeat business.  To think that is ludicrous.  ALot of the larger wholesalers send alot of fresh imports out and fresh imports have a high mortality rate if they are not treated, hydrated and acclimated a little before they are shipped. If you have had bad experiences with large wholesalers I would try have them shipped a different way i.e. Dash.  Yes it cost a little more but it is much safer and quicker and less stressful for the animals.  And you will have a higher success rate of live arrivals. Just my thoughts on this.

I have NEVER heard of wholesalers sending out dead animals for repeat business.  Seems pretty counterproductive to me.  Hard to keep someone's business or even stay in business when you just keep sending out dead stuff.  I have dealt with some of the wholesalers as well, and as Rob said, you are dealing mainly with freshly imported reptiles, so the risks of them dying during shipping or shortly thereafter are much higher than if you were buying CB or established animals.

Rob, I hope you weren't offended by my comments in my previous post regarding credit vs. refunds.  Wholesale orders are a different thing and I didn't catch that differentiation the first time I read your post.

I don't own a pet store, but I currently work in one called Exotic Pets and I have worked in another that sold a lot of reptiles.  By working in these stores, I see the animal shipments come in.  Sometimes, especially at the store I used to work at, they would try new dealers, and we would get animals that were just flat out stiff.  Completely dried up and gone.  I remember a few occasions where we would get Uroplatus that had been dead for awhile.  Now, say a pet store makes an order w/these guys, MOST of the order comes in just fine.  A few of the higher end stuff comes in dead.  Well, the owners of the store think that since most of the stuff was fine, that maybe it's just bad luck that a couple of the higher end stuff didn't make it.  They may not want to order again.  They may just want their money back because they were not satisfied.  But, they have no choice unless they just take that loss.  I have seen this happen, and I'm not saying that they came from Florida.  I'm speaking totally in general.  I just think that it's wrong to FORCE someone to order from you again IF they want something that they had PREVIOUSLY paid for.  It just doesn't make sense to me.  I think that policy is wrong.  Now, I agree that wholesalers can have whatever policies they want, and people have the right to go elsewhere if they don't like the policy.  But, what do you do if everyone has that policy?  I just don't agree w/it.  If it is someone w/an established business relationship, and both parties agree to it, then it's fine.  I honestly do think that there are wholesalers out there that purposely put dead animals in the shipments.  I don't know how there wouldn't be.  We all know that there are PLENTY of dishonest people in this business.  We also know that lots of pet stores are going to go for the lowest price.
My 2 cents,
Lucas Denning