Airborne Express mess

Rich,

My UPS driver also gave me his cell number, and he has a large cooler in his truck for my boxes. He is going to get a very nice Christmas present from me.

There is another thing to worry about with shippers also. I am sure that anyone who has shipped USpostal,Fedex,UPS,Airborne,ect, has noticed that there is a line where it asks if you want "insurance", well, what they don't tell you in that line, is that they DO NOT COVER PERISHABLE ITEMS, this INCLUDES reptiles. I know that I always paid the insurance up until the USpostal office lost a beautiful water monitor for two days. The lizard was insured for its value and I did file a claim. Well, three months later I got their response telling me that "They do not cover perishable items regardless if they are insured or not". I had a similar problem with UPS with the same exact response. BEFORE PAYING INSURANCE READ THE FINE PRINT ON THE SHIPPING FORM OR ASK ABOUT IT. THEY HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH TAKING YOUR MONEY FOR INSURANCE, BUT THEY WILL NOT, I REPEAT, WILL NOT COVER YOUR ANIMALS IF THEY ARE LOST OR DEAD UPON ARRIVAL.
Kevin Smith

Hey Ken,

I have always used UPS for another means of shipping and I have never had a problem so I think that is a good call!

I think bottom line is that we need to try and get something done. I would be happy to sign a petition but I agree that we need a rep of some higher organization to carry it to the top. If we get enough people that want to sign the petition then maybe we can get somewhere. If we setup some kind of a standard boxing and shipping terms for reptiles in the petition then maybe that would help them to feel at ease. We just need to setup a petition form that can be printed out, signed, and sent in to the organization that would be willing to help out the herp community. I'm not really sure how to write up a petition or I would do it, but I will look it up and see if everyone is willing to do this.

Russel Reiter
Colorado Springs, CO

i like shipping with airborne
however they dont seem to want my bussiness, i have used them for a while because they use A/C vans to pick up
1 when i firstmoved here i called for pick up, they came on time, picked up and all went well , i shipp mostly collect, where you pay shipping on your end, get my rates from the web, when bills started coming in, there was a 10.00 charge becaause i like in a rural area, not 10 .00 per pickup, but 10.00 per box, i shipped 15 boxes on the first pick up. so i started driving 80 miles rd trip to ship, next bill there was still 10.00 per box pick up. then custermors start calling , they are charging for 5 lbs
no matter what the wgt is
most are 1 lb boxes, aqnd they bill me and custermors
for shipping, i call billing and get them to bill the righ person for shipping, get a revised bill , drops from 1069.00 to 750.00, driver at office told me if i would leave my boxes in hartford ala. 13 miles , they would pick up for no charge, did this, called billing again and got some more bill to custermor removed fro my bill
now 550.00 called mon for pick up in hartford, got acall tue am from office in dothan, saying i could not leave boxes there anymore
note: this is a shipping site
copy and fax place that just opened, they ship fedex. ups and are waiting for airborne rep to get set up with them
mean while air borne cut of my credit , i have to pre pay all packages, monday shipping
had trap 4.91, trap 4.66
ad box of turtles 11.09, dothan said that they would be chargeing 22,00 per package, as the check was made for total of all3 packages
i called billing and they said they would get it sraight, and some of my buyers were going to pay on my acct, still billed the wrong way, thought we had it all sraight until wed when a lawyer called and said they were sueing me for entire 1069.00 of the first bill,
i had talked to billing less than 24 hrs before contact from lawyers
do you get that kin of service
thanks for looking
gene

ive used fedex for the past 2years shipped approx. 30 shipments and never had a problem ,but, i do not like bending the rules and would be very happy to sign a petition,our hobby does need a shipping co. to stand behind us,so where do i sign?,,,,,,,,
thomas davis

I've used Airborne for 3 years now and have yet to have any problems myself, billing or otherwise. All this recent discussion I've been reading about the constant headaches they are giving people though is making me seriously consider switching companies. I'm starting to think I'm just playing with fire and it's only a matter of time before it's my turn to have to fight them.
Concerning the fee charged to you for pickup, there is a standard $3 pick up fee assesed to all packages, and this is what I am always charged. I understand you are rural, but I am as well. I live no less than three hours from the nearest hub, and we are quite rural. I've never been charged anything but the standard $3 though, and they sometimes forget to add that on.

As for your customers being charged for 5lbs on a 1 lb shipment, that too is standard with Airborne unfortunately. They apply dimensional weight to all packages regardless of size. This is calculated by this formula LxWxH/194. So a 12x18x8 box is charged for 5lbs unless it actually weighs more. There's nothing we can do about that one.
UPS, and I think FedEx as well only apply dimensional weight to packages exceeding 1 cubic foot external dimensions, so as long as the box is smaller than 12x12x12 on the outside, you only pay for what it weighs.
Your situation sounds like a real nightmare and I do hope you win out.

I also believe that a petition is the way to go. I also agree that actual signitures would be much more influential then an online petition. I would be nice if one of the major breeders/vendors in our industry that attends multiple shows throughout the country could be the keeper/distributer of this petition.

Hypothetically, if someone like Rich Z. could bring this petition (after it's created) to all the shows that he does around the country.......maybe we could make an impact.

My experiences:
Airborne was OK when I used to use them. They always had and still false drop offs. The drivers say they delivered it at 11:40 and you walk outside and no box anywhere, so you call the office, they say box is there and if it isnt, as you insist after checking everywhere they want you to, they say the driver left it at the wrong house, that is when you call the station manager and you get a new driver
I had a box come at 3:30pm once and the internet and customer service said it was there at my door at 9:45 am!
Anyways, they always lost stuff, overcharged, even when I got the dimensional thing down.
UPS on the other hand has been a godsend till this tuesday.
I use the make your own labnel thingy on the computer and it works great. You get charged exactly what is says on the machine and label.
For ex:
You can punch in the zip code the package is going to and the dimensions and it calculates everything for you auto matically. It evengives you the options of when you put in a COD amount of adding shipping charges to the amount, etc. It is very user friendly,.
UPS has a little hidden policy. It is called (well what I call it) the " verified user, show me the money, fish and wildlife will fine you" policy.
See once I didn't label a box. This is a complete violation of the Lacey Act. It must say Live Harmless or Venomous, Reptiles, birds, amphibians, whatever. If it does not say that you are in direct violation of the lacey act. It is a 500.00fine for first time offendors(although usually waived) and increasees 500.00 each time you mes up.
Yous ee UPS calls fish and wildlife and says your shipping live animals. Fish and Wildlife comes up and checks the box, everything is contained, etc...LABELED, an invoice(which is another violation of lacey act if you dont put one in there) etc.
He/she then says its fine, we cant do anything about it. Well UPS tries to hand it over to fish and wildlife but they refuse it saying return it or deliver it. 10 out of 10 times they have delivered it.
SO to make things short, when UPS calls you saying they are investigating your account because they found a live snake in a box, you just mention Fish and Wildlife will fine them if they dont deliver it. Second you say its not a big deal but they will ask me who I spoke to and I am going to have to give them your name.
Then by now they usually say have a great day, your package is in route to delivery. If this didntwork I go for the Iam a verified shipper(which I am but it takes so long to look up their paperwork that they agree as well with you and the shipment continues). If all else fails say you spend thousands of dollars through UPS sending animals that are harmless through 7 -8 different branches of your company with different names and it would cost them about half a million a year in money and itwoudlreally suck when you mention to the rep that you stopped shipping UPS because so-and so told you you couldn.t

These are just a few tricks that work for me whenthey give me a hard time even since I am a verified shipper.

But remember if by chance on a random inspection, they open a box and find snakes, and they call fish and wildlife, fish and wildlife will call you and send you a fine which is a federal misdemeanor.

UPS is great, I havent lost any boxes or had any DOAS in over three years.
The only DOA was when a customer forgot to mention she lived in a rural area and that UPS would take two days to deliver it.
Well the box sat in a arizona truck for 3 DAYS.
But that was not their fault.

Also whatever happened to Brian something talking with UPS about policies and such.
Mike

Please bear in mind that you are breaking NO laws by shipping through any of the afore mentioned carriers. It is only a violation of their Terms Of Service, there is no punishment for what you have done. However, I have yet to see a mention of the Lacy Act in these post's. Regardless of who you decide to use for shipping, you MUST state the scientific name of what you are shipping.
You may think, "I will never get caught", think again, if Airborne or UPS bust's your package, they can & will turn you in. How about 3 years probation, a HEFTY fine, and you must report every animal you own and every person you do business with. It's serious SH*T people. I have a friend who is living proof that the LACY ACT is REAL!!!!!!

As far as Airborne goes, I shipped about 20 packages through them in a 6 month period in 02', with never a problem. Next thing you know, I am getting calls saying they will not deliver the package. It got so bad, that we finally broke down, and became verified through Delta Dash. Because of this, I have to sell $150 snakes, locally, cause shipping is relatively expensive through Delta when you have a lower value animal. However, Delta Dash is AMAZING when it comes to service and ease of use.

We do need to come together and fight these un-educated big wigs. I just wish I knew how.

Sorry about the rant, I just want everyone to be carefull, and most of all, lets try not to make matters worse.

Chris McAra
Giantkeeper Reptiles