UPS, FedEx, Airborne Express, USPS - bad guys.

I talked to James Brown. He told me that the waivers were defiantly attainable. I told him that he was the guy I was told to talk to and that there is a lot of business that could be gained if they would start doing this. He told me that he knew there was a lot of business to be gained here and that is why they have begun to do this and that he was the guy but the first step in the process is to call 1-800-GOFEDEX and then go through customer service to ask for an account executive. They will take my info and send the executive my info through e-mail and they would call me back.

Really funny to find this thread... I tried to UPS a couple animals 2 days ago. First thing they did was grill me on what was in the box. Then the flat out asked me what was in the box. I left, UPS will never again get my business.

I think there might be good money in starting a business that ships reptiles.

I just wanted to thank you guys who are going through this with Fed Ex - thank you for sharing what is happening each step of the way. I am very timid on the telephone, (much more confident when writing) and if I'm going to call them I like to have an idea of what to expect. Thank you very much I really appreciate it.

Traci Engle

Airborne is an absolute dead end. Since their acquisition several months ago they have absolutely stopped accepting any live animal shipments.

I contacted Fed Ex today to begin the process Brian. An account exec is supposed to contact me by Friday. You are not a "one man show" in this at all.

I DID IT!!!
you're not a one man show, I'm a woman and just called too! They took my info and said that an account executive will call me back in one to two days! I am very excited about this !!! Thank you again guys for posting what you have been doing and who you've been talking to!!!

Traci Engle

Don't get me wrong, I was not complaining
I was just wondering if I was the only one trying to get them to ship for me.
Glad to see you all called as well. Maybe they will get the CLUE that there is allot of business out there to be made and might take us up on it.
OR
They are too big to be bothered with additional business and just don't need it!

I would like to think the first is the case.

Hello,

First of all, let me say that I'm very glad to see this thread started. Just was wondering if you would mind telling what happened to your UPS relationship. I remember reading in a earlier thread about shipping which you responded to, you stated that you recently switched to UPS after using Airborne for a number of years. If I remember correctly, you stated that UPS allowed you to open up an account with the understanding that you would be shipping reptiles including snakes and that UPS even allowed you to label the box correctly as to the contents, so that you could now be in full compliance with the Lacey Act. I even responded to the earlier thread I'm referring to and emailed you directly asking you who was your contact at UPS that allowed you to open up a "snake shipping" account.

What happened with your UPS shipping status? Did you simply start having problems with them or what? Just wondering.

Thank you.

David Rivers

Just wanted to add a few things here. It turns out that James Brown is not the manager for the animal desk, he is in the legal dept of FedEx. The customer service person that I went through called James Brown before he would put the request through because he believed that the request would be turned down automatically unless there was someone within the company that would confirm that this was possible. After talking to James Brown himself, he added James Brown’s name and Phone # (901-434-8494) to the request so there is conformation that this was at least a valid request.
I would recommend anyone that attempts to get a waiver should have the customer service person that they talk to add James Browns name and phone # on the request they are going to forward to the account executive for validation that this is possible or it may be turned down automatically.

Ok, just one of my daily updates.
Like Jeff mentioned above, James brown IS part of the 'legal team' and NOT part of the Animal Desk as I was told by the Jeff Bakkey the other day.
I received a phone call today (out of the blue) from a Maryann (forgot her last name and it probably is not needed). I explained, yet agin, my concerns/interest in FedEx and what it would be used for. I said that I am aware of other individuals that are permitted to ship through FedEx and how I could go about doing such. I went on to explain that I was not looking for any liability from them in regards to my shipments. I did this because I knew it would be the case by reading the waver Tom posted earlier on in the thread.
She stated that she was not aware of any peron/s or companies that are permitted to do so and in a non confrantational way I expalined how I have a copy of a 'waver' for an individual.
She said I would have to call 1-800-GOFEDEX and have an acct. rep. call me back (like I mentioned the other day). I explained that I did so the other day and here we are at over 48 hours later and I have not had a return call.
She then asked for my acct. # (this is where I got frustrated) and I explained that even though I DO use FedEx for rare packages for personal shipments, I had not as of yet set up an acct. with FedEx because I wanted to know what agreements, if any, we could come to prior to doing so.
She went on to say that an acct. rep. will not call me back unless it is for an existing acct. holder with FedEx. I was irritated because I guess calling someone for potential business is not something they are after, only calling those that have accts. are what interests them (my assumtion).
***NOTE- keep that in mind. I cannot say that it is always the case, but be prepared to open an acct. because I feel you will have to before getting any attention.

She said I will be asked questions from the acct. rep. regarding what is shipped, how many, how often, how big, etc. I can already see what is coming. The problem will be the 'how often'. Many breeders work on a 'seasonal basis'. That being the spring-fall and of course the winter months are slow for all of us. This I do not think they will like.....for lack of better words.
I will have to supply a box as an example of how I ship, etc., etc.
A concern that she had, on behalf of the company, was if a snake got out.
I expained how I ship (snake in snake bag, tied in a knot, bog in styro lined box, box securely taped shut), but she still said what if one got out.
My answer was, in a nice way, how often do they ship a package, regardless of the cvontents, and have something get out? Explained, again, that the bag is tied in a knot, and I would love to see a snake that is inside this bag untie the knot to escape. I went on to say that I would be willing to bet the only time they had something 'escape' from it's packaging was in the rare event it was dropped and the force of the impact along with the weight of the object 'blew open' the box or busted the tape. FOLKS, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN, give me a break!
Anyway, I said I would go on with the steps she requested and we will see.
In closing our conversation, I spoke on behalf of ALL breeders and explained the disadvantage we have, as small or large business owners, when it comes to shipping. I expressed how large of a chunck of business they would gain if they took the same steps with me and just made it universal to our industry.

To be continued..........

Brian,

Setting up an account before companies will discuss business is pretty common with companies who are more used to working with larger businesses (I had to do this with hardware suppliers for our cage parts before they'll even discuss what they carry, and yes quite frustrating).

Part of the process is that you'll have to send them a shipment just like you would send to a customer (without the snake obviously) so they can see your way of shipping and recommend changes. So don't worry about arguing the shipping standards with the sales rep, just get them set up a testing at their facility.