Signature releases

Originally Posted by leaftail

Then I'll be camping at the curb, holding a harpoon gun, next delivery day. (harpoon gun is for the truck, not the driver in case that was not clear)

LOL, glad you clarified that one! hahahahah

Originally Posted by Jim O

I don't doubt it but it has not happened to me. Like I said, I hate to miss a package because I was emptying my bladder. Or does a shipper expect a customer to hold it from the time the tracking site says "on vehicle" or "out for delivery" until delivery at 11 or 12? Or maybe I should just use a jug in the front room while waiting. Let's face it, we expect parties to be reasonable. I'm perfectly willing to do all that if the shipper guarantees that he will sit by the phone waiting for my call without doing anything that might distract him from taking it the moment it arrives. No bathroom allowed either. Reasonable? Not for either party.

So which is better for the animal? Sitting on a freezing cold or brutally hot delivery truck all day because I was using the toilet or sitting on a similarly cold or hot covered porch for a couple of minutes?

Stolen? That's on the customer 100%. The customer signed the signature waiver and it was delivered according to his wishes.

What a seller/shipper requires for a guarantee is proof the animal was delivered and received by the customer. Such a release simply does not make that possible, and I am sure you can agree. Even if a customer with such a release were to call us within a given timeframe after delivery to say they received the animal and simply left a message, thats more than sufficient.

I understand whatyou are saying perfectly, and it does depend on each customers personal situations and the competence of their local servicesdrivers. Unfortunately there are those who use such releases to abuse the system, and unfortunately there are those who use such releases simply because they do not have the same respect for live animals as you or I. Therefore to protect both customer and seller, additional measures must be taken into account. Looking at it from a sellers standpoint I am sure you could agree.

Originally Posted by leaftail

Then I'll be camping at the curb, holding a harpoon gun, next delivery day. (harpoon gun is for the truck, not the driver in case that was not clear)

Don't matter what you hit, as long as it stops.

So which is better for the animal? Sitting on a freezing cold or brutally hot delivery truck all day because I was using the toilet or sitting on a similarly cold or hot covered porch for a couple of minutes?

Same situation here. I have a sign on the front door to leave inside my back door, in the hallway, if no answer. My hallway gets no colder than 50 in the winter (usually around 55-60) and no warmer than 80-85 in the summer. Worst case scenario if they leave it on my front porch its covered and it stays about 10-20* warmer than the outside air in the winter and it's protected from the wind. In the summer the front porch stays about 10* cooler than the outside air and is in the shade. If my rabbit can live on the porch all year round it's safe for a reptile for 10 mins.

There are always multiple ways to look at this. A couple of weeks ago I had a package delivered to one of my customers that went to the wrong address and just left on the porch. Fortunately that person discovered the package and contacted my customer. I don't remember whether the tracking info said a signature release was on file or not, however, in cases where it is, this is much more of a likelihood then without the waiver. If someone actually signs for a package, a misdelivered package is highly unlikely. Also, when I set up the package info online, I specifically mark it so that the customer is also notified of the delivery. Just in case it IS delivered to the wrong address, they will get a notice via email telling them that it was delivered somewhere.

The live arrival guarantee from the shipper has to be flexible. If the delivery info shows that the package was delivered at 9:30 am, even with the "signature release on file", and the customer calls at 10:00 am with a problem, then of course the live arrival guarantee will be upheld. However, in a similar circumstance as above, if the customer calls at 5:30 PM, instead, then the implication would be that the package was delivered at 9:30 am and left on the porch until the customer got home from work to discover it. In a case like this, yes, the customer's end of the arrangement may have voided the live arrival guarantee.

I specifically require someone to be present at the destination address in order to receive the package. I do everything in my power to insure that the animals get there safe and sound. But the recipient also has some responsibility in this process as well.

Now, that being said, I did have an interesting situation recently. I sent a fairly large order to a customer in a double sized styro lined container. According to FedEx's tracking info, they attempted delivery TWICE ( one around 9:30 am, then again around 1:30 pm) with no success. The customer called me up later on that day to tell me that he had left his daughter at home to accept the package and she is claiming that she must have been down in the basement when the FedEx driver showed up. He had to drive over to the FedEx terminal around 4 PM or so to pick up the package. As it turned out, even with cold packs enclosed, some of the snakes were dead upon inspection by the customer.

In a case like this, what would YOU do about it?

two failed delivery attempts and the customer is stating their daughter was in the basement not making an effort to accept the deliveries?

Every effort on your part, AS WELL AS THE CARRIER (which is not very common!), was made to ensure the safe timely arrival of the parcel. Even a second attempt! The customer quite simply did not effectively hold up their end of the transaction. If you know you have a live parcel coming, nine out of ten people would make one hell of an effort to accept said parcel in person. Most of the hobbyists I know will spend mornings pacing waiting for their deliveries. Hell, even when I purchase something for my personal collection to this very day I'm as anxious as a child Christmas morning. Leaving a child to accept such a delivery is a bit irresponsible, especially if they make no effort to be upstairs around the time of expected arrival.

I hate to be the hardass here but that would violate our terms for sure! I would not replace them. Period. I may however offer a slight discount on replacements to ease their loss along with some "words of wisdom" regarding any future purchases they may make and the proper steps to take when accepting live parcels.... whoever the seller may be.... But I think I would be pretty firm on this one. Good luck Rich.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

In a case like this, what would YOU do about it?

That's really a tough call, especially since we don't know if the daughter really was absent or if Fedex even showed up at all. For all we know they were across town and not going to make it so they fudged in a missed delivery in the system. Since we know Fedex isn't going to reimburse you for them it's either you or the customer that will eat the cost. Unless we're talking about very expensive snakes I'd probably offer replacements shipped at his expense. I wouldn't probably do a full refund in cash since it's easier to stomach the loss of the cost on the snakes rather than the loss of that much cash. That and the customer wants his snakes, not the cash......if he wanted cash he wouldn't have bought snakes. Now if I didn't have a direct or comparable replacement in stock to replace his losses I'd offer the chance to upgrade to a more expensive animal if he pays the difference. Also another factor is that Rich said "fairly large order." I'd probably work extra hard to make sure he was satisfied since he already spent a good deal of cash, might spend more in the future and if he's a big buyer he might brag to a lot of his friends that you're a great guy, etc.

Now if he was pigheaded and refused animals as replacement in favor of cash instead I might change my offer. Maybe either stand by the guarantee or offer to split the loss with him 50/50.

In my experiences a carrier does not list "delivery attempt made" unless it was actually made.... ESPECIALLY a second time. Perhaps if it was just the first I would have thought the same, but the second attempt is really what made my final call on this one. I stand by my previous statements.

Originally Posted by TopShelfExotics

In my experiences a carrier does not list "delivery attempt made" unless it was actually made.... ESPECIALLY a second time. Perhaps if it was just the first I would have thought the same, but the second attempt is really what made my final call on this one. I stand by my previous statements.

I guess you're right since it was 2 attempts, that would be unlikely.

Oh, FedEx had been there, sure enough. The driver left a "failed delivery" notice stuck to the door. At least for the first attempt. The customer apparently didn't know about the second attempt until I sent him a copy of FedEx's log.

Oh, and get this. The customer tried to pin the blame on me saying I used a box that was TOO BIG. First time I ever heard something like that. I've heard of people having problems from using a box too small, but TOO BIG? That's a new one for me.

Anyway, yeah I am going to replace most of the snakes that were lost, but I'm grumbling about it. I went and made some changes to my Terms and Conditions page to exactly cover this sort of circumstance in the future, as I will not cover such a loss again. There has to be a point where my responsibility ends and the customer's begins.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Oh, FedEx had been there, sure enough. The driver left a "failed delivery" notice stuck to the door. At least for the first attempt. The customer apparently didn't know about the second attempt until I sent him a copy of FedEx's log.

Oh, and get this. The customer tried to pin the blame on me saying I used a box that was TOO BIG. First time I ever heard something like that. I've heard of people having problems from using a box too small, but TOO BIG? That's a new one for me.

Anyway, yeah I am going to replace most of the snakes that were lost, but I'm grumbling about it. I went and made some changes to my Terms and Conditions page to exactly cover this sort of circumstance in the future, as I will not cover such a loss again. There has to be a point where my responsibility ends and the customer's begins.

Going by what you just added I'd be inclined to tell him to screw off......well unless of course there were a ton of sales coming from him in the near future. If there wasn't a good financial reason to do it I'd pass on shipping him replacements. It's unreasonable to require you to replace them if they made 2 legit attempts.

I don't get the box thing, makes zero sense......about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine.