Live Arrival Guarentees

I have a problem with an invertebrate that I shipped yesterday and arrived today. The person says that it is stressed out and not moving very much and thinks it is going to die. Temperatures were in the teens where I shipped it though it was in an insulated box with a heat pack. I have sent out several other shipments this week with frogs that had no problems. This person is already demanding a full refund if the spider dies. On my website, my terms state that live arrival is not guarenteed when temps are below 35 and there is no guarentee other than live arrival. I am even willing to issue a partial refund if the spider dies, but he is demanding a full refund even though it has not even been a day yet and he has not given the spider time to recover from the stress of shipping. He never asked what my terms were before buying the spider and I never promised live arrival. I think he is trying to get a free spider personally due to his attitude. I just think it is odd since she was in perfect health and I have never had any other problems with shipped animals. I know stuff happens, maybe the shipper handled the box roughly. I dropped the box off at 4:30 PM Wednesday and it arrived at 9:00 AM Thursday so it was not in transit long.

Am I wrong in requesting that a body be shipped back to me at his expense if the spider doesn't make it and do I owe him a full refund even though the temperatures were low? I am hoping that the spider is fine and it will not become an issue. I would sooner issue a refund and preserve my good reputation but something doesn't seem right to me.

last I checked its fairly common for animals to be a bit lethargic after shipping in winter months. sounds like this person may just be new to receiving live orders.

secondly hiding behind a TOS does not save you. I understand you do not guarantee live arrival unless its above 35, we do the very same, but unless you notify your customer of this and you CHOOSE to ship when it is colder without doing so, its your fault entirely. no question. it is YOUR responsibility to simply say "look, its too cold, if we ship now I cannot guarantee live arrival, we do not ship unless it is 35 or over, we'll have to wait for a better day"

simple as that, that my friend lays on your shoulders. of course customer ignorance is no excuse, but a TOS does not absolve you entirely unless you go out of your way as well.......


good luck, I hope it works out for you.

I agree with you. I have no problem with refunding the money if it is indeed necessary. But the customers attitiude is what I found disturbing. He is immediately accusing me of sending him a crappy animal instead of even giving the poor animal time to recover. I do warn my customers of the problems with shipping in cold weather. I think the spider will be fine, I am not sure he is experienced with spiders either. I mean they do not just crawl all over the place even when well-adjusted. He sends me an email later in the day saying she looks ok and not much later says he may have jumped the gun and she isn't moving. I am starting to think he may be inexperienced.

If the spider dies and you wind up owing him a refund it is your right to ask for the body. THe body could be returned for minimal cost using priority mail.
However, a photo of the body laying on its back would work too if you think you can identify it as the one you sent.
Unless it happened to be molting, it would have to be dead to be kept on its back.

Now, for future transactions I'll offer some suggestions. A TOS, while a god idea, is nothing to depend on. I'd be willing to bet that 10% or less of customers actually read a TOS on its own page of a website.
Live arrival gusrantee is assumed when purchasing a live animal. You don't have to specifically promise it.
If you don't want to guarantee live arrival in temps below 35 then yo uhave two choices. One, just cease all sales during the colder periods and refuse to do any shipping or two, inform the buyer before any money is sent that due to the temperatures you cannot guarantee live arrival and let them decide whether they want to take the risk.
As the seller it is your responsibility to inform the buyer of your policies, not his to ask. If you fail to state otherwise then a live arrival guarantee is assumed regardless of the circumstances.

I know it is not your intention to hide behind your TOS or to find a loop hole to get out of issuing a refund, but if you make things clear prior to the sale in the future other problems may be avoided entirely.

I would merely assure him that you will make things right if the spider does not make it, but tell him to give it a chance and if it does die require the body be returned or photos provided.
You did not mention a time frame though. This poses another problem in this situation. What if the spider dies 10 days from now due to his lack of experience? He'll still believe that the cold did it and expect a refund. This is another point that needs to be made clear before the sale is completed. How long you are willing to guarantee it, be it live arrival only, 7 days or whatever, the buyer needs to be aware of that.

In my experience, most places will not even guarantee live arrival on amphibians or inverts. Spiders, in particular, can be injured by rough handling...not that I would insinuate that any of the carriers mishandle a properly marked package And at this time of year, with the increase in volume...a disaster waiting to happen. IMO, you are well within your rights to request proof (either photo, or return) of death. If you warned him about the danger of shipping at those temps, and he said to proceed...I don't know that I would offer a full refund. Then again, as has already been stated, if you felt the conditions were unsuitable - you could/should have delayed shipping. I had to bail on a shipment this week, and pretty much at the last minute. The forecast changed, and by early afternoon (or midafternoon, considering how early it gets dark) it was only 11 degrees. I informed my customer that I could not, in good conscience, ship at those temperatures & would now have to wait until after the holidays. Luckily, she seemed very accepting, and I refunded her final payment until we can arrange shipping again (my offer, not her request).
Customers wanting refunds or replacement animals can be tough to deal with - it can be difficult to decide with whom responsibility lies, and where it ends, but you have to draw a line someplace.

Heather,

The problem in this instance is that although your TOS state that live arrival is not guaranteed below 35 degrees, you shipped with temperatures in the teens. The shipper is the one that has final say of whether to ship or not. As Harald stated, you could have waited until the temperatures were safer. A different story would have been if you had shipped with temperatures in the 50’s, and then suddenly and unexpectedly they dropped below 35 during transit. No-one could have predicted that. It seems your position of at least giving a partial refund is reasonable and it shows that you care for your customer.

Good luck one way or the other!

Regards.