Admittedly, my last post was a bit harsh.
It is also quite apparent that Steve's reputation is taking a serious hit, not only because he has yet to indicate any semblance of a reasoned approach to a solution, but more because of the specific approach he has so far chosen, in his own words. Taken from earlier posted emails from Steve to David, here are Steve's words that jumped out at me:
Jan 10th,
(in reference to the box not being crushed) That means only two things; the last delivery driver opened the box and took contents, which seems highly dubious given the fact that you stated box was not played with, or box and snakes arrived to you intact.
and ...
Jan 18th,
Isn't it funny MR. how you suddenly have a friend that was there as a witness after I told you I had help shipping the snake. The doc. just turned up to help open the box I guess.
As to the first response: We can all try to imagine how we would have responded if we got a call or email from a customer immediately upon receipt of a shipment that we sent out, where we knew that we had properly placed the animal in the box and sent it out. A $7500 one at that. We would be instantly looking at every possibility, and that would certainly include a strong concern about the integrity of the receiving customer. But I do not believe that any of us would arrive at such a frivolous conclusion that a non-crushed box meant that either the UPS driver stole it, which Steve acknowledges is dubious as an excuse, and therefore the receiver was a liar and thief (very directly inferred). What I am saying is that I do not see this as an arrived upon conclusion, but rather a construed one.
And then on the 18th, we again see cute terms "isn't it funny, etc". I would say rather, if I was a legitimate shipper, that "isn't it fortunate" that we can eliminate a questioning of your integrity as a receiver from the list of possibilities, and narrow the timeline. For at least the second time, he is saying that Steve is lying, as is now Dr. Owens !! In those two quotes, I see sirens and flashing lights, etc !!
On the box weight thing,
without Steve's comments, I would say that the weight is a non-issue. Whether written as one pound, or two, etc. With what UPS has called "dimensional weight" since Jan 2005, all of us who use UPS know that what we write as a weight does not matter, as the size determines the weight that matters, that being what we are billed for. As an example, I ship many 1-2 lb boxes, label them as 2-4 lbs when I prepare the label, knowing that the dimensional weight will charge me for 6 pounds or more.
So here's the kicker! Why would I, as an honest shipper, not rely on an honest and plausable excuse to explain that the weight as recorded was an insignificant and innacurate number (such as I just illustrated)? Why would I then pin myself to a number, identified by Steve as 12 oz rounded up to one pound, which as Dr. Owens has pointed out, is impossible given the earth's current gravitational pull (at least for this month anyway) for the shipment as it should have been if intact.
His TOS fix this problem, and also provide David with legal claim. Who, as a legitimate business person, would approach this as saying that you think your customer is a thief and liar, but in accordance with my TOS, I will replace it? Why create the extra stink when you are legally and ethically bound anyway? Because you had no intention of honoring the TOS?
Each of us, even as honest business people and shippers, would react a little bit differently if confronted with a claim such as David is making. But at every fork in the road, we would not consistently take the bizarre ones chosen by Steve ......... unless, of course, we knew before we ever left where our destination was. The simple solution was never on the table.
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