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dhl incomptiance in handling

turtleman1

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i had a shipment due in this am, about 0900 got a call from dhl,my box was on the truck, driver heard movment in the box, so she opened it. inside was 2bags, 1 contained 200 painted turtles,she looked at them, and put them back in the box. she opened the other box, it contained an adult western hognose female, she was scared of snakes so she closed the box, took it outside to a field and let it go, dhl mgr called
and told me about it, i had to drive to panama city, 60 miles to get the turtles, they did not get back on the truck (this was at there office) so i am out a snake and she dumped turtles and all , mgr got back 151 of 200
gu3ess know why i dont use dhl/airborne
gene

gene arnold
turtleman 1
 
Sorry to here that Gene!
Unfortunately whoever shipped to you should have had better sense than to ship a snake with them which is against their policy.
True they shouldn't have dumped your turtles but if the rules would have been followed in the first place it seems all would have been fine.
Cynthia
 
I would definitly make sure that woman or DHL is held accountable for the missing animals. Payment in full for the worth of the animals and shipping. Make sure the seller voices his complaints as well.

That kind of <font color=red>[**censored**]</font> gets me heated.
 
Isnt it a Federal offence to open someone elses mail? Even if she heard movement she should have called the head hauncho and even then I think they would have to call the inspector, police or something. They cannot just open YOUR mail with YOUR NAME on it because she thought she heard movement. What if there was nothing alive inside and she was just hearing things? She cannot open your mail at her own discreation. I would call the main office and file a complaint against the driver for tampering or opening mail that doesnt belong to her. I think if she knows she could be charged with a felony she would be more than happy to pay for your loss. I am very sorry for your loss and hope you get some kind of compensation.
 
geckokreeper said:
Isnt it a Federal offence to open someone elses mail? Even if she heard movement she should have called the head hauncho and even then I think they would have to call the inspector, police or something. They cannot just open YOUR mail with YOUR NAME on it because she thought she heard movement. What if there was nothing alive inside and she was just hearing things? She cannot open your mail at her own discreation. I would call the main office and file a complaint against the driver for tampering or opening mail that doesnt belong to her. I think if she knows she could be charged with a felony she would be more than happy to pay for your loss. I am very sorry for your loss and hope you get some kind of compensation.

It is not mail, it is a package sent through a private carrier. They have every right to open any box for any reason to inspect. NO violation of law and it is clearly out lined in all of the major carrier's policies.

In addition, the post office also has the right to inspect anything tendered to them for delivery. It is a violation of Federal Law for a private citizen to open mail addresses to another. But, it has to be sent through the USPS to be considered mail.
 
turtleman1 said:
she was scared of snakes so she closed the box, took it outside to a field and let it go, dhl mgr called
and told me about it, i had to drive to panama city,

Correct me if I am wrong but is it not against Federal regulation (as well as state laws) to be releasing a captive reptile (or any animal) into the wild (regardless if native or not)? They could be nailed for breaking federal law in that respect....they should never have released the snake.

Adrian
 
We have to police ourselves

I believe that we as reptile keepers/breeders/collectors/sellers/shippers have to hold ourselves accountable for the way we ship animals. True, the DHL Lady's actions were way out of line, but maybe if the shipper had done a better job of packaging, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. In this day and age, with everyone on alert for suspicious packages, we have to do a better job. This year I have bought and traded a number of reptiles. I have had some great experiences, but... I have gotten pkgs. with snakes clearly visible, have not gotten pkgs. (returned to sender) with snakes hanging out of the pkg., and have had snakes shipped to me through usps, even though I had paid for proper shipping. I think that the future of our hobby is up to us, and it will not get better until we clean up our own act!
Just My Opinion
David Scarboro
Dahlonega, Ga.
 
DHL has personally called me and asked to be my live reptile shipper. SO THEY DO SHIP REPTILES. Either that, or Chris @ DHL lied to me when he called me. Sorry, I don't have his last name.

I'd work on getting your money back for the lost snake and shipping.
 
dhl

dhl said file a claim and they would pay, so thats no problem, but when i shipped airborns (same thing) they called and said they lost a box, this was before i knew it was missing, it was during my buzy season, did not have time to file then, they sent me a letter later saying i had not filed son enough. and i still had to pay the shipping on the box, it was 100 4 in turtles aand shipping was 76.00, thats why i quit useing them, that and
they were charging me shipping on collect shipments, cust, had already paid
gene
 
Couldn't Agree More DHL Stinks

I don't know why others use that lousy company. I just today received snakes that should've been here a day and a half ago. Man that ticks me off when they screw up and then you end up talking with some dumba## tech that tells you
"Well Sir, I see that the package was last scanned at the sort facility"...

Well no ShEEAT! I can read a dang computer screen you freeking moron. Tell me something I can't see like two DHL planes with flat tires at the end of the runway....with my package on it......

Fortunately my snakes made it here alive.

Russ
 
Quote
DHL has personally called me and asked to be my live reptile shipper. SO THEY DO SHIP REPTILES. Either that, or Chris @ DHL lied to me when he called me. Sorry, I don't have his last name.

I would definately be getting a last name since it is against the companies policy.
When it was Airborne Turtles/Tortoises were acceptable however no snakes. I think now that it is DHL they have actually banned the Chelonians but I could be off on that one.
Cynthia
 
I have to say I have NEVER (knock on wood) had a problem with DHL / Airborn Express as a matter of fact I have had problems with UPS, Fed EX and USPS (I was the reciever of that package not the shipper). DHL does not ship reptiles it says so in their policy book but they do ship turtles and torts. What the heck do they think that turtles and torts are birds?? But I have no complaints I just mark all my boxes as live painted turtles so thay at least know its a live animal and will take a little more care handling it, I hope. But as far as UPS and FED EX they do not ship animals what-so-ever. Just adding my 2 cents. Sorry to hear about that BS turtleman but thats a chance we have to take if we arent willing to ship Delta Dash which I dont myself its just way to darn expensive. See Ya Damian
 
DHL SUCKS.
I have never had a problem recieving animals through fed or ups but dhl and when it was airborne SUCK.
I regularly recieve packages sent to me for 10:30am delivery and by noon its still not here, so everytIME i CALL they say it was already delivered according to the driver. Well I trll thrm i have been home all day and no airborne truck has even entered my street which is a dead end.
they say well he might have delivered it to the wrong house, well i tell them im the only house on the dang steet. they call the driver he tells them he delivered it to the wrong house, he brings it and by this time it is 1:00pm, so i decided to stake it out. i went to the corner of my street one day expecting a package and no driver came down the street that leads to my street.
it was 10:35 am so i called and they again said that the driver must have delivered it to the wrong hosue as he had it delivered at 9 something. I said that is impossible as the street i am on and the numbers for my house, there is only one other street that could have been mistaken for and there are no hosues built there yet!!!
So its again a waiting game and by noon, still no box.
i call again and they said the driver just picked up the box from the house that it was"mistakenly"delivered to and was coming down my street. Still nothing.
So by 1:00pm I was pretty mad waiting so long and called again. they said it was delivered. it wasnt.
So I was blatantly mad, caused a fuss, and went to get coffee.
well guess who was at the coffe shop? the damn driver. I went up to him ready to rip his head off and starting causig a commotion. he gave me my box there.
I called again and said this has been going on for about three years now and i never get my boxes on time. They gave me the info to some employee supervisor and he started an investigation.
he was very nice and upfront and was sick of his own responsibilites cause he has to lay off drivers almost on a daily basis.
He told me that even though I didnt know , everytime i called a record was made.
I have had probably 7 drivers come and go from my route.
Well waht happens is the driver gets reprimanded and then fired for an x amount of late deliveries and stuff. well ALL the drivers I had on my route did this and he found out about it. That is why they had gone thorugh so many drivers.
The last guy was fired and the supervisor of the supervisor said it wont happen again.
Well save to say it hasnt but its a matter of time till it does going by their employee track record. I rather pay an extra 10-15 bucks to get my ups, they are my daily wake up call, he pulls up, honkss, i get out of bed, and get my boxes.
they come around 8-9:00 am everytime they deliver,
same with fed ex.
DHL has lost all my respect for their company, and I refuse to have anything shipped to me or sent by me through them anymore.
I must have pending about 2,000.00 on free late charges, etc. that they owe me. Yet when you owe them they are on you like hounds.
Its a horrible business.
now i think someone said they only take tortoises and not water turtles?
what sense does that make?
mike
 
I've always had stellar experiences with DHL/Airborne. In fact, DHL is the only company that has ALWAYS delivered next day when I've paid for it. I've had at least one issue with overnight service taking an extra day or two (or three, in one case with FedEx) with other major carriers.

How much easier can they make it? You can get free shipping supplies just by ordering them off the website, you can fill out your waybills online and request a pickup for an unlimited # of pkgs for only a $3 fee, and their service is solid. I sent 150 Thornton plastic vials from here (Chicago area) to Olathe, Kansas, and I sent them TRUCK and they got there in just over10 hours. It was like I had paid for overnight shipping, and I had only paid Ground.

Companies aren't perfect... there's always going to be stories. Anyone who says a company is perfect just hasn't had their story yet with that company. I'm sure DHL will mess up one of mine someday, and I'll be pissed... however, you don't get a divorce over one argument, and I certainly wouldn't switch services unless there was a PATTERN of negligence. Then again, maybe they just hire better drivers in our area... who knows...
 
I would be careful throwing around "Federal offence" when talking to DHL about opening the package. If anyone violated federal law it was the shipper for not being in compliance with the Lacey Act.
 
I know UPS will permit you to shp reptile as long as you get permission from them first which only takes a few weeks! I know they will not ship anytype of snake though. I now can mark the box properly ans hopefully all will go well. So far so good!
I think every carrier has good and bad stories. It isn't the carrier, it is the quality of people they hire!
 
No shipping company is flawless...they are all very dependent upon the individuals that handle the boxes.

I still think that the shipper bears much of the responsibility for not marking the boxes properly. The driver may not have been as freaked out if a box started moving and it was identified as containing live animals.

I also think that ALL the shippers have agreed to ship live animals, be it turtles or snakes, in individual situations. With the recent changes at UPS, we were forced to investigate FedEx as a shipper. While it was not my shipper of preference, they have done a fine job with us so far.

Good luck getting this resolved.
 
dhl

a little more, i thought 156 turtles was an odd # to ship,just got my farmer on the order. there was 150 midlands paints and 150 eastern paints, and 5 SPOTTEDS in the order, so looks like the whole box was dumped, i got 156 mixed paints, no spots, and when they got around to picking them up, the went to the water cooler and put ice water on them, about 75 have died since i got them home, they show signs of puemonia
just a litte more
gene
turtleman1
gene arnold
 
opening boxes

While it's ok for shipping companies to open boxes to check contents, it is illegal to otherwise confiscate, steal, alter, or "let it go in a field"!!! No matter who the carrier is (UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL), it is a federal offense to tamper with interstate commerce!! If it's an illegal shipment (drugs), the authorities would have been called in. Shipping snakes is NOT illegal, just against DHL company policy. The reptiles should have been returned to the shipper after the "discovery". This woman who let the snake go in a field needs to be FIRED and PROSECUTED for tampering with interstate commerce!!! At the very least, she should be sued!! Just my opinion.....

Scott Nellis:D
 
Actually, depending on the state she was in when she let it go, she could be charged with letting a non-native species loose.
 
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