bigcountry
redpython.net
A week ago I sold a snake to a fellow in North Carolina. We set up a couple of different shipping days and one of them was June 13th. I am fortunate to live near the FedEx hub, which means i can drop overnight deliveries off up til 11:30 p.m.
This reduces the time that the snake is spent traveling inside an insulated cardboard box. So around 8 p.m. I prepare my snake. Package it, weigh it, print off the fedex label. I drop it off around 9 p.m. at the fedex station.
This snake was due to be delivered by 10:30 am on June 14th. However, when i checked my email, the buyer said the snake was in canada. My reply to him was, "What?!?!?!?"
As soon as i sent that email off, i checked the status, and sure enough, the snake was in canada. About that time, my phone rings, and wouldn't you know it, it's fedex! This is where the fun begins.
The fellow who bought the snake contacted fedex to let them know his package, a snake was in canada, when it should be on its way to North Carolina. The lady from fedex called to let me know that I had violated several laws, was eligible for fines and jail time, their legal team would be contacting me, and that the snake shipment would be stopped immediately and the animal would be confiscated by canadian official’s. Oh on top of all that, then i would have to deal with international animal regulations. All due to me not being a verified fedex shipper, and fedex misrouting the package.
So this was between 7-9 am. The nice lady who just informed me of all this great news also gave me the direct line to the fedex legal team and told me to contact them, but not to worry, because they would be contacting me. I explained to this lady, that I was indeed a verified shipper and that i had sent in the test package and it had came back accepted. Well at the moment, i couldn't find my paperwork, so i don't think it meant much to her.
So 10 am rolls around, and I call the Live animal desk. I talk to a really nice lady who informed me my name, nor my account was not on the verified shipping list. So I find my paperwork and see my inside account rep's name and give him a call to see what in the world went wrong. Well wouldn't you know, he is out of the office until June 18th. The live animal desk lady told not to worry about being charged with any violations, fines, etc at this moment, that would be dealt with later. but she did say that the snake was not going anywhere until I was on her list of verified shippers. Well with my inside account rep being out of the office, i get the name and number of his boss. But guess what, he is out of the office until june 18th too. Apparently they were both at a fedex sales meeting in, guess where? Canada!
So I call the nice lady at the live animal desk and explain the situation. Everyone is gone! She tells me i can call the legal department when they open, but she can't release the animal.
So in the mean time, while I am waiting to hear from the legal department I call another number on my paperwork. He tells me he sees snake boxes all the time and i got the impression it was not big deal. He told me he would make some calls and call me back. He also commented that since my inside guy was up in canada, he could just pick the snake up. I appreciated the comment and was willing to take any humor that could be interjected at that point.
So, I finally get a hold of the legal team. She says she is going to look into this matter and she has already been contacted by 2 or 3 sources about this very issue.
I tell her i was verified back in september of 2006 and i faxed her my paperwork. Then she inquires about my signed waiver. I say, "what waiver?" She tells me about the waiver, the other half of the requirement to become a verified shipper was not on record, hence me not being on the verified shipper list. I say, I never got a waiver, and my inside sales accountant told me the legal department would take care of the rest.
I asked about my snake being shipped either back to me, and i would drive it to north carolina like i had kinda planned, or ship it to north carolina. She said she had to do some checking but would get back to me.
She also informed me that I had done nothing wrong, and there was no reason, except the missing waiver, as to why i shouldn't be a verified shipper and that i had gone through half of the process but not all of it. That was the next piece of the puzzle, what happened to that waiver?
So a few hours later the legal lady calls me back and tells me that the snake would be in north carolina on the morning of june 15th. She also asked me not to ship any more snakes until they figure out what went wrong with the waiver.
This morning I checked the fedex tracking number and it.....was delivered. I called the recipient and he said the snake appeared fine and was going to give it time to settle in after its international travels.
Bottom Line: Become a verified shipper and make sure you are a verified shipper.
This reduces the time that the snake is spent traveling inside an insulated cardboard box. So around 8 p.m. I prepare my snake. Package it, weigh it, print off the fedex label. I drop it off around 9 p.m. at the fedex station.
This snake was due to be delivered by 10:30 am on June 14th. However, when i checked my email, the buyer said the snake was in canada. My reply to him was, "What?!?!?!?"
As soon as i sent that email off, i checked the status, and sure enough, the snake was in canada. About that time, my phone rings, and wouldn't you know it, it's fedex! This is where the fun begins.
The fellow who bought the snake contacted fedex to let them know his package, a snake was in canada, when it should be on its way to North Carolina. The lady from fedex called to let me know that I had violated several laws, was eligible for fines and jail time, their legal team would be contacting me, and that the snake shipment would be stopped immediately and the animal would be confiscated by canadian official’s. Oh on top of all that, then i would have to deal with international animal regulations. All due to me not being a verified fedex shipper, and fedex misrouting the package.
So this was between 7-9 am. The nice lady who just informed me of all this great news also gave me the direct line to the fedex legal team and told me to contact them, but not to worry, because they would be contacting me. I explained to this lady, that I was indeed a verified shipper and that i had sent in the test package and it had came back accepted. Well at the moment, i couldn't find my paperwork, so i don't think it meant much to her.
So 10 am rolls around, and I call the Live animal desk. I talk to a really nice lady who informed me my name, nor my account was not on the verified shipping list. So I find my paperwork and see my inside account rep's name and give him a call to see what in the world went wrong. Well wouldn't you know, he is out of the office until June 18th. The live animal desk lady told not to worry about being charged with any violations, fines, etc at this moment, that would be dealt with later. but she did say that the snake was not going anywhere until I was on her list of verified shippers. Well with my inside account rep being out of the office, i get the name and number of his boss. But guess what, he is out of the office until june 18th too. Apparently they were both at a fedex sales meeting in, guess where? Canada!
So I call the nice lady at the live animal desk and explain the situation. Everyone is gone! She tells me i can call the legal department when they open, but she can't release the animal.
So in the mean time, while I am waiting to hear from the legal department I call another number on my paperwork. He tells me he sees snake boxes all the time and i got the impression it was not big deal. He told me he would make some calls and call me back. He also commented that since my inside guy was up in canada, he could just pick the snake up. I appreciated the comment and was willing to take any humor that could be interjected at that point.
So, I finally get a hold of the legal team. She says she is going to look into this matter and she has already been contacted by 2 or 3 sources about this very issue.
I tell her i was verified back in september of 2006 and i faxed her my paperwork. Then she inquires about my signed waiver. I say, "what waiver?" She tells me about the waiver, the other half of the requirement to become a verified shipper was not on record, hence me not being on the verified shipper list. I say, I never got a waiver, and my inside sales accountant told me the legal department would take care of the rest.
I asked about my snake being shipped either back to me, and i would drive it to north carolina like i had kinda planned, or ship it to north carolina. She said she had to do some checking but would get back to me.
She also informed me that I had done nothing wrong, and there was no reason, except the missing waiver, as to why i shouldn't be a verified shipper and that i had gone through half of the process but not all of it. That was the next piece of the puzzle, what happened to that waiver?
So a few hours later the legal lady calls me back and tells me that the snake would be in north carolina on the morning of june 15th. She also asked me not to ship any more snakes until they figure out what went wrong with the waiver.
This morning I checked the fedex tracking number and it.....was delivered. I called the recipient and he said the snake appeared fine and was going to give it time to settle in after its international travels.
Bottom Line: Become a verified shipper and make sure you are a verified shipper.
