TimeConsumer
Active member
Let's start from the beginning. I purchased a frag pack from a member of my local reef club by PayPal a few days ago. He lives about 4 hours away, and while the weather is a nice 80 degrees outside he is able to ship things Fedex ground to have them arrive by the next morning, what a great deal! So I purchased 9 beautiful SPS frags for $225 shipped from him to be held at a local Fedex Office Center, this way it wouldn't be in the back of a truck all day, and it tends to get to the office center faster than my house.
According to their tracking number it arrived at the office at 10:18am, I get there by about 11am to pick them up. But when I ask for my package the representative at the office informs me that they refused the shipment! According to their policy a Fedex Office cannot accept live animals, and in fact, you are not allowed to ship live animals through Fedex unless you get prior approval through their Live Animals Desk. Here's the quote from their website terms of use:
"FedEx does not accept live animal shipments as part of its regularly scheduled service. Live animals will be accepted when the shipment is coordinated and approved by the FedEx Live Animal Desk. Acceptable shipments include, but are not limited to, zoo animals (to and from zoo locations only) and horses (from gateway to gateway locations only). Household pets, such as domestic cats and dogs, and live fish are not accepted. For more information, contact the FedEx Live Animal Desk at 1.800.405.9052."
Anyways, the representative then gives me the phone number for the customer service call center, saying that they may be able to help me meet the driver somewhere to get my items. I call the number and tell my situation to a phone rep. First, I receive a lecture on why I shouldn't be shipping live animals through them. She continues to lecture me that it was even worse they were sent by Fedex Ground, because that is their slowest service. Keep in mind from his hands to their office in my city took 19 hours. But being in customer service management myself, I not once raised my voice, cursed, or said anything rude to her, regardless of how contemptuous I was being treated. After the lectures finished and I waited on hold for 15 minutes her final solution to me was that I would have to find the truck on my own. She said it would be somewhere on the street the office center was on for the next few hours, and it would be the only truck in the area.
So my only option was to drive up and down a 5 mile stretch of one of the busiest commercial avenues in the city, looking for the truck. Within the first 5 minutes I saw a Fedex Ground truck, what luck! But wait, it wasn't him. Another 5 minutes, another truck! Nope, not him either. 5 minutes after that, a Fedex Express truck, might as well try him too, nope. 15 minutes later, there's one! No dice. 20 Minutes after that, another truck! Wrong. The next hour I didn't get a single sighting of my quarry. I felt defeated. I had no other choice, I called the customer service line again, hoping for a miracle.
This time I get a rep that doesn't seem so interested in telling me I shouldn't be shipping endangered species. In fact, once I mentioned live coral he said "For an aquarium?" "Yes." "They shouldn't have held that back, let me see what I can do." Another 15 minutes on hold. He comes back, telling me he has the driver on the phone and he will meet me in a parking lot in 10 minutes. I thanked him profusely and gunned it down the road. Move your 1983 Coupe DeVille, Grandma, I got frags!
I arrive at the intersection in question and in a parking lot to the right I see a Fedex Ground truck, finally! The truck is empty, three minutes later the driver walks out of a store and I approach him. Wait a minute, wrong truck again? But this is right where he told me to meet him, a quick glance around and I spot another Fedex ground truck in the parking lot on the other side of the street! I break out at a full sprint to the other side. (Why did the reefer cross the road?) It was him, I had my prize!
That's the end of my search for a needle in a haystack. "We can't have the driver meet you anywhere, it's a safety concern." "We can't call the driver, we don't have his phone number." "There's only 1 truck in the area, you should be able to find him." 1/4 tank of gas, 2 hours, 7 trucks, 30 minutes on hold, and 40 grey hairs was all it took.
Moral of the story: If you're shipping Fedex, don't put "Live Animals" on the box!
According to their tracking number it arrived at the office at 10:18am, I get there by about 11am to pick them up. But when I ask for my package the representative at the office informs me that they refused the shipment! According to their policy a Fedex Office cannot accept live animals, and in fact, you are not allowed to ship live animals through Fedex unless you get prior approval through their Live Animals Desk. Here's the quote from their website terms of use:
"FedEx does not accept live animal shipments as part of its regularly scheduled service. Live animals will be accepted when the shipment is coordinated and approved by the FedEx Live Animal Desk. Acceptable shipments include, but are not limited to, zoo animals (to and from zoo locations only) and horses (from gateway to gateway locations only). Household pets, such as domestic cats and dogs, and live fish are not accepted. For more information, contact the FedEx Live Animal Desk at 1.800.405.9052."
Anyways, the representative then gives me the phone number for the customer service call center, saying that they may be able to help me meet the driver somewhere to get my items. I call the number and tell my situation to a phone rep. First, I receive a lecture on why I shouldn't be shipping live animals through them. She continues to lecture me that it was even worse they were sent by Fedex Ground, because that is their slowest service. Keep in mind from his hands to their office in my city took 19 hours. But being in customer service management myself, I not once raised my voice, cursed, or said anything rude to her, regardless of how contemptuous I was being treated. After the lectures finished and I waited on hold for 15 minutes her final solution to me was that I would have to find the truck on my own. She said it would be somewhere on the street the office center was on for the next few hours, and it would be the only truck in the area.
So my only option was to drive up and down a 5 mile stretch of one of the busiest commercial avenues in the city, looking for the truck. Within the first 5 minutes I saw a Fedex Ground truck, what luck! But wait, it wasn't him. Another 5 minutes, another truck! Nope, not him either. 5 minutes after that, a Fedex Express truck, might as well try him too, nope. 15 minutes later, there's one! No dice. 20 Minutes after that, another truck! Wrong. The next hour I didn't get a single sighting of my quarry. I felt defeated. I had no other choice, I called the customer service line again, hoping for a miracle.
This time I get a rep that doesn't seem so interested in telling me I shouldn't be shipping endangered species. In fact, once I mentioned live coral he said "For an aquarium?" "Yes." "They shouldn't have held that back, let me see what I can do." Another 15 minutes on hold. He comes back, telling me he has the driver on the phone and he will meet me in a parking lot in 10 minutes. I thanked him profusely and gunned it down the road. Move your 1983 Coupe DeVille, Grandma, I got frags!
I arrive at the intersection in question and in a parking lot to the right I see a Fedex Ground truck, finally! The truck is empty, three minutes later the driver walks out of a store and I approach him. Wait a minute, wrong truck again? But this is right where he told me to meet him, a quick glance around and I spot another Fedex ground truck in the parking lot on the other side of the street! I break out at a full sprint to the other side. (Why did the reefer cross the road?) It was him, I had my prize!
That's the end of my search for a needle in a haystack. "We can't have the driver meet you anywhere, it's a safety concern." "We can't call the driver, we don't have his phone number." "There's only 1 truck in the area, you should be able to find him." 1/4 tank of gas, 2 hours, 7 trucks, 30 minutes on hold, and 40 grey hairs was all it took.
Moral of the story: If you're shipping Fedex, don't put "Live Animals" on the box!
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