WJ kills fish

[wandj]

How do you work the "quote" button?

Anyway, thank you MW for having a little compassion for me. I was very upset and I'm sure Rinkel (guy in Calgary) was very upset too. We didn't do anything wrong...just opened up boxes of our dead fish and wasted lots of time, money and heart in doing so.

Believe me, I did ask my shipper to explain exactly how he put the packs in. When I got the box, I put that pack against my cheek and it was dead as a door nail. I don't know why, he swore it was working. And WJ still won't tell me what exactly happened to these fish en-route. Where were they for all that time?

I don't know what happened so I can't explain parts of the story I don't have.

The facts are: fish on very short flight in alleged "heated, pressurized cargo hold" show up dead. End of story.

I just want to say this can happen to you. I have shipped fish a few times and 3 times with WJ. This was the first failure. One out of three is not very good.

One thing you can do if you do ship, mark the box extremely well and make sure to make yourself very clear in what the contents are and stress that they have to be kept warm.

I don't know if my shipper did that. I can only go by what he tells me.

(He did ship to me once b4 with no trouble)

[BlkWolfe]

Wandj,

Im sorry for your loss, everyone hates loosing fish like this.

Heated hold or not, the package should still be warm even after 2 days at 0'C if they were packed correctly. i wouldn't be so quick to blame it on the carrier for a few hour delay

[Moogled]

It's never a good feeling to lose livestock like this, but to be fair I think that the transportation of livestock is also a risk in itself, no matter how well you package it.

[wandj]

Very risky, which is probably why retailers charge so much for fish...to make up for all their losses.

I don't think I will ever ship or receive fish via air or any method for that matter. Unless it's something I can't find/get locally from a LFS.

But, I did get 2M/2F wild Placidochromis sp Jalo Reef. Price US$140 and

3 x Jalo juvies (2 inch) @ US$12 ea from the U.S.A. I don't think very many people here in Canada have them. This shipment went practically perfect. Northwest airlines. All fish in excellent condition.

Ok, don't mean to hijack my own thread, but I doubt I will be flying fish anymore.

Thanks all.

Edited April 7, 2006 by wandj

[Vapor]

Glad that you did receive some fish in fine shape. Shipping is risky no matter how. Even in your own car tragedy can strike. Sucks losing fish in any manner.

[wandj]

BTW, as per my first post, no one has told me if they saw the story in the paper. Hmm.

[Toirtis]

OK, I have spoken to a number of people on this, including the owner and managers of AI, some WJ people, and a couple of other parties involved. Without going into details, it would appear that much of the fault lies with the heat-packs, and part possibly with where the fish were cargoed.

I think it would be sterling if AI stepped up and replaced the fish (brill CS move and exceellent PR), even if they had no fault, especially since claims for fish-stock on airlines is usually fruitless unless their fault is clear.

[wandj]

WOW Christian, you should be a detective or investigative reporter.

When I opened my box, I did not immediately blame the airline, I told them I would check with my shipper. I told my shipper the packs were cold but he swore to me that he had to show the contents of the box to the ELS counter staff and he shook the packs and put them in at that time. He said they were working. Now, this is just his word. I have no proof of that. I'm just the dumb shmuck at the end of the line. The fish were missing for awhile and WJ still won't tell me what happened.

BUT, I just called WJ cargo (18669522746) and spoke with the lady handling my case (Rekha), and she said my case was handed over to "accounting" on April 4. She said I would get paid. (I don't know how much)

I really still don't know the facts of the other parties here, I just know what I encountered. I have also been told by staff at a LFS that if the box was left on some ramp for awhile, it would get cold no matter if they heat packs were working or not. I just don't know ppl.

All I can say now, is that if WJ pays me back, I will be satisfied. I just hope they put measures in place to ensure all animals are kept in the proper area. This will cover their butts. Only if they get "lost", will they be obviously at fault.

Anyway, if I get a check from WJ, are they admitting that this problem (with my case) was their fault?

[Toirtis]

WOW Christian, you should be a detective or investigative reporter.

Heh...I junst happened to be at both AI and WJ yesterday...plus I am a big fan of finding out the truth of such things.

I have also been told by staff at a LFS that if the box was left on some ramp for awhile, it would get cold no matter if they heat packs were working or not. I just don't know ppl.

Correct...I lost about $3500 in reptiles when my shipment sat in a cargo trailer for 3 hours on the tarmac at Pearson during a chilly January day a few years back....but then, most shippers are not as comprehensive on their packing as they could/should be.

Anyway, if I get a check from WJ, are they admitting that this problem (with my case) was their fault?

Interesting question...yes and no....not necessarily, although legally, there is an argument that settling bears a certain admission of fault.