Damaged Taxidermy from South Africa with Delta Airlines

[billc]

Still not to late to get the credit card company to fight for you. They can reverse charges even now still and you sure did not get 3000.00 worth of shipping and you can prove that easily. Delta did not get you your crate in ok condition. I agree the crate is bad and should have been plywood but if it made it all the way here and got broke on the trip from atl to bwi there is foul play going on I think. The whole crate was not busted up but each of your trophies is busted something fishy about that if you ask me.

I think you can get the 3000.00 back with help from the credit card company. Push hard on the people who did the crate and get what you can from them. Get your stuff fixed and them see what delta will do at the end.

 

[harden]

This is terrible, simply the worse thing that can happen. I hope something will work out for you. Cardboard really? This IS why Jamie or myself delivery to my clients. No crates, NO hi-lo's or anyone or any thing handling the trophies but us. If we do send crates, and that is rare, they are built so well you could drop them off a 3 story building and have no damage. Delivery charges are 1.00 a mile one way. Insurance is great but I MAKE sure it NEVER has to be used.

 

[ActionBob]

Re-looking at the pictures, that crate is a disgrace!

 

[JimP]

While I have only had one shipment of trophies from Africa I will have to say that whoever did the crating did you a huge disservice by not using plywood for the trophies. That cardboard, press board, or whatever it was that they used isn't designed for any rough handling. My dip and pack shipper from SA used plywood over framed 2x2's and as was said could of been bounced from quite a ways with no damage being done.

I also agree with another poster for you to get in touch with Dennis, if anyone can fix what has been done he can do it.

 

[huntermn15]

Redriver,

Sorry to hear about your trophy disaster! I have to agree with some of the others, that crate at best is a poor excuse for a shipping container. But Delta is mostly the cause if the crate made it to U.S. soil in good shape.

Mike

 

[enysse]

I think the shipper and the person who built the container are at fault. Two wrongs don't make it right!

 

[robertq]

I'm sitting reading all the comments and compelled to state the facts as I understand....Why would you want to stop the credit card payment to the shipper when the shipper did his job?

1) The crate(s) were delivered from the taxidermy shop (on a truck) to the shipper.
2) The shipper put it on a truck and delivered it to the Airport at JNB.
3) In this case at the airport, Delta handlers put the crates on a plane.
4) The plane takes off from JNB and lands in Atlanta, all good (according to what I read)
5) Delta continues routing the crate(s) by truck to final destination, Baltimore, where damage is reported by Delta upon arrival

The purpose a shipper offers insurance is to make sure that any damage or loss from departure to arrival at destination, is covered should something happen. This is because the liability of airlines is minimal due to federal regulations. If the shipper does not offer insurance, it is incumbent upon the hunter to get it. This is true for trophies that are mounted OR dip and packed. (For dip and pack the risk is more loss than damage.)

Regarding the crating/boxing of trophies: there are specifications for crating so if something was not up to specifications, the airline would not even accept it at origin for obvious liability reasons.

Bottom line, knowledge is power and prevention is key. Once the damage is done, everyone looks to place blame but the blame is in negligence of knowledge to protect against a damage like this. The transportation industry is very risky and insurance is the only way to safeguard against things we have no control over.

Trophies are invaluable to a hunter.....that is why we make sure all our hunters are covered for all risk, door to door and not just the airport of arrival. Once trophies clear, they have to be trucked again to a residence or taxidermist. What happens when a crate is damaged in that stretch of the journey? Not the airline but the trucking company and there is no coverage at all!

 

[redriver]

Dennis does top notch work however I am lucky to have a couple equally talented taxidermists in my area that can fix the damage and those wheels are in motion as we speak.
The latest from Trans African Taxidermy and Tracker International Freight Forwarder is that they are "prepared to take the loss if need be" but they want me to wait the 90 days. Not sure if I should dispute the credit card charges now or trust them and the process although I think if they are willing to reimburse me why should I wait 90 days??
Funny thing happened to me in business yesterday, I received a large crated shipment from a company that was damaged by the 3rd party trucking company that handled the freight. I took pics and had a refund for the damaged items by the end of the day.
The company that did the packaging and arranged the shipping gave me my money back and they will now deal with the third party transport company, they are not making their customer (me) deal with the damages, I think that is the way it should be...
and by the way I did not need insurance to get this done, just a solid company that took care of their customer!

 

[enysse]

I agree, there should be honor in this world. If you damage something, you pay up and stop making excuses about it. You as a customer paid for a service and they didn't deliver.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Oh this is heartbreaking but after reading some of the comments I did go back and look at the crate and was super surprised it was made of cardboard. I hope someone pays up and makes this right with you!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Dennis does top notch work however I am lucky to have a couple equally talented taxidermists in my area that can fix the damage and those wheels are in motion as we speak.
The latest from Trans African Taxidermy and Tracker International Freight Forwarder is that they are "prepared to take the loss if need be" but they want me to wait the 90 days. Not sure if I should dispute the credit card charges now or trust them and the process although I think if they are willing to reimburse me why should I wait 90 days??
Funny thing happened to me in business yesterday, I received a large crated shipment from a company that was damaged by the 3rd party trucking company that handled the freight. I took pics and had a refund for the damaged items by the end of the day.
The company that did the packaging and arranged the shipping gave me my money back and they will now deal with the third party transport company, they are not making their customer (me) deal with the damages, I think that is the way it should be...
and by the way I did not need insurance to get this done, just a solid company that took care of their customer!

Can't help but wonder if there's something there that if this goes beyond 90 days they're in the clear. I wouldn't wait.

That thing they called a crate.......that was a cardboard box with some stiffening. Seemed like a read in the thread that the shipper built the crate, perhaps I'm wrong. Usually the taxis build there own crates from what I've seen. The best ones I've seen are all wood and the heads are mounted one way or another in the crate. Not wrapped up in bubble wrap and stacked on top of each other, but secured either to the sides of the crate or to cross members inside the crate.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Insurance....

I live in Arizona, land of the illegal alien. I don't just live in Arizona though, I live in Phoenix where if that illegal alien who crossed the border a couple hours south of here makes it to, he's pretty much here for good. I can take you to any number of street corners where everyday if you need some "day laborers" you'll find them. It's a fact of life living here. The same folks often find full time work and somehow end up driving a vehicle. Do you think being in the country illegally, working here illegally that they suddenly decide to get (not they even could if they wanted to) insurance as required by the state on their vehicle? Of course not. So we legal residents of Arizona if we're smart also carry uninsured/underinsured coverage. I've known at least two people who were in accidents where the other guy was at fault and also an illegal alien. The one friend's truck was totaled, how he wasn't hurt is beyond me but imagine if he was.

Should it be this way, is this right that we have to cover an accident that wasn't our fault? Of course it isn't. Should we have to pay extra because of someone else's criminal activity? Hell no we shouldn't, but if you don't have that coverage you're acting unwisely in my opinion.

In this case it would seem the airlines have got themselves covered via the gov't. The shipper and the taxidermist will say it's not their problem since the shipment made it to the U.S. initially okay. Hopefully there's some recourse via the CC company. But in the end that's what the insurance is for. I don't like having to pay extra for it either, but I'm not going to hope it all works out.

Hope is not a strategy. As my father in law would say, "You can hope in one hand, crap in the other and see which one gets filled first."

 

[enysse]

I get what you are saying Phil, insurance is the hammer that protects you from the idiots of the world.

 

[BWH]

Hopefully you will be made whole by:

1) shipper
2) CC company
3) your homeowners insurance


The 3rd option, you may have coverage under your home policy under contents. This very well could be a vandalism claim. Not sure of your state, your policy, the underwriting company.... But it's a start.

 

[billc]

Why go after the shipper because his job was not done. The shipper was to find a company to ship crate from jo-berg to bwi. Crate did not make it to dwi in one piece and he hired delta who did not do the job. Cant have only the good with business the bad comes to and this one deal was bad. The shipper should be the one to see if delta is going to do anything not the client. He paid the shipper for the service and the service sucked.

As for the ins for this or that two totally different things. Some insurance is go and needed to protect yourself. When you need insurance to cover everything you do now a days that is just wrong. As a customer when does it fall on the people to do there job right and not be reaching in your pocket all the time just in case they mess up.

That sad part is we just keep letting this stuff go in this day and age. No one stands good for there mistakes just pass the blame and make customers pay more fees just in case they dont do there job right.

Plenty of blame to go around from the bad crate to the shipper telling you to what 90 days and see how it all goes. Then what delta did is beyond belief in my eyes. I just know the customer should not be paying for the mistakes made by the group he hired to do a rather simple job really.

 

[edward]

isnt it to bad killing dog shit garbage is against the law.nothing but family is more important than trophies just m.h.o..

 

[James.Grage]

It is troubling to see the damage that you have experienced. I am not sure if it is all fixable.

I think Robert has the insurance and recovery covered on this one ... The cost of insurance is small in comparison to your overall trip. Money well spent in my opinion. Most time it is overlooked or not mentioned, therefore the responsibility is on you to ask about it.

Redriver...The thing that i noticed, is that your shipper and you went the inexpensive route to save you money with the cardboard containers. What you experience is not unusual. I up grade and have the shipper that i use, use plywood with 2X2 and 2X4 with bolts and screws and have not had an issue. I realize that this is an upgrade and adds a little cost to the overall shipment, however i have not had any completed work damaged.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news..... If you are lucky, you will collect the minimal coverage for damage from Delta as mandated federally and it will take months.....
This is why we urge all our clients to purchase transportation insurance from us for the simple fact that it covers all risk, door to door coverage, at a minimal cost so that in the event of a casualty, you are dealing with a US insurance company.

 

[thi9elsp]

Looking at the crate, that to me is the party who did the crating number 1. And, frankly, I disagree on the 'there are specs otherwise the cargo company wouldn't accept'. My elk was shipped by my wyoming taxidermist in a card box with foam peanuts. He was incredulous when it arrived with two broken ears and a tear. I got the taxidermist to refund the repair work and left it to him to get the refund from UPS.

BTW - Dennis shipped me my stag antlers a few months back re-suing the crate from the New Zealand shipping company. 3/4" chip board with 2x4's and 2x2's.

2012 The wildlife gallery shipped my kudu shoulder mount and other trophies. Again, plywood, 2x4's and 2x2's.

I don't get how anyone can think shipping a taxidermy mount using card board or whatever that material is as the sides.

 

[billc]

All my crates have been plywood and I did not pay for any upgrade. Anyone who thinks it would be normal to ship a cardboard crate across the ocean and that you need to pay extra to crate better orfor good service is just a client that has no clue when they are being taken over.

 

[James.Grage]

Bill,

If you take a look at the above pictures you will see that they are cardboard shipping boxes. There have been pictures on AH and on other forums where clients received damaged taxidermy were the finished goods were placed in cardboard shipping boxes.

While your and my shipper may used Plywood for shipping boxes that does not mean that every shipping company does so. That is the hunters responsibility to ask the questions and request containers that your product will not be damaged in. Weather you want to admit it or not, you get what you pay for. Shipping boxes that are made with plywood will cost more than boxes made out of card board. So in reality we do pay more and receive a quality product.

All my crates have been plywood and I did not pay for any upgrade. Anyone who thinks it would be normal to ship a cardboard crate across the ocean and that you need to pay extra to crate better orfor good service is just a client that has no clue when they are being taken over.