DLSJR
AH fanatic
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2019
- Messages
- 761
- Reaction score
- 3,658
- Location
- West Coast
- Media
- 30
- Hunted
- Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, Cameroon, Canada, Alaska & every western state except Washington
Yesterday was a good day, as I finally was able to bring home my trophies from my Cameroon Savannah hunt last February. However, the ordeal associated with Mayo Oldiri Safaris, then with U.S. Customs really tested my resolve. Were it not for really wanting my Lord Derby Eland, I’d have told Mayo Oldiri to keep the trophies and I’d have just enjoyed having pictures.
First problem - Mayo Oldiri: my hunt included a customary Dip & Pack fee of around $1,500.; which I was expecting. That was paid up-front as part of the hunt cost. What I did not expect was a bill for an additional $5,460.00 to ship my trophies home! I knew I was going to have air freight on Turkish Airlines, but I’d just gotten a crate home from Tanzania and it was about $2,300.00 total cost to SFO. I objected, telling them this price was outrageous and unacceptable, demanding an itemized cost breakdown. I got an itemized bill and they’d reduced the price by $400, so now it was ‘only’ $5,040.; still too high, IMO. The bill indicated Turkish was $3,000; I don’t know if that was Turkish’s actual charge or if Mayo Oldiri had tacked a premium on top of the actual charge for air freight. So there was an additional $2,040 in various bullshit charges for crap I’ve never been charged for on any other shipment from other African countries. As much as this bothered me, I paid the charge as I really wanted my Lord Derby Eland home. My belief is that some or all of these charges are simply Mayo Oldiri padding their charges.
Second problem - U.S. Customs agent, ‘Inspector Colón, at SFO: When the Customs Agent, a woman who only referred to herself as ‘Inspector Colón’ inspected my shipment, she flagged it for having flesh on one or more of the items that required my shipment be sent directly to a USDA Approved facility. Jeremy Delacruz of Coppersmith (he’s excellent, BTW) gave me the choice of facilities I wanted my shipment to be sent to, so I selected Eva Wildlife Dressing, a tannery in Ceres, CA; which is about 90 minutes from my home. Upon opening and inspecting my shipment, Eva advised that they could not find any traces of flesh on anything and requested further clarification. I also wanted to know, so I called US Customs and asked to speak with whoever the inspector was who’d flagged my shipment. I had to leave a message and the next day I was called by Inspector Colón, and she said there was flesh present on an item so she flagged it. When I asked what item had flesh, she got surly and told me she did not need to tell me which item had failed scrutiny, only that something had flesh. I explained that I was trying to resolve the problem and knowing what she wanted cleaned more thoroughly would be helpful. She reiterated that she didn’t have to tell me what item she flagged and it was my problem to figure out with the tannery. I tried again and she became openly hostile, so I ended the call. EVA Wildlife worked with Jeremy Delacruz of Coppersmith and Dr. Rachel Fisher of USDA APHIS (Animal & Plant Health Inspection Services) and after too much time spent by all working on this issue created by Inspector Colòn, Dr. Fisher released my shipment for pickup without anything being done to the shipment. She determined upon personally inspecting my shipment that it was fine as is.
Yesterday, I went to Eva Wildlife Fur Dressing and picked up my crate. Finally, my Lord Derby Eland was home! It’s nice to have the other animals home, but the LDE was the real reason I went through the expense and hassle.
The ‘Good Guys’ - Jeremy Delacruz of Coppersmith is fantastic when it comes to clearing trophies. He highly responsive and stayed fully engaged clear to the end of this debacle. I’ve always been pleased with his service, but now he’s made me a loyal customer for life also Dr. Rachel Fisher of USDA. She was ‘on it’ in dealing with the issue and personally inspected my trophies to clear them. It’s nice to see a Federal Government employee who gives a damn and works in a timely manner to serve the public. Finally, EVA Wildlife. They were very helpful and only charged a reasonable fee for their part in resolving my problem. I toured their tannery while there and was very impressed. They’ve been tanning capes and skins for the taxidermy industry since 1984 and they’ve earned future business from me.
Inspector Colón cost me nearly $1,000 extra expenses, between bonded warehouse storage, freight to EVA and other costs. She has not heard the last from me as I’m working on a letter of complaint that’s going to the San Francisco US Customs office, US Customs headquarters and my Congressman’s office. His office is only five minutes from my house, so I’ll be delivering it in person.
Mayo Oldiri will never see any future business from me. I was not at all pleased with how they handled several issues ranging from a 2nd licenses to shoot extra animals, to how they’ve neglected anti-poaching that has led to a decline in most of their northern areas, to ripping me off on sending my trophies to me. My opinion is that Mayo Oldiri is 100% about $$$ and everything else is secondary. I’d love to hunt Cameroon again, but if I do it’ll be with a different safari operator. If anyone is considering them and wants further details, feel free to PM me.
First problem - Mayo Oldiri: my hunt included a customary Dip & Pack fee of around $1,500.; which I was expecting. That was paid up-front as part of the hunt cost. What I did not expect was a bill for an additional $5,460.00 to ship my trophies home! I knew I was going to have air freight on Turkish Airlines, but I’d just gotten a crate home from Tanzania and it was about $2,300.00 total cost to SFO. I objected, telling them this price was outrageous and unacceptable, demanding an itemized cost breakdown. I got an itemized bill and they’d reduced the price by $400, so now it was ‘only’ $5,040.; still too high, IMO. The bill indicated Turkish was $3,000; I don’t know if that was Turkish’s actual charge or if Mayo Oldiri had tacked a premium on top of the actual charge for air freight. So there was an additional $2,040 in various bullshit charges for crap I’ve never been charged for on any other shipment from other African countries. As much as this bothered me, I paid the charge as I really wanted my Lord Derby Eland home. My belief is that some or all of these charges are simply Mayo Oldiri padding their charges.
Second problem - U.S. Customs agent, ‘Inspector Colón, at SFO: When the Customs Agent, a woman who only referred to herself as ‘Inspector Colón’ inspected my shipment, she flagged it for having flesh on one or more of the items that required my shipment be sent directly to a USDA Approved facility. Jeremy Delacruz of Coppersmith (he’s excellent, BTW) gave me the choice of facilities I wanted my shipment to be sent to, so I selected Eva Wildlife Dressing, a tannery in Ceres, CA; which is about 90 minutes from my home. Upon opening and inspecting my shipment, Eva advised that they could not find any traces of flesh on anything and requested further clarification. I also wanted to know, so I called US Customs and asked to speak with whoever the inspector was who’d flagged my shipment. I had to leave a message and the next day I was called by Inspector Colón, and she said there was flesh present on an item so she flagged it. When I asked what item had flesh, she got surly and told me she did not need to tell me which item had failed scrutiny, only that something had flesh. I explained that I was trying to resolve the problem and knowing what she wanted cleaned more thoroughly would be helpful. She reiterated that she didn’t have to tell me what item she flagged and it was my problem to figure out with the tannery. I tried again and she became openly hostile, so I ended the call. EVA Wildlife worked with Jeremy Delacruz of Coppersmith and Dr. Rachel Fisher of USDA APHIS (Animal & Plant Health Inspection Services) and after too much time spent by all working on this issue created by Inspector Colòn, Dr. Fisher released my shipment for pickup without anything being done to the shipment. She determined upon personally inspecting my shipment that it was fine as is.
Yesterday, I went to Eva Wildlife Fur Dressing and picked up my crate. Finally, my Lord Derby Eland was home! It’s nice to have the other animals home, but the LDE was the real reason I went through the expense and hassle.
The ‘Good Guys’ - Jeremy Delacruz of Coppersmith is fantastic when it comes to clearing trophies. He highly responsive and stayed fully engaged clear to the end of this debacle. I’ve always been pleased with his service, but now he’s made me a loyal customer for life also Dr. Rachel Fisher of USDA. She was ‘on it’ in dealing with the issue and personally inspected my trophies to clear them. It’s nice to see a Federal Government employee who gives a damn and works in a timely manner to serve the public. Finally, EVA Wildlife. They were very helpful and only charged a reasonable fee for their part in resolving my problem. I toured their tannery while there and was very impressed. They’ve been tanning capes and skins for the taxidermy industry since 1984 and they’ve earned future business from me.
Inspector Colón cost me nearly $1,000 extra expenses, between bonded warehouse storage, freight to EVA and other costs. She has not heard the last from me as I’m working on a letter of complaint that’s going to the San Francisco US Customs office, US Customs headquarters and my Congressman’s office. His office is only five minutes from my house, so I’ll be delivering it in person.
Mayo Oldiri will never see any future business from me. I was not at all pleased with how they handled several issues ranging from a 2nd licenses to shoot extra animals, to how they’ve neglected anti-poaching that has led to a decline in most of their northern areas, to ripping me off on sending my trophies to me. My opinion is that Mayo Oldiri is 100% about $$$ and everything else is secondary. I’d love to hunt Cameroon again, but if I do it’ll be with a different safari operator. If anyone is considering them and wants further details, feel free to PM me.
