AAE Brisbane at it again

[raptor]

After a transaction with a member from Brisbane was made a nightmare both for her personally, & financially for us (I should add that the member in question has never freighted before, & is probably unlikely to again) by one officious idiot at the AAE Brisbane office, I decided to set a rocket under them. Apart from setting out to recoup the totally unneccessary additional charges incurred by this fool's actions, I thought it was high time that someone up the top of the food chain was made aware of the disgusting way we herpers have been treated by the company over the years. A guy that we have dealt with for a fair amount of time has now been promoted to national accounts manager, so guess who we got on the phone to? Here's an excerpt from my follow-up email to him:

I can only assume that some of the rank & file think that "who cares, it's only one or two nutcases who would keep snakes anyway", but I can assure you that there would be in excess of 30,000 serious herp keepers nationally, & even if the average freight cost is only $60-$70, when each herper freights quite a few times a year, with we breeders averaging 15-20 eggs each clutch (usually from multiple animals each season) you can see that the freight fees alone derived from this hobby is a multi-million dollar industry, making it financially viable for another freight company to start looking for a slice.

Further to the Brisbane incident, the sender informs me that the employee in question's name is XXXXXXXX. As you will read in the attached email regarding this incident, she hopes that "he will be made to pay" for his attitude & treatment of her. It is my hope also, so that those involved in our hobby can see that we are not considered by AAE to be second-class citizens, or somehow mentally defective for keeping or breeding reptiles, which unfortunately IS how a large number of us percieve the company's attitude towards them.

Apparently, and I do believe him, Brisbane in particular & attitudes in general are being seriously looked at. A high-powered rocket up the backside was strongly hinted at. Hopefully the appalling attitudes will change in the very near future.

 

[stary boy]

YER!! go you!!!

 

[little_angel]

Finally some one is getting into there brains!
*starts praising raptor*
They stuff us around, we have to travel 2 hours to sydney AAE.
Man keep us updated!

 

[Inkslinger]

Came today

Hi Joe/Chilli
(Inkslingetr/Raptor)

Thanks for taking the time to forward these issues and comments to me. AaE's customer service, and the perception of that service, is critical to our business and I don't take your comments lightly.

I would like to investigate this further and I will contact you in the next day or so to discuss. I would also like to get more information on the problem that occurred in Brisbane so that we can have a closer look at what happened there.

Regards,

Simon Andreas
Perishables Account Manager
Australian air Express

 

[Ramsayi]

Stay tuned for the next AAE installment........"Its becoming increasingly clear that freighting of reptiles is becoming too much of a hassle so we have decided not to bother with them anymore"

If anyone thinks that it will never happen think again,Virgin (apparently because some fool didn't pack a monitor properly) did it why not AAE?

 

[raptor]

Because an escaped monitor meant that employees safety was put at risk, thereby risking union trouble, OH&S, all sorts of issues. What's happening here is the potential loss of millions per year, & no company is likely to risk that in this economic climate.These concerns have all been /are all being discussed with AAE management by us, & our contacts, & have never been suggested to be an issue. If herpers as a whole continue to be that concerned about an abstract "what if" that we continue to allow this continued arrogance from unskilled monkeys, they'll continue with their current performance levels. Upper-level management will remain unaware of the issues (no complaints=no problems) & we all might as well wander into freight terminals with safety deposit boxes under our arms & say "Please Massuh, do me the honour of ripping me off, and deign to accept my freight", while they bend us over the counter & have their way with us yet again. If we dont jack up & point out the potential loss to them, things will never change. Why MAKE victims out of ourselves for a "maybe"?

 

[geckodan]

Stay tuned for the next AAE installment........"Its becoming increasingly clear that freighting of reptiles is becoming too much of a hassle so we have decided not to bother with them anymore"

If anyone thinks that it will never happen think again,Virgin (apparently because some fool didn't pack a monitor properly) did it why not AAE?

Precisely the reason we should accept the good with the bad and be polite when questioning a problem. We are all screwed if AAE pulls the plug.

 

[Ramsayi]

Indeed Dan,I suggest using as much diplomacy as one can muster when dealing with AAE.Virgins reason for pulling the plug is irrelavent but was merely brought up to show the ease at which a company can change their current policy.

 

[Inkslinger]

In this econmic climate that would be unlikley as a major part of AAE is perishables, reptiles pets are easy compared to some of the things they freight.
If anyone thinks that it will never happen think again,Virgin (apparently because some fool didn't pack a monitor properly) did it why not AAE?
AAe specialize Virgin thought they could make some extra bucks, to much hassel
I will be meeting soon with the national and state manager for Victoria will keep you posted.

 

[raptor]

Precisely the reason we should accept the good with the bad and be polite when questioning a problem. We are all screwed if AAE pulls the plug.

We HAVE been polite about questioning the problem. What we haven't done is rolled over & bared our throats. We've gone over the heads of the power-mad flunkies, AND their mates in the next office to a national level, made them aware that there's a problem, & that there's far more profit at stake than their minions are bothering to let them know. Maybe some herpers are content to let the status quo be, & get shafted every time they freight. It appears that most of us aren't. Unless we are prepared to let them know that their level of customer service is unacceptable, then that's precicely the level of customer service we'll get. If people hadn't stood up to employers, we'd still be working 60 hours a week for $20. Personally, I'm NOT content to let some unqualified storeman dictate to me, when it's contrary to his OWN employers policies.