They never did with my claims. Admittedly, they were not huge claims, all under $1000.
My was different.
I made my claims through AAE, they never tried to pass the buck to QANTAS as you are doing.
It's up to AaE to claim against Qantas, I don't know whether they do or not. Most of the services between capital and regional airports are provided by other airline companies, none of which have aircraft fitted with decompression cargo cabin.
Sdaji, as a seller, I would reimburse the buyer for the loss, unless I had told them "I don't want to freight but will if you insist."
I agree, the seller has to cover the cost or replace the animals. As a result, I only freight animals to capital city airports and if the buyer wants me to send it to a regional airport, it's the buyer's risk.