AaE Response to Member concerns and questions

[shellfisch]

That will be inconvenient, if correct...

 

[Waterrat]

That seems very odd, did they offer any explanation as to why they're not accepting animals on the day and in a foreseen future?

 

[GeckPhotographer]

I got this information from the sender and thus going through a middle man it may be slightly off but the explanation he told me was that an incident had occurred with a pig some time during the week and that had caused them to refuse freighting of animals for the time being and that animals they would freight would be slowly added back to an ok list. (This is the impression I got but not totally exactly what was said.)

I would of course much prefer AaE or someone with more knowledge than me to confirm the situation.

 

[yommy]

Brisbane AAE is still sending animals i am sending a consignment to Townsville Saturday. The only inconsistency I've found with the process is the quoting I rang the 131213 number gave details then got sent the form you need to bring. I rang this week and was told i didn't need that form and to just bring them out this weekend. This time with the 131213 number i spoke directly to the bloke that's working Saturday. There should be a set procedure across the board with reptiles like cats and dogs.
Has the reptile guideline been done yet?? I can't seem to find them anywhere.
I'll see how smoothly it goes this time without the confirmation e-mail. I'll keep you updated

 

[GeckPhotographer]

Ok yes please do keep me updated.

 

[byron_moses]

well a good start will be to sack everyone in the lismore office as they are rude and if they dont feel like it they wont take an animal. i once tried to book an animal in with them and they said they wouldnt do it even though they werent closing for 2 hours i rang the main office and they said they had to accept it. anyway they still refused and it came to the point where aae had to call him to force him to take the animal. yep great service up here he was to busy talking to his mates rather than working.

 

[GeckPhotographer]

Ok I have got a little more information. Apparently this is not something to do with AaE but with someone else they deal with which is the only flight AaE can use to Newcastle who has recently refused to take all reptiles.

 

[Gecko :)]

is there another number to ring besides the 131213 #? I have been waiting on hold for over an hour now! I am so close to hanging up!
I just need a quote!

 

[Waterrat]

well a good start will be to sack everyone in the lismore office as they are rude and if they dont feel like it they wont take an animal. i once tried to book an animal in with them and they said they wouldnt do it even though they werent closing for 2 hours i rang the main office and they said they had to accept it. anyway they still refused and it came to the point where aae had to call him to force him to take the animal. yep great service up here he was to busy talking to his mates rather than working.

I had two relatively minor problems with a local AaE staff in the past. One was, I couldn't bet through by the phone on Saturday, so I drove to the airport and asked the AaE staff member why they don't answer the phone. He replied "we don't take phone calls on Saturdays". Easy fix! On Monday I emailed their head office in Melbourne, gave them the guy's name along with my complaint and ..... guess what - they have been answering the phone on Saturdays ever since.
The other problem I mentioned somewhere here before.
My advice - If you're not happy with their staff's attitude, get off your cloaca and do something about it.

 

[snakehandler]

Well now that they have posted this on the AaE website:
How do we pack Reptiles?
Snakes under 60cm must be bagged, goose necked and in a hard plastic box. A snake over 60cm and any lizards must be bagged, goose necked and in a wooden box.

Perhaps now people will package them correctly.......when I last picked animals up from AaE in Melbourne they were telling me that a guy had a snake delivered in a light plastic box, which fell from the trailer and was run over, the snake was DEAD. AaE policy is that the animal is NOT covered under any insurance, they will not pay for the dead animal. The biggest problem was that the snake and box weighed less than 1kg so it blew off the trailer in high winds, it wasnt bounced off! Not even a wooden box would have protect it!

 

[Waterrat]

It strikes me that no thermal insulation is mentioned. I often watch live cargo being unloaded, sitting on tarmac on the trolley for ages in blazing tropical sun.
On the other hand, I guess it's the sender's responsibility to ensure the reptile doesn't get cooked. However, if I rock up with a snake packed in a bag and that just inside a plastic box, I think the AaE staff would take hell of a risk accepting such parcel.

 

[snakehandler]

They only mention the outer packaging.....if I was freighting reptiles then I would ensure that they had a foam box on the inside as some degree of protection from the elements!......also they have a policy that all animals must be under shelter as soon as possible!

 

[Mister_Snakes]

Well now that they have posted this on the AaE website:
How do we pack Reptiles?
Snakes under 60cm must be bagged, goose necked and in a hard plastic box. A snake over 60cm and any lizards must be bagged, goose necked and in a wooden box.

I thought that it has said that on their website for a long time, that's how I've been doing it and have never had a problem yet. Although I have never received a reptile that complied with the above description.

 

[wokka]

It strikes me that no thermal insulation is mentioned. I often watch live cargo being unloaded, sitting on tarmac on the trolley for ages in blazing tropical sun.
On the other hand, I guess it's the sender's responsibility to ensure the reptile doesn't get cooked. However, if I rock up with a snake packed in a bag and that just inside a plastic box, I think the AaE staff would take hell of a risk accepting such parcel.

You cant have it both ways. The consignor needs to take some responsibility otherwise freight charges will go through the roof. AAE is a freight company not an animal care company!

 

[Waterrat]

Wokka, responsibility must be on both sides. If they accept a Death adder in a brown paper bag (labelled as such) over the front counter - it's their responsibility from that moment onwards.

 

[wokka]

Wokka, responsibility must be on both sides. If they accept a Death adder in a brown paper bag over the front counter - it's they responsibility from that moment onwards.

So are you suggesting AAE should employ reptile experts to inspect and identify each consignment. How much do you think that would cost?Better start looking for an alternative freight company!

 

[Waterrat]

No mate, you've missed the point. They take our money, they have to share responsibility. Not advising customers to ensure their reptiles should to properly insulated is lack of responsibility in my books.

 

[snakehandler]

We discussed this last week with AaE, while they take the animal, and it is correctly packaged according to AaE requests then they take no responsibilty for the condition of the animal, if the package only meets the requirements of the IATA regulations then they also take no further responsibilty for the animal, however if it is not packaged by the minimum standard as is still accepted then AaE are fully responsible!

IATA regualtions do not stipulate a box material as such, they make reference in their examples of a fibre board material and that plastic boxes are acceptable, it also states that the package must be able to support the weight of other packages placed on top.....no weights given!

 

[wokka]

The general principle of business is that reward is comensurate with risk. If AAE is expected to take on the risk then they will reflect that in their charges. Most freight companies offer insurance for an extra fee but unfortunately with low value cargo, as reptiles generally are, the fee would exceed value of the cargo. A lot of the discussion in this thread relates to keeping AAE charges reasonable. To do that we must minimise the financial cost and risk to AAE.

 

[pythonmum]

AAE will not insure your reptiles anyway, so why should they worry about this? If you pack poorly and the animal dies, they accept no risk. I have enquired about insurance and it is not available. The sender has to make sure that the animal is sent in appropriately insulated packaging for the season and the trip. Otherwise the animal may arrive cooked or frozen and the receiver will be most unhappy.