anchar Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Hi all, I have just gone through the most harrowing night and day with Australian Air Express - thought I'd share. The story starts in Newcastle where the fish are booked onto a flight to Perth (due to arrive at 9.00pm local time). Although there is a consignment number, it was never scanned. So it's now an 2 1/2 hours past the scheduled arrival and still no fish. Where are they? Who knows? Who cares? I stayed up all night trying to find out where two styro boxes could possibly be. Are they in Melbourne? Try there - no. You sure - we checked. Try Sydney, try Brisbane,....they must be in Perth....maybe they never left Newcastle...try them again...after all there's no record of them ever being booked on a flight. : Midday today, the very helpful staff at Perth who searched for me for 7 hours (as opposed to "who gives a s**t Sydney personnel ) tell me that they have just landed in Perth. They spent the night in Brisbane (much to the amazement of the Brisbane office who checked!!!!!and got very crappy when I asked them to re-check).Anyway, I arrive at Perth Air Express and am informed that there is no AQIS officer till this evening to check the fish....sorrrrry..Well, no sleep, two packs of smokes, no food, the possibility of having dead fish and being out of pocket, took me over the edge. WELL CAN I AT LEAST CHANGE THE WATER THAT THEY ARE IN...?? After a few more doses of assertiveness, they agree - I still don't have my fish, but at least they have a clean set of pyjamas till I can get them home.Thank you so very much Steve for doing all that you could from your end. Thanks also to Anita who volunteered to pick them up from Sydney and take them to her house if needed. I appreciate the support that I have received from you guys. I shall inform you of their apparent health when I can get them back to here. Hope the machine parts and newspapers that arrived on the original flight weren't too traumatised at the expense of the off-loaded live perishable fish A much relieved merjo p.s. those Assertiveness for the Meek and Mild 101 classes are really starting to pay off. Now I just need something for the ulcers..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita_ozfish Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Excellent news Merjo (thumbs up if I knew how to get one on here lol)I take it then that there were no fatalities?? Thank goodness !!! :D Must have been Ben and Steve's great packing ability :D Now go and get a few hours sleep till you pick up the fish tonight : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazimbwe Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 So glad the story does not have the tragic end that it could have.IN the past I have shipped $900 worth of fish to Melbourne, using AAE, only to have the Foam Box's left outside till they were collected. This resulted in the loss of 50-60 C.popelini fry valued @ $5ea...Total loss equals $250-300.Not a word was said and no appology offered.If there was an alternative I would use it...this just highlights the problems with monopoly's.Next time you need some assertive assistance Merjo, drop me a line or give me a call...it seems to be something I specialise in :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted December 23, 2003 Author Share Posted December 23, 2003 Ok, back from the airport with my babies. Unfortuneately 1 DOA (large alpha male - burst bag) and 4 small tackers looking worse for wear in floaties. Hopefully they'll pull through. Could have been stacks worse though. The multis seem a little stressed but I don't think there's need for concern. Anyway, they are all salted, stress coated (no I'm not going to eat them!) and let's hope nature takes a kind course for them. : merjop.s. gotta stop running over those chinamen camped on the end of my driveway! :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electric Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 I know this story all to well Thats what happened to me Brisabne had my fish for ages too.Luckly all mine were safe and healthy (packed by Anita) :D I think it was um... 20+ hours in the bag.Hope all your fish make it and al well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 A story just about everyone who has shipped fish regularly has had once or twice. Whenever I get fish in I ring AAE to check that the 'inspectors' will be there. Last time i got a 'yes yes dont worry they are here all day today checking plants' i get there and 'oh sorry nobody can check your fish until tomorrow morning (12 hours later). Gotta love AAE : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medowieman Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Howdy Andrea, glad the fish are ok mate, shame about the male elongatus. Like you say could have been much worse hey. Getting new fish should be exciting not stressful, is there an alternative company to Aust Air Express? Bye, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Thank god we bagged them well Steve. The male elongatus where double bagged also.Best of luck with them Andrea, I hope you do well out of them.Has the female syno managed to get that net off her fin yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Hi MerjoIt is something that seems to happen more and more since Ansett went bustI suggest you get real assertive to the AAE complaints section and don't stop till you get to a manager that has some pullTell them you want some reimbursment for the delay they caused and the stress put on you and the loss of the DOA due to their staffs negligenceJust remember no counter plebs and no standard policy lip service just supervisors or managers that can make decissions L2H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E4G13M4N Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Although there is a consignment number, it was never scanned.I dont know why they have those consignment numbers everytime i ask them to trace the number, i get from AAE We cant locate by that number its not used for that..Then why @&@&@ have it ?? Hopefully the rest of the fish will settle in nicely for you .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermofish Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Well, i work for a certain pathology company..we'll call them acme pathology. We use a certain air fright (i mean freight) company (i'll call them Aust A**hole express or AAE for short) So when blood/pathology gets taken in say.....taree or griffith, wauchope, port macquarie, wagga wagga, lismore, pick any country town in NSW, too often these "URGENT BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS" go walkabout in a plane or in a warehouse or on the 'tarmac' god knows freakin where because there are no staff that can track them/be bothered looking for them/sobering up/waking up/getting off there...anyway, Nothing but bad. Old specimen means unrealiable results. But there is little alternative in the way of air fright services....All we can do is warn people of bad service like on a forum like this and getting sued for it.mods, edit this post as you wish so as not to get a lible case slapped on you.Just dont ban me for posting my opinion and experiences.cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOOBIE Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 Hi all,has your heart started beating again merjo?Sounds like a terrible experience that no one should have to go through.I was just thinkings is it possible to take fish on as hand luggage? (might sound stupid but what is a $200-400 airfare if you're buying expensive fish and you know they will arrive-alive.....withyou).Maybe there are logistics behind it all.Does anyone know any info? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon_Lord_Tia Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 we need someone to get a PLANE and a LICENCE although realy expensive it will save @%$^ loads of worry :lol: that happened to me once but all my a.comps were gonners 27 hours in a bag cant be too good for anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gswalker Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 cant you use other frieght services?? dhl fedex etc? im not sure how it all works but used to deal quite a bit in freight forwarding and i know therre are better companies than aae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted December 24, 2003 Author Share Posted December 24, 2003 Hi all, Just an update on the fishies. No more overnight losses and most of them took a little food onboard this morning. I have penned out a draft letter to AAE (which I will share with you all upon its completion). I am thinking about frowarding a copy of this forum thread to add more credibility to my complaint. If anyone wants to edit their post with this in mind, please do so - I understand. I hope that heaps more of you can add posts to aid the plight of all subsequent fish transfers (remember they might be your fish lost in bags for days next time). Thanks to all who contributed and I'll print off this forum topic in about 5 days to allow for more entries.merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangalicious Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Thought Id add to this AAE saga!I know of a few people who had recently purchased fish from Bayfish. A total of 10 Tropheus Kasanga red rainbows were supposed to arrive in Adelaide on Friday. Umm but it never happened. Believe it or not they got their fish on Monday! Thats right over 48hours in those bags, they all made it though bar one. I couldnt believe that they survived in those bags for over 48hours.It must be due to increase of parcels being sent Australia wide with xmas and all, and of course travellers because from what Ive been told customers baggage takes first priority over live fishy.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita_ozfish Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 Yes I agree. Peoples luggage should take priority and a few other thing do too. That is not the case here nor was it the case in my instance. These shipments have just been PLAIN LOST or PLANE LOST whichever way you want to make the call.In my case, I sent 3 boxes on the same day. Two to Brissy and one to Perth. Well, they sent all 3 to Brissy but had no record of where the third box went. After furious tantrums, the box was finally received in WA 26 hours later. Several apologies were received by senior staff at AAE and a promise of compensation for the air freight cost - I am still waiting for that to happen what a surprise : I also don't think the Xmas rush periods have anything to do with this. Their performance falls down miserably all year round. Ansett used to be so relaible but they are gone now AAE staff do the best they can most of the time - I think the problem is a huge organisational one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.apps Posted December 24, 2003 Share Posted December 24, 2003 The whole christmas thing is a crock! If a damn proffesional cant deal with it well they should be finding better people and training them in better ways so they know how to deal with the holidays and stuff.P.s this isnt meant to offend anyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 I deal with freight logistics every day at work and it is not just a seasonal thing restricted to airfreightRegarding alternate air freight carriers ........ there is only Virgin that can do sameday perishable/livestock freight between national cities unless you want to pay the rates for same day shipments from firms like Toll, TNT etc $$$ ouchThe reason is they don't own any planes and sub contract air freight to AAE usuallyThe demise of Ansett basically set up an airfreight monopoly for AAELive with it and read the terms of liability on the consignment note, then complain like there is no tomorrow if you have a problem, with a formal letter of complaint that is e-mailed to a manager and have them send a return mail to confirm receiptof yours, keep hardcopies of everything, speak to supervisors or even better managers the call centre operators have no authority and have set replies they must give you, keep a record of every time you call or contact themKeep calling back and if they refuse or stop taking your call demand to speak to the next level up while informing the person at the other end you are recording a log of all contact regarding the problem ( get their name first )Be pleasant but be firm and be firm some more L2H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sith Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 So if im flying virgin blue back to perth.. do you think it would be a decent idea to see if i can get my fish on the flight that im on? Youd be hoping they wouldnt lose it on me.. if they did they lost me as well Also just found this... Animal Transport: As a passenger of Virgin Blue you are allowed to take one pet as part of your baggage allowance, subject to airline conditions, Think a box of fish counts as a pet? :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita_ozfish Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 When flying Virgin, you can take boxes of fish on with you - as luggage - if you have too many boxes, you might be up for excess baggage though. When I have flown with them, the boxes come out with the luggage on the carousel. Now if this happens in Perth, what do they do with the quarantine inspectors?? I don't know, but if you do it, let us know please :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sith Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 Mmm luggage carosel how quick is that Id say as long as im keeping it like no bigger then a dog cage or something i shouldnt be charged.. I wonder then if marking the box live fish etc is necessary.. maybe so they take a bit more care.. but then big fragile MIGHT do the trick.. Maybe that little beagel dog will sniff my fish and ill get searched for drugs Walking out with it with my bags would be good tho..Am curious as to quaratine now tho.. Im not going till March (melbourne) but i think i will be getting in contract with VB rather then going through AAE.. Another reason to pick up those cheap VB flights maybe :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazimbwe Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 Could you carry the fish as "Hand-Luggage" in an Esky??If so I have an order for you :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lungy Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 Ummmm, i can forward this full thread/transcript to A.A.E. Bris .. Via a mate whoworks there if you like ??? .. And i can also forward the reply to the S.C.P. forum Admins ... Just say the word ... As last time i dragged the superviser-ess out of her office :o i got my way , All i had to do was show reason :rolleyes: And advise that i had abibed by their requirements I did have names and times though , hehe . that fixed 'em ... I hate politics but they sure do come in handy as a last resort before i have a brain snap ... Andy... Ps. 3 or more shows of interest and i forward this thread ... As i use A.A.E. Also and i would hate to loose fish through incompetence ...Does anyone have the number for " 60 minutes " ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted December 26, 2003 Share Posted December 26, 2003 wish i had known ,i flew virgin blue last week , would have taken my favourite two fish my two plecos with me which are now residing with my sister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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