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Janeway Farms |
2808 Pittman Rd. |
March 15, 2000
P.J. Robinette, Director of Customer Care
Delta Airlines
P.O. Box 20980
Atlanta, GA 30320-2980
Dear P.J. Robinette:
My name is Stephen Perrier. I am a co-owner of Janeway Farms in Weatherford, TX. Our main business is breeding Saint Bernard dogs. We advertise on the internet and sell puppies all over the world. I have used Delta DASH before to ship puppies to buyers within the U.S. Until recently, I was pleased with Delta and the way they handle live animals. But I had a bad experience with Delta cargo when I tried to ship a puppy internationally. Because of this, I will not use Delta again and I am removing the links from my web page to Delta’s web page. I am not seeking any monetary compensation. I only ask that you read my complaint and take the appropriate action to prevent this from happening to others. Below are the details of my experience.
I called Delta’s Very Important Pet (VIP) desk on February 4, 2000 to inquire about shipping a puppy unaccompanied from DFW to Venice, Italy on Saturday, February 26, 2000. The person I spoke with told me that Delta could not send live animals to any city in Italy because Delta uses "partner" airlines on the final segments and cargo cannot be transferred to another carrier. So I hung up and started checking with other airlines.
While I was checking Sabre for other airlines that fly to Italy, I found a Delta flight that goes to Rome without going through a partner airline. There were actually a couple of flights to Italy, even though the VIP desk told me there would be none. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was only the first indication of more problems to come.
I called back to inquire about the flights to Rome. This time I was told that Delta could ship to Italy, even though they previously told me they could not. I told them the flight numbers that I wanted to use. With the planned schedule, the puppy would have a 1-hour layover at a connecting city in the U.S. before going on to Rome. The VIP desk told me there would be no problem using this schedule to ship a live animal to Rome. I was not ready to make the reservation because I had to check with my customer who would receive the puppy. I had to determine if she could drive from Venice to Rome to pick up the puppy.
Even though the Delta employee told me there would be no problems using these flights, I questioned her further to determine if there was anything else I needed. She finally told me that a bilingual health certificate would be required. But getting this information from her was difficult. It was almost as if I had to pry the information out of her. I asked where I could get the bilingual health certificate and what information had to be on it, but she had no further details. I eventually received one from the Italian Consulate in Houston.
After making arrangements with my customer to receive the puppy in Rome, I called the Delta VIP desk again – this time to make the reservation. This was on February 11. But when I called, I was told that the reservation can only be made one to seven days in advance. This detail was not given to me on any of the other occasions when I called.
So I waited until seven days before the flight and called again to make the reservation. When I tried to make the reservation, I was told that Delta requires a minimum 4-hour layover at the connecting city for international shipments. I was forced to rearrange the entire flight schedule to accommodate this policy. The information about this policy was not given to me on any of the other occasions when I called.
I had to change the schedule to a different flight on Saturday and go through a different connecting city to allow the required 4 hours at the connecting city. I also had to coordinate with my customer since the arrival time in Rome was different. At least the dates would be the same - the puppy would go out on Saturday and arrive in Rome on Sunday. But that was about to change too….
After I made this reservation and received a reference number (0372 6144), my customer discovered that customs in Rome is closed on Sundays – something else the VIP desk never told me about.
When I called back, the Delta agent confirmed this information about Italian customs, but didn’t explain why this information was not given to me before. I can’t image what might have happened to the puppy if we had actually shipped on that day. So I had to rearrange the schedule again. I tried to move the departure date forward, but then I was told that Delta’s cargo terminal at DFW was closed on Sundays – another piece of information I was not given initially.
So I rescheduled the departure date to Monday, February 28, with an arrival in Rome on Tuesday the 29th. This time, I thought all of the problems were behind me. But I was wrong.
When I arrived at the airport on Monday morning, I was told that the bilingual health certificate is only good for 6 days after being issued, even though this certificate states that it is valid for 30 days. Delta cargo personnel refused to ship the animal because the health certificate would have expired while the puppy was in transit.
Despite the numerous phone calls to the VIP desk, I was never told in advance that the health certificate is only valid for 6 days. So after driving for an hour at 4:30 in the morning, I had to turn around and take the puppy back home, rearrange my schedule, rearrange my customer’s schedule and go back to my vet to get more health certificates (one for the airline, one for Italian customs, $30 each).
On the same day, I called back to make a new reservation. This time, I was told that I need an import permit. Could it be – another detail that was not given to me until it was too late? I explained that I was exporting – not importing the dog. But this person insisted that the import permit was necessary. So I contacted the Italian consulate again to request this paperwork. But the consulate didn’t have any information about an import permit.
The next day I called the VIP desk again. This time, the person I spoke to told me that the import permit was not necessary. It is only required in a few European cities, such as Frankfort. Apparently, the previous piece of information was incorrect.
I made a new reservation for March 1 and was finally able to ship the puppy on that date.
There are two problems here: a lack of information from Delta and conflicting information from Delta. The biggest of these two problems is the lack of information. If the information I needed was given to me the first time I called (or the second or the third…) it would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation.
These are some of the details that I was not told about until it was too late:
Some of these points may seem minor, but they are still important – especially #3. Delta allowed me to make a reservation and was prepared to ship the puppy for arrival on Sunday. The health certificate would have been good on this date, so it’s very likely that this puppy would have gone. What would have happened to the puppy if she had arrived in Rome and customs was closed that day? If my customer hadn’t been doing some active research, we wouldn’t have known about this. This information did not come from Delta.
Of course, #5 is also an important detail. Because I was not given this information properly, I lost $60 in veterinary costs, round-trip travel from Weatherford to DFW airport, countless hours of my time and – more importantly – my customer’s time. This incident has put a strain on the relationship between me and my customer. This particular customer was already going out of her way to drive from Venice to Rome to pick up this puppy. This incident has also affected the reputation of Janeway Farms. To make amends with my customer, I gave her another puppy for free – a loss of $600 to Janeway Farms. My customers are important to me and yours should be important to you.
Shipping a live animal is not an easy task. It doesn’t help when the information I need is not provided, hard to obtain, conflicting, or just plain wrong. We are supposed to be living in the "Information Age." The information I need should be readily available. It is not on your web page as it should be, and it does not come from your employees at the VIP desk. I even went to Delta’s cargo terminal on February 26 – just two days before the planned shipment – to see if I had everything necessary for the shipment. Apparently, there is no way to get the information I need until it is too late. This is not a proper way to do business. Are you trying to protect your "known" shippers by discouraging smaller shippers like me from using your cargo service.
What especially concerned me was that I was not told that customs in Rome is closed on Sundays. Delta allowed me to make a reservation and was prepared to ship for arrival on that day. If we had shipped as planned, this puppy would have probably spent the entire day alone and caged, with no food or water. An 8-week old puppy should not be treated this way. If you don’t want me to use your cargo service again, I won’t. Just tell me so I don’t waste my time and money. But please don’t try to endanger the physical and emotional health of my puppies.
Sincerely,
Stephen Perrier
Janeway Farms
p.s. A copy of this letter will be posted on my web site at www.janewayfarms.com.