postage fatalities?

[Paul Claven]

I'm with Bryan on this one.

The responsibility is all that of the buyer, and not the seller IMO. After all, it's hardly his fault you decide not to collect, is it? Providing he has packaged with the care Bryan suggests, he has done his bit.

I speak from experience here, having lost scores over time as the buyer, and only one as the poster. I have never winged, but have, on occasion, had the seller give me a decent discount on my next purchase.

From my side, I offered the buyer 50% of the loss.

[Bryan_Dennis]

most dealers guarantee live on arrival, so mayhaps not that debatable.

Most dealers you say...Hmmm, just had a quick check on Terraristik and there was no-one within the first 30 Ads offering "garanteed live arrival".

However i know there are a few website's that offer this but theres also a whole host of people out there selling insects that don't offer any sort of garantee.....we unfortunatly don't come anywhere close to "most"!
Besides these garantee's are only national garantee's which is no good for me or the many others that might be tempted to shop internationally.

[Robert Farmer]

Most dealers you say...Hmmm, just had a quick check on Terraristik and there was no-one within the first 30 Ads offering "garanteed live arrival".

However i know there are a few website's that offer this but theres also a whole host of people out there selling insects that don't offer any sort of garantee.....we unfortunatly don't come anywhere close to "most"!
Besides these garantee's are only national garantee's which is no good for me or the many others that might be tempted to shop internationally.

Personally I would never purchase anything which required international shipping, to expect a live arrival guarantee on such purchases would indeed seem a bit OTT, but for the majority of mainland shippings I think the guarantee should hold.

By dealers I refer to such likes as Tarantula Shop, The Spider Shop et al, for private sales eg BTS Bulletin etc I wouldn't expect aforementioned guarantee, tis the nature of the beast.

Hence the ability to replace would I imagine fall easier on a person whom had dedicated theirselves to the breeding/supply of arachnids as opposed to the opportunistic trader who is merely "thinning their collection" or otherwise.

[Bryan_Dennis]

Personally I would never purchase anything which required international shipping, to expect a live arrival guarantee on such purchases would indeed seem a bit OTT

Yeah well thats your prerogative Robert...however i've personally received hundreds of packages internationally and without having a clue as to the percent of succesfull transactions it's undoubtedly well up there in the 99.whatever percent.
Secondly, if you purchase from someone that offers guaranteed live arrival and you receive a dead animal then theres no debate!!...Of course the dealers should/will replace the animal.

However what we are discussing here is whether or not a dealer should replace an animal (assuming he/she hasn't given a guarantee!!) that has died in the post.
The parameters are...
Was the spider well packed with plenty of padding.?
Was the postage method responsible.?
Was there a heat pack included if the temp was low.?
Was the spider in good health.
Had the dealer shown consideration with regards to the spiders enviromental requirements...i.e humid or dry within the package.

If you can answer yes to all these questions then in my opinion the dealer has done everything he/she can to ensure live arrival and is not responsible for the heavy handed treatment that the spider obviously has experienced at the hands of the postal services....Ergo, no compensation.

If you can answer "No" in at least one of the questions then theres basis for a complaint.....and possibly a refund/replacement.

[Robert Farmer]

Yeah well thats your prerogative Robert...however i've personally received hundreds of packages internationally and without having a clue as to the percent of succesfull transactions it's undoubtedly well up there in the 99.whatever percent.
Secondly, if you purchase from someone that offers guaranteed live arrival and you receive a dead animal then theres no debate!!...Of course the dealers should/will replace the animal.

However what we are discussing here is whether or not a dealer should replace an animal (assuming he/she hasn't given a guarantee!!) that has died in the post.
The parameters are...
Was the spider well packed with plenty of padding.?
Was the postage method responsible.?
Was there a heat pack included if the temp was low.?
Was the spider in good health.
Had the dealer shown consideration with regards to the spiders enviromental requirements...i.e humid or dry within the package.

If you can answer yes to all these questions then in my opinion the dealer has done everything he/she can to ensure live arrival and is not responsible for the heavy handed treatment that the spider obviously has experienced at the hands of the postal services....Ergo, no compensation.

If you can answer "No" in at least one of the questions then theres basis for a complaint.....and possibly a refund/replacement.

I still believe the onus should be on the supplier to ensure live arrival.

If one were to purchase a television from Comet or such other retailer and they had adhered to the safe delivery requirements as detailed (ie: safely packaged, responsible delivery methods etc) and it were to be delivered damaged, I'm sure we all would request a replacement to be sent, which from the suppliers point of view is little hassle as they can claim off the couriers insurance.

I know the ramifications of sending live specimens may vary but the principle holds true, the dealer if only from a customer service perspective should be responsible for the safe arrival of goods purchased.