So last week I ordered some fish from TFD, and it went terribly wrong, resulting in the death of many of my fish. Joe, the owner of TFD insists that "they did everything right" and I am in the wrong. I, not surprisingly, feel the other way. In the last email from Joe, he advised me to ask around the net, and see who is right, which is what this post is all about. I would really appriciate everyone's opinion on this situation, as described in the following email correspondence.
The night I picked up the fish I sent Joe the following message, describing the situation.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wes Smith"
To:
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:13 AM
Subject: Problem with order
> Dear Joe, or whom it may concern:
>
> I placed an order by phone with your company on
> Wednesday, around 12:30. The order is under my name,
> John Smith. I have ordered from you once before, and
> this time, two of my other friends were also eager to
> order with me to get fish they had trouble finding
> elsewhere. I had a good experience with well
> packaged, healthy fish the first time I ordered from
> you, and was looking forward to doing it again.
>
> The employee I spoke with on Wednesday told me that
> while it was too cold to do a door delivery, because
> that would involve an overnight trip, the package
> could be delivered to the Kansas City airport for me
> to pick up on the same day of it being shipped. This
> seemed to be a good idea, as I felt very comfortable
> with the idea of the fish being packaged up only for
> the 2 hour flight and the 40 minute drive home.
> However, I had never had cargo shipped to me through
> an airline, and expressed to the employee that this
> was new to me. I was explicitly told that a Call on
> Delivery order would be placed on the package, and
> that I WOULD be called by the airport when the package
> arrived for me to pick it up. I was not offered a
> tracking number or any other information - I was
> simply told that I would be called by the airline on
> Thursday or Friday, probably between 11 and 4.
> Because the employee knew that I was unfamiliar with
> this shipping method, I relied on him to give me the
> information I needed for a successful delivery, and
> took him for his word.
>
> After 4 o'clock on Friday, when I still had not
> received the much awaited phone call, I phoned your
> company and spoke with you (Joe). Only then did I
> learn that the package had been shipped yesterday
> (Thursday) and that the airport would not necessarily
> call me. Since I had never been provided with a
> tracking number, had not received a phone call or
> email from your company informing me that it had been
> shipped, and had been relying on the information from
> your employee stating that I WOULD be notified when
> the fish were available to pick up, I had no way of
> knowing that the fish had been shipped, and had sat
> overnight at the airport.
>
> As soon as I found out, I rushed to the airport to get
> the package. Quite frankly, I expected a box full of
> dead fish, but was surprised to find most of them
> alive. The packing job was well done. However, a
> panda angelfish, 2 featherfin rainbows, and the
> elephant nose knife fish did not survive. I spoke
> with airline employees, who informed me that 1) they
> were not obligated to call on arrival (in contrast to
> what I was told by the employee: that I would, point
> blank, receive a call), and 2) that I could not file a
> claim with the airline because the airline required
> that all cargo be packaged to survive for 48 hours.
>
> As I'm sure you can understand, we were quite upset
> with the death of the fish we had been looking forward
> to. I had been particularly excited about receiving
> the elephant nose knife fish. I feel that the four
> fish we lost should be replaced, because we were
> mistakenly told that we should wait on a call from the
> airline, and were given no other options or
> notifications with which to track the status of the
> shipment.
>
> I appreciate your looking into this. And while we
> were extremely disappointed by the death of those
> fish, I would like to say that the other fish we
> received all seem to be fine and healthy. I hope we
> can resolve the matter of those less fortunate fish to
> everyone's satisfaction.
>
> Thanks,
> John Smith
The following day I receieved this reply:
>Kingfish Joe <sales@tfdfish.com> wrote:
>
>John,
>
>We learn by mistakes. You now know what your mistakes were. This
>should save you a lot of money in the future. You are very lucky any of
>your fish survived.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Joe
I returned:
----- Original Message -----
From: Wes Smith
To: Kingfish Joe
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: Problem with order
>Joe,
>
>I'm disappointed by your response. Can you tell me what my mistakes were? >I don't feel that this could in any way be blamed on me, unless you're willing >to concede that ordering from your company and relying on your employee >was my mistake.
>
>John
Today, I received this response:
>Kingfish Joe <sales@tfdfish.com> wrote:
>
>Yes that was your first mistake. Evidently you have never ordered fish >airport to airport. If you do not know what you are doing and are not able >to follow instructions I do not think anyone can help you. If you made a >purchase at a store and left it in the shopping cart in the parking lot for >someone to take you would think it was the stores fault.
>
>You will become an adult when you accept responsibilities for you actions.
>
>Thank you for your order. We did everything right. You are lucky anything >was alive. Ask around the net and let your peers explain it to you.
>
>
>Joe
I sent him this final email today:
>No, I have not ordered fish airport to airport before, and I explained that to >your employee over the phone. I was only instructed to wait for a phone >call during the next two days, which I never received. After which I called >you and you told me I never should have expected the call to begin with ( a >notify on arrival "doesn't mean they're going to do it" I was told). I followed >all the instructions I was given, and the instructions given by your employee >lead to many of my fish dying. Oh, and thank you for your belittling >comments as to me needing to grow up, because as we all know, personal >attacks work wonders clearing disagreements up. As per your advice, I am >going to ask around the net, and let people see the type of service they can >expect when they order from you.
>
>Good day,
>John.
So now you know the story, and it's time to respond and/or vote. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to ask any questions that you might have about the details of the story as well. Of course, this is only my side of it, and I can be considered somewhat biased about who's at fault here. But I have tried to lay out this as honestly as possible, and would welcome Joe's comments about the whole thing. I don't mean any ill will here, Joe's selection and prices are the best I've seen, but I really feel like I got screwed on this one, and want to know if you think so too.
Thanks for reading!
John 'Wes' Smith
The night I picked up the fish I sent Joe the following message, describing the situation.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wes Smith"
To:
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:13 AM
Subject: Problem with order
> Dear Joe, or whom it may concern:
>
> I placed an order by phone with your company on
> Wednesday, around 12:30. The order is under my name,
> John Smith. I have ordered from you once before, and
> this time, two of my other friends were also eager to
> order with me to get fish they had trouble finding
> elsewhere. I had a good experience with well
> packaged, healthy fish the first time I ordered from
> you, and was looking forward to doing it again.
>
> The employee I spoke with on Wednesday told me that
> while it was too cold to do a door delivery, because
> that would involve an overnight trip, the package
> could be delivered to the Kansas City airport for me
> to pick up on the same day of it being shipped. This
> seemed to be a good idea, as I felt very comfortable
> with the idea of the fish being packaged up only for
> the 2 hour flight and the 40 minute drive home.
> However, I had never had cargo shipped to me through
> an airline, and expressed to the employee that this
> was new to me. I was explicitly told that a Call on
> Delivery order would be placed on the package, and
> that I WOULD be called by the airport when the package
> arrived for me to pick it up. I was not offered a
> tracking number or any other information - I was
> simply told that I would be called by the airline on
> Thursday or Friday, probably between 11 and 4.
> Because the employee knew that I was unfamiliar with
> this shipping method, I relied on him to give me the
> information I needed for a successful delivery, and
> took him for his word.
>
> After 4 o'clock on Friday, when I still had not
> received the much awaited phone call, I phoned your
> company and spoke with you (Joe). Only then did I
> learn that the package had been shipped yesterday
> (Thursday) and that the airport would not necessarily
> call me. Since I had never been provided with a
> tracking number, had not received a phone call or
> email from your company informing me that it had been
> shipped, and had been relying on the information from
> your employee stating that I WOULD be notified when
> the fish were available to pick up, I had no way of
> knowing that the fish had been shipped, and had sat
> overnight at the airport.
>
> As soon as I found out, I rushed to the airport to get
> the package. Quite frankly, I expected a box full of
> dead fish, but was surprised to find most of them
> alive. The packing job was well done. However, a
> panda angelfish, 2 featherfin rainbows, and the
> elephant nose knife fish did not survive. I spoke
> with airline employees, who informed me that 1) they
> were not obligated to call on arrival (in contrast to
> what I was told by the employee: that I would, point
> blank, receive a call), and 2) that I could not file a
> claim with the airline because the airline required
> that all cargo be packaged to survive for 48 hours.
>
> As I'm sure you can understand, we were quite upset
> with the death of the fish we had been looking forward
> to. I had been particularly excited about receiving
> the elephant nose knife fish. I feel that the four
> fish we lost should be replaced, because we were
> mistakenly told that we should wait on a call from the
> airline, and were given no other options or
> notifications with which to track the status of the
> shipment.
>
> I appreciate your looking into this. And while we
> were extremely disappointed by the death of those
> fish, I would like to say that the other fish we
> received all seem to be fine and healthy. I hope we
> can resolve the matter of those less fortunate fish to
> everyone's satisfaction.
>
> Thanks,
> John Smith
The following day I receieved this reply:
>Kingfish Joe <sales@tfdfish.com> wrote:
>
>John,
>
>We learn by mistakes. You now know what your mistakes were. This
>should save you a lot of money in the future. You are very lucky any of
>your fish survived.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Joe
I returned:
----- Original Message -----
From: Wes Smith
To: Kingfish Joe
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: Problem with order
>Joe,
>
>I'm disappointed by your response. Can you tell me what my mistakes were? >I don't feel that this could in any way be blamed on me, unless you're willing >to concede that ordering from your company and relying on your employee >was my mistake.
>
>John
Today, I received this response:
>Kingfish Joe <sales@tfdfish.com> wrote:
>
>Yes that was your first mistake. Evidently you have never ordered fish >airport to airport. If you do not know what you are doing and are not able >to follow instructions I do not think anyone can help you. If you made a >purchase at a store and left it in the shopping cart in the parking lot for >someone to take you would think it was the stores fault.
>
>You will become an adult when you accept responsibilities for you actions.
>
>Thank you for your order. We did everything right. You are lucky anything >was alive. Ask around the net and let your peers explain it to you.
>
>
>Joe
I sent him this final email today:
>No, I have not ordered fish airport to airport before, and I explained that to >your employee over the phone. I was only instructed to wait for a phone >call during the next two days, which I never received. After which I called >you and you told me I never should have expected the call to begin with ( a >notify on arrival "doesn't mean they're going to do it" I was told). I followed >all the instructions I was given, and the instructions given by your employee >lead to many of my fish dying. Oh, and thank you for your belittling >comments as to me needing to grow up, because as we all know, personal >attacks work wonders clearing disagreements up. As per your advice, I am >going to ask around the net, and let people see the type of service they can >expect when they order from you.
>
>Good day,
>John.
So now you know the story, and it's time to respond and/or vote. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to ask any questions that you might have about the details of the story as well. Of course, this is only my side of it, and I can be considered somewhat biased about who's at fault here. But I have tried to lay out this as honestly as possible, and would welcome Joe's comments about the whole thing. I don't mean any ill will here, Joe's selection and prices are the best I've seen, but I really feel like I got screwed on this one, and want to know if you think so too.
Thanks for reading!
John 'Wes' Smith
