Disclaimer) No fish were injured in the making of this story. Thank God.....
Ok my quest began sometime ago. About 1 month before the Gorillus Umbees were slated to hit the market. I reached out to Chris in an attempt to get some Gorillus Umbees. I was given a quote for fish and shipping three different ways. And was slated to officially place my order when they were released. Well like most of us I'm sure things didn't come together quite like I had intended. And I had to cancel my order but because I was busy at work at the time I was not able contact Chris directly and cancel directly.
Fast forward a few months. 8 months actually. I attempted to contact Chris again still dying to get my hands on Gorillus Umbees. I sent a pm and waited to hear back..... I got my order into him shortly after we worked out shipping thanks to Dan of COA. And I was scheduled to get my fish this past Friday. Chris sent me the AWB info and arrival info. We used Southwest Airlines. This is where the story goes incredibly wrong.
My package was scheduled to arrive at Washington Dulles Airport at 8:45pm Friday with plenty of time to unload before closing 10pm. I called and called trying to get an update on my package delivery, but was only able to leave messages. Finally at 20min until 10pm I got a human being on the phone. He told me that the flight was late and wouldn't be there for 10 more min........ WHAT!!!!!!!! You have to be kidding me! He also told me that I would have to pick up my live fish at 5 am the next day. I was pissed! Pissed really doesn't really even cover it. I explaied that these were live animals and that they would die if kept overnight. They could've have cared less.
Next morning 5am after an evening of no sleep. I was standing in front of the desk waiting for my package. Gave the nice lady my information and AWB number. She informed me that my package was not there........ WHAT!!!!!!! This is bull crap! I flipped out. Well where the heck is my package? "Chicago" she replied...... COULD YOU HAVE PICKED A COLDER CITY TO LEAVE MY FISH IN OVERNIGHT? She then told me that my package wouldnt be here until 11:35 am. While I was furious but its not her fault. So I got the number for their cargo office and proceeded to give them an earful when they opened at 8am Central time. My plane came in at 11:34 am 1 min early. OK things may be looking up. Well not exactly. They unloaded the the package but 1-1/2 hours later they couldn't find my fish. Well thank God someone at the office understands what live fish means. And she went to the tarmack to check for the package herself. And she found it brought it in and the box was destroyed. Styro broken looked like the box had been drop kicked. Covered in red tape by re inspection at southwest. Bags leaking everywhere..... I ripped the box out of her hands and inspected the contents. All appeared to be alive but not doing well..... I drove like a mad man home. And took a temp reading of the fish with my infared thermometer. 69*F holy crap! Once home started floating bags and bringing them up to temp slowly. I set up temp tanks in rubbermaids and treated water with salt adding sponges to everything.
I didnt loose a single fish... all are fine now. Thanks to Chris' expert packing all of the fish made it unscathed. No thanks to Southwest Airlines.
Special thanks to Jason for setting this up, Dan for helping me out with shipping, and Chris for the amazing fish! Cant say thanks enough for everyone involved with this transaction. I am still stunned that people I have never met could be so nice and helpful. Couldn't imagine nicer guys to deal with if you haven't done business with these guys your doing yourself a disservice. Pics to follow tonight. Stay tuned....
Drew
Ok my quest began sometime ago. About 1 month before the Gorillus Umbees were slated to hit the market. I reached out to Chris in an attempt to get some Gorillus Umbees. I was given a quote for fish and shipping three different ways. And was slated to officially place my order when they were released. Well like most of us I'm sure things didn't come together quite like I had intended. And I had to cancel my order but because I was busy at work at the time I was not able contact Chris directly and cancel directly.
Fast forward a few months. 8 months actually. I attempted to contact Chris again still dying to get my hands on Gorillus Umbees. I sent a pm and waited to hear back..... I got my order into him shortly after we worked out shipping thanks to Dan of COA. And I was scheduled to get my fish this past Friday. Chris sent me the AWB info and arrival info. We used Southwest Airlines. This is where the story goes incredibly wrong.
My package was scheduled to arrive at Washington Dulles Airport at 8:45pm Friday with plenty of time to unload before closing 10pm. I called and called trying to get an update on my package delivery, but was only able to leave messages. Finally at 20min until 10pm I got a human being on the phone. He told me that the flight was late and wouldn't be there for 10 more min........ WHAT!!!!!!!! You have to be kidding me! He also told me that I would have to pick up my live fish at 5 am the next day. I was pissed! Pissed really doesn't really even cover it. I explaied that these were live animals and that they would die if kept overnight. They could've have cared less.
Next morning 5am after an evening of no sleep. I was standing in front of the desk waiting for my package. Gave the nice lady my information and AWB number. She informed me that my package was not there........ WHAT!!!!!!! This is bull crap! I flipped out. Well where the heck is my package? "Chicago" she replied...... COULD YOU HAVE PICKED A COLDER CITY TO LEAVE MY FISH IN OVERNIGHT? She then told me that my package wouldnt be here until 11:35 am. While I was furious but its not her fault. So I got the number for their cargo office and proceeded to give them an earful when they opened at 8am Central time. My plane came in at 11:34 am 1 min early. OK things may be looking up. Well not exactly. They unloaded the the package but 1-1/2 hours later they couldn't find my fish. Well thank God someone at the office understands what live fish means. And she went to the tarmack to check for the package herself. And she found it brought it in and the box was destroyed. Styro broken looked like the box had been drop kicked. Covered in red tape by re inspection at southwest. Bags leaking everywhere..... I ripped the box out of her hands and inspected the contents. All appeared to be alive but not doing well..... I drove like a mad man home. And took a temp reading of the fish with my infared thermometer. 69*F holy crap! Once home started floating bags and bringing them up to temp slowly. I set up temp tanks in rubbermaids and treated water with salt adding sponges to everything.
I didnt loose a single fish... all are fine now. Thanks to Chris' expert packing all of the fish made it unscathed. No thanks to Southwest Airlines.
Special thanks to Jason for setting this up, Dan for helping me out with shipping, and Chris for the amazing fish! Cant say thanks enough for everyone involved with this transaction. I am still stunned that people I have never met could be so nice and helpful. Couldn't imagine nicer guys to deal with if you haven't done business with these guys your doing yourself a disservice. Pics to follow tonight. Stay tuned....
Drew
