ATTENTION: Clam shipment, BAD NEWS.

[Reef Raft]

Hi all,

Just came back from the airport and found out that an employee of the airline had mistakenly booked the cargo as a "GENERAL CARGO". Therefore, I was adviced that it won't be coming today. Instead, they will come tomorrow hopefully. We are on "STANDBY" from the airline and the supplier looking into this.

We are just hopeful at this point that they do arrive tonight.

I just can't understand that these airline people can make a stupidest mistake like this. To make it worst, they don't even care.

I'm sorry for blabbing like this but we are just very frustrated at this point.

To all that had planned their day to come up here tomorrow.... PLEASE ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES. We've done everything we can but it is out of our hands.

Thanks for understanding.

Sincerely,

RR

[szesteve]

No apologies needed. You've done ur best.

Let's hope that the clams arrive in great condition.

[neemo]

does that mean that the clams are in transit and just delayed coming in? Hopefully there aren't too many causalities in livestock :angry:

[amarg]

That really sucks man,
does this affect the shipment of fish that were supposed to be up for sale come Sunday?

once again that sucks.
andy

[in_flight]

hope they do come tonite, pretty much the only reason i was going to drive down on sunday is for the clams...sorry to hear about your frustration, hopefully there aren't too many casualties, otherwise the prices may be higher for us :(

[Mugster]

Well, ain't that a fly in the ointment. :bawl:








Kev :strange:

[Patwa]

nice...i get to sleep in!!

but yeah...i hope there aren't too many DOAs - that's if the clams are stuck in transit

[Reef Raft]

Hi all,

We are really disappointed on how the airlines handled the cargo shipment. Unfortunately, we can fight and scream with them til we loose our voices but it will not make any difference.

I just hope that the agents will pay more close attention to live animals cargo and do what they are asked.

In the end, they really don't care because they know we will come back.... :angry: :angry: :angry: We really hope that there will be not much casualties either. I have seen shipments that topped the 50+ hours mark and they arrive well. Perhaps, if they are kept warm, it shouldn't be that bad.

On a good note, just got off the phone with the airline and was adviced that the cargo is on board and scheduled to arrive this morning.

PLEASE CALL US FIRST BECAUSE AT THIS POINT, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. BEING IN TRANSIT FOR QUITE SOME TIME, THIS WOULD REQUIRE LONG AND PROPER ACCLIMATION.

Thanks for your patience.

Sincerely,

RR

[thichmt]

soooo does this mean clams available late afternoon/evening?
Mike

[szesteve]

Hi all,

We are really disappointed on how the airlines handled the cargo shipment. Unfortunately, we can fight and scream with them til we loose our voices but it will not make any difference.

I just hope that the agents will pay more close attention to live animals cargo and do what they are asked.

In the end, they really don't care because they know we will come back.... :angry: :angry: :angry: We really hope that there will be not much casualties either. I have seen shipments that topped the 50+ hours mark and they arrive well. Perhaps, if they are kept warm, it shouldn't be that bad.

On a good note, just got off the phone with the airline and was adviced that the cargo is on board and scheduled to arrive this morning.

PLEASE CALL US FIRST BECAUSE AT THIS POINT, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. BEING IN TRANSIT FOR QUITE SOME TIME, THIS WOULD REQUIRE LONG AND PROPER ACCLIMATION.

Thanks for your patience.

Sincerely,

RR

Jensen/Jay,

I think it's time to consider buying yourself a personal jet. :)

No more having to deal with airline companies. :angry:

[soups]

Jensen/Jay,

I think it's time to consider buying yourself a personal jet. :)

No more having to deal with airline companies. :angry:
So then this means that the clams & other corals will end up costing over a $1000.00 to pay for the cost of jet fuel.

[Darryl_V]

ya....um can I buy a 1/10 of a clam?? is that possible?

[ed george]

What are the prices of the clams, and grades ?

[Reef Raft]

Hi guys,

At this point in time, we haven't got a clue as to how the health and mortality would be. We are just keeping a positive attittude about everything and hoping for the best.

Like i mentioned before, I am hopeful that they kept the temperature warm maybe then, we would have a better chance. Sure there would be DOA's but hopefully to its minimum.

Right now, we would have to say that it would be safe if we were to acclimate first cos it will require long acclimation process. Therefore, it would be ready for sale tomorrow or Monday depending on the health of the clams.

We will have the corals shipment tonight and this one is on schedule for tomorrow's sale. The clams prices has not been calculated out just yet due to the circumstances.

The clams are ALL ultra grade with some first grades according to supplier. We are expecting yellow teardrops, black & white and other colors and patterns.

I hope i answered all inquiries, if any questions, please contact us by phone.

Sincerely,

RR

[Duce]

Man.....the clam situation totally sucks....hope everything works out for you guys. Hopefull I can come by for the corals before leaving town again.

[220G]

so how did they come in???

[Reef Raft]

Duce, ya it totally sucks. I have been given 5 different arrival times. Now, it is scheduled to arrive at 6:55pm and I really do hope that they respected the handling information remarks on the AWB and was kept warm. At this point, that is the only hope we have. We have been awake and waiting for this shipment since last night and we are really exhausted and tired, not to mention stressed.

Regarding corals, we are on schedule for tonight's arrival as well.

Corals will be ready for sale tomorrow morning at 10am.

Thanks everyone.

RR

[Duce]

We have been awake and waiting for this shipment since last night and we are really exhausted and tired, not to mention stressed.

Dude get some rest after the shipment....I am pretty sure everyone will understand if you want to open a bit later tomorrow.

[Reef Raft]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for being patient with us. The clam shipment is delayed once again... i don't know what else to say at this point.

On a good note, here are some pics of last night's coral shipment.

[Duce]

Wow....What is 019?

[Patwa]

FYI...store still closed....jay/jensen stuck at airport....store will open at 2pm....(someone told me this when i was waiting)

[Reef Raft]

Thanks Zach.

UPDATE.

We have finally received the clam shipment after a very long transit duration from the supplier. Not to mention the hassles and problems we had to go through once it was here. I will let everyone know how dis-organize our goverment is.

For now... we will resume business at 3-4pm this afternoon. We are conducting a very long acclimation process and trying to salvage what we can. We haven't had sleep worrying about these live animals.

We are terribly sorry for the inconveniences.

WE WILL OPEN AT 3-4PM THIS AFTERNOON

[Asuran]

whew... hehe i was there at 10 this morning... just got home... i will give you guys a call later this afternoon... drive from scarborough... hope the clams accumulate okay...

[Reef Raft]

Thanks for understanding....

We sincerely apologize to those people that were here this morning. I was stuck in custom from last night. Came home and put away the coral shipment then went back.

Please call us a little later as we are very busy trying to save whatever we can. The clams are definitely have amazing colors and patterns, surely ONE OF THE BEST... will have to evaluate the conditions for sale after acclimation.

Thank you.

[Reef Raft]

Please Be Adviced That We Will Be Closed For The Rest Of The Day. The Situation With The Clams Are Worst Than We Thought.

Clams Cannot Be Disturbed While Acclimating So We Apologize For This.

Thank You For Your Cooperation And Understanding.

Thank You

[Darryl_V]

good luck with those precise, precise clams....:bawl:

[Asuran]

lol sorry i called before reading the post... i'll see if i can drop by tomorrow after work

[Reef Raft]

No problem Asuran... I think the clams would need atleast 3 days to recover. We are hoping that they will pull through.

Surprisingly enough, that the small ones are doing much better than the bigger ones.

[in_flight]

i was there today from 11-3 for the clams, and these guys did their best to save as many as possible. while waiting i also checked out some other stores but didn't find that they had the selection and quality of corals as reef raft had.

I'll be coming back later this week and hopefully the clams will pull through.

**On a sidenote, to the jerk from r. hill (older chinese dude)who was complaining that Jensen wouldn't sell them corals since they were still acclimating, RELAX--you're a moron and it's to your and everyone's benefit that he didn't sell you the corals, imagine if it died the next day--wouldn't you feel shafted and then you'd turn around and blame the retailer

[Sea MunnKey]

**On a sidenote, to the jerk from r. hill (older chinese dude)who was complaining that Jensen wouldn't sell them corals since they were still acclimating, RELAX--you're a moron and it's to your and everyone's benefit that he didn't sell you the corals, imagine if it died the next day--wouldn't you feel shafted and then you'd turn around and blame the retailer

I hope you're Chinese too... or he'd be crying foul...LOL:bawl: Oh well I've seen "older Chinese jerk" staying for the longest hours at the LFS insisting that they get the particular Corals right NOW and I'm wondering if he's the same guy!! Lets put out an APB for this guy so we can tell him off everytime ..it's easy to tell off someone who's of the same ethnic background eh...:beat-pute

[KevinFJB]

.....

[Patwa]

Jensen,

will you guys have the tank lights turned on today?? or will they still be off re: clams still acclimating?

I wanted to check out the coral shipment that came in this weekend, but it was hard to discern the colours and patterns b/c there was no light

on second thought....maybe it's best to stop by tomorrow instead, eh?

Zach.

[Sea MunnKey]

Zach,
You lucky guy...being that close to RR makes your day huh? Do let us know what's available at RR will ya? It makes me wanna..:bawl:
I'm jealous...

Paul

[Patwa]

hehehe.....i'm close to a lot of LFSs....seriously.....just my luck eh?? :)

Mississauga is definitely the place to be for corals.....I think there's about 8 or 9 stores within 30mins of me ;)

Jensen should be posting more info soon..they're expecting some shipments today or tomorrow...FYI

Zach.

[Asuran]

yeah they should open up secondary stores out east! i only head out west to mississagua for corals now... lol

[Atomikk]

It really nice to live in Mississauga... Reef Raft, Wheres The Reef?, Dragon Aquarium (:D), Oceans Alive, Big Als, and a couple of more...

[in_flight]

I hope you're Chinese too... or he'd be crying foul...LOL:bawl: Oh well I've seen "older Chinese jerk" staying for the longest hours at the LFS insisting that they get the particular Corals right NOW and I'm wondering if he's the same guy!! Lets put out an APB for this guy so we can tell him off everytime ..it's easy to tell off someone who's of the same ethnic background eh...:beat-pute

i can't really be called racist/prejudiced or derogatory since i came withere with 4 other chinese people and one of them an older chinese gentleman. I wasn't implying that he was a jerk for being chinese, it was the easiest desription of the guy. I'm not chinese though and i don't have any problems telling someone off regardless of their ethnicity :archer:

[vaporize]

let's drop the topic on ethnical talk or hostile talk against certain customers who might not even be on AP.

How are the clams doing so far? Any pics on their progress? Patwa, Atomikk, anybody dropped by?

[Patwa]

no info on the clams beyond what Jensen said.....there was a good chunk of DOA.....but they brought in about 700 clams....so there's bound to be some good pickings when they're done acclimating

[KevinFJB]

i can't really be called racist/prejudiced or derogatory since i came withere with 4 other chinese people and one of them an older chinese gentleman. I wasn't implying that he was a jerk for being chinese, it was the easiest desription of the guy. I'm not chinese though and i don't have any problems telling someone off regardless of their ethnicity :archer:

...there was nothing wrong with your post, and, IMO, you don't need to be of any certain ethnicity to have the ability to describe someone who is acting like an ass as such (not sure why PaulChi steered your comment that way, his point did not make sense)

[neemo]

no info on the clams beyond what Jensen said.....there was a good chunk of DOA.....but they brought in about 700 clams....so there's bound to be some good pickings when they're done acclimating

I just got back from there and sad to say not ONE clam made it through - 700 dead clams:bawl: :bawl:

J&J I hope there is some recourse you can take to be compensated if not wholly then at least partially for your lose. I dont think its right to take the fall for some boneheads incompetence.

[Atomikk]

But the problem with that is the prices will be a bit high. My guess is 80-100$ per clam.

[Atomikk]

Did they have insurance on the shipment? Because you can get all of your money back from the airline (i think).

[vaporize]

Don't they have insurance of some sort?

Or get airline to compensate since it is their employee's mistakes. Maybe J&J should consider sueing the airline for the fault. It is a lot of money

[Patwa]

I just got back from there and sad to say not ONE clam made it through - 700 dead clams:bawl: :bawl:

J&J I hope there is some recourse you can take to be compensated if not wholly then at least partially for your lose. I dont think its right to take the fall for some boneheads incompetence.

!!!!! all dead!?!?! wow....didn't think it was that bad

[szesteve]

I just got back from there and sad to say not ONE clam made it through - 700 dead clams:bawl: :bawl:

J&J I hope there is some recourse you can take to be compensated if not wholly then at least partially for your lose. I dont think its right to take the fall for some boneheads incompetence.

Oh man! That's really bad. Hope the airline will be responsible to compensate RR.

[Patwa]

i think the clam supplier played a role in this mix-up too........wonder what he has to say about this

[vaporize]

which airline is this?

[Reef Mike]

Man that sucks...

I just feel awful for the senseless loss of life..

Mike

[boyohboy]

I just got back from there and sad to say not ONE clam made it through - 700 dead clams:bawl: :bawl:

wow is that really!? That's sad if it's true. Even say each clam is gona sell for a low price of $70 each.... that would be total for about $50grand there....

[Asuran]

ouch sorry to hear guys... hope you can get some sort of compensation from the airline

[Mugster]

That is just terrible!! Such a needless loss of life because of someone's stupidity. I sure hope RR will be reimbursed for thier losses.







Kev :angry:

[Reef Raft]

We kind of knew they were not going to make it as the flight duration was just too lang. I beleive it was 94 hours in total.

CO airlines - this airline is the worst. I spoke to many agents including 2 managers and even offered to bill me just so we can get this shipment in a reasonable time but they just don't care. Shipment was tendered as Gen cargo and it clearly stated live tropical fish.

Customs - I was referred to CFIA by a rookie and argued and fought with him that the shipment does fall under CFIA regulations but sent me home and told me to come back Monday. He was aware that the shipment consists of live clams. Stayed up all night saturday and called all over Canada hoping I could talk to anyone but no success.

To make the long story short, between the airline and customes hel this shipment up for over 90 hours. Therefore, the lost of 714 clams.

I can't go into anymore details than this... i'm sorry.

On another note, we now have corals that came in Thursday, Monday and more fish coming tonight and live rocks on thursday.

Thank you all for your support and understanding.

[Reef Mike]

Is everything else okay in the store? Hopefully the clams were isolated from the other corals?

Are there any acros left from the thursday shipment? are they ready to be sold?

Hopefully you guys can get this all worked out in your favour.

Mike

[bc1281]

I thought they were closed on Monday

[Darryl_V]

I cant believe the stupidity....I couldn't imagine how frustrating. And the fact that over 700 beautiful clams ...gone. Thats sad. Hope you guys get everything worked out.

[Reef Raft]

Thanks guys, we are dealing with the situation and hoping that we can resolve it quickly and in our favour. There would be chance that it doesn't and will take a long process.

The corals that arrived on Thursday and Monday are doing great and will be ready for sale tomorrow.

We will RESUME normal business hours tomorrow @ 10am.

Thank you all.

[in_flight]

wow, sorry to hear that none of the clams made it, such a senseless loss simply because someone at the airlines wasn't doing their job properly or didn't care enough. Hope you guys resolve this issue. Are you guys looking into alternative shipping methods such as UPS or Fed Ex, would they offer insurance on livestock?

[Patwa]

UPS or Fed Ex, would they offer insurance on livestock?

I believe the only option for shipping livestock is with commerical airlines.....UPS/Fedex don't deal in live animals from what I understand....don't quote me though

Zach.

[in_flight]

didn't know that, thanks for the clarification, i just though since they were having reliability issues with the airlines, they should look into other alternatives

i guess in this scenario, they're held hostage by the airlines' monopoly on the situation

[mr.wilson]

i guess in this scenario, they're held hostage by the airlines' monopoly on the situation

Thats why I got out of the wholesale business. Airlines overheat shipments in summer and freeze them in winter. You have very little recourse when they don't fulfill their duty of care. They routinely "lose" your claim and delay it to the point where you just give up. They're just like any insurance company.

It's hard to pursue them while you are busy running a business. Small claims court is your best option, but it only goes up to $10,000.00 (I think). You're still David against Goliath. Hopefully Jenson will win out in the end.

The airlines have no problem collecting top dollar for shipping, but when it comes to backing their guarantee, it's a different story. If they lose a piece of luggage or delay you a few hours (as a passenger) they offer you free hotels, flights and car rentals. If they screw up your $10,000.00 freight consignment, you won't even get a bag of peanuts out of the deal.

Freight charges out-weigh the revenue from passengers, but somehow our business isn't valued in the same way.

[Panda]

I have yet to understand how a paid cargo can get bumped because passengers are taking to much luggage. My Dalamtian was flown to a different city than I was some time ago because the heated/pressurized area was filled. Hope they make things right.

[in_flight]

They're just like any insurance company.

hey i work for an insurance company and we're in the top 5 in handling claims

no offense taken though, i know that it's a common enough perception by the general public...i have heard that commercial claims are a bit more complicated and there are a few loopholes that insurance company's use to get out of paying out on a claim