Shipping your yorkie.....read this....Part 1
 

To: Delta Air Lines, Inc.

P.O. Box 20706

Atlanta, Georgia 30320-6001

From: Lori Burchett

18140 County Road

Frankston, Texas 75763

903-876-1900

Date: May 7,2005

RE: Josh's Delta Pet First experience



To who it my concern,

I would like to share with you Josh's journey on Delta's Pet First.


Josh's Journey

Josh a small black and tan pomeranian, had quite the adventure on
Delta's Pet First service. He was enroute to me and he was scheduled
to arrive at DFW, Dallas, TX on May 6, 2005 at 15:45 (3:35 PM). Just
before noon I left my home, I live about 3 hours away. I arrived at
DFW at 3 PM I walked to the counter where a small gray haired man
sat. I told him I was expecting a dog to arrive on flight 745 and I
had never had a dog shipped by air before and I needed to know what
was I to do. He asked for his shipping number and I told him I didn't
have that number just the arrival time and flight number. He then
began to look it up on the computer. I gave him the lady's name who
was sending Josh and my name. As he began to look I had to go to the
restroom and asked my husband to stay there in case he needed more
information. When I returned the man told me the dog was sent to
Milwaukee, WI by mistake and that he would arrive on flight number
1211, which was due to arrive at 7:45 PM. I asked him how that could
happen? He said "He was mishandled in Cincinnati, OH." I told him I
was worried about how such a small dog would take this set back. He
assured me that the man placed him on the plane for flight 1211 and
that the dog should arrive to me fine. I then asked him" What will
happen now when the dog has to change planes so he can be on a flight
to DFW? I am worried whoever gets him will not put him on the right
plane again" The man looks at me with a harsh look and yells "HE WAS
PUT ON A DIRECT FLIGHT TO DFW, HE"S NOT CHANGING PLANES!" Amazed that
this man is so mad that I am asking questions, I realized he did not
care about my dog, he just wanted me to leave him alone. We stood
around there in the lobby for a bit and then went back to the car. We
decided to go get a bite to eat and make some use of this 4 hours and
45 minute wait we had now. We arrived back at Delta at 6:10 PM, I
went back to the counter where the same man was and asked him if the
flight was on time. He looked in the computer and said "It's more
than on time, it's early. It is to arrive here at 7:36 PM." At this
point I asked him to please make sure the dog is on that flight.
Something still didn't feel quite right. He asked me for the number
he had given me previously that I did not have and I gave it to him.
He typed it in and said nothing for a minute, finally he said "He's
not listed, but the man that called said he put him on the plane"
Well, the waiting has now become so scary for me. I asked him h"How
likely is it that he is on the plane if he isn't listed?" The man
then snapped back at me and said "The man said he put him on the
plane! Lady you will just have to wait until the flight 1211
arrives!" So we wait finally the plane must have landed because the
man leaves the counter where he has sat all day. A lady comes in to
pick up some packages and is standing at the counter, soon another
lady comes in and stands behind her to pick up her package. My
husband at I are sitting on a bench facing this counter. The man
comes back takes are of the two ladies, he never said a word to me so
I asked him "Was the dog on the plane?" he said "No, I'm calling
Delta Cares now" he talks to someone and tells them that the dog has
was misrouted and has not arrived on the second flight. He hangs up
the phone and still says nothing to us. I asked him "What did they
say?" and he said "They are tracking him." Now it is 8:30 PM and that
dog is now at 12 hours locked in a dog crate somewhere in Delta's



Continued......read next post

Shipping....Part 2......Read this!!!
 

:mad:

system. I am so scared for this poor dog and the waiting for the call
back is pure hell. I said "I cannot believe Delta could lose a dog.
This is a live animal and there should be some kind of fail safe plan
for them to make sure mistakes like this are not made." The man
sarcastically says. "Yes, I know a precious animal." I said "Yes, he
is and he should be treated as such". Finally in few minutes the
phone rings and he answers it. he hangs up the phone and says "They
found him and he is being put on flight 451 and is to arrive at 11:41
PM. The plane he was put on had problems and could not complete the
flight." Well, excuse me but, I'm not stupid. he continues and
says"We can't help that the plane had problems and couldn't fly and
he will be here at 11:41." At this point I am angry and so worried
about my dog that is somewhere and I have no idea what condition he
is in or if he will even arrive alive. While the man is continuing to
say Delta has no fault in this situation and they have my dog on his
way to me, I turned to the man and said "I think your feeding me a
crock of s**t. You told me the man called and said he put him on the
plane for flight 1211 that was to arrive at 7:45 PM". The man now
snaps back at me and said "He was put on that flight but the plane
had problems and couldn't fly we have no control over that". I now
see this man is not as smart as my pomeranians and I turn and walk
out. Now mind you the flight 1211 has landed at DFW not on time, but
9 minutes early! Now can someone explain to me how this plane arrived
early at DFW, but was grounded in Milwaukee with mechanical problems?
At this point we leave again to go back to the coffee shop and wait
another more than 3 hours for flight number 451 to arrive at 11:41PM.
We arrive back at Delta for the third time at 11:36 PM. The same man
is sitting behind the counter, He says "Did you talk to
aaaaaa........." as he is digging wadded pieces of paper out of the
trash looking at each one "Christine?" (this is the lady that sent
Josh). I said " No I haven't" He hands me the phone and says "She
wants you to call her." I call her, while I'm on the phone with her,
he gets up and leaves. After our phone conversation I sit down with
my husband. A man comes in and is standing at the counter. After a
few seconds he turns to us and say's "Where is everybody?" I
said "Probably looking for my dog that has been lost for 10 hours."
The man says "They lost a dog?" and shakes his head. He waits a few
more seconds and yells to the back "Is anyone here?" no response. He
then walks over to the freight room door and goes in there. soon he
comes back and stands at the counter. A few more minutes pass and the
man behind the counter comes out looks over at me and says "It will
be $172.56" I said "Is the dog here?" the man says "Yes, it's
$172.56" I said "Is the dog ok" He said "It is $172.56." I said "I
don't know how the dog is or even if he is alive." The man interrupts
me and says "He's alive it is $172.56" I said "I'm not paying
anything until is see the dog and know he is alive." The man then
say "Step through that door." I did and he went to the freight room
through another door. Inside the freight room are two women sitting
at a counter and they greet me and I tell them "That man is getting
my dog." The man goes to the back picks up a crate and sets it on the
scales. I open the crate and there he is finally Josh! Scared to
death as far back in the crate as possible and shaking. Josh will not
come out. I try to coax him and plead with him to come out, but he
won't. I say "Ok, he is alive." The man then says "It's $172.56" I
then ask him "Can I take the dog back in to pay?" He said "Yes" So I
pick up the crate and we both go back through our respective doors. I
pay the man the $172.56 with 2 one hundred bills, he gives me my
change back in all one dollar bills. I know he is doing this out of
spite and I know it will be better if I just let him feel like he has
won, but I know I have, because I do have Josh. After he pays me I
ask for his name and he says "Jessie" I said what is your last name
and he says "Jessie" I said no I have that, what is your last name
and he says "Jessie is all." I then turn to the man who came in
before who was waiting to pick up his package and ask him "Can I have
your name and number in case Delta wants a witness?" He said "My name
is Leroy and my number is 214-243-4478." I said thank you. The man
who I now know is Jessie "Says sign this airbill." Not having my
glasses I ask my husband to run out and get them out of the car so I
can read the small print, before I sign it. He does and comes back. I
read the print and it basically states by signing I agree that I have
received my shipment in good condition. I turn to Jessie and say "I'm
not signing this until he is seen by a vet. I have a health
certificate stating he was in good health when he was put on the
plane, but he has been lost for 10 hours and until he is seen by a
vet I don't know what his condition is now." Jessie turns and picks
up the phone and calls someone. He says "I have a lady here who
refuses to sign the airbill because her dog is 10 hours late." He
then says "Oh, you're closed?" and says "OK; I'll call them." He
hangs up the phone and calls someone else. He tells them same thing,
that I refused to sign the airbill because my dog is 10 hours late.
He then says " Ok so she can't take the dog if she doesn't sign? We
charge her $100 to kennel the dog overnight." At that point I say "I
am not leaving here without my dog!" He says "She either has to sign
or she can't take the dog." I said "Well, I'm not leaving without the
dog and I'm not signing the airbill until he is examined by a vet."
He then asks the person he is talking to on the phone "Do you hear
her? Do you want to talk to her?" he said "She has paid the money,
but she won't sign the airbill. She can't take the dog if she doesn't
sign." I said "Well you better call the police then because I'm not
signing and I'm not leaving without this dog, I'll stay here all
night if I have to and you can call the police." Jessie then
says "Did you hear her? Do you want to talk to her?" Jessie then
hands me the phone, then leaves the counter going to the back
somewhere. I'm on the phone is Delta man and he says "We want you to
get your dog, but you have to sign the airbill." I said "I am not
signing the airbill until he is examined by a vet and you can provide
a vet now or I'm taking him to my vet to be examined". He said "You
can't take the dog until you sign the airbill. You sign the airbill
and take the dog and get him examined. Then if there is anything
wrong bring him back to Delta." I said "You must be out of your mind
if you think I'm bringing any dog back to Delta. I'm not signing the
airbill, I'm not leaving without the dog. I have the dog here and I'm
not giving him back and I'm not signing the airbill" The man on the
phone then said "Who gave you the dog?'" I said "The man here." he
then said "Miss that dog is property of Delta Airlines and you can't
take the dog until you sign the airbill." I then said "This dog is in
my name and my arms and you are not getting him back! I am taking him
home, you are not taking him from me." The man then said "We will not
tackle you going out the door, but you cannot take the dog because it
is Delta Airlines property." I said "I have paid what I owe Delta
Airlines, I have my dog, I have a witness and I have the receipt, I
am taking one copy of the receipt and my dog. I will leave the other
copy and the phone on the counter, when the man here comes back he
will find it." I took one copy of the airbill, laid it and the phone
on the counter. Turned to my husband and said "Let's get this poor
baby home." and we left.

To this very moment no Delta Airline employee asked to see my
identification, not Jessie, not either of the two women in the
freight room.

I am completely disgusted at the treatment my dog and I received. I
am filing a formal complaint with the FAA and I expect a full refund.

I have no idea where my dog was all those hours and when Delta
(Jessie) knew this dog wasn't listed on the manifest on the second
plane, he did nothing to try to find my dog. He waited until the
plane landed, two and one half hours later then called Delta Cares to
find my dog. I think everyone one who may even consider shipping a
dog needs to read "Josh's Journey" and I will do my best to make sure
this happens. I will white out my witness's phone number, no need to
spread his personal number around. But the rest of this story will be
sent to as written to as many people as possible via the Internet
including breeders, pet owners, and the news media.



Lori Burchett



I am standing by my word to Delta Airlines and sharing this with
everyone. You have my permission to crosspost, copy and paste or
print and mail to anyone you please.

Thanks,

Lori

Please read and take note.....
 

:eek:

Hang in there...sorry it is so long....

I could never ship or receive a furbaby as cargo. I am not knocking those that do, but it scares the ba-jeebies out of me thinking what could go wrong. I would rather drive cross country.

AprilLoves mommy
MaryKay

What an ordeal! Sorry you both had to go through that!! Is everything okay now?

Eeeks...is it really a good idea to publish the witness phone number in the story? :confused: Got two furbabie shipped to me fine and dandy. Sorry this lady had such a hard time.

That's how I got Alphy. No problems at all. They even asked for ID and information before they'd even let me see him. Oh my goodness. Poor Josh.

Lord, what a long read. It was worth it though. I'm glad you stuck to your guns and are going to write Delta. They should give you more than just a refind! :mad:

Lori - Nearly the same thing happened to me. I was expecting a pup and it arrived 4 hours late (not 10 - but 4)....... Anyway, of course, I was nervous because the little puppy was out there "somewhere."

I waited at the freight area all that time (with my sister) - and eventually everyone was very happy because the little guy finally arrived. And, my pup, also was also very frightened. But, I scooped him up and he settled right down and went to sleep. We paid our fee, signed the papers, and left ..very much relieved .. for home.

I know me --- I would never in a million years have acted the way you did. It seems like you made everyone mad and they just made everything more difficult for you. At any rate, they stopped being helpful or feeling sorry for your situation.

The lady who sent me my puppy knew nothing about the plane difficulties along the way, and she was also relieved that he finally got to me and was resting comfortably. (He did go to the vet the next day - and he was fine.)

I truly know what can happen with airlines. These same sorts of things have happened to me - planes being overbooked, needing mechanical attention, arriving late, etc. etc. I don't like it at all, but there's not much I can do about it. And, getting upset and mad just seems to make it worse.

My daughter and her new husband were on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon and entered into an overbooked situation. Everyone was mad, yelling, irate, and being unpleasant. The attendant at the counter told my daughter and her husband that they were the only ones who had been nice and made them promise not to tell anyone and kept them on the plane and gave them "first-class tickets" all the way to Hawaii.

I know that almost always you get more help if you are nice -- albeit upset - but still nice. Seems like none of the people you were dealing with were responsible for the "being late" problem.

Sorry about your experience.

Carol Jean

I semi-disagree. You start off nice, then you get firm, then you get PISSED. Always works for me. :rolleyes:

Interesting...perspective....
 

I am not sure why you felt that gal with the puppy situation was angry or irate....with the airline......It is interesting.....that I read it entirely different.....I felt that the airline person....the man at the counter was not at all compassionate and was extremely rude and inconsiderate.....I really do not believe that there were mechanical issues anyway.....and I definately felt that she should not sign anything until the dog was checked out.

But, we all view things differently.....

But, that is the reason for this board....to get opinions and information so as we all can make informed decisions.

I have received a puppy years ago....via the airline from either Neb, or Wash St. I was very happy with the service and the puppy was fine....and believe it or not...this was back in the early 90's.
:thumbup:

Regardless of how people behave down the line --- I think that having to wait and worry about the whereabouts and well-being of a little puppy would affect all of our dispositions. I think it is hard to stay our usual pleasant selves after going through an ordeal like this. I became increasingly upset while I was waiting for my little pup to arrive (4 hours late)...

And - (this applies to me also ) -- whenever I have a story to tell - people are only going to hear my side of the story.....and, of course, they are going to hear only my subjective side of whatever happened.

I still believe that we can accomplish much more if we stay "polite" -- (and, believe me - I do think we can still vent our feelings - including anger - in a polite and nonpersonal way.)

As you said - "to each his own." I'll just keep being me..... I couldn't muster up that kind of temper and behave that way if I tried. True - I would probably have been upset, angry at the entire situation, tearful, and pacing the floor. And, I do know that I would have had more empathy, understanding, and people trying to help me behaving this way.

People are different - and it is situations like this that bring out the differences. I am, by nature, a laid back type of person without much of a temper. But, I still have feelings and certainly show them. There is no doubt that everyone would know how upset and worried I was ---and, surely, they would consider my feelings appropriate and would be doing whatever they could to help me.


Carol Jean

i work in transportation and the sad fact is most employees really don't care. i would only send a pet cargo if their were no other option. i've heard the horror stories again and again. there are some companies that specialize in pet transportation. i don't know if they are any good. i think you should get a refund plus. call customer relations and report every detail of your problem. your baby was mistreated and disrespected.

Wow, that is SO sad, what a mess!!!! I can't believe she went thru all that but I'm glad she stood her ground!

Delta was the one that I shipped a Biewer in from Louisiana thru Atlanta to Nashville in November and had the following happen.

The flight out of Louisiana was to leave at 1 pm, and was therefore dropped off at 11 am. For one reason or another, the departing flight was bumped to 3 pm. The cargo people put water in her carrier and failed to remove it before moving her carrier and putting her on the flight to Atlanta at 3:30 pm. She arrived in Atlanta around 5:45 or so pm. From there she was held over until around 8 pm when the flight departed Atlanta and headed for Nashville where I was to pick her up at 9:30 pm. This is in the 2nd week of November remember....and she was originally supposed to get into Nashville at 6 pm, but because of the delay with the first fight out of Louisiana, it bumped her final flight back to 9:30. The air temp in the 2nd week of November at 9:30 at night in Nashville TN was around 40 degrees and her kennel was soaked. She was soaked. There was literally water pouring out of the kennel when I tipped it. Anyway, when I actually laid my eyes on her for the first time, the lady at baggage claim (because it was the weekend and late at night) already had her out of her carrier and in a towel drying her off by the time I got to the office that they had delivered her to. She was wheezing, sneezing, and coughing like crazy. She had been in that water ALL DAY! 4 months old and soaking wet in 40-45 degree temps all day long.

The entire next week I spent in and out of the vet's office battling every single thing you can imagine. Almost needless to say, the little one passed on 8 days after she got here from pneumonia. Her little body just couldn't fight back. And the claim that we have filed with Delta / ASA....they refuse to accept responsibility for. I'm still battling their stupidity over this. $4500 and 6 months later, not including the vet bills and cremation fees.

SIGH!

OMG Now that is a horror story!. I have heard that many pets die being shipped?! Have any of you heard of this? I am so sorry for your little innocent baby. Shame on them! Did you get another pup from the breeder. Was she responsible for some of this, being you never actually had a healthy dog?:mad:

That is a horrible story so sorry for your loss..what a heartbreaking ordeal to have to go through! Butterfly, I'm not sure that "many" dogs die during air transport but I'm sure there are "some". I haven't seen any statistics to back up the claim that "many" die during air transport although I think it would be an important thing to get statistics on...that way people could make an educated decesion on wether to ship dogs by air or not. My last puppy was shipped in TIP TOP shape through Continental. According to their website Continental is TOPS in animal transport, they have a whole page dedicated to their procedures. Another thing my breeder does is to only ship her puppies on NON STOP flights..no layovers. I know this can be difficult sometimes but she feels it's best for the puupies and I agree. My Georgia came to me spic and span.

I'm the shipper of Alphy. I prefer the pups be picked up, but that's not always possible. I've used Delta ever since US Airways discontinued their pet service. The pup must have a health certificate from a licensed vet along with travel restrictions, if any, before the airlines will accept the shipment. I also check the weather reports of where I ship from, any layovers, and the destination to make sure that the weather won't present a problem. I sent a pup to Alaska, it was over 9 1/2 hours and he had to change planes, and another 2 hours prior to flight time. No problems! I was a basket case until I knew the pup had arrived and was picked up, but everything was fine. Of course the pup was scared, but that's normal. I also sent one to Kansas that got stuck during a layover in Atlanta. The new owner called me and was frantic because she couldn't find out any information there. I called Delta, got in touch with Atlanta and found out the plane he was scheduled on had mechanical problems with the air in the cargo department so they wouldn't put the pup on it and held him for the next flight and he had been given water to drink and some TLC. I immediately called the new owner back and she had already received the same information. She had the confirmation number.

I try my hardest to get direct flights but that is not always possible. My next option is pick the best place for changing planes and I go with the smaller airports when ever possible. When we flew to FL last year, we took 2 pups with us. They had to go into the air cargo. Well, we missed the flight but our pups were on it and they changed planes in Charlotte. The next flight we could get would have got us there 6 hours later. When I said that wasn't good and why, they found us a direct flight to Palm Beach, we rented a car and drove to Miami. The pups got there before we did because it took us time to contact the Miami airport to let them know we were driving and even more time to get the rental car. The pups arrived before us and one of the workers gave them some water. She was still with them when we arrived. There are many horror stories about animals flying, but there are many, many more positive experiences. It's kind of like people who are afraid to fly because of accidents when in reality, it's more dangerous to drive your car.

Your story is very long and I know it was very upsetting for you, however, your first mistake, or perhaps I should say Josh's shipper's mistake was not providing you will all the important information, like confirmation number. Ask Tiggerwit what all I emailed her before Alphy was even sent to her. If you did get all that information, then it was your mistake for not having it with you. As for mechanical problems with the plane, it happens. I think your problem was more with the person behind the counter then Delta, and your attitude towards the man who also had a very long day dealing with you. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't make it right the way he treated you. However, on the other hand, you get what your give. As for your identification, I think it was pretty obvious by the time Josh arrived that YOU were the one waiting for him. You had a right to be pissed off but taking it out on someone who has no control of the situation, not good. If it had been me, I would have been on the phone with the breeder, Delta's pet air cargo, the original place where the pup was shipped from, and tried to get the information myself.

As for the experience that alpayton had, that was terrible but I can't see that leaving water in the bowl would have been enough to soak the inside of the kennel, not nearly enough that you could tip the kennel and pour water out. It sounds like it must have been raining during loading or unloading somewhere along the line. And you probably should have politely insisted on a vet seeing your pup before leaving the airport because of the condition he arrived and I would have been on the phone with the breeder right then. I'm so sorry for your loss and expenses.

There was no rain anywhere on the flight course. The bowl they had inside the kennel was HUGE! I have no idea why they put such a huge bowl in there. I still have it.

As for asking for a vet, I thought about it, but honestly, at 9:30 PM on a Saturday when I'm not even dealing with the actual Cargo staff, I'm dealing with the people that are in the baggage claim area because the Cargo dept is closed because it's so late, what do you think my chances of getting anything at all done would have been? Probably about as good as what Josh's chances were, I figured, and since I was over an hour away from home with my 6 year old son with me, I figured the best thing I could do is get the dog on in my car on the way to my house where I knew that I could get ahold of the vet on call in my home town.

As soon as I got to my car which was parked in the parking structure of the airport, I was on my cell phone calling the breeder. I had her listen to the poor little one coughing and told her what had happened. I always call whoever I was receiving the shipment from so that they know I received the dog okay anyway. This time I had to call with not so good news. The entire week following the pup's arrival, I was in touch with the breeder....letting her know of the vet visits and the treatment that was being done, etc.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss and your horrible experience. I know from shipping through Delta that there must be two bowls, one for food and one for water, and they must be attached to the kennel, not just sat inside. The last time I shipped was March 24th. I wasn't able to find the bowls that hook onto the front door of the kennel anywhere so I purchased a small, double bowl but when I got to Delta's air cargo, they wouldn't accept it because it wasn't attached. The guy pulled out small plastic containers they purchased at the dollar store along with plastic ties, put a hole in the container and attached it to the door. Delta's regulations can be found on the Delta Air Cargo website. If the bowl was not attached, I would think you could go back on the breeder/shipper and the Delta cargo place where Josh was shipped from. Did the breeder offer you a replacement pup? If not, in my opinion, she sure should have and if she didn't have any more pups at that time, she should have offered you first pick from the next litter. JMO

When we got Gizmo, he came with just torn newspapers in the crate and two small bowls attached to the door. It was obvious that he had done his business while in the crate. When I ship, I tape a peepee pad on the bottom but also put in a bed of some kind with a a chewy or knee bone, something big enough that there is no possibility of choking and so they don't have to lay directly on the pad. I don't know how other ship their pups, only how I do and how I would want one to arrive if shipped to me. The bowl must have been huge to hold that much water. I just can't even imagine someone doing that. IMO, if it was the breeder/shipper who put the big bowl in the crate, she should share some of the responsibility for Josh's death.

I think your experience is a good teacher for us. In the future, I'm going to recommend that the new owner do a search for an emergency vet near the location where they are picking up their pup and keep the number with them. I've not had a problem, but you just never know. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.

That really sucks. I don't think I would ever ship a pup alone. Those airline employees make minimum wage, so frankly, why would they go beyond their call of duty to take care of puppies? I would, but most woudln't.