30/03/2025
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this. A previous client is posting partial truths, omissions of fact about what happened to them. Unfortunately, I'm forced to share this as her intention is to harm my business and bully me into refunding them my earned fee. I'm very saddened they are so upset, but there is nothing I could have done differently that would have made them happy.
This past week I had a flight cancelled leaving my clients stuck. The airline is a small cargo company based out of Miami, they provide an invaluable service of shipping animals safe and professionally, with no restriction on size or temperatures. One of my clients had a dog too tall to travel on American Airlines so they had their parents drive their dog from North Carolina to Miami, where the flight ended up being cancelled and left without an answer as to when the flight would be rescheduled. I assured them it would be rebooked I was 100% confident in that, and it would happen as quickly as possible, but we had to wait for the details. The airline really doesn't communicate with me any better than anyone else unfortunately, but they try to do their best and it always ends up positive, always. With the parents now being in Miami with the dog, I suggested they go to the facility the following morning and see if they can proceed with check in and hopefully get the new flight time. At no point was the flight rebooked and cancelled a second time as they reported, we simply were in a holding pattern hoping for a flight time. They decided over the course of the day to call Amerijet and try to get answers, at one point they were even hung up on according to them, this is not a professional way for the airline to handle things but does speak to my client’s disposition. Of course, I was also calling but no answers yet and I've learned over the many years I've done this to just be patient. I encouraged them to be patient also I suggested an extremely reputable kennel for $20 a night awaiting the flight and allow the parents to go home. I’ve used the kennel countless times over the years to coordinate pet logistics. My client adamantly refused this option and insisted they wanted to cancel and send the parents back home with their dog. I explained this would be the only way to get their dog to Belize unless they drove or private charter. It made no sense to me for them to drive all that way with the expense they incurred to just go back when the flight would still be going as soon as possible. Nevertheless, It is their decision.
They then requested a refund, I refunded the prepaid customs fee and the BAHA import fee without question. My fee, however, I needed to contemplate because at this point, they had become very difficult, including nasty phones calls and messages telling me I had done nothing at all and I’m a money grabber. I secretly was hoping they would change their mind once the flight was rebooked. In regards to the refund, I explained how much time is spent on the administration portion of the trip for weeks leading up to departure. There is a tremendous amount of detail, fact gathering, paper pushing, forms and logistics that take countless hours to make this all come together seamlessly. I also pointed out that if she had gone with one of the larger shippers, they would have charged 4k and no refund or discussion about it. I’m able to keep my fees low because it is just me, I don’t have the overhead the larger companies have. I finally told her once the flight was complete, I would make my decision on the refund. I needed to calm myself down as they had been very difficult and I had so much time going over this with them, so I wanted to think about it with a calm professional mind. The communication was never lacking on my part as they stated, the what’s app messages alone are pages and pages. Obviously, communication slowed as they started posting discrediting me, cancelled plus the communication had become futile and repetitive. They continued to make slanderous posts that are full of omissions and mistruths. It was clear a refund would not de-escalate the situation, they had already posted so much and tried to hurt my business. I told them I would not be issuing a refund.
They also mentioned my poor communication regarding precheck in, again I told them the exact same time the airline informed me which was last minute. The airline requested they come the night before for precheck. It is usually 3 hours prior to check in but I hadn’t received the departure time yet to inform them of the precheck time. When they arrived the night before for precheck the facility was actually closed and nobody answered my call or theirs, this was strange. But, then a few minutes later I got the message that the flight was cancelled, which explained why nobody was there. On another minor issue, I had given them the BAHA importation guidelines to go over with their vet many weeks earlier. They did not follow my instructions and a few days prior to departure I realize one of the 6 vaccines was outdated. BAHA may or may not have fined them for it, I was going to pay the fine if it were a problem. That was my oversite as well, I didn’t catch the expiration earlier. I told them and sent a very detailed email with disclosures and information, including the fact that Amerijet cancels and delays and that they should be prepared for this.
In the end the flight flew out less than 72 hours later than originally scheduled, without her dog on the flight. I did have others on this flight, they experienced the exact same set of circumstances and handled it very patiently and respectfully. They understood the flight schedule was out of my hands, the communication from the airline was limited and I was in a holding pattern along with them. I also had to free my schedule up until the flight was scheduled so I could go to the airport at a moment’s notice.
I’m the only licensed shipper in Belize, it costs me a great deal of money to be licensed, I’m bound to ethics and professional standards. It is very important for me to have happy customers, it hurts me to the core when they aren’t or something like this happens. I’m very sorry for what happened to them, but I had not control and they were just beyond consolable. They were unable to understand that I had done a tremendous amount of work and had earned my worth. The anger in opinion is misplaced, this is simply about them wanting the money back.
🐾The photos below are of the dog I shipped on the same flight🐾
