Frequently Asked Questions

Since I have had occasional emails with questions that are not addressed on the transship pages, I have decided to start a compilation of those questions here.  Hopefully this will help answer any questions that someone may have that are not already addressed on the transship pages so that I do not have to try and explain the same thing over in separate emails but can instead direct people here.

QUESTION:  For clarification, basically this is how the process works:  I win the bid on an auction;  The seller uses you as an available Trans-Shipper;  I pay the seller for the Item ( Betta );  I inform the seller that I want you as my Trans-Shipper;  He will ship my fish directly to you;  You send me an Invoice ( Bill );  I then pay you; You then send me my fish ?

ANSWER: Yes

QUESTION: Do you build a file for us as your customers ?
Such as little things , such as , I personally can only receive U.P.S. on
Saturdays , as its the only guaranteed day I'm home ?

ANSWER: No.  I handle each shipment on a shipment by shipment basis as there are too many customers for me to build files for.  Information can change at any time so it is the customer's responsibility to inform me of the shipping address at the time of shipment.  I already have a set shipping schedule for days that I ship.  However I can work with a customer who has a schedule conflict.  If the customer's schedule is such that they can only receive fish on the weekend and by a shipping service not quoted on the transship page, then I will have to quote them a separate fee from that shipping service (example: UPS) and include travel expense to the facility since it is also not a scheduled shipping day.  My policies are set such to maintain reasonable transship fees for all customers.  Therefore I have designated shipping days to cut back on trips back and forth to the P.O., etc.

QUESTION:  Is the seller of an auction responsible for notification to you as my
Trans-Shipper that I have won an auction , or do I have to let you
know to expect a shipment coming in for me ?

ANSWER: Yes.  I get a list from the Sellers containing the customer's names & emails (not always addresses) once the fish have actually shipped.  You have to understand that things can happen, for example the fish gets sick and the Seller has to delay sending the fish.  So it is not necessary to send me info prior to the fish actually shipping from Thailand.  In the case the fish gets sick or dies before shipping, the Seller should contact you directly.  Another reason I have the shipment date posted on the transship page.  If shipment day arrives and you do not receive an invoice from me then you would need to contact the Seller to determine the reason for your fish not being included in the shipment.  I can't stress enough to customers that until the fish arrives here physically, I have no control over the fish.

 QUESTION:  Do you have to sign for my item when it has arrived ?
I ask this because , should the seller be late on shipment , then the
refund/replacement should fall upon the seller and not your responsibility
, how is this portion handled ? Will I still be required to pay you your
fees , or are they waived and applied towards the replacement?

ANSWER: Yes. If your fish does not ship it IS the responsibility of the Seller and not me to refund your money and/or to deal with you directly on that matter, I am not involved with that aspect of the transaction.  If your fish does not arrive, no invoice for fees will be sent.  I only invoice for fish that arrive here to me and I don't invoice until they arrive for reasons stated above.

QUESTION:  The way I understood the web page you directed me to , you take care of
any and all U.S. Customs paperwork, documentation , (correct me if I'm
wrong) I as a customer will receive a copy of paperwork showing proof
of entrance of product as well as the paperwork stating that my fish
was/is in an acceptable condition , health wise,etc. according to the
U.S.Customs guidelines (U.S.D.A. Approval), correct ?

ANSWER: No.  The USDA is not involved with handling of the fish, US Fish & Wildlife are.  Your proof that they have passed and are acceptable is the fish in your mailbox.  I don't get them unless they pass inspection from US Fish & Wildlife.  I am not going to add more fees to the transship fees to cover copying expenses for the documents that I receive, nor am I going to forward these documents to customers.  With over a hundred fish arriving each time this is simply unreasonable.  Please for further detail on this question.

QUESTION:  Please give me an example of a typical shipment arrival consisting of
1 fish , including all charges , assuming everyone worked together. Do
not include any boarding fees allocated on my part .

ANSWER: There are never any shipments consisting of only 1 fish.  It costs the Thai Exporter minimally $150 US Dollars to ship one box of fish alone via Air Cargo, no matter if the box has 1 or one hundred fish.  Secondly, I would not accept one fish in a shipment as the transship fees would not cover the expense of Air Cargo fee & Inspection fee (not to mention time & gas) that are required to be paid from me to pick up the fish.  In order for customers to have the fees set at the prices they are, the shipments must be large enough to cover the expenses for both the Exporter and the Importer.  The fees are broken down on the transship page "per fish" so that customers can see their total beforehand.

QUESTION: Do you have any customer references ?

ANSWER: I will not give out customers emails to anyone else for privacy purposes.  I do have a feedback page on my website that you can view by clicking HERE.  Some of these customers are also transship customers as well.

Not a Question for this statement but an FYI for customers.  I do not save the literally hundreds of emails that I get regarding the transship fish.  Why?  Because there is no guarantee your fish will be in the box once the shipment arrives and it would clog up my email as I receive tons of emails regarding transships.  I deal with shipments on a shipment by shipment basis, as this is the only reasonable way to handle the transships.   Any relevant information needs to be conveyed to me (example: shipping day and shipping address) at the time payment of transship fees are made.  I print out the Paypal payments for each customer and write down any relevant information to insure that the fish gets delivered to the appropriate place at the appropriate time on these print outs.  Thanks :o)