Cham stolen during the shipping process?

Lancecham

New Member
Here is the situation:
I shipped a cham on Monday. I followed up with my customer on Tuesday morning. He stated there was no cham in the box. He stated the heat pack and shredded newspaper were inside the box, but no cham.
The cham was secured inside a snake bag. The customer states there was no snake bag in the box.
The box was not damaged in any way.
I am 100% positive I put the cham in the box. I remember it distinctly. I doubled checked and the cham was not in any of my cages. I know I shipped it. Again, I am 100% postive I put it in the box.
The customer picked the box up at a FedEx hub.

SO where did the cham go?
The only options are that the customer is not telling the truth. Or it was taken from the box by a FedEx employee during the shipping process. I personally dropped it off at the same location that I ship most of my chams from(FedEX hub). The customer states the box my have been tampered with and the bottom of the box may have been opened up and then resealed. From what I can see in the picture of the box, it does not appear that the box was tampered with, but it is hard to tell from the pics.

You can imagine how I feel. To make matters worse, the customer is not being too cooperative. I told him Tuesday morning that I would check my inventory when I got home in the evening. Less than a hour later, has filed a claim with paypal which I was able to get resolved then he appealed it.

The insurance does not cover this situation. I have been communication via emails letting my customer know what I am doing to resolve the situation.

I am not writing this to bash anyone, but rather, I would like to get people's opinion on is how this should be eventually resolved. Do I just return his money, do I give him a partial refund, no refund? or what?
What do you think is fair?
 
If the customer is being hard to deal with, I would not trust them. I doubt that anyone in Fedex would tamper with a box to rob a chameleon. In my opinion, the customer most likely received the chameleon and is now trying to get it for free. I have received a package from you before and know that the chameleon cannot escape from the bag and/or box as it is perfectly packaged.
I would not give a refund, even if it is partial as this sounds way to unreal to happen. Again, i highly doubt anyone at Fedex would open the box to steal a chameleon. It's the first time i hear of such thing. And if the customer is a forum member, what a shame if you are trying to steal.
 
Sounds like bullshit to me. It wouldn't surprise the guy just wants a free chameleon by claiming "no cham in the box" story. Sorry to read your problem Lancecham.
 
surely not thats crazy how expensive was the cham is this a mid sized rip off or a giant one is what id ask myself your decision should depend on the size of your loss. did they sign for it? if they did dont that change everything? idk just thinking aloud.
 
Heres my perspective. I can't imagine in the history of chameleon shipping when someone is shipping a single chameleon to a person that they would get the box ready, throw in heat packs... and then just seal the box up and actually ship it with no chameleon in it.

You have sold chams to others (quite a few, I believe?) so I just... don't think you forgot to put it in the box. I think you would notice an extra mouth to feed around and I dont think you would put the cham in the bag or whatever you used and not tape it shut right away so I doubt it would have had time to climb away.

As for someone stealing it along the way... unlikely but not impossible. I have had things shipped from other places that were opened up, shuffled through. I have had random things go missing from packages before... hell - not long ago i shipped a ps3 to a forum member - went out for delivery...never got delivered. I am still fighting for my insurance money months later. Needless to say - who would be working and open up a box - find a chameleon and go "hey, no one will notice this missing... and i can just put it in my pocket till im off work!"

Sooo I have to believe that this person is just trying to get a free cham (sorry whoever you are, no offense but it seems pretty sketchy).. Plus if you told him you were going to check and then he tried to file a claim behind your back..

I am sorry this sort of stress is being put on you..not cool. I HATE it when things are out of my control in a situation similar to this (for example my ps3 that went out for delivery and never got delivered).

And just a note to this person - if you did lie, if you did get the chameleon and you are just trying to get your money back because youre broke or something... You could have tried to work out a better deal before hand, or you could have cancelled your order I'm sure.. or if you just dont like it now that you have it in person - pony up the money to ship him back (appropriately of course) and ask for a refund.

Or if you just need money to take care of the cham itself.. maybe just admit it and ask for some help? I know sometimes money can put us in situations we normally wouldn't be in.

Oh yeah and to answer your question... No refund at this point.
 
I can't believe it! I know the world is full of them but it shock me to realize how shallow people can be!:-(
That's a bummer!! I would hardly believe the fed ex guy took the Cham.. Nobody will risk their job doing something so stupid!
 
It strikes me as an unusual coincidence that someone chooses to take a chameleon over anything else. Taking an animal seems like a pain in the butt, since it moves and wiggles in your pocket/bag. It's easier if you were to steal to take something you know the value of, like a PS3, jewelry, electronics, etc.

Possible but strikes me as unusual.
I'm not sure what you should do, because you can never really prove that the customer has it and is trying to scam you, but you can't prove definitively that their story isn't true. Sorry that you're in this position!
 
If it is a forum member, then ask him to show his identity to us( he should if he is telling the truth) and we will see if any members live close by and he has to let us come to his house and make sure he has no chameleon living there! Then you can refund the money! I think it would be a hassle to move all the chameleon cage, accessories, out of the house and back again! I know this is stupid, cause if he read this he is probably calling his friends and asking if he can bring the chameleon over! What I am trying to say here, is I think he got the cham and is not being honest! jmo. on another note, if fedex employee did steal, well they have no idea what they got themselves into taking on a chameleon!
 
Sounds like we have to screen our customers before we ship them a chameleon. I would be hesitant to ship to a new member without referances. Forum members who have been on here for a while would think twice before pulling a stunt like this on another member. I hate to judge people I don't know, but a fed-ex employee would lose his job if he were caught so its highly unlikely it was them. I am glad you posted this for a warning to others & sorry you find yourself in this awkward situation. I just hope the chameleon is in a good place.
 
Really sorry to hear about this situation... I think that the fact that the customer is not cooperative is quite indicative. Why would they not try to work with you if the chameleon was really missing from the box? Anybody who was truly interested in receiving that chameleon would worry more about the fact that it was missing rather than getting an immediate refund from paypal.

The only time something similar happened to me (with other merchandise, not animals) the customer claimed the package was never received and we sent a replacement item. Since they had serial numbers, the "missing item" turned out at a different location months later. The new owner stated they had purchased the item from the same guy that was so prompt in requesting a replacement or an immediate refund...

In regard to your question whether to issue a refund or not, if you do not have a clear policy about similar circumstances (and honestly, why should you?!?) eventually it comes down to what makes most sense for you.... If you issue a refund, you are short a cham but will not have to deal with this person anymore. If you do not issue a refund (or send a replacement animal, which sounds absolutely not a good idea), you may have to fight with this person's appeal, etc.
 
Personally I have purchased and had live pets shipped and never once had any type of problem. They have arrived via UPS, Fed Ex and USPS. Not one time were they delivered after 10:30 am next day or were there any signs of package damage. I have never even heard of something like this happening and highly recommend these shippers and live overnight shipping with them. I have on occasion heard of late shipments and a very occasional pet dying due to a late shipment.... But never ever have I heard of a pet not being in the box!!! I honestly find it hard to believe. I would be consulting with the police in filing a theft report.

I have not been a member of this forum long... however I have been around the block more then a few times. This does not sound right and I would not be making any type of refund!
 
I really doubt fed ex had anything to do with this but anything is possible after watching that video of the driver delivering that computer monitor. Hopefully someone gets to the truth soon.
 
Thanks all for the comments.
I really appreciate all of them. I have never been in this situation before and am not sure what to do. From what paypal told me, since the customer has appealed the claim, the customer has 3 days to file a police report. SO the saga continues.
Here is the box in question. You can faintly see the tape mark and it looks taped exactly as I prepared it.
 

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I don't see any sign in the photo that the bottom tape was tampered with. I will be curious to see if a police report is filed.
 
i think he is bull jiving you but then again you did ship through fed ex and if you haven't seen that video running around now i would. you can't trust fed ex!!!
 
Why would the guy take a picture of the box before going in to it to see if the chams in there ??? Seems like he planned this out thinking he would get a free Cham but it's back fired on him don't refund mate !!!


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.380270,0.187277

I think he took the picture after the fact, atleast I am assuming that is what happened. That is the bottom of the box. I would open the top, not the bottom.
 
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