CanadianInGasgow

Hi Guys,

Looking for some advice. I used a freight forwarder to ship my cat from glasgow to vancouver last month. Originally we had a date set with them, only at the last minute they advised i needed a customs broker to clear the cat in vancouver (they forgot to mention it), therefore had to reschedule. The day the cat was flying my dad dropped him off with the freight forwarder, turns out not all the paperwork was in order (we had got everything they asked for and asked numerous times whether anything else was required) the freight forwarding company took it upon themselves to have a vet come down to the airport and sign the cat off to fly. They now want me to pay for these costs, i feel as though i paid for them to do a job and they botched it by not checking all the paperwork required and is their fault they had to get a vet down there.......am i in the wrong ?
tried to address this with them and got the cheekiest email back from the branch manager

Engineer_abroad

What does the contract say that you signed with the freight forwarder? What does it list as their and your responsibilities in relation to paperwork?

CanadianInGasgow

I was never sent a contract. They asked for a list of paperwork. We provided everything that was on the list

JonboyE

Most airlines require a certificate of fitness to fly signed off by a vet less than 72 (?) hours before the flight. If it did not have one, and the freight forwarders arranged this, then I think they have helped you out.

CanadianInGasgow

Is it not the company's responsibility to ask me for all the relevant paperwork and then review it when sent ?

Aviator

No. Freight forwarders are used to dealing with clients who know what they are doing. Any consignment we send to a forwarder already has completed documents. If anything is missing, it will be held in customs on arrival (at the shippers expense), if the relevant docs are not or cannot be supplied, the shipment is then returned or destroyed at the shippers expense.

The shipper is responsible to prepare all the paperwork and provide necessary documentation for their shipment before it goes to the freight forwarder (and to know they need a broker to clear their shipment on arrival).

It seems like the error was yours for not finding out what you need to do and not providing the relevant docs. You may want to thank them for taking care of it and be pleased they may have saved you a while load of grief and expense.

CanadianInGasgow

Fair enough. Thanks for the info. I just assumed that they were responsible for telling me what is required by the airline as they are the ones dealing with them directly.

CanadianInGasgow

Although:

when an company puts this line in an email "Don’t worry, we will take care of all the export custom and paperwork for you"

It would lead me to believe that they would be checking all paperwork was in order, no ?

Engineer_abroad

This is why I asked about the contract (could be verbal). Unless you are paying them to act as a consultant and advise you then you are normally responsible for ensuring all paperwork required is supplied.

CanadianInGasgow

👍🏻

Aviator

If that is the case, that may change things. However if they refuse to accommodate your request, you need to find what alternative course of action you can take and how much effort it is worth.

CanadianInGasgow

Sorry I should have been clearer. I have already shipped the cat. However I'm just in 2 minds about and extra bill they have sent me for having a vet attend the airport. I have paid all the other bills. It was just my understanding from them that they asked for a list a paperwork for the cat, who was at the vet the day before his flight and two previous times in the month. We sent them everything they asked for and it seems the airline wanted something else from the vet, which was never communicated to me. I still can't even get an answer as to what the vet did. Just sent me the bill

Engineer_abroad

If it was the airline that wanted the extra piece of paper then the freight forwarder would probably just say it was outside of its control. That being said they should of gained your permission before proceeding.

Siouxie

A simple search would have bought up the requirement to have a 'fit to fly' certificate - it's pretty standard - but I understand that as you were using a freight forwarder you perhaps didn't think it necessary to double check it yourself.

A freight forwarder - presuming they were used to 'shipping' pets - should have been fully aware of the requirement as well and notified you of this beforehand. If they weren't used to shipping pets, I would have thought they would have double checked the requirement as well.

I would be loath to pay the bill on the basis that they assured you that they would 'take care of everything' for the price quoted, but didn't notify you of the requirement.

As to having to have a customs broker to release the cat, that strikes me as very odd. I'm pretty sure you could have cleared the cat at customs yourself when you went to collect it, as others have done when they shipped their animals 'cargo'.

Was it one of the 'Pet' companies that does this regularly?

HGerchikov

Although I do see your point. I would be inclined to just pay the bill and get on with your new life. Moving is expensive anyway, this is an additional cost, but presumably relatively small in proportion to your other costs. So take the lesson that relying totally on information provided by someone else is probably unwise, pay and move on. Life's too short for the hassle.