Warning - Talon Distribution

KyleSS · #1 03-20-2017, 07:13 AM

I am posting this as I know there are outfitters as well as others that may need to ship something and I would hate for them to have to go through what we did.

On Sept 30 2016 our client harvested a bull elk of a life time with his bow. It was a moment that I am sure will live with him for ever. Due to the size of the antlers the bull could not travel back with him to the US.

We talked about him having it mounted up here but when he flew home he did take his cape and he really wanted to have the cape mounted with his antlers as opposed to buying a cape; and rightfully so.

It was decided that he would employ the services of a local taxidermist to prep the skull for shipping, build a crate, and deliver it to a shipper that would handle the paper work of getting it to our client. All of that was done in a very professional and timely matter.

Due to some scheduling circumstances the bull would not be shipped prior to the 60 day drying period and I was able to pick up the bull for a couple days and have it officially scored prior to shipping.

Up until this point everything was going as planned.

Some time in the second week of January I got a phone call from the taxidermist asking if I had spoke to my client lately. I had not spoken to him so the taxidermist informed me that the crate containing the elk skull and antlers had suffered significant damage at a shipping facility in the US. I immediately called my client and had a chat with him. At that point he had not been to the facility to see the damage. A couple days later he made it down and sent me the pictures that I will attach below. The one antler had been completely broken off from the skull plate and one tine had the tip of the tine broken off. Although it's not an ideal situation; it is far better than I imagined. When I first heard of the situation I thought the antlers and skull were in 87 pieces; luckily that was not the case. Immediately talks were initiated between the client, taxidermist, and the shipper Dale Warren of Talon Distribution.

It turns out that at one of the shipping facilities, someone set a 2000lb crate on top of our clients crate. The weight of the crate collapsed our clients crate thus damaging the crate and the antlers inside.

Please note that myself, my client, and my taxidermist all understand that sometime unfortunate events do happen. The problem lies in how the situation was handled and what was compensated.

The following is what I was told by my client and I did not hear it fist hand but I do have a few emails that back this up.

1) To my understanding Talon Distribution as paid to do the paper work to get the animal to the client in the US.
2) To my understanding he does not own freight trucks so he was responsible for securing 3rd party freight trucks. The taxidermist delivered him a sound and solid crate in perfect condition containing an intact set of elk antlers and skull plate.
3) Dale did advise my client that it would be cheaper if he split the skull plate but my client decided to pay the increased cost of shipping an intact skull plate and antlers.
4) Initially it is my understanding that Dale told my client that he would be reimbursed the cost of the shipping, the cost of the crate, and the cost to fix the elk antlers so they could be mounted. This sounded fair and all parties were happy.
5) As talks progressed Dale communicated to my client that Talon was paid to get the elk antlers from Alberta to the US; he did that so the cost of shipping was justified.
6) Also, crates get damaged during shipping so that is not Talon's fault.
7) The shipping companies insurance covers the cost of freight up to $2 per pound, the crate with antlers were 240 lbs, so their insurance would cover $480 US. Some how the check ended up totaling $434 US
8) If my client got an estimate to fix the antlers then Dale would cover the difference between the insurance cost and the total to fix.
9) Total to fix estimate came in at $760.86 so that means Talon was going to pay an additional $326.86 US for the repairs.

Now let me note that this is not about the money and my client isn't upset about that. He is upset about how Dale said one thing and then over the next few weeks changed his answer about what he was going to cover. Further more the statement made by Dale to the tune of, and I'm paraphrasing here, I was paid to get your antlers from Alberta to you in the US, you have your antlers, I did my job. Well that really didn't sit well with anyone.

My client has filed a complaint with the BBB and is working with them to get that complain on their record.

I just wanted to let fellow outdoorsmen the series of events that took place should they ever need to ship something that maybe they should choose someone other than Talon Distribution.

waterhaulerhunter · #2 03-20-2017, 07:32 AM

Sorry about your experience but I have always had the complete opposite experience with Dale along with a lot of other people we know that use him lots. Fast good communication, what we thought were fair prices to deal with paperwork we didn't want to, and anytime there were problems with shipping he dealt with them.

KyleSS · #3 03-20-2017, 07:41 AM

The prices were not the problem. The issues was with what he initially told the client he would do for him and then he changed his stance and supplemented our client much less than he anticipated.

In the end Dale secured the 3rd party freight company so he is ultimately responsible. Why should my client have to pay for a service he never received?

My client was aware of the additional costs of shipping the skull whole and that wasn't a problem. He did not receive his skull whole so why should he still have to pay for that service?

waterhaulerhunter · #4 03-20-2017, 07:46 AM

Like I said sorry for your client. I'm just simply stating myself and a lot of people I know have had zero issues with Dale, and when problems did arise he dealt with very well in our eyes. You had your experience and I've had mine. Just simply stating it. Also there's two sides to the story I'm sure, pretty tough to pass judgment until you here his side as well.

Pathfinder76 · #5 03-20-2017, 07:49 AM

We are posting this over $300?

Did you recommend Dale? Maybe you should pick up the tab? Did the client not follow the recommendation of Dale? Maybe he should pick up the tab. And what about the idiot that actually caused the damage? Maybe he should pick up the tab.

Pathfinder76 · #6 03-20-2017, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyleSS

The prices were not the problem. The issues was with what he initially told the client he would do for him and then he changed his stance and supplemented our client much less than he anticipated.

In the end Dale secured the 3rd party freight company so he is ultimately responsible. Why should my client have to pay for a service he never received?

My client was aware of the additional costs of shipping the skull whole and that wasn't a problem. He did not receive his skull whole so why should he still have to pay for that service?

Come on. Really?

KyleSS · #7 03-20-2017, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck

Come on. Really?

What do you mean by that?

Someone paid for a service, they did not receive the service; why should they still have to pay for the service?

Pathfinder76 · #8 03-20-2017, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyleSS

What do you mean by that?

Someone paid for a service, they did not receive the service; why should they still have to pay for the service?

What service did they pay for?

35 whelen · #9 03-20-2017, 11:22 AM

Most taxidermist can fix skull plates as we used to cut them all the time and Caribou camps the only reason he might wanted in hole was to get it officially scored by Pope and young or Boone and Crockett

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TalonDistribution · #10 03-20-2017, 12:38 PM

Good Day all ... Kyle, we understand your frustration as well as your clients frustration with regards to the Elk Antlers, and Yes when your client and I spoke initially we did give your client some incorrect information due to the damages and what we thought at the time we would be able to recover for him. We haven't had a damaged shipment for some time, we must have shipped a thousand shipments without damages and we should have done a little homework prior to the conversation with the client, my fault and I take full responsibility, our deepest apologies ... the end result, without boring everybody is this!

We asked your client to take the antlers to his regular Taxidermist and provide us with a quotation to fix the antlers, we received a couple of estimates here in Canada from well respected taxidermists, his Taxidermist came in 30% more .. which is OK, we sent a check to cover the quotation. The client was planning on a shoulder mount Elk, therefore, once the mount is completed ... the only people who would have known of the disaster would have been, the Taxidermist, the client .. myself and now all of you.

We have total confidence the client's taxidermist will repair the antlers back to original form, according to experts in the field, it would have been a fairly easy fix.

Now as for the damages, one of the fork lift Drivers placed a 2,000 Lb package on top of our crate when the shipment was in route to the customer ... the carrier in question has delivered over 500 crates in the past 10 months without incident. As for Kyle and his customer, were sorry for the inconvenience,we know the importance of these shipments and we do our very best to transport them in a safe and timely manner, if anybody has questions and/or problems with our services, please feel free to e-mail us anytime, we are pretty easy to find and we will reply as quickly as we can.
Sincerely,

Dale Warren
President of Talon Distribution Ltd

KyleSS · #11 03-20-2017, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TalonDistribution

Good Day all ... Kyle, we understand your frustration as well as your clients frustration with regards to the Elk Antlers, and Yes when your client and I spoke initially we did give your client some incorrect information due to the damages and what we thought at the time we would be able to recover for him. We haven't had a damaged shipment for some time, we must have shipped a thousand shipments without damages and we should have done a little homework prior to the conversation with the client, my fault and I take full responsibility, our deepest apologies ... the end result, without boring everybody is this!

We asked your client to take the antlers to his regular Taxidermist and provide us with a quotation to fix the antlers, we received a couple of estimates here in Canada from well respected taxidermists, his Taxidermist came in 30% more .. which is OK, we sent a check to cover the quotation. The client was planning on a shoulder mount Elk, therefore, once the mount is completed ... the only people who would have known of the disaster would have been, the Taxidermist, the client .. myself and now all of you.

We have total confidence the client's taxidermist will repair the antlers back to original form, according to experts in the field, it would have been a fairly easy fix.

Now as for the damages, one of the fork lift Drivers placed a 2,000 Lb package on top of our crate when the shipment was in route to the customer ... the carrier in question has delivered over 500 crates in the past 10 months without incident. As for Kyle and his customer, were sorry for the inconvenience,we know the importance of these shipments and we do our very best to transport them in a safe and timely manner, if anybody has questions and/or problems with our services, please feel free to e-mail us anytime, we are pretty easy to find and we will reply as quickly as we can.
Sincerely,

Dale Warren
President of Talon Distribution Ltd

Dale,

I do appreciate your professional comment and maybe I'm at fault here for not contacting you directly; but from talking with my client it seems that communication was going no where.

The questions that I have are as follows and maybe you can comment on them.

1) Why did you not follow through with your initial commitment as the client seemed to be satisfied with your proposed resolution of refunding the cost of shipping, cost of crate, and cost of repair?
2) The client payed an increased cost of shipping for an intact skull to be delivered to him; he did not receive an intact skull. What was the increased price he payed for?

Thank you.

TalonDistribution · #12 03-20-2017, 01:33 PM

John_R1 .. Agreed, the client hire Talon, Talon is responsible to make it right and yes .. Talon paid to repair the antlers, and yes the antlers moved from point A to Point B. The final result is the client has his antlers and they are as back to original form, under the circumstances .. best we can do. Now we could have taken the small print on the back of the waybill like all other parties do and paid the client 1/2 the cost of the repairs and been totally legal.

KyleSS, Kyle I'm not exactly sure what you and/or your client is looking for, the antlers are/or are being repaired back to there original form at no expense to your customer. We are very sorry, but this is the best we can do for your client.

Regards

Dale Warren

Mike_W · #13 03-20-2017, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyleSS

Dale,

I do appreciate your professional comment and maybe I'm at fault here for not contacting you directly; but from talking with my client it seems that communication was going no where.

The questions that I have are as follows and maybe you can comment on them.

1) Why did you not follow through with your initial commitment as the client seemed to be satisfied with your proposed resolution of refunding the cost of shipping, cost of crate, and cost of repair?
2) The client payed an increased cost of shipping for an intact skull to be delivered to him; he did not receive an intact skull. What was the increased price he payed for?
Thank you.

So I have zero iron in the fire but just curious how the script would be flipped.

Now I assume you are an outfitter or guide now lets say you put a client up in a nice hotel and cover his meals, room ect. If there was a problem with the room would you refund the cost of the trip or partial refund or if your client was in a accident in the shuttle you arranged from the airport causing him to miss part of his trip?

There isn't a right answer I'm just asking on how you would treat a situation out of your control?

In regards to Talon I don't think he should have to refund the full shipping cost personally but if he told your client he was going to refund him which it seems he is saying he did then he should step up and fulfill his promise.

calgarychef · #14 03-20-2017, 02:02 PM

Will somebody please close this thread, it's gone beyond its best before date already.

Pathfinder76 · #15 03-20-2017, 02:50 PM

If he refunds the shipping cost then imo he has no obligation to fix the antlers. The "premium" cost to ship the skull intact would be for the increase in parcel size I'm guessing. If he is footing the bill for repair refunding shipping costs would be ludicrous and imo completely dishonest of the client to request.

MK2750 · #16 03-20-2017, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TalonDistribution

Good Day all ... Kyle, we understand your frustration as well as your clients frustration with regards to the Elk Antlers, and Yes when your client and I spoke initially we did give your client some incorrect information due to the damages and what we thought at the time we would be able to recover for him. We haven't had a damaged shipment for some time, we must have shipped a thousand shipments without damages and we should have done a little homework prior to the conversation with the client, my fault and I take full responsibility, our deepest apologies ... the end result, without boring everybody is this!

We asked your client to take the antlers to his regular Taxidermist and provide us with a quotation to fix the antlers, we received a couple of estimates here in Canada from well respected taxidermists, his Taxidermist came in 30% more .. which is OK, we sent a check to cover the quotation. The client was planning on a shoulder mount Elk, therefore, once the mount is completed ... the only people who would have known of the disaster would have been, the Taxidermist, the client .. myself and now all of you.

We have total confidence the client's taxidermist will repair the antlers back to original form, according to experts in the field, it would have been a fairly easy fix.

Now as for the damages, one of the fork lift Drivers placed a 2,000 Lb package on top of our crate when the shipment was in route to the customer ... the carrier in question has delivered over 500 crates in the past 10 months without incident. As for Kyle and his customer, were sorry for the inconvenience,we know the importance of these shipments and we do our very best to transport them in a safe and timely manner, if anybody has questions and/or problems with our services, please feel free to e-mail us anytime, we are pretty easy to find and we will reply as quickly as we can.
Sincerely,

Dale Warren
President of Talon Distribution Ltd

You went above and beyond IMO and there is no way you should forfeit the shipping cost. I will recommend and use your services if needed.

35 whelen · #17 03-20-2017, 01:07 PM

Great job that's how I would expect all companies to deal with the situation if I ever need your business you'll get mine

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nube · #18 03-20-2017, 01:26 PM

Dale does a great job and I wouldn't hesitate to use him again. Sometimes crap happens. It sounds like he spoke too soon when it all started out before he had figured things out. i can't fault a guy for doing his best in the situation for all involved and changing his mind on how to proceed