>Back to the topic of on line auctions.  I just received a bill from DHL (the
>new worldwide shipper competing with UPS and FedEx) for a US Fish & Game
>inspection of four shells I won at a recent auction.  This $25 fee increased
>my $10 shells by enough to make such a venture not worthwhile if this
>continues.  In a similar vein, a shipment last month arrived with the shells
>all loose and unprotected in the box.  It had been opened by customs who
>destroyed "packages of live snails," and then threw the rest back in the box
>without benefit of putting them back into the bubble wrap or even the zip
>lock bags in some cases!  The "live snails" they destroyed were some smelly
>nerites that had been collected and soaked in alcohol so I could confirm the
>opercs that went with the shells.  They were shipped "dry" and had begun to
>smell, as dead snails will.  A very irritating development...

Apparently DHL is a German outfit, at least so I've heard. I have had
no problems with them (so far... touching my head).

What happened to you is similar to what a Slovenian friend tells me
happens repeatedy to him, by his Customs critters, except that he
finds the shells systematically smashed.

The worst I have had is to receive notes from our Ministry of
Agriculture & Forestry or whatever the Dept is called on the
particular week, saying that there are "smelly" shells and do I want
them fumigated (at my expense), returned or destroyed? Last time the
smelly shells were not smelly...

I suggest that next time you need such specimens to be sent, have a
large clear notice placed in the box stating what has been done to
them, and better if they have been fixed with formalin. That won't
help with the bad handling, but I also suggest you make a formal
complaint.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
<[log in to unmask]>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut

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