WAB
AH ambassador
Well I've been waiting to post this thread until the fat lady had sung. The shipment from our 2019 Zimbabwe safari with CMS finally left Harare early this year. The work had been done in Zim by Collett's Wildlife Artistry. For those naysayers on African taxidermy, Steve Collett is a Rhodesian trained in the US, and his work is some of the best in my trophy room. Anyway, back to the story at hand. This shipment routed to Johannesburg for shipment via Turkish airlines from JoBurg to Atlanta. I was notified of the Atlanta arrival and agricultural hold early this summer and then nothing.
My agent in Atlanta is Coppersmith Global Logistics. They advised patience as shipping and warehouse management is challenging at the moment. However, after 3 months and no sign of the cargo despite repeated inquiries with TA, we realized that we were likely dealing with a truly lost cargo and began to prepare ourselves for a claim. I engaged both Michael Coppesmith and Steve Collett in the search and told them to let Turkish Airlines know that the claim to be filed would be for the full cost of two safaris (my wife and I), flights and taxidermy. Turkish Airlines attempted a deflection, claiming that the shipment had been picked up by a trucking company. Coppersmith would have none of it by pressuring for the release paperwork which could not be produced. Eventually pressure from Jo'Burg and Atlanta forced the airline into letting Coppersmith's trucking company manager inspect the warehouse. Amazingly, the trucking company manager found the shipment in Turkish Airlines warehouse last week.
A huge shout out to Coppersmith Global Logistics and Collett's Wildlife Artistry for jumping into the fray and sorting this out. I was not looking forward to telling my wife that her buffalo had been lost!
On a side note, Delta is shipping trophies again but will not handle the Big 5. I have a large shipment in Jo'Burg ready to go from two other safaris. Rest assured that Turkish Airlines will not get their hands on it!
My agent in Atlanta is Coppersmith Global Logistics. They advised patience as shipping and warehouse management is challenging at the moment. However, after 3 months and no sign of the cargo despite repeated inquiries with TA, we realized that we were likely dealing with a truly lost cargo and began to prepare ourselves for a claim. I engaged both Michael Coppesmith and Steve Collett in the search and told them to let Turkish Airlines know that the claim to be filed would be for the full cost of two safaris (my wife and I), flights and taxidermy. Turkish Airlines attempted a deflection, claiming that the shipment had been picked up by a trucking company. Coppersmith would have none of it by pressuring for the release paperwork which could not be produced. Eventually pressure from Jo'Burg and Atlanta forced the airline into letting Coppersmith's trucking company manager inspect the warehouse. Amazingly, the trucking company manager found the shipment in Turkish Airlines warehouse last week.
A huge shout out to Coppersmith Global Logistics and Collett's Wildlife Artistry for jumping into the fray and sorting this out. I was not looking forward to telling my wife that her buffalo had been lost!
On a side note, Delta is shipping trophies again but will not handle the Big 5. I have a large shipment in Jo'Burg ready to go from two other safaris. Rest assured that Turkish Airlines will not get their hands on it!