Quote Originally Posted by SPJ View Post
This is really interesting because according to Reptster, you don't need to be certified. All you need to do is ship using their account. There are people using Reptster because they are NOT certified.
That is the thing that I was trying to bring to everyones attention. Reptster says you don't have to be certified, however the people that are actually shipping your reptiles, FEDEX, say that inorder to ship "live harmless reptiles" you must be a verified shipper period. That seems to contradict what Reptster has been marketing and until there is a clear cut and dry answer as to what agreement Reptster has with FEDEX regarding the shipping of live harmless reptiles by a third party I will play it safe and use my own account.

I also want to add that the FEDEX employee that wanted to refuse my shipment didn't care that I was shipping reptiles. He was more concerned with the lack of accountability with using a third party account and there being no way of verifing that a shipper had demonstrated the proper ability to pack the reptile properly. One of the main steps in getting certified through FEDEX is sending in a test box to be inspected and this makes them feel more comfortable about the possible liability issues that could arise from shipping herps. The fact that Reptster by passes this step could cause FEDEX to look less favorabley on wanting to ship reptiles. He also checked the account number on my Reptster shipping invoice and there was nothing about being able to ship live reptiles and that is how we got into the mess of finding my account and trying to prove that I was verified for live harmless reptiles.

Many may brush this off as running into one of those tools we all come across every now and then, however after my anger over the incident subsided I realized that the guy had some valid points. He also gave me much more detail on FEDEX policy toward third party accounts than Dave Young could give me regarding Reptsters agreement with FEDEX. When I asked Dave what to do next time I had to go in there with a shippment he told me to go to another place or wait till UPS was on board. I was actually looking for some type of document to show the FEDEX dude that shipping through reptster is legit and that he would have to honor it just like it is my own account. That didn't happen so for me reptster isn't an option.

I want to restate that I am not saying don't use reptster. I am just sharing my personal experience like the OP asked, it just happens to be a more negative experience than others have had said. For what it is worth Dave Young has been cool to talk to on the phone, but there are some things that need to be ironed out before I use the service again.