Turkish air has ripped off several of my customers with extreme storage fees in Houstom They are giving cheap freight rates so the brokers in SA will use them and then they are tacking on ridiculous storage fees when they arrive in the states.
If your expediter in Africa Recommends turkish air for your trophies because they are cheap I highly recommend you decline and use SA air or another.
One of my customers was charge 2800.00! in storage fees and they won't release them until you pay. others were 800.00 and more only for a few days.

I used Turkish to Chicago, the freight rate was super cheap and did not have bad storage charges (around $60, if I recall corectly). Must be an IAH problem.

Not hardly we've had hundreds of shipments cleared in Houston none of the other airlines ever charged as much.

Sorry to hear this but we use TK Airlines almost always and have absolutely no issues at any of our 7 ports including Houston. The answer lies no further than in the immediate and attentiveness to the trophies upon arrival. Other brokers handle all kinds of other commodities and as a result, trophies are not always a priority before, during and after arrival. That is your answer.
Best,
Robert

My buff skull and cape are currently in Houston on an "AG" hold. I was assured by the shipping company (Spherical Freight) that I would not be charged storage fees by Turkish Airlines. They stated they had never heard of any problems with storage fees.

My taxidermist (Jonas Bros of Denver) is currently working the hangup via their broker.

Apparently someone in Houston (not clear who) needed my phone number.

I'll let you know how this turns out.

BH63

Hope it works out for you. I used Turkish Air for the last shipment and had no problems. Shipped via air to San Francisco and trucked overland to Las Vegas.

I had a shipment scheduled to arrive on 5/27 2017 in LA. Then it was going to be shipped next available spot from LA to Seattle. I have not heard anything since. The shipper Spheracle Freight mailed me today and said they would contact Turkish Air to get an update. My fingers are crossed!!!

^
Good luck. The people at Spherical seem decent enough, but some things are beyond their control.

BH63

I just received an update.

Please be advised that this shipment is on USDA hold at the moment, I will advise once it has been released and advise on connecting details as soon as possible.

My Cameroon outfitter said Turkish was about the only way to get trophies out of Cameroon to the US.

I wonder what's up with all the AG holds?

I don't remember having those issues on my two previous imports. They were shipped directly to Jonas Bros as they are an authorized port. The Customs officer clears them at their location.

BH63

I requested an update from Spherical Freight this A.M. They E-mailed me and said my shipment was in Seattle. I called Fish and Wildlife and got an appointment for 1:30. I took my original paperwork and headed to Seattle. (It's about a 2 3/4 hr drive.) After my Fish and Wildlife visit I headed to Customs to get it cleared.There was NO info in the computer and no one could find it. They gave me the Trucking line that was moving it from L.A. to Seattle. It was still on the truck headed to Seattle and would not arrive until after they were closed. I headed home only SLIGHTLY upset!!!

Jerry, I called Well after your post as I knew my shipment was in Houston. Already had racked up over $200 in storage fees! If you hadn't posted I would not have known I was being screwed while waiting for them to release.
Thanks!!
On a serious note, I've had about all the screwing I'm going to take on getting stuff back from Africa. I've already spent more than my daily rates from my Botswana trip and more to come getting cleared in the States, and I haven't even laid hands on the trophies.

And some of you wonder why I and others quit bringing stuff back...

I picked up my Buff in Seattle today. The only additional charge I had was a $60.00 transfer fee.

I received this in an E-Mail from Spherical Freight last night. Then I received another E-Mail claiming it was not mine it was another hunters. RUN!!!

Dear Shanice,

Kindly urgently update myself and XXXXXX of the missing piece with Turkish Airlines?

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
And some of you wonder why I and others quit bringing stuff back...

Steve Ahrenberg is gonna kick your ass...........

Steve is a friend. In fact he and I, my wife, and 2 other AR members are headed to Brazil in Nov for a week of fishing the upper reaches of an Amazon tributary. We just have differing views on taxidermy. If I had a much bigger house and budget, I, too, would bring back everything

This kine of publicity can't be good for the African sport hunting industry.

The ridiculous (IMO) increase in shipping and dipping fees, plus the hassles involved in importing trophies into the USA seems to be out-of-control.

I can see why some Outfitters are focusing their marketing efforts on countries other than the USA.

BH63

Everyone on this thread is chasing their tails because you are critizing the wrong party.

The process is as follows:

1. Shipment arrives at first port of arrival and always is placed on an AG hold. This means USDA.

2. The inspectors have the opportunity to immediately release (or at most 48 hours) based on paperwork OR it remains on AG hold until they contact the broker for any additional information or a physical inspection.

3. If USDA is happy with the paperwork, then usually the shipment is released for pickup by the broker for their bonded warehouse (if they have one)or is continues on its route to the port of arrival for clearance.

4. If the broker does not have a bonded warehouse, the shipment remains at the airline (at the airport) accumulating storage charges at the airport rate of $90 +++++

5. If the broker has a bonded warehouse, then the storage rate is considerably less, BUT the timing then depends on the Government inspectors for final clearance, inspections and release.

What does TK Airlines have anything to do with this situations when it is in the hands of the broker?

Once it lands, the broker is in charge and should be monitoring the shipment, period.

This is not the airlines fault.

We have enough problems in the hunting industry without chastizing one of the few airline that is actually working with us in the hunting industry to bring trophies in.

Enough.

Best,
Robert

Regardless of who is at fault( and the buck gets passed around to a lot of players), it has become stupidly expensive to bring stuff home. Take the cost of your hunt and add at least $2000- usually more, and that's before the taxidermy bill begins.

^
Those ridiculous auxiliary expenses may be the death of the Safari industry.

With tips running close to 2K USD and another 2K USD for importing a trophy, those package hunts don't look, as good as they use to.

Perhaps the outfitters will have to start their own shipping companies, just to be able to offer a fair price for exporting the trophies.

I believe most African Outfitters and PHs work hard to bring you a fair hunt at a fair price. It's the things they can't control that create
unnecessary grief for the client/hunters.


BH63