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Lost and Stolen Specimens4 Specimens Lost on Shipment to Europe

14th Jun 2011 16:22 UTCLuiz Alberto Dias Menezes, Fo.

I made a shipment on April 20 via FEDEX to a customer in France, but it never got there; the shipment arrived at FEDEX Hub in Memphis but it disappared there; the shipment contained 4 specimens (all from Brazil):

- Columbite crystal - 9.5 x 7.6 cm

- Hematite with Rutile with tiny Fluocerite-Ce cystals attached - 7.0 x 4.5 cm

- "Star" Muscovite on Albite - 9.5 x 8.0 cm

- Siderite on Ankerite - 11.2 x 8,6 cm

Attached here are the ohotos of 3 of the specimens (the fourth will be included in a separate message); any information about them will be greatly appreciated.

Luiz Menezes

14th Jun 2011 16:25 UTCLuiz Alberto Dias Menezes, Fo.

Annexed here is the photo of the "Star" Muscovite on Albite, 9.5 x 8.0 cm, also lost on my shipment via FEDEX to France.

Luiz Menezes

25th Jun 2011 02:38 UTCDona Leicht

Luis...so sorry to hear this, but the COLUMBITE may have been the culprit. Everything now is x-rayed, scanned, and detected. A slight amount of radiation is enough for a shipment to be held up or dumped altogether. Blame this on our over zealous Homeland Security rules. If the shipment truly did end it's travels in Memphis, I' m guessing they are holding it but why didn't they contact you is the question. One of our incoming shipments was stopped because there was a small t/n specimen of torbernite - it took a call from a museum to customs to let them know we were not importing anything to blow up the world. Hopefully, your shipment is still floating around somewhere and will eventually get back to you. I do hope it was not stolen at a Fedex location....Good luck!

25th Jun 2011 23:08 UTCLuiz Alberto Dias Menezes, Fo.

Hi Dona:

Thank you for your comment; I am afraid that, due to the long time since it was lost, it was stolen at FEDEX or delivered to a wrong place.

Luiz

26th Jun 2011 08:06 UTCJenna Mast

Luiz:

Sorry to hear about the lost specimens. Has FedEx been working with you to resolve the matter? I had been under the impression that they track their shipments very effectively. I had a package that was delayed once and they were able to tell me it was put on the wrong truck, at the final distribution depot and the issue would be corrected once the truck returned.

Memphis is their main distribution hub I think. It could still be there amongst the tens of thousands of packages that pass through there per day. Be persistent with them. They should be able to find the broken link in their shipment chain and tell you the last location it was documented to be, and where it was supposed to go from there, and if it did. I would think at least they should be able to tell you if it entered customs.

26th Jun 2011 16:07 UTCByron Thomas

Memphis is Fedex's main hub and yes customs works there. If they were scanning packages and it spiked then customs no doubt has the package currently. I would contact Fedex and tell them what is happening because they do have the ability to track packages, they should also be able to tell you that your package was rerouted to customs for a security hold. This should be able to get you heading in the correct direction of where your package is hiding.

Byron

1st Jul 2011 23:52 UTCLuiz Alberto Dias Menezes, Fo.

Byron and Jenna:

Thank you for your comments; I will require FEDEX to show me the last official record they have of my shipment; they told me by phone and E-mail that the last track was the arrival of the box at their facilities at Memphis; because it was in transit to Europe, I don't think it should have to be examined by US Customs, but I will question FEDEX about it.

Best Regards

Luiz

26th Oct 2011 05:27 UTCJohn Attard Expert

Luiz,

May I ask how this eventually ended up?

John Attard.

3rd Nov 2011 01:12 UTCLuiz Alberto Dias Menezes, Fo.

John:

They were lost; after months of "searching" for them, FEDEX officially quit. Terribly bad job!

Luiz

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