# My Experience with PetAir



## ferretpossum (Jul 12, 2014)

Hi,

If you're looking at bringing your pets to NZ you've probably googled (as I did) and found that PetAir is the highest-recommended pet exporter.

They may well be the best, but I'd say my dealings with them were easily the most stressful part of emigration. Here's my experience, but I don't know if it is representative or not.

1. Their website has issues. I raised it with them but they didn't fix it. Every time I went in to edit my details it told me the dates were incorrectly formatted. I'd enter them again and it would accept them. And then tell me they were incorrect again next time.

2. They tell you that you need to start the process 6 months ahead of time. This is correct. You need to start by getting your pet vaccinated against rabies, and then having the rabies blood test to prove they are clear. What they DON'T tell you is that (according to my vet) you have to leave 2 weeks between the vaccination and the blood test. 

3. The six months actually starts from the day the blood is taken. Not from the date on which they are signed off as clear. In our case, it took about a month for their test results to come back, and PetAir didn't tell us this. To be fair to them, we didn't ask.

4. When he was taking blood, the vet asked us to find out the timeline for any other tests. It seemed reasonable - both he & I wanted to have a rough idea on what need to be administered and when. A checklist if you like. I thought it was a reasonable request so I asked them.

5. "No, we can't do that until you have booked your flight," they told me on the phone. Given I didn't even have my visa clear at this point it seemed premature.

I said, "Well, all being well we'll be flying out in mid-September (note - we actually left on 7th Sept in the end). I asked if they could just take a "notional date". 

"No. We can't do that," they said.

"Just to give me an idea," I asked. "It would just help me if I knew roughly what needs to happen when. A checklist. You know. I won't hold you to it."

"No, we can't do that," they said. "Our systems won't handle it."

"Can't you just work something out on a piece of paper?" I asked. "Come on. I've paid you £1500 as a deposit. Just a checklist to give me peace of mind."

"No. It varies from animal to animal," they said.

"But you KNOW it's 2 cats," I begged. "You know they are regular moggies. You know their weight and you know we want to go in mid-September."

"No, we can't do that," was all they would say.

By this stage they had my deposit, and (after 20 minutes of arguing) I couldn't take any more. I gave up. More on this later.

6. Once my visa cleared and the pets were cleared for rabies, we could book our flights. It was only at THIS point they told us what needed to happen next. We needed to take the boys to the vet for - 

- Applying tick & flea treatment
- Checking for external parasites
- Worming treatment to be given
- Check their chip/pin numbers

They gave me the date this needed to happen. My vet was unavailable that day so I booked it for a week earlier. "No, that's TOO early!" said PetAir. 

If they'd given me a timeline on when things needed to happen I would have known that. But they didn't. So I rearranged. No big deal.

7. All of the above were done. And I have to say PetAir were very good about liaising with the vet, arranging all the documentation, and the quarantine centre and all of that. When it was done I asked them if there was anything else. No, no, that's everything, they said. Good to know... until...

8. With 5 days to go they said, "Oh, did we mention the quarantine centre won't take your pets unless they've had their flu boosters in the last 6 months?" 

Why no. They never mentioned that. And both cats boosters had just expired. Now, yes, I should have taken them in, but you have to admit what with emigrating, it's understandable it might have slipped my mind. Oh gosh, if only I'd had - oh, I don't know - a CHECKLIST or something? You know, of everything that needs to happen and when? 

I said this to them. "We have been transparent throughout this process," they said. I felt like buying them a thesaurus and pointing out that "opaque" and "transparent" are NOT the same. At all.

9. So at emigration minus 3 days we got the boys booster-ed. 

10. Now then. The cats were actually due to leave the country ahead of us. They were to be picked up from Scotland and driven to PetAir's centre in Windsor for a check up. They were to be kept there for 2 days for vet examination before their flights. 

PetAir commission special transportation crates (they are pretty good - we have our still). You can even get a "duplex" crate with wire down the middle if your pets would be comforted by seeing each other. We were told the bloke would arrive with the crates - we didn't need to supply anything else in the way of pet carriers. We were also told we couldn't supply blankets or anything because the crates have special absorbent linings for wee & poo and blankets would just get wet and be uncomfortable. Makes sense.

11. Bloke arrives. "What am I transporting them in?" he asked.

"Errr... the crates?" we replied.

"What crates?" he asked. 

So he didn't have the crates. PetAir never mentioned this to him. He was just there for two cats. Very unhappy but with no choice, we had to use our regular (small!) cat-carriers. I handed them over to the bloke in his van to see that he didn't even have a means of securing them down!

So - in short - our two cats would be confined in small cat carriers that we normally used just to take them across the road to the vet. For six hours. On the motorway, sliding about in the back of a van and presumably weeing and pooing with no absorbent crate.

Obviously I was apoplectic and so my wife had to call PetAir. I think I might have flown off the handle. She said they were VERY apologetic. We are SO sorry. This has NEVER happened before. Refund? No, no refund. But we ARE really really REALLY sorry.

12. They were good about telling us when the boys were onboarded. It may interest you to know that your pets don't need to go on the same flights as you. Our lads even flew a different route (via LAX). Apparently in LAX they get checked again by a vet and allowed to stretch their legs. Again, PetAir arrange all of this.

13. We also got emails on when they arrived in NZ (this was the day we flew out). I can't fault the quarantine - they were great. Sadly they have since closed.

14. We were told we could send blankets or other things that smelled of home, even favourite food to the cats at the quarantine. We did this about 2 weeks in advance but because of customs holding onto them, they never received the items. I'm not blaming anyone for this. Just for info - if you're going to do it - do it really early.

So that was our experience. I guess there are some things PetAir did really well but some they were utterly useless at. I think my main feelings of negativity are due to the way our pets were treated on the trip down. But also PetAir's somewhat patronising/intransigent attitude all the way through. 

I don't mind NOT being told things if I can be told WHY. They never ever explained whey they couldn't give me that timeline, and got very stroppy when I asked why. I appreciate they probably have a hard time dealing with emotional pet owners (me, amongst them) but I don't feel like I'm being unfair. The best way to avoid stress is to be kept informed and I found PetAir representatives to be secretive, defensive and condescending throughout.

If you've had a positive experience with them, feel free to defend them. And - as I mentioned - they are the best-reviewed pet exporters online. I hate to think what the others are like.


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