Bad experience with Shipyourreptiles.com

This is the reason I do not ship reptiles...I guess I am old school.. I can not stand the stress of wondering if and when the package will come.. I totally support Reptile Shows.. That way people can see what they are buying..Talk to the vendors face to face and walk away happy with reptiles in hand..Not getting one in the mail they are not happy with and then come here to complain about what they got...

I feel SYR as the middle person should be held to some accountability. But a bad guy thread is not needed after they sent a refund and took care of it on their end.
What really grinds my gears is the TOS for UPS and Fed Ex states that certain reptiles can not be shipped... But then we get this great service like SYR and and now we can ship those reptiles? As long as all of the guide lines are followed of course. But some people have been told they still can not ship reptiles even using SYR. What I want to know is, is it OK to ship? Is it now OK to ship? Is it going to be another reptile related media frenzy when a box is smashed at the terminal and they see a snake inside. I could see it know, The reptile industry strike again. Shipping reptiles illegally using the same postal services your dear sweet grandma uses to send you her delicious cookies. A box was discovered today with a python scaring the pants off of this poor terminal worker.
I myself have never had a problem with shipping out or receiving a reptile but there is a first time for everything.

I went through all the stops to get certified with fedex and i will say it was worth it .
Yes all shipping companies have the issue of sometimes having packages becoming delayed in transit , but with UPS they flip flop way to much to be trusted ,( 1 depot or hub allows reptiles to pass thru and 5 other depots or hubs wont allow them to enter the building) .

with fed ex certified thats not an issue ,once your certified thats it , as long as you stay to the packing terms of your certification you will have no issues with your reptiles being shipped .

the worst problem you will have to worry about is the the possibility of it arriving delayed .

using UPS (unless your one of the huge businesses) is to much a risk from what i have seen and heard . and i would never want to take that risk again . to each their own , everyone has their own stories when dealing with them , but for less stress on yourself i would recommend going thru the process of getting certified with fed-ex . takes the headaches out of shipping your animals to your customers ..

just my 2 cents

Quote from Tad F. in Vegas:
... (bad experiences with UPS leaving packages on porch in the sun) ... It's very HOT in Vegas and all the UPS trucks are large with no air conditioning. Only in rare instances will I now allow anyone to ship snakes to us through UPS (SHipyourreptiles or any other way).

Tad, as you live in a notoriously hot place, as do herpers in Phoenix and other such environs, might I suggest that you have animals shipped to the UPS Centers as "Hold For Pick-Up"s during the warmer months ? It is not cheaper, but far safer, and Vegas has several such centers. Many vendors practice this for deliveries to such hot places, and UPS has a procedure to follow specifically for such deliveries. You need to anticipate what can go wrong, such as a box not labeled for special handling, an unattentive delivery person, etc., and be pro-active.

Ed, you are an example of someone who, if they do not drink adult beverages, should start. And if you do partake, you should stop.

Originally Posted by TheVipersHouse

I went through all the stops to get certified with fedex and i will say it was worth it .
Yes all shipping companies have the issue of sometimes having packages becoming delayed in transit , but with UPS they flip flop way to much to be trusted ,( 1 depot or hub allows reptiles to pass thru and 5 other depots or hubs wont allow them to enter the building) .

with fed ex certified thats not an issue ,once your certified thats it , as long as you stay to the packing terms of your certification you will have no issues with your reptiles being shipped .

I too prefer using Fed Ex and shipping with my own account. But to say that Fed Ex does not have any issues with uninformed employees holding up snake shipments would not be even close to accurate. I have had it to me many many times over the years. Usually a phone call or three takes care of the problem, but the problem most certainly does exist. I will say though that it has gotten better over the past couple of years.

Here's a question for you Ed.
Let's say I ordered a snake from you, (I know, like THAT would ever happen, but just for the sake of argument), and it took two days in transit on your personal account with FedEx or whoever. I told you about it and you refunded my shipping charges. Then I came here to the BOI and posted a bad guy thread because the package arrived late.
How would you feel about it? Would you think it was justified? Would you accept the blame and the bad guy label?
The answers are of course you wouldn't. Hell you won't accept the times you really are at fault let alone when you wouldn't be. So what would possess you to post a bad guy thread about SYR when they have absolutely no control over shipping delays AND refunded your shipping charges?
Are you just that dim witted? Apparently so. This is stupid even for you.

They did what any other responsible shipper would in the same situation so are no more a bad guy that a private individual shipping on his own account.

Originally Posted by Clay Davenport

Here's a question for you Ed.
Let's say I ordered a snake from you, (I know, like THAT would ever happen, but just for the sake of argument), and it took two days in transit on your personal account with FedEx or whoever. I told you about it and you refunded my shipping charges. Then I came here to the BOI and posted a bad guy thread because the package arrived late.
How would you feel about it? Would you think it was justified? Would you accept the blame and the bad guy label?
The answers are of course you wouldn't. Hell you won't accept the times you really are at fault let alone when you wouldn't be. So what would possess you to post a bad guy thread about SYR when they have absolutely no control over shipping delays AND refunded your shipping charges?
Are you just that dim witted? Apparently so. This is stupid even for you.

They did what any other responsible shipper would in the same situation so are no more a bad guy that a private individual shipping on his own account.

Excellent point Clay

I don't think this should be titled "Bad Guy," but I do think this information is important to share. This is not the first complaint against UPS and it probably won't be the last.

I also don't think anyone is saying that FedEx doesn't have issues...But the thing is, with the FedEx Certification, you have proof that is filed at FedEx that you have permission to ship. With a few phone calls the situation can be corrected. With this UPS thing, you can't do that.

Curious George,

I have done that as well and when I called the hub to pick up the animals they apologized and said it went out on the truck by mistake. I asked the supervisor if they could contact the driver and at least deliver it as the contents were live reptiles. He said he would try but the best thing to do was come to the UPS hub at 5pm. In the end I got the snakes and they were fine. I know this is an isolated incident and mistakes do happen, they just seem to happen more often when I'm using UPS. They were starting to remind me of 10 plus years I used Airborne Express, there were all kinds of problems to say the least. When DSL took over they sent me a nice letter saying we no longer ship live reptiles. It was actually a blessing as it forced me to get an account with FedEx. Knock on wood, I have not had any problems with. I'm not a huge volume shipper but between my wife and I we average 100-200 shipments a year. Delta is another story which I won't go into, but it wasn't very good. Your suggestion is good though and when I have done that with it has worked. But I make sure I put the address of the FedEx hub (not the buyer) and when I drop off at FedEx I tell them and have them attach a sticker "Hold at FedEx".

Tad Fitzgerald

Originally Posted by Tad Fitzgerald

I have done that as well and when I called the hub to pick up the animals they apologized and said it went out on the truck by mistake. I asked the supervisor if they could contact the driver and at least deliver it as the contents were live reptiles. He said he would try but the best thing to do was come to the UPS hub at 5pm. In the end I got the snakes and they were fine. I know this is an isolated incident and mistakes do happen, they just seem to happen more often when I'm using UPS.

That has happened EVERY time I've tried to have a reptile package held at the local UPS hub (and why I really try to avoid UPS for reptile shipments)...funny that they can manage to hold any other package for me.