ShipYourReptiles.com

I don't know if I should put this on the BOI, so mods, feel free to move if you feel it is necessary.

This is going to be long, so bare with me...



At this point and time I will not be offering shipping through ShipYourReptiles.com. I have had two instances regarding shipping with UPS that are a serious concern to me. I need to provide my customers with the safest, most reliable shipping option available and at this time we do not believe UPS is a good fit.

INSTANCE ONE

My first shipment using SYR and UPS, the package was misplaced here in Pennsylvania. Luckily the snake was not going to a customer, but out on breeding loan. She took two days to arrive to her location even though she was just going a few states south. She did arrive in good health and our shipping fees were refunded by SYR, but lost packages (particularly when they contain live animals) are unacceptable to me. Shipping is stressful enough without the added worry of a company delivering packages 1-2 days beyond there scheduled delivery date.

INSTANCE TWO

Instance two happened just this past week and is far more of a serious matter then a single shipment arriving a day late. I was to receive a group of 10 ball pythons from a close friend who is to start Army boot camp next week. They were to arrive on Wednesday, however on Tuesday a phone call was made from the UPS Store the snakes were dropped off at…The UPS Store had opened the box and was refusing to ship the snakes because it is against UPS policy. The box was marked Live Harmless Reptiles which is acceptable labeling per F&W. Our only guess as to why they opened the box was that they were curious if their actually were reptiles in it.

We all know that it is against UPS standard policy, but I had been led to believe that SYR had received an exemption to ship snakes under their account. No documents have been provided showing SYR’s exemption to this policy. I am specifically looking for an official UPS document that gives users of SYR permission to ship snakes and can be included with each and every shipment to prevent problems.

SYR handled the situation quickly and apologized for the problem. A representative from SYR (Walt) scheduled a pickup at the shippers location for the following day (Wednesday) with the same tracking number. On Wednesday the snakes were picked up without a concern, however the tracking number had been flagged from the day before and as soon as it was scanned at the UPS facility it was stopped, opened and refused. It should be noted that with this shipping attempt, I advised the shipper to relabel the package to say just Wildlife which again, is completely acceptable by F&W. I was hoping it would prevent the package from being flagged. Messages were left on the shippers phone notifying her that if she did not retrieve her snakes by 10pm EST they would be turned over to Animal Control. Sadly the shipper did not receive the messages until the animals had already been turned over to Animal Control.

The shipper paid a $162 fee and picked up the 10 snakes from Animal Control Thursday afternoon (they were unavailable for pickup until 2pm EST). The snakes at this time appear no worse for wear from their stressful ordeal. We are attempting a final attempt at shipment on Monday and do not plan on using SYR again.

ShipYourReptiles.com has refunded the shipping fees and has agreed to provide a reimbursement for the Animal Control fees. While SYR's response to the situation is appreciated, it doesn't make what UPS did ok. In my opinion, they should seriously consider providing a way to decrease the chances of this happening again, to anyone. Again, I think the best thing for them to do is to provide an official UPS document that gives users of SYR permission to ship snakes and can be included with each and every shipment.

Another concern is that SYR had mentioned to the shipper that they will look for an alternative hub for her to ship from. I don't understand why an alternative hub would be needed if SYR has a UPS exemption to ship snakes?

We have not yet been provided an official, solid explanation as to why this happened or how it will be prevented by SYR in the future. This is ultimately why we will not send or receive snakes through UPS; we can not and will not risk the safety of our animals.

While every time we ship out an animal we are taking a risk, it is our responsibility to minimize that risk as best we can.

With that, I'll end this post and say I hope SYR gets this together quickly...The program has potential...

That's such a shame to hear. I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience. Thanks for posting this, I was considering using SYR for an upcoming clutch and have decided against it.

I recently used "ship your reptiles" and was completely happy with the service. I don't think your complaint is so much with that company as it is with UPS. All SYR is doing is allowing people to use their account with the permission of UPS. What a few dumbass UPS employees do is out of SYR's control. I think they went above and beyond by paying the animal control fee. I am not saying this thread is unwarranted, I just feel that is should be against UPS and not SYR.

Chris Canada-Smith

this thread stirs my curiosity.
Has UPS actually agreed to allow snakes or not? If so I can see how the old policys might still be on the minds of their employees, but if not we would still be shipping against the UPS TOS and putting our animals at risk.
I do hope someone from SYR can come on here and lets us know the straight skinny.

I have read on other forums that it is still up to the individual hub or drop off customer service center to refuse or accept our reptiles. That they are individually owned. That may be why they were trying to find a new shipping place for your snakes.
TripleMoon, I am in Gettysburg, which location did you use that you had problems with? I have used the one on Old Harrisburg Rd here in Gettysburg without issue. Mine are not snakes however. I know that would be too much travel for you, just a thought though.

IMO I think it would be a lot easier if there was a nuber for the hubs to call to get the OK to ship our reptiles AND paperwork we could print out to put on the box. If each hub could call the main office and the main office said yes we are now shipping snakes it would be so much easier.

I wanted to clarify that UPS does not permit the shipping of snakes but does permit the shipping of other nonvenomous reptiles. SYR would be a great option for those who ship the legged variety of reptiles.

UPS is following their policy. I really can't complain about UPS refusing the packages when it is their policy to refuse snakes. However, I was under the impression that under the SYR account we could ship snakes...UPS says this is not true. As far as I'm concerned SYR was responsible for the Animal Control fee because they told us we could ship snakes.

The UPS hubs are not privately owned, they are UPS. The UPS Store is individually owned which I didn't know until Robyn posted the information on another forum. I understand that The UPS Store has the authority to open our package and refuse it, that's fine. The shipper would not have dropped the package off at The UPS Store if she had this information from the start. My entire point is that I was under the impression the we could ship snakes.

I am the receiver of these snakes, not the shipper...They are coming in from Missouri. I recommended to my friend to use ShipYourReptiles.com because she is not FedEx Certified and I had thought it would be a good option. I feel guilty for the aggravation and frustration this situation has caused her.

Either way, this is not a bad guy thread. This thread was posted to provide our experience with UPS and SYR. Everyone will have to take the information as is and make a decision for themselves whether or not to take the risk. Until something is done to correct this problem, we will not use it. I sincerely hope that this gets corrected so we can pick up shipping with them again.

Originally Posted by TripleMoonsExotic

I As far as I'm concerned SYR was responsible for the Animal Control fee because they told us we could ship snakes.

I agree. But I also feel that is one is in the biz of shipping reptiles 'Ship Your Reptiles' one should do enough research to make sure that is possible. This is not some ancillary detail, this was central to the whole shipping transaction.

I agree with you Stephanie that you made a good choice to back off on using this company and wait until this is all ironed out so that no snakes are put at risk.

I think my opinion of the company rides on what they do now, after this event.

I just shipped my Red x Blue Tegu from FL to MA using SYR. I am not a verified live animal shipper so I used SYR services. I packed up the box and went to my local UPS store.
I told them that I was not authorized to ship animals and would need to use the new service that UPS and SYR were providing to the reptile community. They had not heard of it, but pulled up the SYR website and even let me use their computer to set up my account with SYR, and then printed out my shipping label right there.
My experience was all good.

FedEx will often do the same thing. How many complaints have people had with them refusing shipments if they actually know what's in that box? I've heard of them turning shipments away even WITH a copy of the waiver available. I am bound to write the contents on the box, but until someone shows me where it has to be in huge print I'm writing it on there in tiny lettering that is inconspicuous. With as many employees as both companies have and the turnover rates they tend to have, it can be tough to make sure everyone is familiar with policies. Especially when a new policy has come about for just one companies' shipping needs. (SYR) For everyone else out there, it's still no snakes. Having been on that side of the industry, I can understand where they're coming from. The policy has always been no snakes and it's going to take a while perhaps to get the word down to the lowest levels that this ONE company is okay for an exemption. Shipping reptiles isn't exactly a huge business for them.

I don't see this as SYR's fault, it's UPS doing a poor job of getting the word out to all their hubs. That SYR is refunding the shipping and animal control fees shows they are willing to step up and make things right.

I have a shipment coming up, and plan to use SYR for it. I just don't see "bad guy" when I look at them or their practices.