ShipYourReptiles.com

[brandonsthaman]

they have a button.... kits for snakes... right there....

That is a button to buy a shipping kit for a snake. Please show me where on their website it says 'You can ship snakes with SYR.'

I have looked and I can't find it.

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

That is a button to buy a shipping kit for a snake. Please show me where on their website it says 'You can ship snakes with SYR.'

I have looked and I can't find it.

they dont really have any specifics listed.... so with that, i will take the "we are approved to ship live non-venomous reptiles" as.. any live non venomous reptile.

 

[ivylea77]

I definitely think its legit that people are worried, but i DONT like the way people are going about it.

I believe its been stated for awhile now, that this is a test run. Sorta like a beta program where all the finer points are still not smoothed out, but will be in the final program. That is how i look at it, and that is why i have patience with this for now.

You may like being the "guinea pig", but I do not. My animals are too important to be included in a test run.

 

[Darcpixie]

If I were shipping my amigurumi animals (crocheted.... not alive!) I would be ok with this... but not for live ones. Seems like everyone is being used in clinical trials while being assured that the medicine has been approved for use for this purpose!

If they SAID on the site WARNING: Shipping animals outside of current UPS policy MAY result in delays or other potentially disastrous outcomes! Please make sure everyone is aware of potential problems and track your packages carefully so that we can be notified at the earliest possible time of a problem!

Then people would KNOW it's a beta-not-completely-finalized thing, and go elsewhere if this made them uncomfortable.

However, all protests from SYR indicated that they worked all of this out BEFORE opening shop... not that it is being worked out with OTHER people's animals!

Which is why their desire to *not have the letter waved in an employees face* smacks of calling all of us with concerns unreasonable ninnies who should just believe SYR because they have a reputation, and bugger off if you disagree. Not my favorite tone to have someone take with people with LEGITIMATE problems with a company.

 

[Double LY]

I definitely think its legit that people are worried, but i DONT like the way people are going about it.

I believe its been stated for awhile now, that this is a test run. Sorta like a beta program where all the finer points are still not smoothed out, but will be in the final program. That is how i look at it, and that is why i have patience with this for now.

I agree that a bunch of people running to UPS isn't going to get a result and I agree that it would be great to get confirmation from a reliable member of this site that SYR is approved to ship snakes. Unfortunately I don't live in Colorado so the chances of it being me are nill

As I said, I truly hope this company succeeds. I'm not here to bash, just to point out that those who don't have a discount through FedEx or UPS and want to use the service SYR provides have seen a lot of the same red flags raised before.

The thought of using a live creature as a "test run" is not something I would be willing to do.

 

[brandonsthaman]

they dont really have any specifics listed.... so with that, i will take the "we are approved to ship live non-venomous reptiles" as.. any live non venomous reptile.

But, it also says that they can ship anything that UPS allows. Which is contradictory obviously. SYR says 'check UPS for what's allowed,' UPS says 'no snakes.' SYR needs something that says, you can ship snakes with SYR regardless of what the UPS TOS state. Even if it weren't a letter from UPS, just something on SYR's website, that would go a long way IMO...

 

[Fangthane]

I definitely think its legit that people are worried, but i DONT like the way people are going about it.

People are doing what they NEED to do in lieu of ANY concrete proof of legitimacy from SYR or, more importantly, from UPS. It can't be posted online..so THEY say. You're willing to accept their claim at face value. Obviously, others aren't so trusting.
I'd imagine UPS employs a swarm of people to sit around and answer questions via phone and email. I have trouble believing that in the grand scheme of things, a handful of people inquiring about a certain "pilot program" are going to be enough for them to raise an eyebrow among the myriad other calls and emails they get on any given day.
At this point I'm not even sure that sending one person to physically see this waiver is going to make any difference when anyone with a computer and printer could whip something up. I think what most of us want is more than the word of 1 or 2 individuals that most of us don't even know.

 

[MikeCurtin]

Just so we're all clear, I've already stated that I will not be using SYR until such a time that I am satisfied I can ship my snakes safely. I'm not suggesting anyone goes on faith alone. As far as what choice SYR has given prospective customers, they have given them the choice of not using their service.

I posted in order to voice my opinion that calling UPS could sway their judgement against snake shipping. If SYR is running a pilot program with them, and if there is a chance of future shipping of snakes in the open...on the radar, we have a responsibility to keep this as professional as possible. Concerned hobbyists calling to verify details of a third party account does not send UPS a good message.

This is only my opinion, and as I stated, I will not be using SYR until such a time when documentation of approval (whether blanket or by exemption) can be provided. I will not, however, stir the pot with UPS. In addition, I agree that the animals must be paramount in any decision making process as far as shipping, which is why I decided as I did.

 

[KJUN]

Anyone else wondering if they have a "waiver" to let others use their account to ship lizards and other reptiles (excluding snakes), but they are encouraging people to ship snakes WITHOUT officially saying you CAN ship snakes..... In other words, if a snake shipment gets caught, they can say, "Our customers weren't supposed to do that. They told ius it was snakes. nowhere on our site do we say you can ship snakes through UPS." et cetera. Anyone else wonder if that is why the waiver can't be shown online?

I am NOT accusing. I'm chalking this all up more to HORRIBLE "customer service" than anything illegal. Again, I won't be surprised if we do see actual proof of an honest waiver, but I do think how this is being handled by SYR is bad enough to make many of us rethink using their services even if they DO have a waiver! I suspect this will eventually get unravelled, and I bet we'll all be surprised (people that trust them and people that don't) at how it ends up.

I'm glad people are checking with UPS for confirmation of the RIGHT way to do this. Thank y'all.
KJ

 

[callak]

I'll just add a little to this, since I do have some experience with Pilot programs at large companies. As an example I will use a specific experience from when I worked for Charter Communications. Now while the services are different the concept is the same. When we decided that we wanted to start telephone service to our customers a pilot program was put in place first to ensure that it would work correctly. We had about 200 customers in variuos states that were signed up for the service. Each customer had to sign a NDA or a Non Disclosure Agreement. Basically it said that if you say or write a word about this service you will lose it and not be eligible for the big discount they were going to be getting due to them being "guinea pigs". Now I honestly can say besides a very small number of other supervisors, the higher ups and the few employees they had on the program working tech/customer service for these people 95% of the company had no idea we were offering any type of phone service. Nor where they ever going to be aware of it until the higher ups decided to roll it out fully.

We had some customers who spilled the beans and we recieved a bunch of calls inquiring about phone service. When the employees(the ones who did not know of it) asked they were told by me and other sups that it did not exist. Charter did not offer it what so ever. I believe(just my opinion) this is the same thing we are encountering here with SYR. Robyn cannot post or show copies of the letter due to the same NDA. If he does I would take a gander to say that it is written in it that UPS will pull the program. Big corps like this use these programs and agreements to ensure things are going to go smoothly and that it can be done without to many problems arising. The mass confusion a program like this can cause at place where they are looking at changing long standing policy is a massive issue that UPS does not want to deal with until it is sure everything can be done safely and correctly. Once they feel it is going good then they will lift the NDA and Robyn would be free to post his agreement or letter for all to see.

Personally I think Robyn should maybe put something like this on the website explaining what it is, I don't mind being a "guinea pig" if it means it will help advance the program to the point of policy change, but people should have the knowledge upfront if they are shipping through them that there will only be a select few that will be able to handle any issues that might arise. Unforutnetly due to the nature of the business we are in and the fact that this is a service that requires the animals to be shipped under this type of program in order for it to see if it works(this isn't something ups can have customers "subscribe to"), the breeders and the animals are the guinea pigs.

Now I could be completely wrong, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here and see. I doubt (crosses fingers) that after the repster fiasco a place with the reputation of Pro Exotics would try to pull something like this without clear cut direction from UPS. If they are then shame on them and I will make damn sure I never order a thing from them again!!

Just my 2 cents, sorry for the long post! I'm bored at work

 

[Junkyard]

Pro-Exotics are trying to be a leader in this industry, rather than a follower. They have a high reputation, of course TSE did too, and are not out to destroy it by using their UPS account to ship snakes. I tend to not believe that SYR is illegally using their account to ship animals, the reason I think this is because UPS would have shut them down after a couple of inquiries to them about SYR.
UPS is not going to let a company start a business piggy-backing them without their consent, they would be sending out legal letters rather quickly. If SYR is not legitimate, SYR may not be around much longer.
The problem I see is the lack of communication through all of UPS. If they do allow SYR to ship snakes on their account, they should also have a way to let any employee know it is permitted. This is a touchy situation, maybe it is good that UPS is being contacted; they can see a potential problem they are bringing forward by not informing their people that SYR is legitimate.
Pro-Exotics is not new to this game and has probably worked with their UPS rep that this would be brought out in the open. It is understandable that UPS does not want the waiver to be made public; I think it is a good idea that an invoice is made that can be used to protect customers and the nervousness of UPS employees. The federal laws are stronger than a company’s guidelines.
After 6 weeks, this is an issue that has been brought up and now it needs to be addressed properly. I can see a great accomplishment from the work of SYR for many people in the reptile industry. Maybe we need to send letters of thanks to UPS for approving a company like SYR to open a gateway to shipping snakes.

 

[Darcpixie]

But given the amount of shipping that Pro Exotics does THEMSELVES, couldn't they have used their OWN animals as guinea pigs if this was required?

Just curious as to why we were assured that they had an exemption and why we aren't allowed to see if if PRO EXOTICS did the testing as indicated?

Either they are going to allow it, or they are going to allow it ONLY through SYR, or they are going to prohibit it. The wishy-washy we worked out the bugs --> we HAVEN'T worked out the bugs rhetoric is getting a little disconcerting.

 

[wyldwurm]

But given the amount of shipping that Pro Exotics does THEMSELVES, couldn't they have used their OWN animals as guinea pigs if this was required?

Just curious as to why we were assured that they had an exemption and why we aren't allowed to see if if PRO EXOTICS did the testing as indicated?

Either they are going to allow it, or they are going to allow it ONLY through SYR, or they are going to prohibit it. The wishy-washy we worked out the bugs --> we HAVEN'T worked out the bugs rhetoric is getting a little disconcerting.

I'm certain PE has shipped their own animals. Obviously without any problems. The problem arose in other parts of the country, with different UPS hubs. It really can't be expected of PE to ship their animals from different hubs across the states to ensure there were no problems.

 

[E2MacPets]

My guess is that this is a clever way of gaining approval to ship snakes...

If all of us start contacting UPS asking if we can ship snakes with SYR, we are giving UPS incentive to work with SYR to bring them into compliance by showing them how large a market they stand to acquire business from.

 

[jntreptiles]

Would just like to chime in here. When I had my retail store in the gettysburg area, I also used the UPS on the OLd Harrisburg road in Gettysburg several times a week for many shipments coming in and going out with absolutely no problems whatsoever. As anyone that has done business with us in the past 22 years, knows that we are primarily a snake producing business. All boxes were clearly marked Live harmless reptiles, and the employees were more then happy to help us out.

Now, I could honestly not tell you what UPS official policy is on shipping reptiles but the Gettysburg branch never had any problems with providing us service and my shipments were always on time wheter they were coming or going. I agree with James, somewhere a few dumbass UPS employees got ahold of the box.

 

[StormRose]

If this is the case and this is indeed a pilot program that is being tested with SYR and UPS, then perhaps it would have made more sense for SYR to run its beta testing through a smaller, hand selected, test group rather than opening it up the general public before UPS was ready to allow others to ship snakes. Like Daniel explained that Charter Communications did when testing out phone services.

If this is indeed a program that's still in its testing phase, people should be aware of that and be allowed to make a decision on whether they should volunteer to participate or not based on all of the facts. If that's not the case and SYR has completed the test phase, then documents should be available to prove that this is a legitimate service.

Either way it would be wonderful if someone from SYR could come and clear this all up for us because right now all we're working with is speculation and assumptions, which don't get us very far. I'd personally rather base my decision on information from the company owners rather than hearsay.

 

[MikeCurtin]

I'll just add a little to this, since I do have some experience with Pilot programs at large companies. As an example I will use a specific experience from when I worked for Charter Communications. Now while the services are different the concept is the same. When we decided that we wanted to start telephone service to our customers a pilot program was put in place first to ensure that it would work correctly. We had about 200 customers in variuos states that were signed up for the service. Each customer had to sign a NDA or a Non Disclosure Agreement. Basically it said that if you say or write a word about this service you will lose it and not be eligible for the big discount they were going to be getting due to them being "guinea pigs". Now I honestly can say besides a very small number of other supervisors, the higher ups and the few employees they had on the program working tech/customer service for these people 95% of the company had no idea we were offering any type of phone service. Nor where they ever going to be aware of it until the higher ups decided to roll it out fully.

We had some customers who spilled the beans and we recieved a bunch of calls inquiring about phone service. When the employees(the ones who did not know of it) asked they were told by me and other sups that it did not exist. Charter did not offer it what so ever. I believe(just my opinion) this is the same thing we are encountering here with SYR. Robyn cannot post or show copies of the letter due to the same NDA. If he does I would take a gander to say that it is written in it that UPS will pull the program. Big corps like this use these programs and agreements to ensure things are going to go smoothly and that it can be done without to many problems arising. The mass confusion a program like this can cause at place where they are looking at changing long standing policy is a massive issue that UPS does not want to deal with until it is sure everything can be done safely and correctly. Once they feel it is going good then they will lift the NDA and Robyn would be free to post his agreement or letter for all to see.

Personally I think Robyn should maybe put something like this on the website explaining what it is, I don't mind being a "guinea pig" if it means it will help advance the program to the point of policy change, but people should have the knowledge upfront if they are shipping through them that there will only be a select few that will be able to handle any issues that might arise. Unforutnetly due to the nature of the business we are in and the fact that this is a service that requires the animals to be shipped under this type of program in order for it to see if it works(this isn't something ups can have customers "subscribe to"), the breeders and the animals are the guinea pigs.

Now I could be completely wrong, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here and see. I doubt (crosses fingers) that after the repster fiasco a place with the reputation of Pro Exotics would try to pull something like this without clear cut direction from UPS. If they are then shame on them and I will make damn sure I never order a thing from them again!!

Just my 2 cents, sorry for the long post! I'm bored at work

That sounds like a more than reasonable explanation! I will keep my eyes open for if and when snakes are approved.

 

[brandonsthaman]

Would just like to chime in here. When I had my retail store in the gettysburg area, I also used the UPS on the OLd Harrisburg road in Gettysburg several times a week for many shipments coming in and going out with absolutely no problems whatsoever. As anyone that has done business with us in the past 22 years, knows that we are primarily a snake producing business. All boxes were clearly marked Live harmless reptiles, and the employees were more then happy to help us out.

Now, I could honestly not tell you what UPS official policy is on shipping reptiles but the Gettysburg branch never had any problems with providing us service and my shipments were always on time wheter they were coming or going. I agree with James, somewhere a few dumbass UPS employees got ahold of the box.

Joe,
UPS' policy clearly states no snakes period. Anyone can label a box "harmless reptile," not mention there's a snake inside, and ship it through UPS. BUT you would be doing so against UPS' written policies, that is where SYR is supposed to offer something more: protection, guarantee, whatever you want to call it...

 

[shrap]

Robyn,

You and the whole Pro Exotics team have stood for nothing but honesty and integrity for over 15 years in the reptile industry. You are completely right in your assessment to completely ignore this unwarranted attack on your character. I have dealt with you personally and know that your word is as solid as oak. I wish you the best of luck with this endeavor and know that you will get the glitches in this new system ironed out to the best of your ability.

 

[brandonsthaman]

Robyn,

You and the whole Pro Exotics team have stood for nothing but honesty and integrity for over 15 years in the reptile industry. You are completely right in your assessment to completely ignore this unwarranted attack on your character. I have dealt with you personally and know that your word is as solid as oak. I wish you the best of luck with this endeavor and know that you will get the glitches in this new system ironed out to the best of your ability.

Sammy,
I'm not sure I see this thread as an unwarranted attack... Can you not agree that there are some questions and concerns that need to be addressed?