UPS, FedEx, Airborne Express, USPS - bad guys.

I've had UPS cover the shipping cost of a package that was not delivered overnight (lizard shipment).

I also had a situation recently (which spurred the change to Fedex) in which a UPS employee opened a package and took a bearded dragon. We received coverage for that item ($75.00) and within a matter of hours from reporting it, which tells me they new exactly what happened.

Well it was my understanding that I am shipping with ZERO protection when sending ups.

Personally I havent had a problem with their service that needed me to file a claim, so Im not sure. But I guarantee you this, say you send a box and its delayed 3 days, and all the animals are dead, the animals will not be covered. They may be willing to work with you on shipping, but that would be it. No matter the first 100$ is covered or not. The minute you say the words "live animal" your coverage has just ended.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles


And in your case Daniel, I would think that is the exerption not the rule. They must have been 100% sure the employee took the animal.

They must have been 100% sure the employee took the animal.

I agree as we received a call back within a couple of hours with a claim authorization number. Mostly the claims we filed with them were for delayed service.

Claims for dry good damage are a pain to get through as well, and animal death claims were waived when signing the waiver (as they are with Fedex). In talking with my box company rep, UPS goes out of their way to dodge damage claims.

No matter the first 100$ is covered or not. The minute you say the words "live animal" your coverage has just ended.

Well I understand that you are not entitled to claim the value of the animal, but according to the UPS guys in town if a package is lost in transit they will reimburse you $100. There is a fee to pay for in excess of those first $100. Again it is only for lost or damaged packages.

Regards.

I have been following this thread with a mixture of optimism and anxiety.

Back when I was part of Glades Herp, we got permission from Airborne in the early '90s to ship harmless reptiles with them. Soon we were totally dependent on them, only using Delta for hots. I guess it went so well that they allowed A LOT of people to use their service. As you might guess, some less than professional shippers started allowing animals to get loose in the Airborne warehouse, making the employees very unhappy. One day, our Airborne driver picked up our shipments, then returned 5 minutes later, saying she was told Airborne just banned live animals. That is how much notice we got!! We really scrambled for a couple of weeks. Eventually, we sent a test package to the president of the company and go re-instated. I did the same thing after leaving Glades, and now have my own letter from the president. But of course I know it can be rescinded at any time.

The reason for the long explanation is this: up to this point, the carriers have been very selective in allowing use of their services and it has worked for me so far. I am concerned that once it is opened up, more incidents will result, possibly getting all of us kicked out. I know this was addressed (by Rich I think), saying that only the culprits will be punished. I think it is very important that ALL of us ask FedEx to continue to ask every single new customer to send the test box (they may drop that requirement once they start accepting LOTS of herp shipments). And we should ask them to formally include some reasonable but stiff penalty for improper packing right into the contracts with any of us. If those regulations are in print, FedEx will be more likely to follow them instead of just saying it doesn't work and give up.

Another point brought up is the "humaniac" issue (PETA, etc). I think this method of shipping is sliding under their radar right now because it isn't officially allowed. Once it is official and used often, they may become aware of us and try to pressure FedEx not to do it. FedEx will have to decide whether our business is worth it. That is another reason to keep it on a "one-at-a-time" basis and with formal instructions, penalties, etc. Rich may be a good person to kind of (at least informally) represent reptile shippers with FedEx since he ships a fair amount of volume and has a site that is offering them free advertising. We should all think about and discuss possible pitfalls and solutions to suggest BEFORE we give up other shipping methods and BEFORE the inevitable mistakes, escapes, etc. happen.

Sorry for the long post. I don't post often, but guess I make up for it when I do!!

Kathy

I agree 100% with what your saying.

I would not suggest that anyone gives up any shipping option that is currently working for them.

I am lucky that I am verified Delta, and if need be I will conduct all of my business in this manner. However I would be lying to myself and everyone else if I didnt wish I were able to ship via other methods. Dont get me wrong I can ship ups ( I believe) and as far as I am aware I can also still ship airborne (but perfer not to due to billing issues). As for Fed Ex I never used them as I was aware they would not accept labled live packages. And to me this is a no go. I will not personally ship if I cannot properly lable my shipment. Its not worth it to push for trouble for the animal, or with any agencies that may frown upon such shipments. Sadly I am well aware that others are more then willing to ship unlabled, or worse illegal packages, and it does tend to ruin it for everyone.

On the other hand I would argue that by doing as you said, and insisting upon approval for ALL herp shippers, Fed Ex or any other shipper would do themselves a great favor. I would also suggest if they do allow us to ship, that it would also be wise on their part to inform their local offices such shipments would occur, and will be acceptable, with a contract. Nothing is worse then when half the company believes the other half does not allow the shipments, we all know the drill.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

One step at a time.

If not for FedEx at this moment, none of us would have a legal, company policy endorsed manner to ship live harmless snakes via a door-to-door carrier. So I am suggesting that even if you do have another carrier that you are comfortable with your arrangement with, that you get on board with FedEx. Because sooner of later, we are going to have to go to UPS and Airborne and tell them they need to crap or get off of the pot (excuse my French, please). Meaning, either they are going to have to accept ALL of us above board and out in the open, or NONE of us, even in those instances where packages are being purposely mislabeled or local offices are giving preferential treatment to one shipper, whereas this option is not available from another local office.

Quite simply, after 9/11 I cannot believe that any local office of any shipper in this country does not know exactly what is in the boxes they are processing. Delta is REQUIRED to open up 10 percent of the boxes any shipper brings in at one time. If you only bring in one box, it will have it's contents inspected. If you bring in 10 boxes, one will be selected at random and opened for inspection. I strongly suspect that this applies to the other carriers as well.

I do not want to have all of my eggs in the FedEx basket either. But once we have one secure handhold climbing up this mountain, then we can reach for another.

I was curious about UPS's inspection policy, so heck, I just asked them:

Thank you for your inquiry. UPS Customer Counters routinely
inspect packages to ensure they are shipped according to UPS
Guideline. In the event of damage, a claim may be denied if these
guidelines are not met. Customer Counter representatives verify
the sufficient packaging of merchandise so that a filed claim
will be approved.

We also inspect for content. This is to confirm that the package
does not contain a restricted item, or items that will pose a
hazard to our system or package handlers. UPS reserves the right to inspect any package going through our system at any given point.

So yes, obviously UPS DOES know what is being shipped through their services. And if one local office is accepting snakes from someone and another refuses to do so, they may very well be legally liable for their prejudicial treatment of one company over another. This sort of activity provides a very blatant preferential treatment that results in a competitive business advantage fostered by UPS's condoning actions.

This statement clearly shows that they know exactly what is in the boxes they are accepting.

It woulld be nice to have more then one option that is for sure so as webslave said get one aboard ad after others see what $$$$$ we pay shipping they will join in

This sounds great. Does anyone know if this available to the "hobbyist" as well, or will we need to obtain a business liscense to be involved?
Dave Beller