UPS Snake Awareness - "we dont ship snakes! "

I just shipped my burm here in FL and i had no problems what so ever

Bumping up my old thread, with a new experience.


A UPS store recently opened about 10 mins closer to my house than staples, and had a later UPS pickup than staples(4pm for staples, 6pm for the UPS store).

I have shipped there only once before and it went fine( about two weeks ago).

Today I took in a scrub Python in a large box, and two ball pythons in smaller box.

I got a call on my cell phone 5 mins down the road asking what was in the box.
I told her(the store owner) that I had some harmless non-venomous snakes.

She said that she didn't ship any animals. Knowing arguing was pointless(from my prior experience), I drove back and picked them up. I stayed and talked with the owner, and tried to explain, but all I got was the speech about the corporate list of unaccepted items, and needing "a licence" to ship animals with UPS.

The store owner then suggested I stick around and talk to the UPS driver. I waited 45 mins for him to get there, and took my boxes over to his truck as he was loading, and asked i fit was too late for a couple more boxes.

The driver had already been in the UPS store, and the owner had already talked to him about me, and the snakes.

The driver talked to me for 5 mins, and said he had called corporate to check but didn't get ahold of them, but agreed to take them saying that he "*cough*,didn't know what was in them".

30 mins later I got a call for the Pittsburgh main hub, saying I needed to come pick up my snakes that they couldn't ship them.

So I had to drive down to Pittsburgh to meet the driver at the hub at 9pm.

I talked with the driver for a while in hopes of getting any leads on who to call or talk to and he didn't know for sure other than the 800 number, but gave me one phone number to try.

I know If I do what SYR suggests and just take it to Staples to ship tomorrow that the same driver will probably be picking it up, and he will recognize by boxes and name/address on the box.


I am more frustrated than I can convey in writing.

Why does this have to be all sneaky? why does SYR say I need to "keep a low profile"?
SOMEBODY at UPS has to have handled whatever business agreement SYR has with UPS to allow snake shipping. Why is there no proof, number to call to verify, or person to talk with??


In the meantime, my customers think I am a total idiot, and am probably trying to rip them off or something...


I was sucked back in to using SYR due to such great savings, but now I wish I had shelled out the $20-40 extra to send it FedEx.

SRY has great customers service, and I really want to continue using them, but not when its affecting my own reputation and making me look bad.
This shady stuff has to go. I want to run a legitimate business, and not have to sneak around wondering if, each time I send a snake, I'll "get caught" and if it will arrive or if i will have to deal with all this hassle.

I have had an account with SYR for about 14 months, and am very disappointed that this stuff is still happening.



-Andy

I have had pretty much the same thing happen to me a few different times. Luckly I have found a drive that doesnt ask questions and takes the packages.

It takes awhile to get them to understand. I had an argument twice with two different locations but now they know me. The first time, the snake moved and the actual owner of the UPS store dropped my frickin package. Now they dont ask me any questions, they know what the deal is. I feel for you Andy as the HUB wont even accept your packaging.

What I would suggest is get the phone number to the mgr of the hub and have Robin call them and or have him call "preferred customer service" and have them actually speak to the hub themselves. I think the whole "low profile" thing is that we are ALL using the same acct number and not our own individual ones, like we do with FedEx

Mine go thru Pittsburgh as well, but I haven't had any problems..... (knocking on wood)

I am using the Superior boxes, but think I'll be going back to plain brown after this order is done. It doesn't matter how they are marked they get handled the same. Now I'm going to be even more worried about shipping things out.

Thia may be a dumb question, but will they ship other live animals?

I'm just thinking that if you could label boxes "Live day old Chicks", or something else fluffy and innocuous, your packages may get more careful treatment by the herpetalogically challenged.

I've shipped with SYR 12 times flawlessly. My hub knows I'm shipping reptiles, as I write Live Harmless Reptile on each side of my boxes and I write the scientific name in small print on the top of the box. Whenever I drop a package off, the girl at the counter will ask "Is their a critter in here?" and I say "Yes", the response is usually "Eww" but her personal opinion doesn't get in the way of where my box goes.

Actually, the first few times I used SYR I didn't write anything on my box - and I got a call from the hub because they heard "something" moving in my box. They couldn't get a hold of me due to my sleep schedule, but they called the buyer (that's why I make sure I ALWAYS put the buyer's number on the box as well) and he told them there were some snakes in it, so they let it pass. They told me from that point on to mark the box Live Harmless Reptiles and I will have no problems. I have yet to have ANY problems, thank goodness. Every package I've sent and received with UPS has arrived at it's destination in perfect condition. I however always use the same hub to drop my packages off though, because I realize another hub might not be so understanding.

I do hope SYR can get the message to all parts of UPS soon, or to be able to provide us with some kind of waiver when a problem does come up. I don't like the "sneaking around" some of us have to do to get our packages accepted, I'm grateful I can be 100% truthful with my hub and still get excellent service.

And this is why I tell everyone to get FedEx certified. I have had this same convo with my account rep. She told me... it states in THEIR COMPUTER that I am a certified "live harmless reptile" shipper... so they dont have a choice but to accept my package. Doesn't matter what the dummy behind the counter says.

Here is a link to the UPS policy on animals, perhaps print it out and have it on hand when you take your packages in to be shipped:
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/guidelines/animals.html?srch_pos=1&srch_phr=lizards#Shipping+ Live+Animals

and label your box with something that is on the accepted list such as "Live Flying Dragons" or "Live Amphibians" so the counter person is not confused by the word "reptile".
Maybe even tape a small font copy of the regs to the box.

Supposedly SYR has an exemption to allow snakes but if it was me I would not even mention there are snakes in the box due to peoples reactions.


Excerpt from the link above:
Accepted Live Animals

This is a comprehensive list of live animals accepted for transportation. Shippers are prohibited from shipping any animal not listed here, and all other live animals will not be accepted for transportation. The following live animals are accepted for transportation unless poisonous, venomous, and/or a Threatened or Endangered Species.

• Amphibians (All): Examples: frogs, salamanders, toads
• Crustaceans (All): Examples: crabs, crawfish, lobsters, shrimp
• Fish (All)
• Insects (Limited to beneficial insects only): Examples: bees, butterflies, crickets, lady bugs
• Mollusks (All): Examples: clams, mussels, snails
• Reptiles (Limited to the following):
  - Lizards: Examples: chameleons, geckos, iguanas, monitors, flying dragons
  - Turtles: freshwater turtles (except: snapping turtles), land tortoises, sea turtles
• Worms (All)

Originally Posted by robyn@Pro Exotics

And now you can get a phenomenal rate with them.

Providing the package doesnt get turned away.

Ya'll are doing a bangup job... Keep up the good work.... but until ya'll are able to get it so anyone can go thru the certification process (like fedex)... then I am just gonna stick with them. At least I know if I have problems... Im in the computer.