Frustrating shipping practices...

[Mark and Aimee]

I'm just about boiling over with the shipping practices I keep seeing...

Yesterday, I had a shipment of snakes sent to me by "overnight" USPS. First, snakes through USPS is a HUGE no-no. Second, USPS does NOT guarantee anything overnight. EVER. The seller was supposed to ship the animals through UPS, not USPS. Being cheap in this situation could very well cost the lives of these animals.

Today, I recieved a pair of baby boas from a large importer in Florida. The snakes arrived overnight via a more acceptable service, but the packaging definitely could have been a lot better.

In my eyes, a snake should NEVER be shipped out in a flimsy cardboard box, merely in a snake bag, with no insulation whatsoever. This is careless, irresponsible, and dangerous. It sure wouldn't take much to crush an uninsulated box - not to mention the much more drastic (and sudden) temperature changes. Luckily, the snakes made it here fine.

All I am saying here is THINK!! Would YOU want to recieve your animals via a service that MIGHT get them delivered overnight? Would YOU want your animals to get crushed in a shipment?

Or maybe this really ticked me off because I spent no less than four hours preparing four boxes to ship animals out last night. I took every precaution possible to make sure our animals make it to their destination alive and well. I just want people to do the same for me.

 

[Mark and Aimee]

I forgot to mention - the snakes shipped via USPS yesterday have not arrived, and most likely will not arrive until tomorrow. I'll be sitting here with my fingers cross, rearranging my work schedule for a second day, cursing up and down the street.

 

[gmherps]

You would think people would just stop and think about what in the hell they're doing sometimes.

 

[insularx]

You are correct in that USPS will not ship snakes. However, USPS Expressmail is guaranteed to many zipcodes overnight. I ship the frogs that I breed via USPS regularly and if they are not there by the time promised, I can file a refund claim. If you check into any of the FedEx or Airborne Express details, you will find that they will ship live animals, provided they are in approved packaging and that you sign a waiver saying that they will not be held responsible for the animal (nor will they be held responsible for getting the package to its destination on time)! I haven't checked this with UPS, but I doubt they would be any different than the other two.
All the best,

 

[Mark and Aimee]

However, USPS Expressmail is guaranteed to many zipcodes overnight.

Express mail is NOT guaranteed to just as many zip codes.

A few quotes from USPS's web site:

Next day delivery by noon or by 3:00 pm to many destinations.

Delivery to most addresses in the United States - including PO Boxes and military addresses.

Delivery to most locations 365 days a year, including Sundays and holidays at no extra charge.

Some restrictions apply, please check with your Post Office™ for details.

Next Day Service may not be available at or between all post offices or at all times of deposit. An Express Mail Next Day Service directory, showing detailed local information about Express Mail Next Day Service, is available at post offices.

What I am getting at here is there are a whole lot of mosts and manys there. Typically, the only way you will know if it is guaranteed overnight or not is if the post office TELLS you. And a lot of times, they may "overlook" that piece of information.

I'm telling you this because I have had more 2 day deliveries come to my house than overnight deliveries. If I wasn't living this nightmare, I wouldn't be complaining about it.

Coincidentally, the package mailed to me by Express mail yesterday DID arrive today... But certainly not by the noon delivery time it was supposed to. By the time the postal carrier attempted to deliver the package, there was no longer anyone at home to accept it.

I spent 45 minutes at the post office this evening, waiting for them to find the package. Seems the carrier did not put the package where he was supposed to, and now no one can find it. They also refuse to call the carrier, and ask him where the heck it is. They don't want to "bother" him.

I'd love to find out he didn't drop it off at the post office before going home, and has it with him right now. I'm fairly certain there is a federal law in violation, if that is the case.

In any event - yet again I have a package of reptiles in the very city I live in that I cannot pick up. Last time, it was with UPS, and it sat in a trailer in Colorado Springs all weekend, because UPS was "Closed" and wouldn't let me pick the package up at the distribution center, just 4 miles from my house.

Ahhh.... venting feels good!

 

[SmokyMtnReptiles]

wow thats horrible

I would hate that to happen to me , either sending or receiving that would be just horrible...I would be tracking it all night like something was gonna change if I just clicked it 1 more time.....
Tom Petty said it best " The waiting is the hardest part "

 

[Mark and Aimee]

The snakes mentioned in my previous post arrived today. The mail carrier had absolutely nothing to say about the whereabouts of the package last night.

The Postmaster will be having some words with him though... I've had it with the dead beat, and finally filed a complaint. The list was long (leaves my mailbox open daily, leaves packages on my doorstep in plain sight, didn't even DELIVER mail at all this past saturday, misplaced a package for a MONTH once).

But back to the snakes that arrived. All are alive, and well. They were shipped in an UNinsulated box again. 3 snakes in one gladware type dish, 1 snake in a deli cup (standard for shipping a baby colubrid), and 1 snake in a styrofoam drink cup (wtf).

I don't think I am being TOO terribly picky about shipping reptiles here. Really. It's quite simple.

I think the only thing I can do is put together a page on my web site showing EXACTLY how I would like animals to be packaged, if they are going to be shipped to me. It seems there are an aweful lot of people out there who have never shipped or recieved a reptile!

 

[KodiakWood]

Mark And or Aimee That sounds Like a plan(web Page) I was thinking The same when these people Finally get my web site set up .....I had a guy in Ohio send me a snake In a Plastic Shoe box with a Sock heater pac ...Wrap in a sock when it got here it was darn near "Frozen" ..at first Thought it was while on the phone it sorta moved ......it took about 2 days before it was moving and eating ....I guess the point Im get at here is "IF YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO DO IT RIGHT>>>>>ASK SOMEONE WHO DOES..

 

[KodiakWood]

forgot to mention Its VERY Lively and eats ALOT....LOL

 

[KodiakWood]

Ps Glad They got there safe They are IN Good HANDS NOW

 

[insularx]

I have read all of the mosts and many's from USPS. That is why I always check with USPS before shipping to make sure the guarantee applies to the particular zip I am shipping to. But I have yet to have them tell me a zip was not guaranteed. I understand that you've had problems with them and I feel your pain. For my money, they are the best choice to any zip they will guarantee (and as I said, I haven't had them fail to gurantee yet, but I'm sure there will come a day).

FedEx, and Airborne Express WILL NOT guarantee ontime delivery to ANYWHERE for live animals and they charge you more for the privelage of no guarantee. My crickets used to come via Airborne and they were always ontime and usually in good shape (the boxes). FedEx has lost numerous packages for me and refuses to refund the shipping charges, let alone replace the animals lost because of their negligence. The packages I do receive from FedEx are invariably beaten to heck and back. It takes some work to break a 3/4" styro inside a cardboard box! I cannot speak for UPS so I'd love to hear more feedback on them.

But, my point is that all of the shipping methods available, outside of hand delivery, are inherently risky and often dangerous to the animals. I have dealt with all of the aforementioned couriers as well as most of the major airlines and they ALL regularly foul up and many are less than delicate with our animals.

Not trying to incite - just co-venting, I guess.

 

[Clay Davenport]

The methods some use for shipping reptiles are pathetic I agree. In some cases the person apparently lacks anything resembling common sense.
A while back, after hearing a story of two turtles that were shipped in a plain cardboard box with no filler material at all, and shipped parcel post no less, I finally did put up a page on my site detailing what I consider to be adequate shipping practices and the method I use. Something has to be done to curb the idiocy.
There's no call for some of the stupidity we see with increasing regularity. I suppose it's in part a by product of the increase in aspiring breeders who fail to think everything through.

As for Express mail shipping, here is my experience with it. I live in western NC. A while back I needed to get a package to Kansas overnight. I was going to express mail it, but they said the guarantee was for delivery in two days. I sent the envelope Airborne.
Two weeks ago I had a customer on the west coast request express mail for an order of roaches. They were being shipped on a Tuesday. The post office ran the zip and said delivery was guaranteed by 3pm on Friday. I regularly send priority mail shipments to the west coast and it takes 2-3 days to arrive. That meant all I was getting for the extra $15 or so in shipping charges was a guarantee that they would arrive in the same amount of time priority mail would have gotten there anyway.
I fail to see the point of bothering with express mail when this is the case. If they are late, you get a refund of the shipping charges, but if the bugs are dead, they're gone either way. You're just paying extra for a guarantee that the extra charge will be refunded if they're late.
I sent back the extra funds and shipped priority mail anyway. Express was a complete waste of money and I have since removed that option entirely from my website.

 

[Mark and Aimee]

Just when you thought it was over

So. Yesterday I emailed the person I just purchased a pair of '03 Granite Spotted Pythons from. Since the snakes are being shipped from Tennessee to Colorado (both have temps in the 90s), I recommended he use a cold pack.

No response from him.

As of this afternoon, I had not recieved a tracking number, and did not hear anything back on the cold pack recommendation. Emailed him again, asking for a tracking number, and asking him if he used a cold pack.

All I got back from him was a tracking number. At that point, a little frustrated, I sent the following nastygram:

Hi - Once again, do you have COLD PACKS in the box???????

I've asked twice, and I am assuming you opted to leave them out at this point.

You DO realize the temperatures are WAY too warm to ship without cold packs, right?

Please respond soon - I'd like to know.

Thanks,

Mark

Here's what I got back from him this evening:

I know how to ship as i have done this for going on four years they will be alright and to answer your question no i did not place ice packs in the box however i did place wet ice in their box ..they will be fine..if any problems feel free to contact me

My thoughts - Anyone who knows how to ship snakes would not ship them in 90+ degree weather without a cold pack. What the heck does he mean by "wet ice"? Do you suppose he put a few ice cubes in the box?? Boy, that's going to keep the box cold for about an hour. Great.

To top it off, he took the cheap route, and sent them overnight, for 3:00 PM delivery. Sweet. Now the snakes will ride around in a FEDEX truck almost all day long. Just what I wanted to hear.

I'd be willing to bet the box is NOT insulated, and the snakes are MAYBE in a snake bag (with a half a$$ tied knot). Or they are in deli cups with lids that don't fit.

In any event - I'll post this all on the BOI tomorrow after the snakes arrive... I've had it with people and their lousy shipping practices.