Well, I've only shipped with UPS, and I've recieved all four types, and I live in Alaska to make matters even tougher. To start with, I have a little ground rule for myself when shipping or recieving anything alive. I would perfer to wait until the following week rather than have it shipped any later than Wenesday. If it were to get stuck somewhere it could potentially have to wait all weekend, whereas if it gets stuck somewhere after having been shipped out on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday it has a day to get back on track so it shouldn't get stuck anywhere for over a day. I also won't ship anything after Wednesday for the same reason.
I've never had a single problem with UPS. Not a single of the shipments I've made have been late even a minute. I know their policy is against reptiles, but I've shipped snakes and a tortoise out with them, with the contents clearly labled on the box, and they never said a word to me, even when they asked about the contents. They all made it to their destinations just perfectly. I always ask that when people ship to me that they ship UPS. All of the reptiles I've ever recieved that were shipped UPS arrived safe and sound, and just fine. Never had a problem with their tracking number system either.
I've only received a shipment through Delta Dash once - and that was full of problems. I was told by the shipper the flights that it was scheduled for, and that the package was due to arrive at 11:30pm the following day. I got online and watched the tracking number (I'm a tracking number addict) and after the first flight it showed it was scheduled to get on another flight that wasn't departing Salt Lake City for another 12 hours, when the flight it was supposed to be on was meant to depart in 4 hours. I got on the phone through their horrid 1-800 number and after about an hour and a half they had gotten a hold of someone at the Salt Lake City airport and gotten them to change the flight it was scheduled for, and they promised me that it would be on the flight I was told it was going to be on. I am not certain if this was Delta's fault, or the shipper's fault. It could have very easily been that the shipper gave me the flight numbers that I wanted to see, and didn't really pay attention when they were shipping the snake. I had all sorts of problems with that company anyways, completely seperate from the Delta problems. I have a friend that has recieved several shipments through Delta, and they had no problems whatsoever.
FedEx just can't seem to find my apartment. I've had several shipments made to me through FedEx, and every single time I've had to drive 1 hour to the sorting facility at 11:30 at night (when the drivers return to the facility) and wait for the driver because they supposedly couldn't find my apartment. Why do I pay for door-to-door service if I have to drive out to the airport to get the package? By then the poor animals have been on a truck all day, no matter the weather.
As for Airborne, I will never use them after what happened with my friend and the snake she had shipped here. She had a snake shipped to my apartment, as I would be home all day that day, and she was going to be at work until later that evening, so she would be assured that the snake got warmed up and delivered safely until she got off work and could pick it up from my place. It was scheduled for morning delivery, and so I got up earlier than normal just to be sure I was ready when it arrived. I waited and waited and waited... eventually she got off work later that evening and came by, but no package had arrived. She got online with my computer and checked the shipping status "On delivery vehicle" so we waited and waited and waited... at 10pm she called their lovely 1-800 number and after about 20 minutes on the phone with them they had gotten a hold of the driver who was running behind due to weather (it was snowing). We asked what time they stop delivering, which was 10:30. They had 10 minutes to get the snake to us. At exactly 10:30 she checked the tracking number, and it said "Delivered" which it most certainly had not been. So she called them again and stressed that it was very important for her to get the package before they closed - there was a snake in the box, and if left in a cold warehouse it could die. So they got on the phone with the driver again, the driver told the person on the phone that he had delivered it. So the person on the phone told us to walk around the building, look at every apartment door and see if we saw it anywhwere, so we did. We came back inside with no box, no snake. We called them again. They called the driver again, who then said he couldn't find the apartment. So we gave them our phone number, and waited for the driver to contact us for directions. At 10:45, still no snake, no box, no phone call, so she called again. They got a hold of the driver again, who said he was on his way, and that he'd be there within 10 minutes. At 10:55 no box, no snake, no phone call. She called AGAIN, the driver said he had delivered it... so we had to go outside and circle the apartment complex again looking for a box on someone's doorstep, no box. As we walked in the door the man came up with the box, and asked that we call his supervisor right then and there to let them know we had recieved the box. By this time it was after 11pm. Then several weeks later we recieved the bill for the shipping of her snake (since the snake was sent to our address, so was the bill) and they had wanted $150 for AM shipping. I gave the bill to her, and she was not happy... neither would I have been.
I will stick with UPS until they stop shipping reptiles to me, and then I don't know what I'm going to do...
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