I didn't even think it was legal to ship corals over the border

Pay a specialized courier to ship it...if you are worried :) If you have ever been to a shipping hub you'll realize why sensitive stuff gets shipped private courier. That being said the IRA fedex'd missles once...they made it. The only thing i ask from fedex is that tom hanks is not on the plane that my stuff is on. Seriously though go to a ups hub and look at what they do. I'm sorry to say one package ruined or a 100 enough people will continue to use them. If you press them they might do something, otherwise the second you hang up...you have been forgotten. Unless...that is you bought extra insurance...then the law has them by the...and so do you. But few people will go this far in a claim...so...make a stink or don't...how in their face are you willing to get? they do have special regulations for live goods/liquids etc...if you didn't look into that...they will laugh at you then forget you.

Hmm 12 hrs plus 12 more hours is 24 hours. Nope shoulda used 40 hr heat packs. Its a risk you take in the dead of winter. Next time fly them in heated cargo and you wouldnt need to whine and complain about how you got "burned".

Moving ocean corals thousands of miles across land is unnatural enough, add the freezing temperatures of a Canadian Winter and well you cannot expect too much.

I think anyone ordering tropical specimens in the Winter must take some of the risk on themselves. Sorry if this angers but it is just the plain truth.

I'm sure this is good advice because as somebody who ships a lot of livestock the one thing I know for sure is that airlines never screw up! LOL

You ship it and you cross your fingers. You can insure it and track it and phone to complain and then wait in the cargo office for 15 hours because you've shouted yourself hoarse and your phone is dead. You don't even have to call your wife and tell her you won't be home, she knows that the fish come on Wednesday and if she sees you again before 3pm Thursday it will be a nice surprise.

UPS, Westjet, Northwest, Air Canada (shudder), they're all just as bad. 12 hour heat packs or 40 hour heat packs it doesn't make any difference if they don't know where the boxes are in the first place. You may as well paint yourself orange and run around in circles in the street, that's a likely to help as a 40 hour heat pack. I've had UPS show up with fish they lost 8 days ago and they were surprised I wouldn't sign for it.

If you ship stuff you take a risk.

If a company states that they can get what ever you order to you with no D.O.A's ANY time of year (The only type of company I will order from. I have yet to see a company say they will not ship you corals in the winter time, there might be but I have not seen any) then thats the company Iam ordering from.

It looks like ups is at fault not the shipper or the customer. The order must have been insured? no? UPS should be on the hook not the shipper or end consumer ,now depending where you purchased the corals from you might have to pay for shipping but if it was ME I would let ups know they will be fitting this bill :mrgreen:

Its funny to see the "Brave" people behind their keybord in their mom and dad basements typing away that it your fault for ordering in the winter time and you got what was coming to you for order in the winter months.

to each his own... i guess :wink:

Peace out.

.02 spent

Well said.

These are not light bulbs or toasters, these are LIVE tropical animals. Shipping them in the Canadian Winter will sometimes result in DOA. And the hobbiest HAS to take some of the responsibility for these deaths.

I am not some kid in a basement. I have shipped thousands of dangerous goods worth millions of dollars across North America. I know how shipping works. Planes get stuck on runways, need deicing before takeoff. Trucks get delayed in traffic, customs or borders. P and D trucks smash packages and ignore warning stickers.

The coordination and luck to move one 5lb box across the country is more than the average hobbyist clicking on pretty coral picture on a website can imagine. Take some responsibility for your hobby.

Yes if you purchase with an "Arrive Alive" guarantee you should expect another shipment or refund. That's the contract you agreed too. Just don't cry too loud if it does arrive dead when the destination is rural Alberta in February.

summer/winter/spring and fall

you do make some good points but FYI ST.Albert is not rural :lol:

and like you said When purchased from a company that has a " Arive Alive" guarantee it should do just that. Unless the website states " We will not ship during said months" I expect it to crawl out of the bag and glue its self to my reef. :wink:

"I am not some kid in a basement. I have shipped thousands of dangerous goods worth millions of dollars across North America."

That comment was not directed towards you and iam sorry you took insult and good for you on all that shipping.

I think this is getting a little off topic the poster had live product destroyed by the company delivering it. When stuff gets shipped it gets screwed with.

As long as there are companies offering "Arive Alive " Delivery it should arive alive. If they had a " It might get there and be alive maby?" motto I would skip that buisness.

I just dont give a rats a$$ what happens to my package along the way as long as it arives at my door step alive. Bottom line.

peace-out.