Ups burns me again
 

This is what ups late shipments turn out to be.
Pat took all the precations possible to make this fool proof the pics show the after 24 hrs trying to save but I think its a lost cause.
temp on arrival 0 degree celsius after rideing in truck for 11hrs acording to tracking record

Wow man sorry to hear that. the bus station here in Brandon ,manitoba is like that Kelly from the REEF shoppe in Lloyd sent me some stuff and one the box its says in big black letters. CALL PERSON ON ARRIVAL and my number is there.. wow and the mess that up. or the corals would come on a early bus too and not call me..

man did I light into them after that. now when i walk in they are sucking up to me.. its great. and the manger was the reason why all the mess ups/////

reasons like this make me glad to live in a city with local retailers.

UPS is the worst delivery service for anything not only livestock.
Google UPS and read some of the horror stories.
I have a 65 Corvair and get alot of parts out of the states if the vender says he ships via UPS I don't buy from them. They screw up and still charge ridiculous fees.

Its the middle of winter what did you expect? This si why you fly live animals inculding coral. IMO you brought this on yourself.

Bring it on ourselves?
 

Ryan,
When the parcel sits in an unheated van for over 12 hrs, and ups does not call on arrival, i hardly see how this is our problem. Your statement is ignorant. We pay for shipping, they should do thier job.
Bob

Having said that, I never, ever, ever, order in the winter, unless I am fully aware that if
it goes wrong, I can only blame moi. And yes flying is good but having said that be prepared to go and pick-up at whatever time. Where I live it is late when things arrive
so I leave them over night. But then again they are awesome and know me well.
Bottom line wait till weather is warmer that is my motto, can't even trust the people
who ship them. It sucks but that is the way it is. Oh and I have learned the hard way.

Why would you ship in an unheated van? What do you think would happen? Once again its the buyers fault for even thinking that your parcel will last that long.

But what was the shipper thinking?? Why not put a couple 20 or 30 or 40 hour heat packs in there to keep it warm?

Ryan
 

There was 2 20 hr heat pads ryan and the packing wasn t the issue ups shipping was and lost 2 shipment in spring and summer due to they dropped off at wrong house and lost the order another time so time of year really not an issue the shippment should have be delivered or i should have been contacted when it arrived at 12 hrs after shipped while it drove around for 12 more hrs in a van .
I have better luck in the winter due to caution people take alot of care in the packing ect have order as far as Ontario in the winter and have had no losses

Wow that was well said. you brought it on your self.:rolleyes:

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.

UPS, FedEx etc do not specialize in live animals, you ship live animals at your risk with these companies.

From UPS website:

Any package containing a live animal shall be considered a perishable commodity and will be accepted for transportation solely at the shipper´s risk for any damage or loss arising from the perishable nature of the item. UPS shall not be liable for any special, incidental, or consequential damages.


What time was it delivered to your house and by what type of service?

UPS Next Day early AM? UPS Next Day? Or UPS Express Saver?

They typically deliver early by 8:30am, Next Day by 10:30am and Saver by noon, but if you live outside the city this may not be possible due to the drive to your area from their sorting facility.

distance
 

The shipment was from Delta BC aprox 600km away not too far away .
Ya **** happens just posted to give others info on shipping nightmares
not for sympathy .lol Sorry if some thought thats what i was looking for .
All the best and happy shipping .

just one question does anyone work for ups

Have you ever noticed all carriers post that its the shippers responsibility if something live dies in transit not the end consumer .

No risk to me if something arrives at my doorstep smelling like 3 day old tuna. just take it away.:mrgreen:

I work for UPS and I'll tell you right now that no one is going to call you when a parcel arrives it dosn't matter what you write on the box, who do you think is gonna call you, not the driver, you think they are gonna use their personal phone to tell you that your box has arrived. A small center alone pushes out 12000 boxes a day, so yeah there imperfections to the service.

Two things...
1.
Never did understand why folks order livestock online and have it shipped. What's the attraction? Lower costs? I don't get it. I've never done it and likely never will...anytime of year. Just doesn't make sense to me to risk buying livestock, sight unseen, and then have it shipped, when I can just go to my LFS, or take a cooler to the mainland and ship the stuff back myself.
2.
I've ordered enough times now (yes, dry goods) from a certain lower mainland dealer to know within an hour and a half when the UPS guy is going to show. It's usually two days after the order is placed and savvy tracking will confirm this by indicating "Out For Delivery". And the guy always shows up between 3:00PM and 4:30PM. It's always the same guy, too. And I've had enough deliveries from him to know that he has the same route area, day in - day out. I recognize him driving around in my part of town. So, I've gotten to know he has a pattern and my UPS deliveries will usually always arrive between 3:00PM and 4:30PM, 2 days after I ordered. Quite convenient, actually.

Another item, which is totally unrelated (video game strategy guide), I had ordered on a Sunday night. It was sent from Kentucky, via UPS. I got the guide two days later, on the Tuesday. I couldn't believe it.

Just thought I'd relate a few positive stories about UPS. They work for me.

Cheers,

For a guy like me whos closest Store that sells Saltwater is 3 hours away with 2 aquariums, or edmonton 5 hours away the internet really appeals to me for certain things. WYSIWYG really appeals to me even though I have to pay a little bit more. To ship livestock via airline its 75-100 dollars. Its that much for me in gas alone to drive to Fort St John BC or Edmonton to go get them myself and I dont have to waste an afternoon to get it.

I have enough smarts on me though to realize its cold outside and even properly packaged there is a chance the livestock may die, so ship it heated cargo. I dont go and ship it UPS where it sits in a cold truck all day.

Yes, I can understand that. I was thinking along the lines of combining a trip(s) with other business. I would never hop on a ferry to the mainland solely for the purpose of an aquaria livestock trip (or dry goods for that matter). These visits are always a stop by that are combined with another reason(s) for going. Patience helps. But I'm sure each of our situations and thought processes on how to shop are just as varied as there are coral species :smile:.

Cheers,
Mark.