Coral shipment delayed - what do I do?

[ID-Reefer]

I placed an order a couple days ago. Was supposed to go out today but seller suggested waiting because of delays... Is throwing in a few free frags for the wait. Makes sense to me on an order close to $1,000 to wait a few more days (and get a few extra freebies to boot).

Ive had good luck to this point ordering online. Ive gone through 4 places so far and only had one slight hick up with some cold water and an a couple Acros didn't make it. That company refunded me the same day. Sucks to have things delayed and expensive corals/fish etc. sitting in some warehouse someplace. Hope everything works out fo you all waiting.

Sellers can't control the weather or what FedEx or UPS does. Everyone Ive bought from to this point has had great customer service. My only complaints are sometimes frags that aren't WYSIWYG don't look as good as the photos shown or are smaller than expected.

As to what to do... tough deal. The seller I just bought from is instructing customers who have shipments delayed right now to call and pester UPS/FedEx explaining the contents will die if not delivered. Then hope they somehow put an emphasis on your particular package.

 

[fish farmer]

It might not be their fault but they are responsible for checking the routes and seeing where they may be a problem.

Major pile up in Forth Worth, Texas. I expect some Fed Ex ground deliveries will be impacted....saw video of a Fed Ex truck slamming into the pile.

 

[Mical]

As tempting as sales are, this time of year is a crap shoot when ordering online. Between holidays, weather related delays & add to that the major carriers are putting 80+% of their resources towards Covid vaccine transport. (Both our FedEx and UPS driver has told us Covid transport is pushing their limits)

 

[Auflyfish]

Who shipped y’all’s corals? Feel free to PM; as to not name drop but I’m expecting 2 shipments to arrive tomorrow 600$ in coral and 200$ in fish from two different vendors now this has got me worried as I live just south of Nashville

 

[DWPhilli]

Who shipped y’all’s corals? Feel free to PM; as to not name drop but I’m expecting 2 shipments to arrive tomorrow 600$ in coral and 200$ in fish from two different vendors now this has got me worried as I live just south of Nashville

It does not really matter who the vendor is if they ship through UPS you might want to contact them and have them hold it until next week just to be safe as the Kentucky hub will be backed up for a few days.
If they ship Fedex, you would probably be ok as long as the weather in TN has been ok, as those would go through the Memphis hub.

 

[JGT]

Sim experience for me this week with UPS. Shipped out Tuesday 3pm. Supposed to be delivered Wednesday by 10:30am but because of 3-4 inches of snow got delayed until today at 10:30. Wanna know the irony? It was within the same state!. Couple hours drive.
Heat packs were still warm but the corals were cold. Tough to survive in this kinda temps (low teens overnight) even with heat packs. Stonys were all brown goo with polyp bailout-dead. Only a few zoas survived-maybe. Jury still out on those.
Had good communication with seller all along and he will be resending me what died so communication is key. But bottom line, check the weather from seller to you and if a chance of bad weather, hold off until forecast is better.

 

[Auflyfish]

It does not really matter who the vendor is if they ship through UPS you might want to contact them and have them hold it until next week just to be safe as the Kentucky hub will be backed up for a few days.
If they ship Fedex, you would probably be ok as long as the weather in TN has been ok, as those would go through the Memphis hub.

Good point! Lol I got worried and didn’t think about it not really being about vendor as it’s just a shipping company/weather issue

 

[William Morris]

From the AquaSD website: Aqua SD cannot be held responsible for mechanical or weather delays by shipping company.
This will be interesting to follow.

I now am looking only at vendors in CA - where I live.

 

[JosephM]

From the AquaSD website: Aqua SD cannot be held responsible for mechanical or weather delays by shipping company.
This will be interesting to follow.

I now am looking only at vendors in CA - where I live.

I'm gonna be pretty upset if I have a lot of die off and don't at least get store credit. I get it's not their fault but still, I don't know. Looks like it's still in Kentucky so who knows if it'll even get delivered tomorrow.

 

[William Morris]

I'm gonna be pretty upset if I have a lot of die off and don't at least get store credit. I get it's not their fault but still, I don't know. Looks like it's still in Kentucky so who knows if it'll even get delivered tomorrow.

It is their fault - you can't just have a blanket policy saying you will not be responsible shipping delays.
They should know the routes that UPS or FedEx use to get the animals to people and monitor them - both in the winter and summer.
One of my LFS won't order from their wholesalers if the weather is sketchy because they can lose an entire shipment with no recourse.

 

[JosephM]

It is their fault - you can't just have a blanket policy saying you will not be responsible shipping delays.
They should know the routes that UPS or FedEx use to get the animals to people and monitor them - both in the winter and summer.
One of my LFS won't order from their wholesalers if the weather is sketchy because they can lose an entire shipment with no recourse.

Yeah you're not wrong there. My dad is a construction supply salesmen and orders a lot through UPS and said they don't care about late shipments either. And he also said judging that it's still in Kentucky it won't get here by tomorrow either

 

[PowerLineman01]

I knew this would happen. I hate ordering online but pulled the trigger due to the prices and it was all WYSIWYG. Its coming all the way from California to NC. It was supposed to arrive by 10:30 a.m. and due to inclimate weather its stuck in Kentucky (I checked the weather over there and its literally just cloudy, maybe because there's heavy storms over here?) Either way I'm just wondering what to do, just be patient and it'll come when it comes? Its through UPS and I'm sure as many of you know their customer service is basically non existent. Pretty sucky experience for my first time ordering online. And it's 22 corals so definitely a lot to lose.

I live near Louisville Kentucky. They had anywhere for .25-.6 inches of ice yesterday a lot of roads are still really bad. Sorry this has happened to you but it is pretty bad

 

[JosephM]

I live near Louisville Kentucky. They had anywhere for .25-.6 inches of ice yesterday a lot of roads are still really bad. Sorry this has happened to you but it is pretty bad

Definitely understandable but as others have stated it would've been wise on the companies side to check weather en route to the receiving locations. All well, nothing anyone can do now.

 

[PowerLineman01]

I know it sucks. Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow in good health fingers crossed for you.

 

[William Morris]

I don't use AquaSD at the moment.
I just placed something in my shopping cart on their site and to finish the transaction you have to click on and agree to the terms of service.
There are 20 sections to their terms of service - all legal speak.
So they have their butt covered every which way - let's see if this turns out to be a mess if they step up.
Hoping they do.

 

[dennis romano]

I just got a shipment from KP Aquatics today. UPS had issues in Miami and held up all overnight shipments. Thankfully, everything arrived in great shape even though it took two days. KP said that they would stand by their product even with the UPS delay.

 

[sloogan]

Also am one of the 20+ is this the official support group. Feeling pretty helpless for my coral babies.

 

[fish farmer]

Looks like next week in the Memphis area another storm is moving through.

I shipped trout eggs via Fed Ex on Wednesday to Virginia, no updates as of this morning. They can sit in the box for a few days if it's cold.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Sadly, I think a lot of corals have been killed in TN and KY airports. I know I've had my fair share of corals die in Memphis before.

Frankly, any coral seller who won't guarantee alive arrival will not get any business from me in the future. Shipping issues and delays have become the norm rather than the exception.

 

[DWPhilli]

Sadly, I think a lot of corals have been killed in TN and KY airports. I know I've had my fair share of corals die in Memphis before.

Frankly, any coral seller who won't guarantee alive arrival will not get any business from me in the future. Shipping issues and delays have become the norm rather than the exception.

I just counted last night, and I have received 17 shipped orders the last year+. This is the first that has been delayed.
Luckily, Indianapolis is a major Fedex hub so that is helpful for sure.

Good news is that it looks like my ASD shipment is to be delivered in the next couple hours. We will see how it goes, but I did get an email last night from ASD saying "Please understand we are not responsible for any weather delays, but as a piece of mind, anything that is DOA due to the delay, we will take care of you"