Dealing with UPS issues/sponsor related

[gioNVA]

Hello,

I would like your feedback as to how to deal with this situation. I've spent a lot with this vendor before so I've had good dealings with them. About 2 weeks ago, I place an order with this vendor who is a sponsor on here. They shipped out the coral on time and I paid the shipping charges associated with it. UPS then misses the overnight delivery date due to a delay on their part and they redeliver in 2 days. Of course the coral was dead on arrival and I immediately let the vendor know. They tell me that they will get the coral replaced but I have to cover shipping on the next order. Since UPS didn't meet their guaranteed delivery date, shouldn't the vendor get the money back from UPS in this instance?

Last Monday, I placed an order to get that coral replaced. I agreed to pay for shipping since I also added another coral in the order. Anyway, that order is in a similar situation. UPS failed to deliver today due to delays on their part. They are supposed to redeliver tomorrow. I'm hoping that the coral will survive but due to cold weather, I am expecting to receive another DOA shipment. SPS colonies in a bag, in cold weather, does not ship well. I am asking for your opinion as to what would be a fair resolution. I am out ~$400 and have no coral to account for it. I am taking the loss in shipping cost and the vendor is taking the loss in coral replacement.

Thanks.

 

[gar732]

I’m not sure how warranties work with perishables but if it was delayed due to ups I would expecta credit for shipping from ups. Also I would request fedex be used on your next order from that vender.

I personally will not purchase from a vender that uses ups anymore. A couple weeks ago I ordered some corals and were supposed to arrive by 10:30. At 12:30 I called them and they assured me they would be delivered by the end of the day. I told them that was unexceptable as these were live animals and 10:30 delivery is what was bought and paid for. UPS has a feature that shows you where the delivery truck is. It was at the end of my road at one point but kept going. After sitting on hold for 30min waiting for a manager that was too busy tonspeak to me the package finally arrived. And this point the truck was a few blocks away but came back to my house. I think they missed my stop and was contacted when I called. They just don’t care. I got a package from fedex today and it arrived early, and this was after 2-3” of snow fell and they would have had an excuse to be late.

 

[browndriver22]

I am a UPS driver. What was the reason for delay? Was it because of weather? Our next day packages have been coming in late everyday at the warehouse because of plane delays due to weather.

 

[browndriver22]

I would advise against ordering anything perishable next day this time of year. Any bad weather will delay a plane or trailer getting there on time.

 

[HiddenUser]

My assumption is that UPS has some sort of clause in their shipping agreements that removes them of fault if shipments of livestock are delayed. Especially if that delay was somehow the result of an 'act of god' such as weather.

There was also a story in the news that the online shopping this year has been insane and UPS didn't have the appropriate staffing to accommodate such a large increase of package deliveries. I recently had a package that went into an 'Out for Delivery' state 4 days in a row before it was finally delivered.

 

[tankstudy]

UPS and FEDex both get delayed often this time of year. This is why in the last couple years, I stop buying corals post Black Friday. A ton of things are being purchased online for the holiday season and you have possible bad weather in the mix. I would hold off until after 2017. I deal with overnight packages oftenly in my line of work and we have several from FEDex that were suppose to be here a day ago but atm it's still only being sorted.

I don't know about the policies for failure to not deliver in 24 hours but I'd be interested to know.

 

[Radman73]

I would advise against ordering anything perishable next day this time of year. Any bad weather will delay a plane or trailer getting there on time.

+1 here. This is NOT a good time to be ordering anything live and expecting it to arrive as such. Many packages are being delayed due to volume and/or weather.

 

[HiddenUser]

Found this on the UPS site as well...

 

[ihavecrabs]

I'm guessing the vendor didn't add shipping insurance?

I'd hold off until after the holiday to re-order and I would request shipping insurance. It is unfortunate for either you or the vendor to have to continue to take losses due to shipment issues.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I've stopped ordering things online at all this time of year if I can avoid it. I'm not just talking livestock, I'm talking everything. The UPS drivers in my area are usually not bad, but the service is horrible during November.

I ordered a box of Instant Ocean from BRS a few weeks ago and it was out for delivery. After waiting for an hour after the delivery window (supposed to be delivered by 7:00 PM), the truck finally pulled onto my street around 8:00 PM. I waited for literally another 30 minutes while the driver parked the truck and delivered a package or two. Around 8:30 PM, the truck turned around and left my court. No package.

The package went out for delivery again the next day. After waiting an hour after the delivery time again, the box arrived. However, it wasn't an Instant Ocean box, it was a generic, beat up brown box. The shipping label had clearly been ripped of the original box and taped on the generic brown box. The salt bags were tossed haphazardly into the new box, a few of them with tiny holes where the bags were clearly dropped on asphalt.

I know that things happen. I get that it's busy this time of year. But being late almost every delivery window and destroying packages, then trying to cover it up, is unacceptable. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but UPS completely loses it in my area for a solid two months straight.

 

[browndriver22]

Sorry to hear your bad experiences. Being a driver for 12 years I can tell you there is no window for deliveries except for next days. I have delivered to houses after 10pm before due to bad dispatch.

 

[HiddenUser]

I've stopped ordering things online at all this time of year if I can avoid it. I'm not just talking livestock, I'm talking everything. The UPS drivers in my area are usually not bad, but the service is horrible during November.

I ordered a box of Instant Ocean from BRS a few weeks ago and it was out for delivery. After waiting for an hour after the delivery window (supposed to be delivered by 7:00 PM), the truck finally pulled onto my street around 8:00 PM. I waited for literally another 30 minutes while the driver parked the truck and delivered a package or two. Around 8:30 PM, the truck turned around and left my court. No package.

The package went out for delivery again the next day. After waiting an hour after the delivery time again, the box arrived. However, it wasn't an Instant Ocean box, it was a generic, beat up brown box. The shipping label had clearly been ripped of the original box and taped on the generic brown box. The salt bags were tossed haphazardly into the new box, a few of them with tiny holes where the bags were clearly dropped on asphalt.

I know that things happen. I get that it's busy this time of year. But being late almost every delivery window and destroying packages, then trying to cover it up, is unacceptable. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but UPS completely loses it in my area for a solid two months straight.

Often times you get the seasonal help out delivering versus your regular UPS driver and I'm not sure that some of them necessarily care as much. I recall a time last year where the UPS truck did nearly 15 U-Turns on my street (no joke) when delivering packages.

When I called to complain about a similar issue UPS also told me that their drivers will only deliver up until a certain time and if things are still left on the truck, they are left until the next day. Hopefully your stuff doesn't get shoved to the back again otherwise you might be waiting another day.

 

[gioNVA]

Thanks for the replies. Both times, the UPS message was "due to a flight delay". I don't think the cost of the livestock should be covered but hoping that they will at least refund the cost of shipping.

 

[tankstudy]

Thanks for the replies. Both times, the UPS message was "due to a flight delay". I don't think the cost of the livestock should be covered but hoping that they will at least refund the cost of shipping.

I agree, failure to deliver in the time frame paid for should atleast be refunded.

 

[browndriver22]

Tell the driver or call the local hub that you want to refuse the delivery and it will get sent back to the shipper. As long as you don't open the package you can refuse it.

 

[._Z_.]

I’ve been told not to order anything perishable between mid November till mid January due to all the shopping sales and weather. Regardless of carrier things are going to happen this time of year. Good luck.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Often times you get the seasonal help out delivering versus your regular UPS driver.

Yeah, I know, I've heard that excuse before. Call me an butt, but I don't think this is a very good reason to provide poor service. UPS is getting paid to deliver a package: they should do it right and within the time-frame they claim. If they can't do it right and on time, they need to hire more or better seasonal help. If they can't find more or better seasonal help, they should give a discount or a partial refund on shipping because the customer experience is worse than it normally is. UPS is charging the same they always charge (maybe even more with a holiday surcharge). There should be no visible change in service. Pay the same amount (maybe more with surcharge), get the same service. If the quality of service is going to slip, then prices should adjust accordingly.

Like I said, I get that this is a busy time of year. I get that sometimes, weather happens. I get that OP's shipment was not guaranteed by UPS to arrive alive. I just really hate when companies are not held accountable for poor service.

Back on topic, I hope everything arrives alive @gioNVA

 

[cromag27]

Don't count on overnight during the holidays.....using any carrier.....period.

 

[HiddenUser]

Yeah, I know, I've heard that excuse before. Call me an ***, but I don't think this is a very good reason to provide poor service. UPS is getting paid to deliver a package: they should do it right and within the time-frame they claim. If they can't do it right and on time, they need to hire more or better seasonal help. If they can't find more or better seasonal help, they should give a discount or a partial refund on shipping because the customer experience is worse than it normally is. UPS is charging the same they always charge (maybe even more with a holiday surcharge). There should be no visible change in service. Pay the same amount (maybe more with surcharge), get the same service. If the quality of service is going to slip, then prices should adjust accordingly.

Like I said, I get that this is a busy time of year. I get that sometimes, weather happens. I get that OP's shipment was not guaranteed by UPS to arrive alive. I just really hate when companies are not held accountable for poor service.

Back on topic, I hope everything arrives alive @gioNVA

I completely agree. Would be nice if we could choose between Fedex or UPS with online ordering. It seemed like it was more common to have the choice a while back, but now certain companies seem to have agreements with one or the other, which really gives us no choice if we're purchasing things online. I've had less then desirable experiences with both and don't even get me started on the 'contractors' that Amazon uses to deliver their Prime packages.

 

[gioNVA]

thank you @chipmunkofdoom2 and everyone. Now since we have agreed that shipping livestock at this time of the year is a bad idea, would it be fair to ask for a livestock credit and free shipping on the next order? I know that the vendor is also taking a loss but I think you have to account for that in this business.