Do You Ask FedEx Why?

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chipmunkofdoom2

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@LiveAquaria has some sort of mechanism in place to detect when a package will be late. Yesterday you notified me with an automatic email that my livestock order would not be arriving the day it was supposed to. Do you ever go to FedEx with your late/on time numbers and ask them why they so consistently and predictably drop the ball?

And yes, I know there's a pandemic, but I've had two livestock orders from other vendors delivered on time and without issue from UPS during the pandemic.

Somewhat related, why is there no two-day shipping option for livestock from Live Aquaria? I get that overnight is best, but realistically a lot of FedEx livestock deliveries are two days or more now anyway. It would be nice to give the customer a break if there's a decent chance they're not going to actually get overnight shipping.
 

unchaotic

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It would be nice to give the customer a break if there's a decent chance they're not going to actually get overnight shipping.
I live in Minot, North Dakota and I can pretty much guarantee I will not get next day delivery with anything and with any carrier. Always seems like a joke paying for it.
 

LiveAquaria

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@chipmunkofdoom2 Good morning. We sincerely apologize your package did not arrive on time. We do check on all our air packages daily for any potential delays so we can notify our customers. We also sent the list to FedEx each day to notify them of the urgency to deliver the packages as soon as possible and request the reason for the delay. With any carrier, there can be operational, mechanical, and weather-related delays. Our facilities prepare for unanticipated delays with added oxygen in the bags as well as cooling packs and insulated shipping boxes. We ship overnight because our first concern is for the health of the aquatic life we offer. If you would like to send a PM with the order number and your email, we would be happy to review the order and reach out to FedEx for an update on delivery. We look forward to your response.
 

AJsReef

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In response to the 2-day logic. It really means “least prioritized air freight” which would probably mean any “delays” and it would be pushed back the same way overnight is.

The issue with FedEx is that they prioritize business accounts and addresses. If you read the fine print it is very clearly identified that the “before x time” is reserved for business addresses not residential. If you want a higher percentage of success have your orders shipped to a business or pick up at a sort center.

The unfortunate reality, is that businesses will be prioritized. Further, overnight air is a logistical feat that has so many variables that it does go wrong. Not “often” but it does, I’d venture to say FedEx probably has at least a 1-2% delivery estimate failure rate on a good day even before the pandemic.

I’m really surprised many big time livestock shippers haven’t moved to Delta Cargo but I’m assuming the cost would shock most buyers
 
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LiveAquaria

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@DaneGer21 Good afternoon. Thank you for your recent order with LiveAquaria. We would be happy to review your order and reach out to FedEx for a status update. Please send a PM with your order number and your email so we may assist you further. Thank you.
 
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@chipmunkofdoom2 Good morning. We sincerely apologize your package did not arrive on time. We do check on all our air packages daily for any potential delays so we can notify our customers. We also sent the list to FedEx each day to notify them of the urgency to deliver the packages as soon as possible and request the reason for the delay. With any carrier, there can be operational, mechanical, and weather-related delays. Our facilities prepare for unanticipated delays with added oxygen in the bags as well as cooling packs and insulated shipping boxes. We ship overnight because our first concern is for the health of the aquatic life we offer. If you would like to send a PM with the order number and your email, we would be happy to review the order and reach out to FedEx for an update on delivery. We look forward to your response.

The order arrived earlier today.

Yeah I know, every carrier CAN have weather or mechanical delays. Curiously, I've NEVER had that with UPS and livestock orders, not one single time. Terrible service from FedEx is business as usual in my area.

If you're not willing to offer additional shipping options on your website, please at least make it clear what carrier will be shipping the order. The last Live Aquaria order I received shipped with UPS, so I incorrectly assumed it would be the same this time. I should have checked, but in fairness to me it doesn't say anywhere on the checkout page what the carrier will be. I literally groaned out-loud when I saw a FedEx tracking number in shipping confirmation email.

I will not order from Live Aquaria again until I can choose to use UPS.
 

Montiman

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As some one who works for an e-commerce company that recently changed the shipping from UPS and FedEx to exclusively FedEx. I can tell you that before making the decision we looked at the 6million plus dollars we had paid between both carriers in the last year and compared the percentage of damage lost and delay claims from both. There was no statistical difference both were between 2-3%

What made us switch was UPS charging 40% more and never honoring any claims we filed. With FedEx it seams as long as we file a reasonable amount of claims say less than 5% they don't even question a claim they just refund us. With UPS good luck even when paying for insurance.

There are regional differences between carriers that may make 1 the better choice in your area but I can't blame any vendor for picking 1 over another. All carriers have been delayed this year due to the increase in e-commerce, lock downs, and substantial labor shortage.

It is extremely difficult for us to hire packing personnel when multiple employees have quit simply because they make more on un employment. I am sure all carriers are in the same boat when it comes to sorting staff.
 
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chipmunkofdoom2

chipmunkofdoom2

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As some one who works for an e-commerce company that recently changed the shipping from UPS and FedEx to exclusively FedEx. I can tell you that before making the decision we looked at the 6million plus dollars we had paid between both carriers in the last year and compared the percentage of damage lost and delay claims from both. There was no statistical difference both were between 2-3%

What made us switch was UPS charging 40% more and never honoring any claims we filed. With FedEx it seams as long as we file a reasonable amount of claims say less than 5% they don't even question a claim they just refund us. With UPS good luck even when paying for insurance.

There are regional differences between carriers that may make 1 the better choice in your area but I can't blame any vendor for picking 1 over another. All carriers have been delayed this year due to the increase in e-commerce, lock downs, and substantial labor shortage.

It is extremely difficult for us to hire packing personnel when multiple employees have quit simply because they make more on un employment. I am sure all carriers are in the same boat when it comes to sorting staff.

I don't think it's fair to say there's no difference between FedEx and UPS because they have the same delayed/damage numbers for your specific business. Shipping living animals overnight presents a completely different set of challenges than does your average ecommerce. It's not easy overnighting animals across the country, even though UPS seems to have no trouble with it and FedEx can only get me one out of three packages on time. Then, there's the process of replacing an order. Late and damaged orders are pretty catastrophic for marine ornamental fish and stony corals. If a live animal order is delayed and half the animals are dead, you have to deal with DOA processes in most cases, which for most vendors is terrible, and getting worse all the time. If I order salt mix from BRS and it doesn't show up, I message them and they ship another, no questions asked (this happened just a few months ago).

Plus, even if we assume that only 2-3% of all living animal overnight orders across the entire contiguous US are damaged or delayed, that doesn't mean that every package in every market has a 98% on-time rate. A 98% average probably means that most deliveries in most markets are 100% on-time/no damage. That also means for some areas, delivery is extremely unreliable. Only about 1/3 of my FedEx overnight orders are delivered on the day they're supposed to, or late with no DOAs. This botched order actually improved my success rate with FedEx, believe it or not.

Certainly, vendors are free to choose whomever they like to ship their products. But I'm free to choose to go elsewhere if the only option is FedEx. And I will.
 
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chipmunkofdoom2

chipmunkofdoom2

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I have an overnight FedEx package supposed to be delivered today. Doesn’t look like it’ll make it either!

Sorry to hear that, hope everything works out. Where did it get stuck, Memphis? Their Memphis hub is the absolute worst.

59lbrs.jpg
 

LiveAquaria

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@chipmunkofdoom2 We apologize again for the delay and are happy to hear your package arrived earlier today. We hope all the livestock are doing well. We have experienced delays with both shippers in the past; however, we continue to evaluate the services provided to ensure we are doing the best for the health of the specimens. We do identify the shipping service we use for live orders on the Shipping Information page on our website and we are also happy to provide this information if you wish to reach out to us directly. If you have any concerns with the condition of the specimens you received today, please do not hesitate to reach out to us by phone, chat, or email so we can document your concerns on the order and offer further assistance.
 

LiveAquaria

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@[U]DaneGer21[/U] We apologize your order was delayed in Memphis, TN. We have reached out to FedEx with the list of delayed orders and requested Saturday delivery where available. We hope FedEx is able to honor this request. Please accept the package when it arrives and float the bags to equalize the temperature before starting your drip acclimation. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or concerns with the condition of specimens upon arrive.
 

mdb_talon

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The issue with FedEx is that they prioritize business accounts and addresses. If you read the fine print it is very clearly identified that the “before x time” is reserved for business addresses not residential. If you want a higher percentage of success have your orders shipped to a business or pick up at a sort center.

Thats not an accurate representation of the fine print. Standard next day is by 10:30 to a most business address. By noon or 4:30 to residential address dependent on location - but that "guaranteed" time is known before shipping based off destination location. In other words if your package says delivery by noon then that is the time you are supposed to get it by. If it says by 4:30 then that is the time you are supposed to get it by.

The real problem is they seem to be having huge issues getting it there by that time and offering no recourse(even on shipping costs) for not doing so.
 

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