NEVER again!!!!!!!

[ddiver]

I will never again buy expensive corals sent via UPS/ take delivery on a friday.Here's why, Jeremy of DC sent out my Utter Chaos and a few other polyps on a thursday(i told him to because i'm impatient).I wake up friday morning and track the package and it says out for delivery.1030 comes around and nothing so i wait a bit longer cuz sometimes they run a little late.Its 12 and still nothing so i call UPS to see where my package was and they tell me that its still out for delivery and that i should recieve it before the end of the day so i'm furious because it was guaranteed by 1030 and i have not recieved it.3 oclock comes around and still nothing so i call again and this time the person tells me that my package never even made it to the local hub and that it was in Kentucky so now i'm like what the heck and giving attitude so i think they hung up on me.I call back again about an hour later and the 3rd person apologizes for the misinformation and tells me that the flight was late to the airport and that they will get everything delivered that day(they deliver until 8 in my area)..9 oclock comes around and at this point i'm like i highly doubt i'm getting it tonight so i call them back yet again and they tell me the earliest i'm going to get it is Monday, you could only imagine how angry i am at this point.I was ****** off the whole weekend.Monday comes and the package is at my door, at this point i'm prepared for the worst.Opened the package and everything looked ok, nothing has melted,the water didn't smell so i threw them in the tank.Everything opened up within 24 hours after sitting in the box for a total of 4 days(goes to show how resilient corals can be) all because Jeremy did an awesome packaging job......this was a few weeks ago when everyday was in the 90s.

i never cared to rant about it until another mishap with UPS today.Tony of CITR sent my name game prize without letting me know that it would require a signature.So i open my door and find a notice and i'm like just my luck.So i call UPS and they tell me that the earliest i can pick up from the hub is 730/8 pretty much at the end of the day when drivers get back meaning my package has to ride around all day when its 94 degrees out(there was no other choice)...well time comes to go pick up and they call me and tell me they have no power because it stormed so i'm like not again...an hour later i call back and they still had no power but luckily the driver just got back with my package and i was able to pick it up..everything was ok....

From this day forward i vow to not take delivery from vendors that use UPS unless i didn't have any other choices and not to take friday deliveries because if something happened it will have to sit there all weekend.

 

[gooch Verified Sponsor]

Dude all the shipping companies are bad for livestock. As a vendor and hobbyist it is one of the most frustrating things about this hobby. I have lost days of work chasing boxes. Heck I ordered corals from a vendor less than three hours away with Fed Ex Priority Overnight, twice, and both times the corals came late. Once two days. The claims person laughed at me. So now all my business goes elsewhere unless the customer demands it. I only ship ground now but even that is a pain. One day I ship a box it's $25. The next time I ship an identical box to the same address and it's $35. I can even process the order three or four times and get three different prices. Then you ge tthe actual bill and it's another price. But it is what it is. Thankfully everything worked out for ya.

 

[kellyjn]

Wow thats a rant if ive ever seen one. :bigsmile:

I can't say I blame you for feeling like that. If you have to do this again, have it delivered to the ups facility and go pick it up. Same thing you can do with fedex.

Glad to hear everything worked out though!

 

[Ian]

I NEVER ship friday delivery. If I do I make it clear that I won't be responsible for delays.

Any other day I'll take responsibility, even if the package is late, but not for a friday delivery...

 

[Bio-nut]

Not using UPS or USPS, I feel has become common sense to many of people due to the crap that we have all been through. Friday deliveries are askig for it. I only receive corals shipments wednesday or thursday. If someone ships out on monday, your package is being mixed in with those that are left over from the previous friday's screw ups. If they ship out on thursday for friday delivery, you do take the chance that a mis-hap may happen leading to a crappy weekend and some dead corals. Thanks for sharing you experience hopefully others learn from this and will never happen again. Another thing is trying to get insurance money out of them. trying to get them to take blame for a package insured for $3,000 that shows up 6 hours after it was guaranteed to be there.

 

[melev]

You should always aim to accept delivery on a Thursday. If you can't accept the package at your work (which would be ideal), then you can opt to have it dropped off at a holding location. For example, when I receive livestock shipments from Keys Critters, I have it shipped via Fedex and it goes directly to the Kindos location. I can pick it up after 9am that morning, and it never goes on a truck. Even if I don't show up for a couple of hours, it is in an air conditioned building.

And if something goes wrong on a Thursday, you still have Friday to hope for possible survivors.

 

[jordan3548]

I have had the same exact problems I hate it when the vendor does not tell you a signature is required. I also had them tell me once that the plane was late blah blah blah so I hunted down my UPS Driver I know everyday they eat lunch at the same restuarant so I went up there and found my usual driver and he was nice enough to give to me since he knows who I am lol. I hate to say it but USPS is the only company I have never had a problem with they always deliver mine super early like around 8am

 

[aquafrags]

I always ship fed ex and take it straight to the airport and ship only to a drop off location, never a house unless told to.

The prices for next day is what really gets me!?!?!?!?

 

[secretreefer]

I had the same exact experience with UPS......out for delivery 7am friday never made it to my house. so far (no jinxing) fedex has been 100% delivery. NO MORE THURSDAY TO ARRIVE FRIDAYS FOR ME>

 

[_Alex_]

thats main reason why i havnt ordered anything yet lol becuase i deal with ups daily at work and there a mess

 

[akabryanhall]

I feel your pain, however on the flip side, I just had the exact opposite experience with UPS. I ordered a bunch of CUC from a company in state. They wrote the right street address but entered the wrong city entirely, unbeknownst to me. I get a call at 7:30 am from the hub in the city on the coast saying they were not sure where my street was. I told them the package had been sent to the wrong city. They were extremely apolagetic and arranged for the package to be sent over to the airport hub and I picked it up that night. And it wasn't even their mistake. Most of the time the first i would hear of it is when I get notice from the vendor that they had got the package returned or just never got it at all. I will use UPS again because of this experience.

 

[KLR]

i always get 1030 arrival but it gets at my house, usually around 4 via fedex..but no problems with the corals

and what i do about the signature is leave anote on the door saying out for a minute ill be back shortly and sign it and they should leave the package at the door

they should have a branch of shipment just for livestock....

 

[ddiver]

FedEx has treated me pretty good so far except for what was mentioned earlier about the prices....

 

[Emoney]

Same BS happened to me..but lucky seller was way cool and hooked me up

 

[xraided199]

+1 on the note being left at the door. so far i have dealt with UPS, Fedex, and USPS for receiving corals. thank goodness no major problems yet, but i try to take precaution where i can. unfortunately, there are some things you have no control over like you mentioned earlier ddiver. as for the signature required, it seems that no matter what the vendor says (whether its required or not) the shipping company has their own thoughts about it. meaning there have been times when i was told a sig was definitely needed, and the package was just left at door, and vice versa. so i leave a note, sign it at the bottom, and know that the package will be left there.

i am so sorry for your misfortunes that must leave a foul taste in your mouth. its stressful on the customer and of course its stressful for the little animal in the box that has no clue what the heck is happening to it. great to hear that you got the corals in a healthy state after all that.

 

[kass03]

Ive had problems/delays with all of them. The first time I used Fedex they lost my package. It was going from Wisconsin to Illinois and they lost it lol.
I think you can sign a waiver with them so a sig is'nt required. I know I did yrs ago because they (all of them) love to come to my house and ring the doorbell which doesnt work and then leave with the package without knocking when I'm home.
Now I put a big sign on my door for them to knock.
I will say when that happened I called and they did bring it back.

I agree about Friday shipping I never trust it cuz if it's delayed your screwed.

kass

 

[littlefish]

Its always good also to get in the habit of placing a note in the comment field or shooting them a msg stating "please leave on porch" etc I have been fortunate with this approach. However I had the same problem about 3 weeks ago, I had a pair of Amphiprion latezonatus shipped to me by fedex overnight these guys typically like cooler waters and it was about a good 95 degrees out. Well 10:30 turned into 3:00 pm due to the doors on the plane being stuck.....I swear you can't make this up. The vendor and I was all over this but unless you are able to pick it up at a hub you are held hostage to their goood old time.