Shipping with FedEx

[Ingrim]

I ordered a pair of clownfish yesterday and it was supposed to be at my house today. (Priority Overnight Shipping) Anyways the package never arrived and they didn’t update tracking but it said it was supposed to arrive today by 12pm. 12 o’clock rolls around and it never arrived. I called FedEx and they didn’t know where the package was and they opened a case. They called me later and said it was on the delivery truck and the driver was running behind but insured me it would be at my house soon. It never arrived so I called FedEx up again and they said the package never arrived at the local destination for delivery and that the person who told me it was on the delivery truck lied to me.

It’s frustrating because I just got into the saltwater aquarium hobby. I set my tank up waited 27 days for it to cycle and took the day off from work so I could be here for the delivery. I was really excited to start getting livestock in the tank and getting my first saltwater fish. I don’t think I’ll ever get any fish delivered ever again. I should’ve just went to my LFS.

 

[BonnieB]

I’m so very sorry this happened to you but the company you ordered from should cover this and send you a replacement! Reach out to them!

 

[Utubereefer]

I ordered a pair of clownfish yesterday and it was supposed to be at my house today. (Priority Overnight Shipping) Anyways the package never arrived and they didn’t update tracking but it said it was supposed to arrive today by 12pm. 12 o’clock rolls around and it never arrived. I called FedEx and they didn’t know where the package was and they opened a case. They called me later and said it was on the delivery truck and the driver was running behind but insured me it would be at my house soon. It never arrived so I called FedEx up again and they said the package never arrived at the local destination for delivery and that the person who told me it was on the delivery truck lied to me.

It’s frustrating because I just got into the saltwater aquarium hobby. I set my tank up waited 27 days for it to cycle and took the day off from work so I could be here for the delivery. I was really excited to start getting livestock in the tank and getting my first saltwater fish. I don’t think I’ll ever get any fish delivered ever again. I should’ve just went to my LFS.

I feel your pain. Shipping is stressful. Build a relationship with your FedEx driver and maybe you can get their phone number for inside information on your future deliveries

 

[Fish Fan]

Sorry about your delivery! Poor fish

 

[vetteguy53081]

I ordered a pair of clownfish yesterday and it was supposed to be at my house today. (Priority Overnight Shipping) Anyways the package never arrived and they didn’t update tracking but it said it was supposed to arrive today by 12pm. 12 o’clock rolls around and it never arrived. I called FedEx and they didn’t know where the package was and they opened a case. They called me later and said it was on the delivery truck and the driver was running behind but insured me it would be at my house soon. It never arrived so I called FedEx up again and they said the package never arrived at the local destination for delivery and that the person who told me it was on the delivery truck lied to me.

It’s frustrating because I just got into the saltwater aquarium hobby. I set my tank up waited 27 days for it to cycle and took the day off from work so I could be here for the delivery. I was really excited to start getting livestock in the tank and getting my first saltwater fish. I don’t think I’ll ever get any fish delivered ever again. I should’ve just went to my LFS.

A tip for future-
Never:
Order on a holiday week
Arrange for livestock to arrive Tues-Wed-Thurs only so you dont run into a stuck parcel on weekends


See if you can go to the facility yet today or first thing in the morning and pick it up yourself. If you havent already, notify shipper ASAP to exercise your live arrival guarantee.

 

[Steve180]

I bought two clownfish, but the package was delayed over the weekend. I picked it up at the facility on Monday, and surprisingly, both fish were alive. I still have them to this day.

 

[Ingrim]

Update (Next day) : After going back and forth with FedEx today I was able to pick up the clownfish from a nearby FedEx location. They were both dead unfortunately. It was 42 hours after they shipped. FedEx apologized for the delay and said they lost the package at a sorting facility. I was so mad but I ended up going to the LFS and picking up a pair of black snowflake clowns :)

 

[kboogie]

I ordered a pair of clownfish yesterday and it was supposed to be at my house today. (Priority Overnight Shipping) Anyways the package never arrived and they didn’t update tracking but it said it was supposed to arrive today by 12pm. 12 o’clock rolls around and it never arrived. I called FedEx and they didn’t know where the package was and they opened a case. They called me later and said it was on the delivery truck and the driver was running behind but insured me it would be at my house soon. It never arrived so I called FedEx up again and they said the package never arrived at the local destination for delivery and that the person who told me it was on the delivery truck lied to me.

It’s frustrating because I just got into the saltwater aquarium hobby. I set my tank up waited 27 days for it to cycle and took the day off from work so I could be here for the delivery. I was really excited to start getting livestock in the tank and getting my first saltwater fish. I don’t think I’ll ever get any fish delivered ever again. I should’ve just went to my LFS.

That sounds like the typical FedEx experience to me. My favorite online fish store used UPS for years and the delivery was like clock work. I knew my fish were arriving at 10:45 AM every time. Because if meaningful price increases from UPS they switched to FedEx for a couple months and it was nothing but issues. After a couple months, they switched back to UPS and raised shipping cost.

 

[W31Olds]

In my opinion, the biggest mistake made was by the vendor. They should have never allowed for a Friday Shipment let alone a on a Holiday weekend. Most of the on-line vendors never ship live Animals on a Friday.

 

[braaap]

Sorry to hear this. NEVER allow shipping after Wednesday. I only allow shipping of livestock on Tuesday or Wednesday. Never allow shipping the week before a big holiday and week after. Everything is always messed up for a few days before and after. Live and learn.

 

[Mike_Coral]

I bought two Acropora corals during the recent TSA sale, and they were supposed to be delivered today. Unfortunately, FedEx messed up the shipment and is now saying they won't be delivered until Monday.

This is my first time ordering corals online, so I don't know shipping them on a Thursday is always this risky. Hopefully TSA will be able to help resolve the situation.

 

[Grog]

I find it to be very driver dependent, probably more than it should be. I had perfect delivery service with UPS forever. Driver retired. Service degraded. FedX had good deliveries. Again, a good driver, we were friends and he was in the aquarium hobby too. He quit. Delivery service level dropped. Now it is a total gamble for deliveries. They are all equally terrible.

Agree with the above. Having the vendor ship Monday is great. Avoid holidays. No weekends. And try to avoid shipments during winter storms. Seems silly but I have better results with summer shipments here in Texas. You'd think the heat would hurt things but not so much. I've had it way worse when there is a snowstorm in either Memphis or Dallas, the transportation hubs, and packages get snow delayed.

 

[c4haskett]

I do not have the vocabulary to fully portray my thoughts and feelings about how bad Fedex is. I have now reached the point that I will contact a company before I purchase something online, if that information is not available when checking out, to see what shipping company they use. I will not order anything if UPS is not an option. I'm not sure of everywhere but Fedex in my area is 100% incompetent, and it boils my blood just thinking about it. I would say 80-90% of my packages have never arrived on time, if they even make it to my house. The last package I received from Fedex before stopping using them, I had some motor oil delivered. I would say about 60% of the oil had spilled inside the box. The package was soaked and actively leaking. They placed that package on my concrete driveway, which I now have a large permanent stain in that spot. It was so bad, that it was impossible not to notice, they just didn't care. UPS on the other hand, I cannot say enough good things about them. Everything arrives on time, and all the drivers seem to be very friendly and courteous.

 

[commod0re]

I ordered a pair of clownfish yesterday and it was supposed to be at my house today. (Priority Overnight Shipping) Anyways the package never arrived and they didn’t update tracking but it said it was supposed to arrive today by 12pm. 12 o’clock rolls around and it never arrived. I called FedEx and they didn’t know where the package was and they opened a case. They called me later and said it was on the delivery truck and the driver was running behind but insured me it would be at my house soon. It never arrived so I called FedEx up again and they said the package never arrived at the local destination for delivery and that the person who told me it was on the delivery truck lied to me.

It’s frustrating because I just got into the saltwater aquarium hobby. I set my tank up waited 27 days for it to cycle and took the day off from work so I could be here for the delivery. I was really excited to start getting livestock in the tank and getting my first saltwater fish. I don’t think I’ll ever get any fish delivered ever again. I should’ve just went to my LFS.

That sucks and it’s why I hate hate hate fedex. 90% of the time they’re good enough, but the times they do screw up they really go for it and they don’t seem to care at all that this is the reputation they’re building

UPS is 1000x better and IMO the difference stems from UPS is unionized and FedEx isn’t

 

[TokenReefer]

I didn't think ups shipped live animals. I agree with the disdain for fedex

 

[commod0re]

Yeah I think that’s why we’re stuck with fedex so often

 

[Mike_Coral]

I called FedEx, but they were completely unhelpful and couldn't explain why the shipment was delayed. The package is currently stuck in Indianapolis, which I assume is one of their main hubs.

 

[exnisstech]

FedEx is a joke around here. I had a package of raw dog food shipped overnight that was lost while in their possession. They have no idea what happened to the package and even denied the loss claim on a package they lost. This was their denial forwarded from the vendor.

The response from the CS rep was unacceptable as well as unprofessional so I asked them for assistance. They said they would do nothing because I did not purchase the optional shipping insurance they offered. Calling BS disputed it with the CC company and received a 100% credit to my account. The optional insurance is just cash cow and relieves the CS department of having to do their job and pursue the matter with FedEx IMO

 

[Mike_Coral]

Surprisingly, FedEx delivered the package on Saturday (after two days). Unfortunately, one of the Acropora corals arrived completely DOA.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Before I retired as an aquarium curator, I would have fish shipped in via FedEx 2 to 4 times a month by Priority Overnight. Overall, I had about a 7% failure rate for on time shipments. UPS seems better. I found that if FedEx missed their deadline, they often just sort of "gave up" and the shipment would end up being days late, instead of the next day. I cannot recall EVER having a failure with airport to airport cargo shipments, not since the 1980's anyway.

Even with the following "rules", I still had issues:

Ship early in the week
No shipments around holiday weekends
No shipments for 2 1/2 weeks around Christmas/New years
Avoid East to West shipments (the time changes can add delays)
Always use Priority Overnight
No shipments if there is bad weather at origin, destination or the Memphis hub (snow, thunderstorms)

Still, with all that, here I sit waiting on a Reef Cleaners order that should have arrived yesterday before 1 pm.

Edit: The Reef Cleaners order arrived today, about 36 hours late. Only one shrimp was dead, so its all good!