Ups is really bad

[elcapitan1993]

I have had two delays on what should have been a overnight shipment of corals, ups said that I’m screwed and that I have to contact the company who shipped it and that there is nothing they will do, I’m out a ton of money because I doubt any corals will make it after three days, don’t go through anyone that uses ups right now just a heads up

 

[BanjoBandito]

Unfortunately, it's that time of year. Christmas/weather delays with air freight. Compounded by current global issues. Depending on the species, there's a chance they make it. A good vendor should make it right hopefully, and you can always have them or you file a claim with UPS. I would call and see if you can pick it up if it's near you, or they can get it somewhere. If they've lost the package....oh man. Good luck! I hope you get some good outta this! Merry Christmas.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Your ordering at the holidays during covid. Bad idea for anything that needs to survive right now.

Ups and FedEx is overloaded, my employer is moving some of their stuff to help, but we're even leaving some of it behind as the paying airline passenger comes first.

It sucks all around.

 

[Tamberav]

I have had two delays on what should have been a overnight shipment of corals, ups said that I’m screwed and that I have to contact the company who shipped it and that there is nothing they will do, I’m out a ton of money because I doubt any corals will make it after three days, don’t go through anyone that uses ups right now just a heads up

You are not supposed to ship this time of year. Holidays plus covid plus weather. It happens a lot and the carriers don’t have guarantees for this time of year. None of them are ok to ship with.

I am surprised the vender agreed to ship them. I ordered corals a few days ago and they will not be shipped till mid Jan due to holiday rush. Most venders won’t even ship right now. That’s a huge red flag that they even tried.

 

[Patientman]

I have operating room supplies I've ordered "overnight" take up to five days to arrive … IF the vendor has them at all and not on back order for weeks/months! Simply a bad time for ALL shipping!

 

[ZoWhat]

EVERY carrier is bad for shipping livestock hundreds and hundreds of miles. Their expertise is moving nonliving solidly-packed boxes from pointA to pointB in a fair amount of time. Most days they're ON, other days OFF

 

[elcapitan1993]

You are not supposed to ship this time of year. Holidays plus covid plus weather. It happens a lot and the carriers don’t have guarantees for this time of year. None of them are ok to ship with.

I am surprised the vender agreed to ship them. I ordered corals a few days ago and they will not be shipped till mid Jan due to holiday rush. Most venders won’t even ship right now. That’s a huge red flag that they even tried.

I asked if we should wait and they said “ no we have a arrangement with UPS so you don’t have to worry about anything”

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

I asked if we should wait and they said “ no we have a arrangement with UPS so you don’t have to worry about anything”

Then they shouldn't have an issue making it right if you have any DOA coral!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I seriously had UPS pull into my driveway Monday evening...and then leave without delivering the package I was expecting. Watched the "follow my delivery" tracker as he continued down the road and eventually back to the city. Got my package the next day. Thankfully nothing perishable but that was a new one on me.

 

[JNalley]

I asked if we should wait and they said “ no we have a arrangement with UPS so you don’t have to worry about anything”

then contact them and tell them the arrangement they have/had has been broken, and the assurances they gave you have been broken, and you'd like a replacement to be sent out in Mid-January, or a Refund.

 

[A;exr54]

I don't know of any vendor that ships live corals or fish that does not have a DOA policy. Maybe its a refund, maybe its store credit. But any vendor that ships live stock that does not have a policy for DOA. Simply do not order from them.

As others already stated, this time of the year is not good for shipments you need fast. But its to be expected, I don't fault the delivery company too much.
But if the vendor does nothing and just says your out of luck if you get DOA's. That vendor is simply horrible.

 

[aws2266]

I asked if we should wait and they said “ no we have a arrangement with UPS so you don’t have to worry about anything”

Doh. No vendor save Amazon has enough clout to make that guarantee. They may have some pickup arrangement with their driver but after that the store has no pull.

 

[i_am_mclovin]

When I sold coral, I never shipped during the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas as delays during that period were almost inevitable. Buyers never seemed to have an issue with it, and most seemed appreciative that their frags had that much more time to grow.

 

[Saltyreef]

Unfortunately, looking at the weather map for the portland oregon overnight shipping hub, i wouldnt have chose to ship this week based on weather alone.....

Sorry for your potential losses due to delays

 

[polyppal]

I asked if we should wait and they said “ no we have a arrangement with UPS so you don’t have to worry about anything”

UPS:

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I seriously had UPS pull into my driveway Monday evening...and then leave without delivering the package I was expecting. Watched the "follow my delivery" tracker as he continued down the road and eventually back to the city. Got my package the next day. Thankfully nothing perishable but that was a new one on me.

GPS on the truck, have to show you put in the 'effort' to deliver. The route is timed, so if something goes down they have to explain it.

 

[Lyss]

Christmas week 100%. It's generally good practice to not order corals, fish, or houseplants from Nov-March, and July/August for me.

Also, it's really dependent on your region. For me FedEx is more of a wild card while UPS has been surprisingly reliable. When I found out how much I'd be getting for my bonus this year I ordered some furniture, not expecting to get it until after Christmas. The furniture happened to be in stock, and was shipped within a day via UPS -- it came today. I was very surprised.

Same thing happened with a gift I sent my niece -- the vendor was behind and took weeks to actually ship it, so I was sure it wouldn't get there by Christmas. It finally shipped on Monday vis UPS, and was delivered by noon today. So you just never know, but I wouldn't expect it especially this week.

OTOH FedEx is delivering another piece of furniture this week -- I got a notice on tracking that it's early and would be delivered yesterday. It's still sitting in the regional hub as of now, with no updates on tracking. FedEx is usually backed up and unreliable here, even if there are no weather delays.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Doh. No vendor save Amazon has enough clout to make that guarantee. They may have some pickup arrangement with their driver but after that the store has no pull.

I wouldn't even trust Amazon as they have been hit and miss the past 6 months in my area.

 

[Tamberav]

I asked if we should wait and they said “ no we have a arrangement with UPS so you don’t have to worry about anything”

I don’t see how they can have any special arrangement from hub to hub. Like each UPS guy is going to see your package among the 100s or 1000s and be like ya this one is important… let me treat it with some extra care and walk it to the front of the line. Lol But sounds like they owe you a refund! What crap lol

 

[MaxTremors]

I had a shipment of corals through UPS last week (arrive on the 16). It ended up arriving on time, but their tracking was all kinds of messed up. 2 hours before delivery tracking said it was two states away and would be delayed by one day, customer service wasn’t helpful at all. But then it showed up. I think it’s just a bad time to order anything that is time sensitive, I’ll be waiting until spring to order any more corals.