Your shipping choice

[AdamNC]

Why do you guys ship UPS and then it gets handed off to USPS? I have an order placed and I get the typical emails from UPS and then I get the Your Package Was Delivered email. I looks outside and nothing. Then I call UPS (20 min run around on the phone) and they say they handed it off to USPS. If I wanted USPS I’d of requested that. Someone somewhere needs to get their stuff together. UPS, FedEx and DHL all deliver normally to my housing development.

 

[fermentedhiker]

It's too keep cost down. UPS drops stuff at the post office to reduce their delivery cost. Amazon does the same thing all the time. I think if you pay the 4.99$ fee to upgrade your shipping it would be delivered by UPS directly.

 

[TheHarold]

Yup. Free shipping is the cheapest option, which often hands off to other providers for the last few miles.

 

[jrill]

If your signed up with ups you can upgrade the shipping through them after it ships to avoid the post office. I think it's $3. Check out the UPS app.

 

[AdamNC]

As I agree with you both, that email from UPS should then not be sent out as it’s misleading to the actual recipient.

 

[Twins Dragonz]

usps sucks big time in my area. Postal driver still drives in regular car and driving from passenger seat lol. I ordered 2 hydras from brs around Thanksgiving same method of delivery. UPS tracking but delivery by usps. I honestly didn’t know this, otherwise I would avoid it. Anyway, it said package delivered around 8pm on Friday night in my mailbox, but apparently usps lied in my face. There was no package and there was only another package was delivered also from brs but it was around 5pm. So the package is considered lost or driver delivered to wrong address, who knows. I often got 5-7 different addresses on my mailbox. . I called and emailed brs and now the tracking updated to the next day (delivered Sat at 11am).

 

[Marty's Reef]

I too have fell into the UPS / USPS saga. I ordered some Vibrant from BRS on Monday before 1EST. I also paid the $4.99 shipping to get it here faster. I get an e-mail saying the order has shipped and will arrive by today. Then on Tuesday morning I get an e-mail from UPS saying that my package won't be delivered until Monday 1/6/20. I contacted BRS to see what was going on. Why if I paid the extra it is now going to be later. All they said was that it is out of their hands and they have no control over UPS. My last order from them also went from UPS to USPS. I only used BRS to use up the rest of my points from prior orders. I will be thinking twice as to if I ever order from them again.

 

[homer1475]

Everybody is doing this now. Ebay, amazon, BRS, pretty much anyone that ships anything.

Pretty sure this is a UPS/USPS thing and not within BRS's control.

It's odd too as some things come regular UPS, and some things come USPS. I order from BRS all the time and typically if it's in a box I get it delivered by UPS. Ig its a small thing that can go in a priority bag gets delivered by USPS.

 

[lmm1967]

Consumers have caused this by insisting on "Free Shipping". Everyone wanted to never pay for shipping - congrats - now we're ALL stuck with inadequit service from many, many online shippers.

I absolutely applaud and will do business with any business willing & able to stop this free shipping facade.

It's absolutely not free - we've forced the vendors to absorb that cost - pay for it out of their profits - they go for whatever will save the most profit (rightfully so) - and we're stuck with bad shipping.

 

[Scdell]

All these companies have to sign a contract with either UPS or FedEx. They can't use either or.
Free shipping is just a scam.We pay for it one way or another. It's built into the cost.
We pay the shipping yet we can't decide which Company we want to ship with.
With "live" shipping FedEx is hands down better in my area than UPS. But if the company I'm buying from has a contract with UPS? I have no choice. We're paying for the shipping, we should have the choice. Another pet peeve? Just cause label was created doesn't mean the item has shipped. It's not shipped until the item leaves your store. That one annoys the hell out of me!

 

[lmm1967]

All these companies have to sign a contract with either UPS or FedEx. They can't use either or.
Free shipping is just a scam.We pay for it one way or another. It's built into the cost.
We pay the shipping yet we can't decide which Company we want to ship with.
With "live" shipping FedEx is hands down better in my area than UPS. But if the company I'm buying from has a contract with UPS? I have no choice. We're paying for the shipping, we should have the choice. Another pet peeve? Just cause label was created doesn't mean the item has shipped. It's not shipped until the item leaves your store. That one annoys the hell out of me!

That is also a result of the consumer. They sign these contracts for the absolute sole purpose of being able to negotiate a lower (and believe it or not usually a flat rate) per item shipping rate. Again - to preserve profit because we, the consumer, have demanded free shipping.

It gets even better - wholesale distributors (in some industries at least) - negotiate crazy low per item shipping rates with the likes of UPS etc. Then - they charge a higher rate to the retailer. The retailer has no choice but to pay whatever the wholesaler feels like charging - and 100% of that cost (and profit for the wholesaler!) comes directly out of the profit of the retail business who has customers insisting on "free shipping"

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Hi everyone, I wanted to provide some clarity to this question. When something is ordered with free shipping, we send it one of three ways. One is straight UPS, another is UPS Surepost, and the third option is USPS only.

The determining factor when we decide which shipping method to use is the box size, weight, and destination. Lightweight items will typically go USPS where heavier items like salt will go UPS. There are also some cases where UPS Surepost is used. Surepost is the shipping method where UPS delivers to your local post office, then the post office to your home.

If you want to ensure that all of your future orders go UPS only, you can select one of the UPS shipping options at checkout (ground, 2nd day air, next day, etc). That said, the 'Fast Flat Rate' option will be straight UPS probably 90+% of the time too.

 

[EMeyer]

Consumers have caused this by insisting on "Free Shipping". Everyone wanted to never pay for shipping - congrats - now we're ALL stuck with inadequit service from many, many online shippers.

I absolutely applaud and will do business with any business willing & able to stop this free shipping facade.

It's absolutely not free - we've forced the vendors to absorb that cost - pay for it out of their profits - they go for whatever will save the most profit (rightfully so) - and we're stuck with bad shipping.

The most bizarre thing is that I've actually read some consumers saying "I dont want to pay shipping, I would rather you build it into the price". Which is just saying "I want to be lied to".

I'm with you - the fact is, there is no such thing as free shipping. Amazon lost what, 11 billion on shipping last year? (Of course they more than made up for it in other areas and turned a big profit as always)

I often find conversations about free shipping are like conversations about taxes. Theres always one guy in the group who says "I didnt pay taxes this year, I got a refund!"

 

[Fishyjoey]

I have received extremely fast shipping from SaltwaterAquarium.com on all my orders.

 

[Marty's Reef]

I second that about all my orders from Saltwateraquarium.com
I usually order with them as they also offer a military discount. But some things they just don't carry so I usually go with Bulk Reef Supply on. understand the holidays make shipping more of a nightmare. but if I pay extra to have it shipped. I do expect it to arrive within the time stated. That is my biggest issue.

 

[DJ H]

UPS is the best by far. So stop hating on a company that’s older then you and will be there long after your gone.Stop crying clowns

 

[Admann]

I do not order from some livestock vendors if they use UPS. FedEx is here by 10:30 am everytime and the package isn't left upside or looks like it's been thrown, dropped and kicked. This from personal experiences with UPS, they are horrible in our area. We have given up on some household items because they dimply can't deliver them unbroken. I wondered why I could watch the live tracking and see the truck circle within 4 blocks of my house for hours. I found out from LFS that UPS prioritizes deliveries US mail first, businesses second and private deliveries last.

 

[siggy]

I was shopping for Nori last night and this is what I noticed
Amazon was 9.99 and free shipping.fulfilled by Premium Aquatics
Premium Aquatics was 5.99 and free shipping over 29$
So I bought 4 packs and spent 4.99 to ship and I will have it by Wendsday. Yes I could have hit 29$ but it would still take a week or so to get it. Kids need to eat their veggies

 

[Admann]

Everything I previously stated concerning UPS and FedEx are from the personal experience of myself and my neighbors. I'm not hating on UPS. I continue to order things from vendors that use them for the home and reef, but only if they are not easily broken or alive. In this area they are impolite when you have contact with them, including the airport pickup. I just won't add another negative element to the shipment of something alive.
UPS was established in 1907, it is only 50 years older than I am. I guess I'm one of those old fashioned people that like to get what I pay for. What a fool I am.

 

[siggy]

I do not order from some livestock vendors if they use UPS. FedEx is here by 10:30 am everytime and the package isn't left upside

Same here, last coral delivery 2 weeks ago arrived at 4pm by UPS and was Ice cold, I lost half of the corals. BUT that was the vendor choosing and economy service. UPS has an overnight rush that cost more. FED- EX is always here by 10.30