Death by UPS.

[xraydoc]

I recently ordered 20 snails, 2 cleaner shrimp, a fighting conch and 2 emerald crabs for my setup which has just finished its cycling.

I chose a very reputable vendor (who I wont mention because their customer service has always been second to none) and had the order shipped next day air.

The order arrived on my door at about 9:15 AM the next morning and needless to say I was excited to get them acclimating. However, when I opened the box there was mass death, everything was dead. The water was very cold to the touch so I dropped a thermometer in one of the bags (now serving as a tomb) and the water temp was 50.6 F.

I felt horrible. The frozen dead cleaner shrimp were especially disturbing as I have always loved these creatures and their ability to bullride and service even the most resistant tang.

Anyway, I will never have livestock shipped again.

[dc_909]

Thats why I do not ship/order things online. Too many variables.

[xraydoc]

Well, all that I can say is, lesson learned. I guess I was under the impression that shipping livestock is relatively safe process. Obviously I was incorrect.

[FranktheTankTx]

I have never had a problem with ordering online. Oh sure, I might lose the occaisional turbo or one hermit here or there... but nothing major. Of course, I have never heard of shipping live inverts or fish next day air. Every place I order from ships overnight.

[xraydoc]

Next Day Air is overnight, with AM delivery by 10:30 AM.

[FranktheTankTx]

Oh...

Did the store put heat packs in the shipping containers???
I don't know how this could possibly be blamed on UPS. If they shipped it on time, how could it be their fault?

You may want to look into the real problem... which may be the online store from which you purchased the live goods. Just my .02.

[crvz]

Sorry to hear about that . I've never had that problem, but I imagine living so far south helps, as it stays pretty warm except for just a couple weeks a year.

[atvdave]

I really don't think you can blame UPS for this, as the title indicates. "Death by UPS". They delivered the package on time the next day. If there or any issues then you should ask why the shipper didn't take any protection as adding heat bags to the box for this time of the year.

[Dino]

Agree with a couple other posters here, while its sad about the death of the animals it really isn't UPS's fault if they got it to you on time. Sounds more like it was the shippers fault for not providing adequate packaging for the conditions, I'd bring it up with them and see if they make right on it.

[xraydoc]

Well, the box was insulated and there were heat packs, well a heat pack.

My title was not intended to imply that UPS was at fault but rather that shipping in general had resulted in such a bad outcome. The weather has been cold here lately, it was probably about 30 when the package was delivered but once it arrived it never sat outside.

The supplier (who is a RC sponsor) immediately replaced the animals but I refused to have them shipped again as they suggested. My wife actually refused, and she drove 2 hours each way yesterday to go pick them up.

Its not that the customer service wasnt good or that UPS didnt meet their delivery criteria, my point is simply that in a world and hobby where conservation is key, careless loss of livestock is unacceptable.

[Runfrumu]

I've always had problems with USPS, not so much UPS. My first online order was some Yuma's coming from florida, to Shelby NC. Used next day shipping. Well around 2pm the next day I get worried their not here and check online and they were mis-routed to Charlston WV, about 800 miles north, right past me. I made several phone calls, and cursed several people. It didnt do any good. They don't care.

The part that got the me the most was is that they hit the dock in WV at 8am that morning, and that nobody cared enough to get them going to the right place right then.

I use USPS only when no other option is available and if it's some that A: isnt alive B: isnt expensive.

UPS had 2 dvd players being sent to me stolen on the dock within 3 months of each other, and delivered a PS3 and 10 games to the wrong house, luckily they brought it to us.

Fed-ex has always done good.

[Matt Rise]

Never a good idea to have livestock shipped in the winter time....

[pledosophy]

I just received 30 animals from etropicals (liveaquaria, Dr Fosters) on Thursday.

The delivery drive just decided not to knock, or to follow the directions to deliver them to the apartment office, so he left them on my porch in the snow. They sat there for a least 5 hours based on when Fed Ex says they delivered.

Because of the care etropicals shipped with, everything was fine. I haven't seen the sally light foot crab since he entered the tank, but everyone else is out and accounted for.

In your situation, I would put the fault on the shipper. JME

[pledosophy]

The sally light foot just showed itself. I'm 30 for 30.

I

[Saboral]

My question is how did this happen if the point of origin was only 2 hours away? That makes no sense if there was a heat pack in the container.

[Cope]

I worked in a shipping ware house, Once I had a person call yelling and screaming that there machine was down (assembly line) and the were losing thousands of dollars per hour, they wanted to next day air the part, I looked at the dudes address and said why dont you just drive over? where right down the street from you?

So It can take a day to ship down the street. It has to get picked up taken to the office, sorted, kicked around,dropped,lost, found, and rerouted to a local driver.
FWIW
Cope

Don't forget it still has to fall off the dock / forklift!

[stevelkaneval]

Thats why i save my money during the winter, except dry goods. then ship in the summer months, its a whole -10 deg here right now.

[audio101]

This all falls on the person who packed the livestock. If they do it the proper way then mostly everything would of arrived alive, even during the winter time.

[BigBadBlenny]

well i haven't done the ups thing before, but if its possible i would suggest the airport to airport route. i live in Canada we have some ugly cold here and i have never had a problem doing it this way. when you ship over night (ups) your package can sit for hours in an unheated building or truck.

[nanoDude]

Overnight this time of year is asking for trouble. I know of at least one RC sponsor who asks for your forcasted low temp for the next five days so they can ship when the livestock has the best chance of survival. I never ship when the local temp drops below 50. Heat packs can only do so much.

[xraydoc]

Ill just drive the four hours from now on. I may reconsider in the warmer months. I had always been hesitant and I guess my preconceived suspicions were valid.

[Dino]

My rule has always been if its possible to pick it out and take it home yourself, do so. When I have the chance I always love to pick out and watch my animals before I buy them, then its the absolute animal I wanted and not just the first one that managed to get netted and put in a bag, I can check if they're eating and look healthy, and can speed home and have them in safe conditions in a matter of hours.

Unfortunately.....not all of us live where you can drive 10 minutes to the local pet store. In fact the closest LFS to me that carries much of anything for livestock (well, and dry goods selection too but they're not such an issue to ship) is over a 300 mile trip. And even at that pet store, while they have a vastly bigger selection than the one mom and pop pet store here (and this is a really small store, really, no lights, no skimmers, can't buy LR, generally the most they have are some small shroom frags. They're almost entirely FW) they still don't have much beyond the "common" stuff. So I'm very thankful that there are companies out there you can mail order livestock from, because without them it'd be darn near impossible to have a tank here.

[Freed]

The shipper should have included at least 2 if not 3-- 40 hour heat packs. I have shipped numerous times in the winter and include enough heat packs to keep the coral frags warm so they arrive alive. It's a no brainer, original shippers fault.