Shipping Disaster - Shipped my fish, feel horrible

fishroomlady · May 15, 2015

so sorry to hear about this

I am very happy that at least one fish did survive!!

4FordFamily · May 15, 2015

Thank you guys. The lesson here is to NEVER ship fish USPS.

Mods, can you add that to my original message? I want to save fish the awful death that these had to go through..

This thread just reinforces it.

Sealifereef · May 15, 2015

I Wonder if there is or how well a livestock shipping service would do, i would pay extra just for the care and guarante

4FordFamily · May 15, 2015

Sealifereef said:
I Wonder if there is or how well a livestock shipping service would do, i would pay extra just for the care and guarantee

Ups wanted 220 dollars to ship a 10lb box of fish overnight to Texas from indiana.

The actual box weighed 19lbs... USPS was 112 dollars.

I don't know what fedex would have charged but I would guess 180.
Keep in mind I provided my own box, packaging, bags, etc. (used all live aquaria stuff)

I think the lesson is if you're going to ship fish you need a LOT of expensive fish to ship, or a business account with either fedex or ups

Sealifereef · May 15, 2015

hmm i wonder how some online web suppliers keep the shipping cost down, i had a shipment of leds from rapid led get to me in two days using USPS's lowest shipping option but everytime i overnight something it gets messed up
(rapid led is in california and i'm in north carolina)

Shep · May 15, 2015

Sealifereef said:
hmm i wonder how some online web suppliers keep the shipping cost down, i had a shipment of leds from rapid led get to me in two days using USPS's lowest shipping option but everytime i overnight something it gets messed up
(rapid led is in california and i'm in north carolina)

For as much as LA ships stuff out they probably get a discount or special price.

4FordFamily · May 15, 2015

Shep said:
For as much as LA ships stuff out they probably get a discount or special price.

Exactly, the sheer volume lowers prices, and ups and fedex are highly residential consumer subsidized businesses. The margins they make for us make it cheaper for them, in essence

I am here now getting my shipping refunded. Hardly any consolation but better than nothing...

4FordFamily · May 15, 2015

Here is the fish I suggested he name "zombie"

4FordFamily · May 15, 2015

Kann · Dec 9, 2015

Sorry to hear...

FWIW - Back in my cichlid days, I received numerous shipments and sent a few via Delta air cargo. Drop them off at the airport and the buyer picks up at the destination. If the buyer and seller have an airport nearby it is a relatively inexpensive way to ship fish. If I recall correctly, some of the larger shipments (13 Frontosa 6-8" long, 50 pounds) was around $90. Don't get me wrong, I've had some very poor experiences with airlines as well, but nothing like what I've experienced with USPS.

Reef Pets · Dec 9, 2015

USPS is the absolute worst. My shop is next door to the post office and when I say next door I mean on the other side of the wall.. It would be so simple for me to ship USPS but instead I drive 30 minutes one way to drop off at FedEx.
No carrier covers live animals through their insurance. You will get your 112.00 for failure to deliver but that's it and it typically take 30-60 days to receive a check from USPS for the delivery failure. Assuming thats how they still refund. Its been years since I've used there express service in anyway.
As for vendors keeping the price down, it's all about volume.

Reefer with SeaHorses · Dec 9, 2015

3FordFamily said:
How long are 4.5" Purple tang, Desjardini Sailfin, and Powder Brown tangs good in the largest bag I could find at a LFS (probably 2/3 the size of the largest bag I've seen live aquaria ship)?

I sold some fish on this forum and was asked if I would ship so I did.

I won't get in too deep in the details, but essentially now what has happened is that USPS has screwed up TWICE. It got hung up here in Indy overnight and wasn't delivered overnight as it was guaranteed to. Now, more than 48 hours later, it is at a sorting facility near it's destination where no one can do anything. The gentlemen that bought them went to the facility and they said he cannot be there and they cannot help him.

I have called USPS "corporate" and was told MANY things. First guy said that it was on it's way to the genetlemen's nearest post office and pawned us off on their number. This post office said no, it is not, or if it is we have no news of this nor do we know anything about it. I asked them what options we had in locating this box so we can save the fish, and she said she is having her manager work on it. So I called "corporate" back again, this time they gave the the case number they opened, and said they are assigning someone on the situation to locate it ASAP. I haven't heard back in hours. No one knows anything at this organization, it appears.

I was also told that they no longer guarantee live animals and medication overnight, and do not ship these items this way. To which, I replied "well that was news to me, who paid $112 dollars to ship (when they told me it would be about $25-$40 on the phone), and when I told them it was live fish and the manager was notified that they were live fish and did a final check before I checked out. What the heck???

It's irritating though, because I have been the one to call and do all of this discovering. Yesterday, when they were delayed and were late, this individual didn't call as they said they did and figure out what to do. The local post office they called knows nothing, of course. When I called mine, I told them the order involved live fish and was guaranteed overnight and is now late and has been hung up TWICE. They immediately told me to call USPS customer service and they opened a case.

I just wish that had been done 24 hours ago or more when we knew it was late. I feel horrible, like I have murdered some of my family. I owned thatpurple tang since she was 1.5" (5 years ago), and the rest about 4 years. I thought this individual was going to take care of this since I had sent them his direction. If I had known this was all going to fall on me, I would have jumped yesterday. I am very frustrated, that is all.

Poor, poor fish. What an awful way to go. Essentially, wouldn't dying in a bag be akin to us drowning slowly?

How long can the fish live in bags (I did 1/3 water to 2/3 air and I put the MAXIMUM amount of air I could have packed), I sent them in live aquaria boxes, with real fish bags from the LFS (the largest they had) and packed them well. No heat packs because they were going to texas and I wanted dissolved oxygen to be maximum (the colder the better if we know the ambient temp isn't likely to be less than 60).

I moved my fish and corals over a 2 day period, 3 if you count set up and all from Tennessee to North Dakota, and 3 years later back to Tennessee and they were fine. 3 day trip in bags total. I slowly acclimated them into the aquarium /reef once it was set back up. Maroon clowns, assorted tangs, fire fish, shrimp, lobster, and crabs along with bubble corals, a rose anemone, candy canes, and some encrusting corals.

Reefer with SeaHorses · Dec 9, 2015

3FordFamily said:
How long are 4.5" Purple tang, Desjardini Sailfin, and Powder Brown tangs good in the largest bag I could find at a LFS (probably 2/3 the size of the largest bag I've seen live aquaria ship)?

I sold some fish on this forum and was asked if I would ship so I did.

I won't get in too deep in the details, but essentially now what has happened is that USPS has screwed up TWICE. It got hung up here in Indy overnight and wasn't delivered overnight as it was guaranteed to. Now, more than 48 hours later, it is at a sorting facility near it's destination where no one can do anything. The gentlemen that bought them went to the facility and they said he cannot be there and they cannot help him.

I have called USPS "corporate" and was told MANY things. First guy said that it was on it's way to the genetlemen's nearest post office and pawned us off on their number. This post office said no, it is not, or if it is we have no news of this nor do we know anything about it. I asked them what options we had in locating this box so we can save the fish, and she said she is having her manager work on it. So I called "corporate" back again, this time they gave the the case number they opened, and said they are assigning someone on the situation to locate it ASAP. I haven't heard back in hours. No one knows anything at this organization, it appears.

I was also told that they no longer guarantee live animals and medication overnight, and do not ship these items this way. To which, I replied "well that was news to me, who paid $112 dollars to ship (when they told me it would be about $25-$40 on the phone), and when I told them it was live fish and the manager was notified that they were live fish and did a final check before I checked out. What the heck???

It's irritating though, because I have been the one to call and do all of this discovering. Yesterday, when they were delayed and were late, this individual didn't call as they said they did and figure out what to do. The local post office they called knows nothing, of course. When I called mine, I told them the order involved live fish and was guaranteed overnight and is now late and has been hung up TWICE. They immediately told me to call USPS customer service and they opened a case.

I just wish that had been done 24 hours ago or more when we knew it was late. I feel horrible, like I have murdered some of my family. I owned thatpurple tang since she was 1.5" (5 years ago), and the rest about 4 years. I thought this individual was going to take care of this since I had sent them his direction. If I had known this was all going to fall on me, I would have jumped yesterday. I am very frustrated, that is all.

Poor, poor fish. What an awful way to go. Essentially, wouldn't dying in a bag be akin to us drowning slowly?

How long can the fish live in bags (I did 1/3 water to 2/3 air and I put the MAXIMUM amount of air I could have packed), I sent them in live aquaria boxes, with real fish bags from the LFS (the largest they had) and packed them well. No heat packs because they were going to texas and I wanted dissolved oxygen to be maximum (the colder the better if we know the ambient temp isn't likely to be less than 60).

And I'm sorry you and them are going through this. I hope they are okay.

Pete polyp · Dec 9, 2015

Reef Pets said:
USPS is the absolute worst. My shop is next door to the post office and when I say next door I mean on the other side of the wall.. It would be so simple for me to ship USPS but instead I drive 30 minutes one way to drop off at FedEx.
No carrier covers live animals through their insurance. You will get your 112.00 for failure to deliver but that's it and it typically take 30-60 days to receive a check from USPS for the delivery failure. Assuming thats how they still refund. Its been years since I've used there express service in anyway.
As for vendors keeping the price down, it's all about volume.

They actually print a money order and hand it to you on the spot now.