Thanks, UPS

[Biokabe]

Just a little frustrated rant here... thank you oh so much, UPS, for deciding in your infinite wisdom that the package that I paid extra to have delivered on Saturday would be just fine deliver on Monday instead.

The corals really appreciated it:

Truly, I appreciate it. I definitely wanted some more coral skeletons to decorate my tank.

Leaving the vendor out of it since they didn't do anything wrong here (though obviously you can tell who it is by the watermark). If UPS can't be bothered to actually honor its service commitments, they have no business accepting money for them.

 

[RedFrog211]

that hurts to see.. I refuse to buy any coral till early march, cause I do not trust UPS or FedEx in the slightest. Maybe you can talk to the sellers and they can give you a discount, if not refund the order? Obviously they aren't to blame, but it's apparent that you aren't either. Hope they can strike some deal with you

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Sorry about your loss. Have you tried to contact UPS?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Just a little frustrated rant here... thank you oh so much, UPS, for deciding in your infinite wisdom that the package that I paid extra to have delivered on Saturday would be just fine deliver on Monday instead.

The corals really appreciated it:

Truly, I appreciate it. I definitely wanted some more coral skeletons to decorate my tank.

Leaving the vendor out of it since they didn't do anything wrong here (though obviously you can tell who it is by the watermark). If UPS can't be bothered to actually honor its service commitments, they have no business accepting money for them.

It makes me sad to see such lack of care by these shipping companies. Both with livestock and without, I receive so many damaged and broken boxes. These people have one job, and somehow it looks like they played basketball with the box darn near every time. So sorry about your coral.

 

[Patientman]

Was it insured by shipper?

 

[TheWB]

Just a little frustrated rant here... thank you oh so much, UPS, for deciding in your infinite wisdom that the package that I paid extra to have delivered on Saturday would be just fine deliver on Monday instead.

The corals really appreciated it:

Truly, I appreciate it. I definitely wanted some more coral skeletons to decorate my tank.

Leaving the vendor out of it since they didn't do anything wrong here (though obviously you can tell who it is by the watermark). If UPS can't be bothered to actually honor its service commitments, they have no business accepting money for them.

Sorry to see this. Its been so cold around here that there’s no way anything was going to survive that delay. Contact the vendor, if they insured the shipment for their own protection maybe they can help, or at least give you a credit next time you purchase. Never hurts to ask.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

This is my number one reason to pick up at a local hub. All my live orders go to the fedex up the road from my house. They are always there by 10am. Even on Saturday.

I would definitely be contacting both the seller and more so the shipping company.

 

[User1]

that hurts to see.. I refuse to buy any coral till early march, cause I do not trust UPS or FedEx in the slightest. Maybe you can talk to the sellers and they can give you a discount, if not refund the order? Obviously they aren't to blame, but it's apparent that you aren't either. Hope they can strike some deal with you

It is true. Buying anything during December and January is a no-no. Covid isn't helping when no carrier will guarantee over night or next day. Mix the two together and it is the hobbyists own risk.

OP - doesn't help you nor am I trying to say you did something wrong.

 

[Dkmoo]

can't tell from the pic but are they truly dead or just really retracted? sometimes coral resiliency can surprise you.

 

[rtparty]

Sorry, but don't buy livestock this time of year and especially don't buy when shipping from every company, all over the world is so screwed up. We see these same posts every single winter. Been on the forums almost 16 years now and it is the same story year in and year out.

Lesson learned. Contact the vendor and they can talk to UPS for you. They should have insured it and UPS will be responsible.

 

[DJTJ]

Dont throw em! Ive seen completely browned/ dead-looking acros come back to their normal states after being shipped!

 

[JumboShrimp]

UPS: ‘When you paid extra for Saturday delivery, we didn’t know you meant SATURDAY delivery!’ :0

 

[DJF]

Been there- sorry to see & hear. Without judgement- Steer clear from Saturdays, they’re never guaranteed, will always get pushed to Monday when missed & shouldn’t be offered as an option by sellers.

 

[MONTANTK]

Sorry to hear. Happened to me when I got stuff shipped via FedEx. I missed the delivery so I went to pick it up an hour after I got the note and they decided to load it back on the truck without informing me. Missed it again because of it and had to wait until late the next day to get it. FedEx did nothing but the vendor sent replacement frags of stuff that was not looking well

 

[vetteguy53081]

You can call them till you’re blue,’. They seem caring on the phone but couldn’t care less. USPS is worse. This is not just becoming a trend but somewhat of a norm and they pose blame on Covid and labor shortages which is baloney as Judge Judy would say
Don’t know why on earth these shippers continue to accept packages knowing they likely will NOT meet delivery
So you became another victim of incompetency.

 

[T-J]

I'm pretty sure all shipping companies have still suspended their guarantees on their services. So even if you paid for "overnight", they don't really have to get it to you "overnight".

I'm currently on a hiatus from buying any livestock online just for this reason. I'm not going to take a chance and have all these animals perish due to a shipping issue. Also, add in the financial issue to the vendor for having to credit/refund buyers every time this happens.

 

[Biokabe]

Sorry about your loss. Have you tried to contact UPS?

You can call them till you’re blue,’. They seem caring on the phone but couldn’t care less. USPS is worse. This is not just becoming a trend but somewhat of a norm and they pose blame on Covid and labor shortages which is baloney as Judge Judy would say
Don’t know why on earth these shippers continue to accept packages knowing they likely will NOT meet delivery
So you became another victim of incompetency.

This exactly. I've been on both sides - as a shipper and as a receiver - and have found them wholly unsympathetic and patently useless. In 15+ years, I've only had one occasion where calling did any good - and even then, it was only because I knew the driver and was able to flag him down in my car. In each of the other literally hundreds of times that I have called UPS, it has done no good.

Like I said in my first post - it's a frustrated rant. This isn't my first rodeo. They blame it on COVID, but at this point COVID is old news. They've had plenty of time to adjust to the fact that shipping has exploded, adding more employees and vehicles to their fleets... they just have chosen not to.

For me, it's less about the corals - shipping corals this time of year is always something of a risk, but on the other hand I've done a Christmas order from one vendor or another every year for a few years running. Never had an issue before this. That being said - for me, the bigger issue is a business (UPS) accepting money for a service it doesn't provide. If they're not 100% confident in being able to deliver a package within their stated timelines, they should not be accepting packages within that timeline. I'm in business myself. I don't make promises I can't keep. If something goes wrong, I do whatever I can to make it right. And so for me, it's more of a professional outrage. I guess that's what happens when you have an effective duopoly on a service and don't actually have to meaningfully compete with anyone.

 

[snorklr]

a month or so ago tried to leave for dinner ...dark out...and theres a truck in the driveway...come up behind it and it starts backing up...so i start backing up...about 200 feet...(my driveways a 1/4 mile of gravel)...well its a fed ex truck...and whatever went wrong it couldnt make it up the hill and had to back down and finally made it to a spot where i could get around it...well got back from dinner a couple hours later it was still there....driver still in it...as it still was noon the next day...(but by now the driver was missing)...no idea if the cargo was still in it....you'd think a flatbed would have had it out of there in an hour...oh and by the way...i had nothing delivered so i have no idea what it was doing on my property in the first place

 

[2Wheelsonly]

For as bad as UPS can be, USPS will always be the worst shipper. I loathe USPS and can't wait until they have such little funding they are forced to shut down. Lazy worthless gov employees....

 

[Malcontent]

UPS and FedEx imposed quotas on shippers and increased rates to manage the holiday surge. USPS wasn't able to do that. They had to accept everything.

I think USPS express still has an on time delivery guarantee.