Not impressed with UPS shipping!!!

[writh]

So I ordered some supplies from mist-king and did the 3 day select order and I called them up to see why my order hasnt arrived and they told me it was gonna be in tomorrow on a 3 day select I paid $43 dollars and the package doesnt arrive when its suppose to it should of been here yesterday.... I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? Nothing against MIST-KING they are awsome they had my shipment out the same day monday at 1 AM

 

[AJA]

It could have something to do with customs. Patience grasshoppa...

 

[Rocky]

I agree that they suck. We had 4 chameleons shipped to us over night and before 10am. The morning arival was crucial because it gets around 100+ after 12 or 1. Well at 11 they still hadn't delivered it and when we called they said the soonest they could get to my house was 3pm O.O

So we said it was unacceptable and they said we could go pick it up from the truck... we went to pick it up from the truck 4 blocks from my house... I guess it takes 4 hours to drive 4 blocks... Paid $50 for something they couldn't even do.

 

[Bay687]

thats why i didnt get overnight shipping on jenkins two weeks ago, i went to california and picked him up myself and brought him home, lancecham did a great job on holding him for me, but definitley don't trust UPS to do any overnight shipping, especially it reaches 100 around 9am.. and 115 around noon poor little jenkins might of not made it if that was the case

 

[cushcameleon]

The best way is Fed-Ex. USPS is also unreliable, they once placed my shipment of silkworms in the metal mailbox (which is an oven in the summer), even though the package said signature required!

 

[Carlton]

At this time of year the only way I'd send or receive a live animal is directly at the shipper's facility. They can't possibly guarrantee temps while it is running around in a delivery truck! Maybe in fall or spring, but not full summer or dead of winter.

 

[Fearaffect]

I've had no problem with UPS so far with animals....now with my cages, thats a whole different story.......they tend to bang my Melamine ones up a bit....

 

[tkilgour]

Yes USPS makes me made, they take no care in handling the box. The box clearly stated keep upright, t was marked topside, fragile, live animal. The driver just tossed the box around and sat it in my garage on its side not even knocking on my door.

 

[ciafardo 4]

Remember the beginning of ace ventura pet detective? Well i believe thats really how they handle boxes!

 

[writh]

those are very upsetting stories.. I will be more careful when ordering next time..

 

[jadeaudio]

I actually run a shipping department at my work at you know you guys who pay for UPS Next Day Air that it is guaranteed by 10:30 am. If it is not there and even 5 minutes late the shipper gets there money back if they call and complain. So you wouldn't be so upset that they are late if you got your $50 refunded would you? You just have to know all those things. Also a lot of our customers don't realize that UPS works on 5 business days. For example if you ordered something 2 day air on Thursday you are not going to get it until Monday as Saturday does not count. You can pay extra for Saturday delivery, but it must be speciifed and they charge like $15 more. USPS Express sucks because most places it takes 2 days and you have to have it out of there by like 2 pm or something stupid like that. FEDEX is great for overnight, but their home and ground service sucks bad. UPS is pointless to have insurance though. They deny all damage claims. They'll cover it if it gets lost, but damage it will never happen. They always say poor packaging regardless if it was packed great. So save your money and don't buy insurance. FEDEX is decent with insurance.

 

[Chameleon Company]

I actually run a shipping department at my work at you know you guys who pay for UPS Next Day Air that it is guaranteed by 10:30 am. If it is not there and even 5 minutes late the shipper gets there money back if they call and complain.

Not quite. While approximately 80-85% of all UPS Next Day Air deliveries have a 10:30 AM guarantee, more remote situations may be noon, or even end-of-day. We are given the guarantee time when we input a potential order. In our experience, requests for discounts due to late deliveries can be made when the e-bill arrives at the end of the week, but are not honored if a weather delay was recorded. When they miss a guarantee time, you may be eligible for the next lower fee, not a full refund. For instance, if they miss a 10:30 AM guarantee with a Next Day Air, you then can request a bill-reduction as if it had been next Next Day Air Saver, which would have guaranteed an afternoon delivery in most cases. Nothing is automatic. No refunds are guaranteed, and unless they really mess things up, not worth pursuing in most cases IMMHO.

We've had much success with all carriers, but none are immune to making mistakes. In our area, UPS is far better than Fedex. We are fortunate to have a real good UPS crew here.

 

[codiwatkins]

Yea dont get me started on how much they drive me crazy!! Ive ahd 2 bad experiences with them while chameleons where at stake one including my box being tossed in the air right in front of my face! and the other including my chameleon being lost for a couple hours in texas heat to only be in the warehouse the WHOLE time!!! check out my I hate UPS thread!! beware talking cra about UPS can stir up so stuff here on the forums some people are very protective of UPS!!

 

[TylerStewart]

UPS is pointless to have insurance though. They deny all damage claims. They'll cover it if it gets lost, but damage it will never happen. They always say poor packaging regardless if it was packed great. So save your money and don't buy insurance.

Aint that the truth.... I shipped a tortoise cage from Vegas to Phoenix a few weeks ago that got there with a big dent in it. I had it insured for $140. I filed a claim and re-shipped another cage to keep the customer happy while the claim went through. They went and picked up the damaged one and brought it back to me, then I got a call a few days later. This is how the conversation went:

UPS: How did you have the product packaged?
Me: I had it wrapped in bubble wrap within the box it was in.
UPS: What size bubble wrap?
Me: What are you talking about?
UPS: Were the bubbles dime size, nickel sized, quarter sized, etc?
Me: I guess they're about dime size....
UPS: How many times did you wrap the product in this bubble wrap?
Me: The whole thing was wrapped twice, with the ends wrapped 3 times.
UPS: In order to properly protect this package with that size bubble wrap, it needs to be wrapped 8 times to provide adequate protection.
Me: So you're gonna back out of this, aren't you?
UPS: Well, it was not properly packaged.
Me: You understand the box had a 4" dent in it, right?
UPS: I'm sorry it was not packaged properly.

Lately, UPS rarely refunds for being delivered after 10:30.... It's guaranteed in fewer and fewer cities and they always have an excuse not to refund it (weather, mostly). I used to get refunds all the time with UPS for late packages, but lately it seems like I never do. I have had overall good luck with UPS (better than the luck I had in the handful of times I used FedEx), but situations like this get irritating real quick. When you're spending the insane amounts of money on shipping that I do with them, you'd think they could cover a $140 claim to keep a client happy.

 

[SoCaliSon]

I had my worst UPS experience ever this week. Normally I have no issues with delivery, but a Nosy Faly coming for my bud Robbie was shipped here, like many other chams have been before with no issues. My room sits in the front of the house where I can look down the driveway with my window open, so I can hear, and see the truck when it pulls up. (I like to catch the drivers before the even make it out of the truck... I hate how they carry the package.) Well he must not have made it all the way to my house... cause I was watching and listening for him to pull up. He must have had to walk down the street a bit, and instead of bringing the package to the house... He left it sitting, probly about 70 yards from the front door, in plain site practically sitting in the Driveway/street. I was sitting and waiting by the window, and he had to have dropped it there while I wasn't looking. When I noticed the package sitting there, at 10:09 I was furious, I could see "Live Chameleon" marked on the box from inside the house... and the guy left it sitting outside, quite distant from the house, not even near the mailbox, in 90' weather. The driver was long gone... and I would have loved to have a word with him.

Sorry ... That is my little rant.

 

[slamwise]

My UPS order (through mistking) is almost too painful to explain. I had to go through dozens of phone calls and fax invoices to 4 different people to get the package released from customs. $50 of express shipping down the drain.

 

[jadeaudio]

UPS operates different for all companies and we have a "problem fixer" guy at work that deals with the UPS claim problems. We get fully refunded on all Next Day Air packages that are not there by 10:30 am unless there was some crazy natural disaster. They might treat us a little different than some smaller places because we do on average 500 packages a week. We have a big UPS bill every week. OUr volume is high, but we mainly do ground service. Only 15% is air packages. In most cities we can even do Next Day Early AM which is guaranteed by like like 8:30 am or something like that. Don't quote me on that because we rarely ship that way, so I do not remember the exact time. We are in Michigan and the problem states that have the most mishaps are always California and Texas. If a package got misdelivered, late or lost it always seems to be those two states that are problematic. I don't know why, but it always seems that way. But with the volume we do, there is usually only a problem once a week. 1 out of 500 is not that bad. Claiming for damages is a different story. It's standard protocol for a regular person from UPS on the phone to tell you it was not packaged properly. You have to go through great lengths for them to actually pay the claim. We have a guy at work that gets them to pay. Our UPS here is decent with timing. They come everyday to drop off and pickup at the exact same time everyday. FEDEX is crazy. They come at all different times and use totally different trucks and people for Ground, Home, and Express service like they are a totally different company which makes it very confusing. I hate that LLLReptile uses FEDEX! I usually have all my stuff shipped to my work, but they send it by FEDEX home so they deliver Tuesday through Saturday instead of Monday thru Friday and we are closed on Saturdays! Last time I ordered two 2 x 2 x 4 cages and they obviously shipped in two boxes. Shipped out the same time and everything and one came on Friday and the other came on Saturday. One came through Illinois and the other went through Tennessee. So weird how they do things! That is one good thing about UPS is there shipping times to a business address is guaranteed. OK I rambled on for too long......

 

[KevinA]

I had my worst UPS experience ever this week.

I'm kinda suprised, In my neighborhood, I would never have anything of value shipped to me fedex, but my ups driver is great. He actually knew I was receving reptiles and the package wasnt obvious. He does try to give my dog treats though and my dog tries to eat him... LoL. He keeps trying though.

Seriously, UPS is great in my neighborhood, Fed Ex is horrible, they Ace Venturad a package of crickets so bad there were only a few hundred left in there and were escaping when I came to the door(driver ran).

Shipping isnt garunteed by 1030 in all places. Especially out of the way places.