SHIPPING

ALDABRAMAN · Apr 15, 2014

I must admit that shipping our young aldabras always makes me very nervous! I just delivered one of our yearlings that is scheduled for shipping on Thursday morning to Arizona.

Many what i consider established and active members of the reptile community have recently shared a few horror stories involving UPS, therefor we primarily use Delta Dash as our first option for shipping. Well, two weeks ago we had a stressful event involving a six hour delay in Atlanta, basically making the overall transportation event in excess of fourteen hours. All went well with a successful arrival.

I was in constant communications with the customer and shipper, however must confess this is no fun! I realize that shipping is a necessary and vital service in our community, however my stress is always elevated when this process takes place.

This was an actual picture one of our shipments being received!

bigred · Apr 15, 2014

Looks like you do a very good job packaging, Im sure every shipping company has a few horror stories attached to them. Ive had my radiated shipped Delta air cargo, I just like the fact that that they will be shipped and recd. the same day. I personally have never had any problems with Delta or FedX

Star-of-India · Apr 15, 2014

Looks great. I've only been on the receiving side of tortoise shipments and am very nervous every time. I received turtles in the 60's with a lot less concern by the shipper and me. But that was another era...

The only problem I've had recently was the shipper not adhering to my specific schedule which I had made very clear. Luckily it worked out as someone asked me to trade shifts in a manner that made me available for the shipment.

JeffG · Apr 16, 2014

I ship 40+ animals through FedEx every year. It is very stressful every single time. Even though they get there safely even when there is a glitch, it is still gut wrenching.

littleginsu · Apr 16, 2014

I had my baby shipped via FedEx and he arrived on time, as promised, but the tracking was horrible and there were no updates between 10PM in Memphis to being delivered at 11AM in Arizona! It was nerve racking to say the least.

Tom · Apr 16, 2014

Almost all of my stuff comes and goes with FedEx. I haven't had a problem yet.

Yvonne G · Apr 16, 2014

I hear ya, Greg! It makes me a nervous wreck to ship...especially babies.

Years ago when I was still into birds, I received many shipments via Delta Dash. The birds always arrived in good shape and we never had any shipping problems. The only thing I didn't like about it was the trip to the airport.

N2TORTS · Apr 16, 2014

Good topic Greg….
I have used just about all means of shipping service over the years and on the most part it’s been good considering the distance traveled.
Although there has been tragedies FROM ALL SERIV$ES* and major losses on high dollar animals we won’t get into that just yet .
I have a few questions for anyone …..just to see the feed back.
Using Delta Dash is fine …but only if you live near an airport…..along with the slightly higher cost than other services. An example for myself is a 3 hour round trip just in drive time , gas and the hassle of paper work needing to be filled out( as Ed mentioned) all for a $200 dollar animal is just not worth it. Besides the fact most new comers in the hobby don’t realize the time, effort and cost.. all for a $200 animal. Throw in shipping charges the equal ¼ of the complete cost of the animal and folks often balk at the purchase. Yes I will agree on the higher dollar animals it is safer and more reliable (you would think) for both parties involved using a service such as Delta Dash even with the above mentioned costs. Another factor to consider is you know the animal is dropped off exactly at the shipping location (in this case we will call it “Fly zone”) unlike other services if you ship from home and then the drive time in the Fed EX truck buzzing around the city completing his/her route with your tortoise along for the ride. I take this into consideration and when using FedEx will take it “directly “ to the shipping facility myself. But once again they (Fed EX)have to transport all “packages” from this Main Facility to the airport and God knows how they treat “ live animal packages” but the truth is… your – precious tort is treated just like any other package. When using 3rd party “shippers” like SYR or Reptile Express the advantage for breeders is being able to print invoice and receipts as well as printing out shipping label from your home office. This makes it a breeze as by driving them yourself to the main facility you just need do drop them off , have them scanned for tracking and get receipt. These 3rd party shipping services have a “contract” with shippers to allow for all of this to take place in your own home office. The real “marketing catch” is the so called “insurance option” for the sender …but BEWARE READ THE FINE PRINT. One more advantage when using a 3rd party shipper service , if there are problems it seems to help calm the nerves if there is a problem and talking with a real person ….even though most likely they are as clueless as you are.

ALDABRAMAN · Apr 16, 2014

N2TORTS said:
Good topic Greg….
I have used just about all means of shipping service over the years and on the most part it’s been good considering the distance traveled.
Although there has been tragedies FROM ALL SERIV$ES* and major losses on high dollar animals we won’t get into that just yet .
I have a few questions for anyone …..just to see the feed back.
Using Delta Dash is fine …but only if you live near an airport…..along with the slightly higher cost than other services. An example for myself is a 3 hour round trip just in drive time , gas and the hassle of paper work needing to be filled out( as Ed mentioned) all for a $200 dollar animal is just not worth it. Besides the fact most new comers in the hobby don’t realize the time, effort and cost.. all for a $200 animal. Throw in shipping charges the equal ¼ of the complete cost of the animal and folks often balk at the purchase. Yes I will agree on the higher dollar animals it is safer and more reliable (you would think) for both parties involved using a service such as Delta Dash even with the above mentioned costs. Another factor to consider is you know the animal is dropped off exactly at the shipping location (in this case we will call it “Fly zone”) unlike other services if you ship from home and then the drive time in the Fed EX truck buzzing around the city completing his/her route with your tortoise along for the ride. I take this into consideration and when using FedEx will take it “directly “ to the shipping facility myself. But once again they (Fed EX)have to transport all “packages” from this Main Facility to the airport and God knows how they treat “ live animal packages” but the truth is… your – precious tort is treated just like any other package. When using 3rd party “shippers” like SYR or Reptile Express the advantage for breeders is being able to print invoice and receipts as well as printing out shipping label from your home office. This makes it a breeze as by driving them yourself to the main facility you just need do drop them off , have them scanned for tracking and get receipt. These 3rd party shipping services have a “contract” with shippers to allow for all of this to take place in your own home office. The real “marketing catch” is the so called “insurance option” for the sender …but BEWARE READ THE FINE PRINT. One more advantage when using a 3rd party shipper service , if there are problems it seems to help calm the nerves if there is a problem and talking with a real person ….even though most likely they are as clueless as you are.

* Excellent JD! I am on the same page. I will share this, my current shipper uses top notch packaging and works directly with the customer on safe temperatures, locations, and pick up days and times. He is not cheap, however my tortoises are very expensive and it is probably for my own piece of mind that i am doing the best possible option to ensure a safe and great delivery.

* One shipper i used in the past seemed to always prefer the cheapest option, honestly it was never a problem, however always made me nervous!

* I will also share this to TFO members, lately i have heard of many tragic events involving UPS and actually know of two very well known sources that have opted to discontinue to use them!

* I still prefer hand delivery, however i realize that it is becoming impractical at many levels based on our current production levels and growing diverse customer base.

tortoise5643 · Apr 16, 2014

One time I got a juvenile redfoot shipped to me. He said he would 'ship' for free. The tortoise arrived in a priority mail flat rate shipping box. The box was upside down when I got it and had nothing like "fragile" or "this side up" on it. The traumatized tortoise survived though.

ALDABRAMAN · Apr 16, 2014

tortoise5643 said:
One time I got a juvenile redfoot shipped to me. He said he would 'ship' for free. The tortoise arrived in a priority mail flat rate shipping box. The box was upside down when I got it and had nothing like "fragile" or "this side up" on it. The traumatized tortoise survived though.

* Thank goodness!

AZtortMom · Apr 16, 2014

Poor baby

ra94131 · Apr 17, 2014

I've had terrible experiences with FedEx, particularly the customer service. But in FedEx's defense both of my snakes arrived via FedEx and were delivered at the very beginning of the earliest possible delivery window.

UPS is my preferred shipping/delivery service for everyday shipments. I've only had minor issues with them and have had much better experiences with customer service.

Lancecham · Apr 18, 2014

I have been shipping various reptiles for over 15 years. I started with UPS. They are good, but I still had problems from time to time. For the last several years, I use FedEx. They are very very good at what they do and better than UPS when it comes to customer service and as well as getting the package delivered when it is supposed to.

Neal · May 8, 2014

FedEx sticks out to me as being more reliable with the least amount of horror stories as compared to UPS from what I've researched.

I don't like shipping. Not that the actually shipping is stressful for me or anything, but the cost of shipping supplies and the time it takes to package really discourages me. I'm sure it's not as bad for others as it is for me, but when my daily life is pretty much planned out to the minute with work, kids, wife, church, wife, and tortoises, I need every minute I can get. So I'd take a local sale over shipping any chance I can.

CourtneyG · May 8, 2014

I ordered my male pancake over the Christmas break with FedEx, he was delayed in Atlanta for almost 2 weeks before I finally got him. He arrived still somewhat warm and alive, stressed and a bit dehydrated, but overall he was healthy.

ALDABRAMAN · May 8, 2014

CourtneyG said:
I ordered my male pancake over the Christmas break with FedEx, he was delayed in Atlanta for almost 2 weeks before I finally got him. He arrived still somewhat warm and alive, stressed and a bit dehydrated, but overall he was healthy.

* WOW, that is great!

* Shipping always concerns me, however we ship Delta Dash and use a professional shipper!

Neal · May 8, 2014

Neal said:
... work, kids, wife, church, wife, and tortoises, ...

This is a typo. While I am in fact "Mormon" I do not have more than one wife.

Camryn · Jul 24, 2014

I never have used shipping, but I might soon with LLLreptiles. They are charging $40 extra for shipping!

SHIPPING

Shipping preferences?

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FedEx

USPS

Delta Dash

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