My first online order--go figure

I just ordered a female pastel bp from benrogersreptiles.com. We had arranged for him to ship it Thursday (from CA) for Friday morning delivery. He sends it out Thursday. Friday morning rolls around... I receive nothing. We both keep calling UPS for the status of the package and they indicate that they have no records of it in their systems. He checks with the UPS store he had given the package to... nothing.

Late Friday night, I check the tracking information to find that the UPS departure scan time was 6:14pm. They received the package Thursday, but didn't ship it out until end of day on Friday?

It gets better. They have no idea where the package is at this very moment, but had reschedule delivery for Monday and say that they can't change it to Saturday delivery.

Has anyone ever experience something like this and still received the snake alive? This is my first online purchase and it makes me want to burn down these slack delivery businesses and kick every one of their employees in the teeth.

I have never had anything like that ever happen, but if I were you, I would call and try and explain that there is a live animal in that box and that it will die. In this situation, I personally would not take no for an answer, especially since it was their mistake in the first place. I wish you and that poor snake the best of luck, I hope it makes it okay.

We already let them know that there is a live animal in the box. It is also clearly marked as such. And yet they still rescheduled for MONDAY delivery when they've had the package since THURSDAY. If they had one bit of common sense, they would have contacted the shipper and let him know that they were not able to get the package out on time and asked him to take the package back and reship it at a later time, but I guess that is just too much to ask of some employees these days :(

I would contact one of the supervisors directly or actually have the shipper contact his rep.Thats why no one likes to ship out past Wendsday just incase of this happening.I hope you get your snake safe :gj:

I really would not be able to let that go, you should tell them that you will sue them for the value of the animal for their negligence and refusal to ship in a timely manner. Keep asking for their superior if they will not help you, and make sure you get their first and last names. Make sure you have some sort of tracking number or reference number for the package so they can know what you are talking about. I'm really sorry this is happening to you and that poor little snake, but you are most likely going to have to be rude to get what needs to be done, my Dad actually works for UPS, if you wanted I could even see if he could help in this matter as he is a manager. He may even be able to give some advice that other might not be able to give.

I am definitely not going to let this go. Right now, they are unable to pinpoint exactly where the package is. All they're able to tell me is that it is "In Transit". I, sadly, doubt that the animal is going to arrive alive and well on Monday. The seller already offered to refund me my money should the animal not arrive in good condition, but UPS certainly has not heard the end of this.

How would I go about finding who is responsible/suing and what not?

I'm not sure you could pin point one individual, that would most likely be a lost cause. You would have to sue the whole company of UPS. As for the snake living, I have heard stories of them living through worse, they are just sick. As for your breeder, I think you have found one that really cares and is going above and beyond as it is not required for them to give you a refund if the snake arrives dead because it is out of their control.

my buddy down here as an exotics store, when he went to PA for a herp show he spent A LOT of money on reptiles. he shipped them here to El Paso from his hometown in PA but all the animals got stuck in atlanta somewhere, then they got stuck in dallas. he had to change his flights and get hotel rooms and everything just so he could make sure the people were tracking his animals, and half the time they didnt know what was going on. so it does happn sometimes, and his animals were all safe and healthy when they got her

I don't know all the specifics, but someone here had their snake shipped USPS (which is totally illegal) and that package was lost as well. I can't remember how many days it took him to get it, but he did eventually and the babies were alive. They were cold, but alive.

I'm sorry I don't know more about the story, but maybe someone will. I really hope the baby gets to you safe and sound. Good luck!

This has happened to me, only I was the shipper. I packed the snake up, sent it out for overnight delivery and low and behold the next morning the snake wasn't there. So we tracked it down and it was somewhere a few states north when it was supposed to go to Florida from GA (if I remember correctly). We contacted the shipping company and told them the deal, and they said that there was a detour or a route or something and that all packages were sent there for holding but that they would try and find it and get it sent down.

We just kept calling and calling them, and finally a WEEK later, it got there.. she was a bit thirsty, but fine. Luckily the temperatures were very mild.

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Originally Posted by bsash

I really would not be able to let that go, you should tell them that you will sue them for the value of the animal for their negligence and refusal to ship in a timely manner.

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For starters, shipping snakes is against UPS's policy for the general public. There's a few breeders who were grandfathered in from back when they allowed it. Shipyourreptiles.com does not allow the shipping of snakes at the moment thanks to some irresponsible people who can't do something as simple as package a snake properly. With that said, both UPS and FedEx take no responsibility for anything that happens to live animals shipped through them. You sign a waiver agreeing to this when you open a shipping account with them.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

For starters, shipping snakes is against UPS's policy for the general public. There's a few breeders who were grandfathered in from back when they allowed it. Shipyourreptiles.com does not allow the shipping of snakes at the moment thanks to some irresponsible people who can't do something as simple as package a snake properly. With that said, both UPS and FedEx take no responsibility for anything that happens to live animals shipped through them. You sign a waiver agreeing to this when you open a shipping account with them.

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I second this. Honestly you and the shipper don't have a leg to stand on legally. After receiving a package shipped through ship your reptiles (before they "officially" stopped shipping snakes) I deceided I will only buy from fed ex certified sellers/breeders. If they are not fed ex certified and they are to far away to drive to then they are marked off my list no matter how nice the animal.

Unfortunatley you and your new addition have to go through this. I hope that you animal makes it you alive.

Even thinking of suing a corporation as large as UPS with their corporate attorney's for a few hundred dollars is not worth it. You'd pay more in legal fees than the value of the animal, and because UPS does not allow shipping of snakes except for a very few exceptions, they have no liability and you'd likely not win the case.

Threatening them with a lawsuit would most likely just make them :rofl:

I'd also like to note - this is EXACTLY why MOST breeders will not ship out on a Thursday - because if there are any problems, you have to wait until Monday for the next shipment. I only ship M-W.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I'd also like to note - this is EXACTLY why MOST breeders will not ship out on a Thursday - because if there are any problems, you have to wait until Monday for the next shipment. I only ship M-W.

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Robin is exactly right. A responsible breeder will not ship on a thursday for this exact reason. Animal shipping is monday thru wednesday incase something gets lost in the process. id suggest letting the breeder you purchased from know this.

My two cents - I only allow the shipper (if they don't already) to ship M - F so if something were to happen, there would be a window for correction. I really hope your snake turns up safe. Keep us posted.

GREAT news! The pastel girl was delivered this morning (Monday) and was alive and well, albeit a bit cranky (she struck out as soon as we tried to unpackage her). I am quite surprised, but extremely relieved, that she made it here okay.

She's now settling down in her quarantine tub and I'll probably give her a week or two before trying to handle or feed her. I'm sure she's been through hell.

Just thought I'd post this update :) And I'm going to take everyone's advice about only shipping Monday through Thursday for future shipments... after this headache, I am just never going to risk it again!

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Originally Posted by missmary

GREAT news! The pastel girl was delivered this morning (Monday) and was alive and well, albeit a bit cranky (she struck out as soon as we tried to unpackage her). I am quite surprised, but extremely relieved, that she made it here okay.

She's now settling down in her quarantine tub and I'll probably give her a week or two before trying to handle or feed her. I'm sure she's been through hell.

Just thought I'd post this update :) And I'm going to take everyone's advice about only shipping Monday through Thursday for future shipments... after this headache, I am just never going to risk it again!

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Oh, I'm so relieved she made it! I had a feeling she would, though, since BPs are pretty sturdy animals. :) Congrats on the new baby, and definitely do pre-Wednesday shipping from now on... most of the people I've ordered from only ship Mon-Wed, for that very reason.

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

Robin is exactly right. A responsible breeder will not ship on a thursday for this exact reason. Animal shipping is monday thru wednesday incase something gets lost in the process. id suggest letting the breeder you purchased from know this.

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I'm so surprised Ben shipped on Thursday...I've ordered from him with no problem at all but I will only do usually M - W (prefer M/T)...But just remember like it was stated there is no recourse and trying to sue either of the big co's would be a joke and waste of time...I just got a Tic that got delayed in an airport for a day and pushed so bad he messed up his face horribly...It's not the breeders fault, nor UPS and basically crap luck for me...But I don't need his face to be pretty as long as he breeds for me...:weirdface:weirdface

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

Robin is exactly right. A responsible breeder will not ship on a thursday for this exact reason. Animal shipping is monday thru wednesday incase something gets lost in the process. id suggest letting the breeder you purchased from know this.

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Come again?

Alan Bosch
Ken Foose
Ben Siegel
Brent Bielstein
Tom Stevens


........have all shipped to me Thursday for Friday delivery. So have some other people who frequent this forum and who have impeccable reputations.

Are they irresponsible?

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

Come again?

Alan Bosch
Ken Foose
Ben Siegel
Brent Bielstein
Tom Stevens


........have all shipped to me Thursday for Friday delivery. So have some other people who frequent this forum and who have impeccable reputations.

Are they irresponsible?

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I have shipped on Thursday, and received snakes that were shipped on Thursday, but I prefer not to. I don’t think that makes me irresponsible. Sometimes that is the only day that the person is there to receive the package. I personally work Sunday through Thursday, so Friday is the only day that I am able to receive packages.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I have shipped on Thursday, and received snakes that were shipped on Thursday, but I prefer not to. I don’t think that makes me irresponsible. Sometimes that is the only day that the person is there to receive the package. I personally work Sunday through Thursday, so Friday is the only day that I am able to receive packages.

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Same here - off Fridays. You're not irresponsible..............

Pssst. Don't tell anybody - with Fedex Priority Overnight, they have Saturday delivery. Or you can ship out Thursday for a 9 AM pickup at the local hub.

The Fedex hub is 10 minutes from where I live. I often just have them hold for pickup and get my animals at 9 AM friday morning. In the one instance where there was a weather delay with the plane, they delivered the animal Saturday morning.