Fedex Wont Ship Live Animals

I've got my shipping label and everything set up to ship my BP hatchling tomorrow through ReptilesExpress. I contacted the only Fedex Ship Center near me (Not an Office and Print Center) to make sure I could drop off my live reptile tomorrow to be shipped. They told me I most definitely could not and they will not ship live reptiles. The woman on the phone sounded freaked out, asking me how big the reptile is... I contacted ReptilesExpress and they said they're talking with Fedex to find the nearest center that I CAN ship out of. Why can't I ship out of the Fedex Ship Center? It isn't an "Authorized" Ship Center or an "Office and Print" Ship Center, doesn't that make it a true Fedex Station that I can ship out of? I'm getting nervous now as they might not get back to me until tomorrow.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

I've got my shipping label and everything set up to ship my BP hatchling tomorrow through ReptilesExpress. I contacted the only Fedex Ship Center near me (Not an Office and Print Center) to make sure I could drop off my live reptile tomorrow to be shipped. They told me I most definitely could not and they will not ship live reptiles. The woman on the phone sounded freaked out, asking me how big the reptile is... I contacted ReptilesExpress and they said they're talking with Fedex to find the nearest center that I CAN ship out of. Why can't I ship out of the Fedex Ship Center? It isn't an "Authorized" Ship Center or an "Office and Print" Ship Center, doesn't that make it a true Fedex Station that I can ship out of? I'm getting nervous now as they might not get back to me until tomorrow.

---

The woman you talked to probably has never had someone request to ship a reptile before. Because FedEx does ship live reptiles, they're who delivered my snake to me. Ask to speak to her supervisor.

I can verify, they definitely do ship live reptiles. Most boxes have "live harmless reptile" written on them also, so it's not like its a secret.

http://www.ups.com/animals#Accepted+...d+Live+Animals

Says no snakes. I know that Reptiles Express and SYR do negotiate with them and they do actually allow snakes, so I am wondering why I am hitting all these road blocks.

We got in contact with a center that will ship it out, but they're under the impression that it is a lizard... Not a snake. I'm guessing Reptiles Express said Lizard when they called them because FedEx wanted me to verify it was a lizard. Anyway, they said I can ship out "as many lizards as I want" from that location if I'm a certified shipper. Which I am hoping I am (I have an account through Reptiles Express and have the shipping label through them)? Any further insight as to what to do? I hope this is all in order but I'm paranoid for my hatchling's safety and all the FedEx people I talk to sound unsure and frightened on the phone when I tell them it's a reptile, making me feel more nervous about this situation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

http://www.ups.com/animals#Accepted+...d+Live+Animals

Says no snakes. I know that Reptiles Express and SYR do negotiate with them and they do actually allow snakes, so I am wondering why I am hitting all these road blocks.

We got in contact with a center that will ship it out, but they're under the impression that it is a lizard... Not a snake. I'm guessing Reptiles Express said Lizard when they called them because FedEx wanted me to verify it was a lizard. Anyway, they said I can ship out "as many lizards as I want" from that location if I'm a certified shipper. Which I am hoping I am (I have an account through Reptiles Express and have the shipping label through them)? Any further insight as to what to do? I hope this is all in order but I'm paranoid for my hatchling's safety and all the FedEx people I talk to sound unsure and frightened on the phone when I tell them it's a reptile, making me feel more nervous about this situation.

---

You just gave a link to a UPS site. So WHO are you trying to ship from, FedEx or UPS? They're not the same...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mikesmelly

You just gave a link to a UPS site. So WHO are you trying to ship from, FedEx or UPS? They're not the same...

---

Oh wow, didn't even realize. Sorry, through FedEx not UPS

First yes FedEx does ship snakes for authorized shippers. You are shipping under reptile express account which in turn makes you certified. Yes FedEx is stupid lol. What you ran into is not common but it does happen. They don't know their own company rules. It should have been one call and fixed though. If reptile express is saying you are shipping a lizard when they knowingly know it to be a snake then shame on them. That kind of stuff is what gets the whole reptile community in trouble. SYR gives you an additional tag to put on your package to try to help avoid this problem. I have no idea if reptile express does that also or not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bondo

First yes FedEx does ship snakes for authorized shippers. You are shipping under reptile express account which in turn makes you certified. Yes FedEx is stupid lol. What you ran into is not common but it does happen. They don't know their own company rules. It should have been one call and fixed though. If reptile express is saying you are shipping a lizard when they knowingly know it to be a snake then shame on them. That kind of stuff is what gets the whole reptile community in trouble. SYR gives you an additional tag to put on your package to try to help avoid this problem. I have no idea if reptile express does that also or not.

---

Maybe I should switch to SYR..Reptiles express was around $15 cheaper for shipping and supplies from them was also cheaper so I chose them initially.
I don't know what Reptiles Express told FedEx but I just changed it to Pickup to try to avoid issues. I have a shipping label from Reptiles express that says "Reptiles Express" in the return address area, as well as "Live Harmless Reptile" on the box. FedEx will come to my house to get the hatchling this afternoon. The new customer service agent at Reptiles Express was very nice, but said a lot of "Maybe" and "I'm not sure" to my questions which didn't help my confidence with my first shipping experience. Sadly Debbie is no longer there.. I was looking forward to working with her after hearing about her phenomenal customer service.

Anyway, Lil Binky is all ready to go in her box. We've said our goodbyes!

http://i.imgur.com/7JlaG5Kl.jpg

Good luck but you should have taken it to the world center that is a building and air conditioned and not a bumpy hot cargo truck bouncing around till whenever they get back.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Good luck but you should have taken it to the world center that is a building and air conditioned and not a bumpy hot cargo truck bouncing around till whenever they get back.

---

Yea, I asked Reptiles Express what was better and they said it doesn't matter. I guess they should have recommended dropping her off. She was just picked up and it's about 83 degrees fahrenheit so hopefully it's not too bad in the truck. Next time we'll do drop off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Good luck but you should have taken it to the world center that is a building and air conditioned and not a bumpy hot cargo truck bouncing around till whenever they get back.

---

I have them pickup at my house sometimes. They come to my house in a van that is air conditioned.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

Maybe I should switch to SYR..Reptiles express was around $15 cheaper for shipping and supplies from them was also cheaper so I chose them initially.
I don't know what Reptiles Express told FedEx but I just changed it to Pickup to try to avoid issues. I have a shipping label from Reptiles express that says "Reptiles Express" in the return address area, as well as "Live Harmless Reptile" on the box. FedEx will come to my house to get the hatchling this afternoon. The new customer service agent at Reptiles Express was very nice, but said a lot of "Maybe" and "I'm not sure" to my questions which didn't help my confidence with my first shipping experience. Sadly Debbie is no longer there.. I was looking forward to working with her after hearing about her phenomenal customer service.

Anyway, Lil Binky is all ready to go in her box. We've said our goodbyes!

---

If you ever do decide to ship through SYR there are coupon codes out there to ship cheaper. I know nothing about reptile express but can say I have always been happy with SYR.

Thank you for all the advice and info, Rob!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

you should have taken it to the world center that is a building and air conditioned and not a bumpy hot cargo truck bouncing around till whenever they get back.

---

You cannot teach "common sense".;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by grcforce327

You cannot teach "common sense".;)

---

Why would these reptile shipping companies instruct you to have the reptile picked up if it is unsafe for the reptile? Does it really make that much of a difference? The reptiles I've receive via shipping have been picked up from the seller's house on three different occasions, so I assumed that was normal? The customer service rep even encouraged me to do pickup at my house as there is less of a chance of there being confusion at the shipping center on whether or not they can ship the snake and the truck is air conditioned. It's my first time shipping and I listened to the "experts" opinion. Woops. Lets all hop off our high horses and not be condescending to fellow reptile owners who are posting on this forum to make sure our reptiles are taken care of properly by asking our friendly reptile community for their advice. I agree, next time I would rather drop off to make sure the snake doesn't have to sit in the back of a bumpy truck for an extra hour or two.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Galaxygirl

Why would these reptile shipping companies instruct you to have the reptile picked up if it is unsafe for the reptile? Does it really make that much of a difference? The reptiles I've receive via shipping have been picked up from the seller's house on three different occasions, so I assumed that was normal? The customer service rep even encouraged me to do pickup at my house as there is less of a chance of there being confusion at the shipping center on whether or not they can ship the snake and the truck is air conditioned. It's my first time shipping and I listened to the "experts" opinion. Woops. Lets all hop off our high horses and not be condescending to fellow reptile owners who are posting on this forum to make sure our reptiles are taken care of properly by asking our friendly reptile community for their advice. I agree, next time I would rather drop off to make sure the snake doesn't have to sit in the back of a bumpy truck for an extra hour or two.

---

Don't sweat it you did nothing wrong. When you drop your snake off at FedEx it doesn't magically end up at it's destination. :) The snake gets put in a semi and has a long bumpy ride to the airport. Unless you live next to a hub. Like I said earlier my FedEx truck is a van that is ac and heat controlled. I would recommend no pickup if it is hot or cold out but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. People think because it is one way in their area that it is that way everywhere. The only way around a long bumpy ride is airport to airport delivery.

Bumpy ride pick dropping off can eliminate only a few bumps. The package go threw at lest 3 fed ex places to be sorted on trucks to airports on a airplane and a truck from airport then the delivery truck unless it a pick up at a hub.

Needs to be shipped at a FedEx world center and you must be certified through FedEx before you can ship live animals.

Here is the application form required by FedEx http://images.fedex.com/us/services/...pplication.pdf

This will also help set up your shipping box depending on the specific animal you are shipping
https://app.box.com/s/v5g8mu1kl2dehnj6bb9r

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WmHrbst

Needs to be shipped at a FedEx world center and you must be certified through FedEx before you can ship live animals.

Here is the application form required by FedEx http://images.fedex.com/us/services/...pplication.pdf

This will also help set up your shipping box depending on the specific animal you are shipping
https://app.box.com/s/v5g8mu1kl2dehnj6bb9r

---

You do not have to be certified if you ship through SYR or RE. Also you can ship to residential using them.

Stopping by to offer a bit of SYR perspective on some of these topics. This thread is a bit dated, but just made my radar today : )

You don't have to be individually certified to use the ShipYourReptiles service. When you ship with SYR, you are shipping under our certification. You agree to meet our SYR Shipping Standards, covering packaging and temperature requirements, which in turn meet the FedEx requirements.

When you are individually certified, you are restricted to Business to Business shipments only. When using ShipYourReptiles, you can ship to and from Residential addresses as well, as was mentioned. Special bonus that we negotiated.

You can ship all non-venomous reptiles and amphibians through ShipYourReptiles (which is a FedEx service). UPS allows for reptile shipping, but NO SNAKES, so basically geckos, lizards, frogs and such. UPS does not court nor support reptile shippers or our industry as a whole. From a wider view, I always prefer to see folks use FedEx, since they actively support the reptile hobby and industry.

Having your package picked up is a popular option, it shouldn't introduce any negative variables to be overly concerned about. Most shippers prefer to drop off their package at the FedEx facility. That leaves you in control of your package (and hence your animal, the temps, the handling) for as long as possible.

You can't drop off at any "FedEx" spot though. You will have the best success at the actual FedEx facility, the FedEx Ship Center. FedEx Office (Kinko's) locations typically don't accept live/perishable shipments, and that is at their discretion. Same with independent locations, like PakMail or Mailboxes Etc spots with a FedEx counter/sign.

We can't MAKE a FedEx Office location accept a live package. We can ask nicely in a pinch, but your best bet is to find the actual FedEx facility.

It sounds like the OP got turned away from the actual FedEx facility, and that was incorrect info on the staffer's part. As was mentioned, some staffers are not hip to live shipments at all. Sometimes they are, they know that "special accounts" can ship live reptiles, but if Random Johnny calls and asks about it, they assume they aren't certified and say "no you can't ship that". Either way, in this case it was incorrect, sorry to hear of the issue.

But it is easily fixed. We just have to put in a quick call to the facility and bring them up to speed on our account status. As was also mentioned, SYR includes a FedEx note with the label that you can include on the package, and the note includes specific information for the FedEx staffer to verify the account status on their internal system. If the note is not available, or they are stubborn, then a phone call will address the issue. We are always happy to help in those situations, and it is often from the shipper's cell phone as they stand at the counter, frustrated and aggravated. I understand the frustration, and anxiety, but that is part of the SYR service, smoothing the wrinkles, getting over the speed bumps.

Sometimes the speed bumps are made up of staffer ignorance : )

One nice feature of the ShipYourReptiles service is the SYR On-Time and Live Arrival Insurance program. No other service offers that.

If you haven't used a 40% code before, use APS40 and get 40% off the FedEx retail price on your next shipment. And feel free to contact us anytime with questions or concerns, we are here to help! info@ShipYourReptiles.com

Thanks Robyn for such an informative and comprehensive post!

I would also like to add some ReptilesExpress perspective on this topic.

Yes - FedEx does ship Reptiles (snakes/lizards). However, only a certified shipper can make the shipment. You can either use a certified shipper such as ReptilesExpress, or go through your own certification process and establish your own account.

The main problem is many employees of FedEx are not trained properly to know that FedEx ship Reptiles.

The FedEx employee sees a Reptile Shipment, stops it, and it causes all kinds of problems for us.

I met with Matthew Thornton, Senior Vice President of FedEx US Operations, twice to discuss this problem. He initiated a conference call later with me and his operations staff. The goal of my effort was to ask FedEx to expand their internal training programs to better highlight FedEx policy on Reptile Shipments.

That call happened around April 2015.

The FedEx team implemented overviews of Reptile Shipments policies in their internal training program starting June 2015.

Since that time, we haven't had too many calls from our customer base saying FedEx staffed facilities are rejecting their packages. If it happens, we can fix the problem in minutes through our support staff.

The main policy for all of you to remember is you cannot drop off or pick up Reptiles from a FedEx affiliated location (FedEx Office, etc.) It must be from a FedEx staffed facility.

To make it simpler for all of you to know where the legitimate FedEx staffed facilities are, we implemented software on our site that gives you the 3 closest FedEx staffed facilities from your zip code and your customer's zip code when you make your labels.

Our goal is to make shipping your animal affordable and stress-free. All of our software enhancements came from suggestions of our customer base. If you have any further ideas/requests, please do not hesitate to send to me.

Thanks!

Michael Houtzager
ReptilesExpress
sales@reptilesexpress.com
www.reptilesexpress.com

Don't ask. call centers from all companies are completely useless and clueless