The only DOA I received was sent by someone who told me they were using Fed Ex, then shipped the animals via UPS in a box marked only with 'perishable', and piled animals in on top of one another.
What the shipper says they are sending and what you receive won't always be the same thing, and that is why you should check references on everyone you buy from. Rarely, that won't be enough.
Buying in person doesn't save you, however--you don't know whether the snake you buy was exposed to illness, etc. There are always risks involved in buying animals.

Whether a person uses SYR or a separate Fed Ex account is pretty much irrelevant in the face of that.