Shipping experiences

[Johndman]

I recently purchased several discus from a source in Texas and used USPS Priority Mail and now it is day 6 without receiving shipment. Not happy with the feedback I've been getting from the carrier it seems that there has been no progress since last Tuesday but all of a sudden today I had an update where it was scanned at my regional facility in Jacksonville so I guess I can expect at least another day in transit. This is not my first online delivery, probably had around a half-dozen previous with most being successful either overnight or Priority Mail. I had a hard time contacting a live person or getting any real information as to location or label information but yesterday was able to contact my local post office and got some action.

I was drawn to this forum due to questions I had related to the survivability the fish I ordered. I have done all I can to push this shipment through and of course would be quite disappointed if they're all deceased. I found that USPS only guarantees Priority Mail Express and not priority mail although the shipping 1 2 3 days is similar. I also try to file a claim due to damage but it kept coming back as an error in the system and also waited over an hour for an agent and got no response.

Perhaps I should have gone with overnight but funny that these costs vary greatly for some reason and the norm is around 30 bucks and anything over that is in my opinion is profit-taking. It is too bad that the local pet shops in my area have very little interesting selections or can be quite expensive, i e hundred and twenty-nine for a 3 to 4 inch Discus?

[Autumnsky]

Hello and welcome.

It is a big problem especially lately with usps. I have had issues on plants and packages.

Unfortunate that the costs for overnight shipping is really $45-60 in an order of big fish.

In talking to 2 different shippers this past year, they related that they subsidize the cost of overnight fish packages and lose money to make it more affordable and better chance for the fish. Not all business do that of course.

I am losing what little confidence I still had in the usps.

Think about what troubles these poor fish are having if they are even alive still, bad ammonia burns, they will need perfect water conditions, if they can recover. Nitrite poisoning can damage internal organs and they could lose the battle ofter about 3 weeks from organ failure.

I have a Betta fish imported from Thailand last month which is trying to recover from a bad experience. It has been hard for him and me and a tremendous amount of extra work I had not planned on.

Finding hobbyists in your area is a nice way to find good fish. A aquarium society is a possible connection for knowledgeable Discus Breeders.

Having some Indian Almond leaves might help.

[SaraB]

I don't even trust usps with a t-shirt, let alone a fish. I've had so many bad experiences with that company.

[Fishlover99]

Originally Posted by Autumnsky

Hello and welcome.

It is a big problem especially lately with usps. I have had issues on plants and packages.

Unfortunate that the costs for overnight shipping is really $45-60 in an order of big fish.

In talking to 2 different shippers this past year, they related that they subsidize the cost of overnight fish packages and lose money to make it more affordable and better chance for the fish. Not all business do that of course.

I am losing what little confidence I still had in the usps.

Think about what troubles these poor fish are having if they are even alive still, bad ammonia burns, they will need perfect water conditions, if they can recover. Nitrite poisoning can damage internal organs and they could lose the battle ofter about 3 weeks from organ failure.

I have a Betta fish imported from Thailand last month which is trying to recover from a bad experience. It has been hard for him and me and a tremendous amount of extra work I had not planned on.

Finding hobbyists in your area is a nice way to find good fish. A aquarium society is a possible connection for knowledgeable Discus Breeders.

Having some Indian Almond leaves might help.

As far as your fish but nitrite and ammonia poisoning, methylene blue dips can be extremely beneficial for the fish. I saved a few fish from conditions with wicked nitrate poisoning. Purple gills, extremely sick. The methylene baths helped them recover alot better.

[King Fisher]

Originally Posted by SaraB

I don't even trust usps with a t-shirt, let alone a fish. I've had so many bad experiences with that company.

It's a government ran business what did you expect?

[Johndman]

I finally received the package on day seven and the eight 2" juveniles were in a state of decomposition. Not sure why the agent from my local post office was not able to retrieve an image and claimed that there was something wrong with the label and that it could not be scanned automatically, also said that they may have been put on a truck due to weather conditions. Upon arrival the label looked fine. I suppose going beyond 3 or 4 days would be beyond any reasonable expectations although I have had a single discus survive for 4 days. I guess my only question would be the packaging by the shipper since they were is such small containers all individually sealed. They claim that they would easily last 4-5 days. I have received overnight and priority mail deliveries before but always in larger containers. How is it possible that these fish would last more than a few hours?

[Johndman]

I have had many many deliveries from USPS including Amazon and Ebay including other breeders that arrived wiithout a hitch. This is the first time anything like this happen. UPS... during the holidays my items sat in their service hubs for 4 days each. On another overnight shipment went for pick first thing in the morning and had to wait an extra hour and still had a DOA. However I will have to rethink things from this time forward. Perhaps I was looking for a bargain but the shipper charged me $42.00 for non-guaranteed Priority Mail.

[tunamanphd]

I ship no problem with USPS . Very rarely is there issues and if so I Refund the Customer then file the claim as the seller. I have had fish(not winter though) survive 14 days in transit and arrive good .

[King Fisher]

Ya those fish wouldn't make it in the middle of summer or winter where I'm at if they left them in a hub with no heating or cooling. Negative and single digit lows and up to 100 degrees in the summer.

[tunamanphd]

Originally Posted by King Fisher

Ya those fish wouldn't make it in the middle of summer or winter where I'm at if they left them in a hub with no heating or cooling. Negative and single digit lows and up to 100 degrees in the summer.

the package that survived 14 days went to Phoenix. just saying I know how to ship lol but shyt does happen . When It does I dont fk my customers they get refunded .

[King Fisher]

Originally Posted by tunamanphd

the package that survived 14 days went to Phoenix. just saying I know how to ship lol but shyt does happen . When It does I dont fk my customers they get refunded .

That's why I'd buy from you

[tunamanphd]

Originally Posted by King Fisher

That's why I'd buy from you

I do the claim - no reason to make the customer do it . In the big picture, me loosing the money is cheap compared to a bad reputation.