12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
If you've been following along you know that my fish were delivered yesterday but only half them were alive. It was already planned that Al was sending me another shipment of fish, some of his melons which I'll post pictures of elsewhere. So, since I had another box coming my way he went ahead and sent six more of the alenquers to replace the ones that died. Instead of letting them take their time getting to my house we set it up that I'd pick them up at the holding facility. It's an hour away but I'd rather drive there to get them than have a repeat of yesterday. I checked the tracking this morning before I headed out and it said they were in Minneapolis, so I figured they'd be ready to head towards me, no problem. So off I went. Any drive around here is pretty boring no matter which way you go when it all looks like this:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05110.jpg
See why I didn't want them riding around in the truck all day?
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05112.jpg
I was nearly there and Al called me up to let me know that FedEx was being a pain and trying to tell him that they couldn't get the box from the sorting facility to where I needed to go until tomorrow morning due to "bad weather". The two places are about an hour apart and there's no bad weather around so we couldn't understand what the deal was. We tried to determine if they just didn't know what they were talking about or if I'd need to drive all the way to the sorting facility to pick the box up. No way was I letting it sit around until tomorrow morning. But in the end it turns out FedEx Customer Service must just not know what they are talking about because the box was there:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05114.jpg
The lady noted that the bottom was cold and it was wet so I promptly opened it when I got in the car to make sure all was well, and it was thank goodness. So off we went towards home and who should come up behind us but...
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05118.jpg
Apparently that is not the truck they delivered my fish on yesterday because this one was going fast:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05120.jpg
Me carrying the box in (glad I didn't have to drive another hour to get them and everything turned out ok):
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05121.jpg
See, wet box:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05124.jpg
A shot of the three that survived yesterday's ordeal:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05126.jpg
Acclimation time:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05134.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05141.jpg
And now we're all one big happy family:
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05151.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/DSC05152.jpg
What have I learned from this experience? If I start shipping fish someday I will not ship in the months of December or January...just to make sure. :D
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Karen, the two pictures of the FedEx truck literally made me laugh out loud. I love that the driver is wearing a Santa hat! :laugh:
I'm so glad these fish made it to you safely. They already look like they're starting to settle in. I bet your survivors were happy to see some more of their brothers and sisters.
Ryan
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
And what I have learned is...once you pack them....say a prayer to your patron God, offer sacrifice, burn offerings, go to confession..whatever it takes...but be sure you are on the powers that be's good side...because you really are powerless once you ship them...doesn't matter if they hold for pick up or delivered to their door priority... Its all timing and luck...
I spoke with 5 different fedex reps this morning and all 5 told me so many different stories that I finally started chalking it up as a loss... and an expensive non-replaceable one.:(
This is the first time that I am actually relieved that Fedex didn't know what was going on with it....if they had...the fish would have been in limbo until tomarrow morning which was the jist of all the reps story.
One thing to note...all the excuses are the same this time of year...its weather delays ..not so they can explain it to you...but so they don't have to refund your shipping.:mad:
-al
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Al alot of the koi people are shipping fish around via Delta Dash, without having to go into the ''Known Shipper'' thing... I would think it's a lot better than using a courier company
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
While that may have been more of a sure thing, at least for me it would have still involved me driving 2+ hours to get them. Not that I couldn't do it, just noting. I have experienced delays in other discus shipments coming from overseas using Delta Dash. They sat in Atlanta for an extra 24 hours delaying them by at least 40 hours. I'm sure there is no 100% sure system out there other than driving to the source and getting them yourself.
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Hi Karen, no doubt that multiple airports can be a a royal pain but flights from A to B are so simple. I fly koi between Halifax, Toronto or Ottawa and the fish don't even what happened, when they're back in large volumes of fresh water 4 or 5 hours later.........
Hope your guys do well
G
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
You're probably right Graham. The experience I was referring to with Delta Dash was originally an overseas flight. But was supposed to come direct from LA to Minneapolis. I do think now that I recall though that the person that was supposed to get the fish to the airport missed the flight and so it had to take another and of course chaos ensued.
These domestics I just got are working out alot better, can hardly tell they've been shipped. As opposed to the imports I generally get, that go from source tank to another, then to another and then to mine generally. They are certainly feeling it by the time they get to me.
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Karen, I'm so glad you got your shipment in with better results this time. They look happy.
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Glad this shipment worked out. And again, great pics - very thorough (and entertaining)...
Good Luck!
Trevor
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Hi Karen.Great report. Glad to see that everything is alright now. But, what's all that white stuff where green grass should be?
Good luck with the challenge.:):):)
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Heh, I wish it was green grass still! I really am not a fan of winter. However, I think I'd take the white over the brown of the grass right now, brown is even more depressing! :)
Thanks, good luck to you as well!
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Hey Karen:
Very nice pics and story! Your survivors are looking great, perhaps they are going to give you an edge in this competition! :)......Good luck and keep the pics coming!
take care,
Sandeep
ps. Al, I hope you've been taking a mild dose of Asprin through all this :D:D:D:D
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ryan Smith
Karen, the two pictures of the FedEx truck literally made me laugh out loud. I love that the driver is wearing a Santa hat! :laugh:
I'm so glad these fish made it to you safely. They already look like they're starting to settle in. I bet your survivors were happy to see some more of their brothers and sisters.
Ryan
I thought the Santa hat was really the finishing touch on that part of the "story". :)
Unpacking the box today was a much more joyous occasion and I'll have you know we thought the exact same thing as you about seeing brothers and sisters. Such that we even narrated the event accordingly. :D
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Great thread Karen, glad all is good with these fish.All the best with challenge.
Re: 12/19 - Arrival Day.....Take Two
Karen,
great pics,all the best !
cheers