Anyone else have a problem with Fed-Ex and shipping?

[JenTN]

I have called 4 numbers, and am going round in circles :( One lady told me that I have to have a permit to ship live fish, then that live fish were on their prohibited shipping list! I told her I received live fish from them in February! I am very frustrated and am clueless on what to do. I am supposed to be sending out fish today or tomorrow.

[John_Nicholson]

Most of them have no clue......In a bind just tape up the box well and tell them you are shipping aquatic plants......

-john

[LizStreithorst]

Yeah, they can be idiots. Just show up with the box act like you know what you're doing and ship it.

[JenTN]

Yeah, they can be idiots. Just show up with the box act like you know what you're doing and ship it.

Ok. If they will ask I'll tell them I tallked to Liz S. at headquarters and she approved it. LOL

[LizStreithorst]

Tell them that I'm the one who's known as the Mama Bear and they'll have to deal with me if they don't accept the box. That'll put the fear in 'em;) Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

[pepster]

One time they damaged my order 3 times in a row for the same item ordered. :mad:

[Donno]

From FedEx's website. It looks like you have call and have the order approved before you ship it.

Live Animals

FedEx does not accept live animal shipments as part of its regularly scheduled service. Live animals will be accepted when the shipment is coordinated and approved by the FedEx Live Animal Desk. Acceptable shipments include, but are not limited to, zoo animals (to and from zoo locations only) and horses (from gateway to gateway locations only). Household pets, such as domestic cats and dogs, and live fish are not accepted. For more information, contact the FedEx Live Animal Desk at 1.800.405.9052.

[John_Nicholson]

If you call that number it will be several weeks before you can ship. You must be approved first. Just ship the box calling it aquatic plants. Most of the time they will not even ask you what is in the box.

-john

[JenTN]

Im gonna do like liz said and just walk in like i know what im doing. Will be shipping tomorrow, will let u know what happens. If u guys see a story about a girl who gets arrested for suspicious package at fedex, please take up collection to bail me out so I can make it to NADA :D

[JamesP]

If you call that number it will be several weeks before you can ship. You must be approved first. Just ship the box calling it aquatic plants. Most of the time they will not even ask you what is in the box.

-john
John's right just show up and act like you have done this many times before. I never get hassled when I show up at their office with a nicely packed box.

Jim

[Floppy Fin's]

Maybe she could repack the insulated box and exterior cardboard box inside a Fed EXpress box that is larger, using packing peanuts between the boxes.
Put This side Up...arrows. and lable it Fragile.. Glass . They may not drop or toss it that way.

[Bilbo]

Tell them that they shipped your little box of white powder to Washington last week but now they give you crap. What gives Fed Ex? Tell them that.

[John_Nicholson]

The boxes that I use say LIVE FISH all over them.......

-john

[JenTN]

The boxes that I use say LIVE FISH all over them.......

-john

Thats what I plan on doing. Dont want to take any chances. My boxes from Hans arrived in perfect shape.

[JenTN]

Tell them that they shipped your little box of white powder to Washington last week but now they give you crap. What gives Fed Ex? Tell them that.

Lololol. Im sure my ex husband who is a city cop would love to come detain me til the feds arrived.

[Bilbo]

When he arrives tell him you accidently spilt the white powder all over your clothes before he came in. Dust yourself with flour. He will leave you alone for a few days.
Lololol. Im sure my ex husband who is a city cop would love to come detain me til the feds arrived.

[LizStreithorst]

Im gonna do like liz said and just walk in like i know what im doing. Will be shipping tomorrow, will let u know what happens. If u guys see a story about a girl who gets arrested for suspicious package at fedex, please take up collection to bail me out so I can make it to NADA :D

Do what John said, too. He's good at making things work. If they ask, say it's aquatic plants.

This is all so stupid. They don't insure our losses so why should they care what's in the box?

When I ship I always tell them that it's live fish. They look at the form I've filled out and ask why my package is of 0 value. I tell them that it's because they don't insure against the loss of live animals. They say, "oh ofcourse" as if they knew all along.

I won't tell you not to stress. The first time is extremely stressful. If you haven't done it for a while it's gets stressful again. The only cure is to ship so often that it turns into a boring chore rather than a stressful event. I despise shipping myself. If I could only convince people to make the drive to the middle of nowhere I would be a happy camper.

[Donno]

If I were you I'd drive to the airport and not deal with those yahoos off of pellissippi parkway. The airport folks seem a lot more intelligent when I've had to deal with them in the past. I've never tried to send any live fish before though.

[John_Nicholson]

Of course since we are breaking the rules it might be the dumb ones that we want to use...LOL.

-john

[JenTN]

If I were you I'd drive to the airport and not deal with those yahoos off of pellissippi parkway. The airport folks seem a lot more intelligent when I've had to deal with them in the past. I've never tried to send any live fish before though.

There is a FedEx Office on Broadway in Fountain City. I live in Halls, so I am going to try them first.

[JenTN]

Do what John said, too. He's good at making things work. If they ask, say it's aquatic plants.

This is all so stupid. They don't insure our losses so why should they care what's in the box?

When I ship I always tell them that it's live fish. They look at the form I've filled out and ask why my package is of 0 value. I tell them that it's because they don't insure against the loss of live animals. They say, "oh ofcourse" as if they knew all along.

I won't tell you not to stress. The first time is extremely stressful. If you haven't done it for a while it's gets stressful again. The only cure is to ship so often that it turns into a boring chore rather than a stressful event. I despise shipping myself. If I could only convince people to make the drive to the middle of nowhere I would be a happy camper.

I'm nervous anyway, this being my first time. I guess I will ship often as possible to make it routine. I hope to hold myself to high standards and add myself to the pool of few hobbyist breeders who do it right and I think there should be more quality fish out there. But we'll see. Easier said than done I guess.

[Donno]

I wish you the best of luck. I get my first ever Discus from Hans tomorrow via Fedex. I'm curious as to how they arrive, labeled live fish or what? there has to be a reason why he ships his fish via Fedex.

[LizStreithorst]

If you weren't nerveous it would mean that you didn't care.

I rarely ship becuase I rarely have fish for sale. Every time I start shipping again it's the whole dang stress thing all over again. By the time I'm done selling what's for sale it becomes almost old hat.

The reason I ship so infrequently is because I'm a breeder. I cull along the way and try to sell also ran's to the LFS, but when it comes to selecting for myself I have to wait until the fish are at least 4". That takes a good bit of tank space.

[JenTN]

If you weren't nerveous it would mean that you didn't care.

I rarely ship becuase I rarely have fish for sale. Every time I start shipping again it's the whole dang stress thing all over again. By the time I'm done selling what's for sale it becomes almost old hat.

The reason I ship so infrequently is because I'm a breeder. I cull along the way and try to sell also ran's to the LFS, but when it comes to selecting for myself I have to wait until the fish are at least 4". That takes a good bit of tank space.

Ok good then. To be honest the thought makes me queasy. Not just for the fish's sake but the person receiving them.

[Chicago Discus]

They always get my address wrong I have had several people send the package to 3553 and it ends up 3535 Im not sure why other than fedEx is a little slow...Josie

[JenTN]

They always get my address wrong I have had several people send the package to 3553 and it ends up 3535 Im not sure why other than fedEx is a little slow...Josie

My FedEx man is smart and apparantly quite the looker...according to my sister lol. She was embarrassed to be getting fish haha. She said he kept looking at the box with a funny expression like he wondered if there really were live fish in there :-D

[Chicago Discus]

My FedEx man is smart and apparantly quite the looker...according to my sister lol. She was embarrassed to be getting fish haha. She said he kept looking at the box with a funny expression like he wondered if there really were live fish in there :-D

My Fedex over night guy says more fish....LOL...he's very used to my craziness......Josie

[LizStreithorst]

I know the feeling well. I can't tell you to relax. You won't. The first time is the most difficult. It's like that with everything. You will feel better once they've arrived and the new owner is pleased. It 'most always works out that way.

[JenTN]

I know the feeling well. I can't tell you to relax. You won't. The first time is the most difficult. It's like that with everything. You will feel better once they've arrived and the new owner is pleased. It 'most always works out that way.

I just drove 6 to Nashville for someone on the forum. I kept having my daughter check the box to make sure they were ok. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when they were home and he was happy.

[JenTN]

Well they took my package but charged me over double the normal rate because they were fish!!! Guess im going to have to call that # and get set up. I cant take a hit like that everytime I ship.

[Second Hand Pat]

Ouch Jen, live plants next time.

[LizStreithorst]

That's one I've never heard of before. I'd like to see where in their rules it says they get to change you double. I bet someone is putting some money in his pocket.

Talk to Hansie. He has a good fedex man who I bet could tell you what steps to take. Something is rotten in Knoxville.

[JenTN]

She knew it was fish because it was on the box. She kept saying the price was awfully high and had another lady double check it.

[TURQ64]

There's always airport to airport..preferred by many. Faster, cheaper, friendlier...it's my only outbound option, but if I had the choice, it would still be airport to airport, since it eliminates all of the extra handling, the main cause of crushed, broken, and ruined boxes...

[Donno]

Well they took my package but charged me over double the normal rate because they were fish!!! Guess im going to have to call that # and get set up. I cant take a hit like that everytime I ship.

I received my Discus from Hans today via Fedex and they didn't even wait for me to answer the door. They threw it down on the front porch and drove off. Of course when I saw the box I knew why, it was soaking wet. I'm pretty sure it received some rough handling, probably upside down for a good part of its trip. One of the bags leaked out at least half of its water. One of the two fish in that bag is not doing too well.

[DiscusOnly]

Did they hit you with the special handling fee? I believe they hit me with a $20+ special fee when JamesP shipped me the Heckel Crosses. Good thing he had strong fish because Fedex sucks at getting the fish to me and had the box upside down. I am never going to use their service for fish again.

[JenTN]

Did they hit you with the special handling fee? I believe they hit me with a $20+ special fee when JamesP shipped me the Heckel Crosses. Good thing he had strong fish because Fedex sucks at getting the fish to me and had the box upside down. I am never going to use their service for fish again.

I think they hit me with the SUCKER written on her forhead fee.

[LizStreithorst]

If that's the case she and her friend were in cahoots. The whole thing sounds not right to me. Someone was stealing. To refuse a shipment is one thing. To charge you double because they're fish is robbery. If they did me that way I'd be dedtermined to see a couple of heads roll.

Talk to Hans.


She knew it was fish because it was on the box. She kept saying the price was awfully high and had another lady double check it.

[JenTN]

If that's the case she and her friend were in cahoots. The whole thing sounds not right to me. Someone was stealing. To refuse a shipment is one thing. To charge you double because they're fish is robbery. If they did me that way I'd be dedtermined to see a couple of heads roll.

Talk to Hans.

I may call Hans..just hate to bother him, I know he's always so busy.

[LizStreithorst]

Then PM him here and let him get back to you at his convenience. Give him the link to this thread.

[JenTN]

Then PM him here and let him get back to you at his convenience. Give him the link to this thread.

Good idea. Thank you. Its been a long, frustrating day. Thank God NADA is just around the corner.

[LizStreithorst]

Tell me about it. I'm so tired of stress. Nada...take me away.......

[tonytheboss1]

I think they hit me with the SUCKER written on her forhead fee.

:bandana: Yea, think ur rite. Next time "live plants" is way to go. They're not gonna reimburse you anyway so why spend xtra cheese?? "T"

[Trier20]

FedEx pisses me off!!!!! When i got my pair from Hans the lady at the FedEx store where i was going to have them held Refused the package bc it contained live animals. The guy who tried to keep the box out of her sight gave me a number to call to have a message delivered to the driver who i eventually had to meet somewhere and get my package off the truck. Next time i went through them i had a two day ship which took 4 days. I called them and they said sorry tough cookies pretty much. I try to use the USPS as much as i can. My first fish shipment came USPS and i had no problems and was delivered at my door by 9am!

[mmorris]

I have had no problems with fedex that weren't my fault. They know I ship live fish; a man at one office thinks it's pretty cool. I don't post 'live fish' on the box because someone told me disgruntled employees may give it a bashing. I don't know if that's true. I have only had one problem. The man at the office I now frequent always filled out half the paperwork at break-neck speed. Well, I didn't know that if you ship priority overnight on Friday for Saturday delivery, you have to tick an 'extra' box that happens to be in the section this employee filled out. He didn't tick the box, and I'm sure it was an oversight. He knew I was sending fish. Needless to say, the fish didn't arrive until the Monday morning and all were dead. :( The mistake was mine for not checking what he was filling out, but he heard about it! I do the paperwork online now from my account.
Customers need to know that if fedex delivers priority overnight packages late, even by a few minutes, shipping is free. The customer has to go through the seller to get the money. There is no 'partial reimbursement'; the customer should get all the money that was spent on shipping back.

I've never heard of doubling the price for fish.