That's ridiculous! The last time I shipped, Express was still covered by the arrival guarantee though nothing else was guaranteed. I'll have to keep an eye out on this for the next few weeks...
Unless my fish are heading south of me which is not often the case, I ship USPS Express during the cold months. The fish aren't cheap and Express guarantees that they will arrive the next day...then it was within 2 days which was OK because I use O2 and 72 hr heat packs.
I took 2 boxes to the PO this morning. One poor lady in CT. waited an extra week because of the weather both here and there. Now there is no longer the guarantee on shipping charges unless the box is lost. This means that I no longer have the option of replacing the fish as well as paying for the shipping cost if the fish arrive dead.
This is the current USPS policy which THEY ARE STILL BLAMING ON THE STORM! I just sighed, thought about it, and shipped. But if the Post Master General had been with reach. I'd have picked him up by the scruff, given him a hard shake, and a good kick. (where, I won't say).
Something has to change. FedEx and UPS are both 50 miles round trip.
Mama Bear
That's ridiculous! The last time I shipped, Express was still covered by the arrival guarantee though nothing else was guaranteed. I'll have to keep an eye out on this for the next few weeks...
They may assume you just knew that Express covered shipping, too. I didn't know until another fish shipper told me. Apparently it's not common knowledge.
Mama Bear
Did I tell the Fed Ex story here where I sent an "over night" law book to Little Ricky? Day one...Seattle to Oakland. Day two Oakland to LA. Day three LA to Oakland. Day for Oakland to Honolulu. Arrived day three on a Sunday. Delivered day four. Honolulu is at best 6 hours from Seattle. But not 96 hours. If fish instead of a much needed law book, hence over night, them fish would have been dead for sure.
It looks temporary
ALERT: Priority Mail Express money-back guarantee is suspended nationwide as of Friday, Feb. 19 through Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Read More
Damn that's gotta be frustrating mama bear. Hope the fishies are okay.
Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus
I had a fish shipment sent Priority get lost for 8 days!!! I had actually refunded the money because I knew the fish would never make it. Darned if the guy didn't contact me and refund my refund when they arrived alive. Of course this happened in the summer when there was no worry over heat packs running out.
Mama Bear
Liz, I understand your frustration. Interesting that the time period is so short - like the air transportation is magically correcting itself after March 2nd. I wonder if, with all the vaccinations rolling out, USPS workers are getting the vaccine and they're trying to give appropriate time for workers to receive and then recover from the shot + booster?
I think you got lucky with the fella contacting you about refunding your refund. You don't see much of that these days, and I would have expected most folks if they received fish after 8 days in post to not maintain contact even if they arrived alive. Maybe that's just me being pessimistic.
I totally agree. Personally, I was raised that way so I wouldn't hesitate to do the right thing. I'm the type of person who goes back into the store if I was dispensed extra money from the self-checkout or if a cashier gave me too much. The same would go if a cashier didn't ring up an item. I couldn't stand thinking about being dishonest. In your customer's case, I would have done the exact same thing and sent your money back. Kenny's last shipment in December over-delivered and he sent me larger fish than I pre-ordered. I offered Kenny more money to compensate, but you know Kenny.. He wouldn't take it. Time to repay the favor on his gofundme.
Perhaps it's just where we live or the folks we interact with. My years in customer service (before my degree) was not kind to my cynicism. (lol)
I hope your fish make it safely!
The shipment that I was most worried about just arrived! That's a relief. 4 nice pairs of Pitch Black Rams to a lady who bought them 2 weeks ago and has been waiting for the weather to be good enough to ship to her. I'm so relieved. She has been very understanding. I'm sure I'll be hearing from her soon.
Mama Bear
Great news!
Hopefully you'll still be breeding and have pairs to offload come summer of 2022 after I've completed my house move and reno. The PBRs that I've seen look amazing!
I sure do hope so. They are so much fun to breed! They are all different in the ways they tell me (or not) that spawning is imminent. I'll be breeding for as long as they sell and so far they are doing well.
Mama Bear
Amateur discuskeeper, Professional doofus