Frag shipping survival poll

[mark]

Goes to this recent group order (http://216.187.96.54/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=48612), wondering on average when get frags sent by courier (UPS etc) what's the survival rate?

I'm at 2 okay out of 5 when shipped, though 100% okay when had hand delivered by Snappy.

[Flash]

2 of 5... I'm out $30

[digital-audiophile]

For my order in Calgary I have 100% survival 72 hours after arrival. A couple zoo heads are still closed but remain healthy. My SPS was showing polyps within an hour of being out of the bags.

[banditpowdercoat]

I would not be happy with anything less than 100% survival. I paid for it, I want to recieve it in good order. Thats why I try to refrain from getting livestock in the winter months

[Flash]

it was my first time ordering anything! I guess I learnt that lesson! lol

[Jeff_]

Im at 4/5 survival with a majority of my order being zoas.

[marie]

Most of my stuff gets shipped and I have had very few losses.

In fact the only major loss I've had was when a plane went off the runway in Toronto and it delayed my shipment

[rocketlily]

I have bought twice from Toronto and twice from Calgary. One of the Toronto purchases was during a very cold spell. I am at 100% survival.

[Snappy]

Coral Master has a 10 day guarantee and in the rare instances there are issues the replacements are shipped for free. I'm not sure how much more risk free I can make online purchasing.

[Flash]

that's a really good guarentee

[ShrimSkin]

You know I have ordered a lot online, only had a problem once.... With that vendor that this group buy was for. I just don't think the buyer should have to pay for shipping on the new frags that replace the dead ones. It's not the buyers fault, why should they have to pay.

And I paid a lot more than 10 bux a piece when I ordered a while back!

[Flash]

SAY WHAT?? I am not paying shipping.... if that's the case I'll take my money back.. not my fault they died.

[Lance]

I've ordered from Calgary and Toronto and had no major problems. I have had frags come off their bases and had frags broken, but no losses.

[Mrfish55]

I recently did two frag orders, one from Coral Master, out of 23 frags I had two Blue Sky Acros rtn within days of arrival, everything else is doing good, the second frag order was from Fragalot, 25 frags, lost 3 on arrival (bags broke in shipping) and 3 the next day, there are two looking questionable and the rest look good. I guess you get what you pay for, the Coral master order was well packaged and still warm on arrival (Purolator), the Fragalot order showed up cold and leaking (Fed-ex) (almost the exact same shipping time) I don't think I will be doing anymore mail orders, I can appreciate the fact there are people selling reasonably priced frags, but that is over $100.00 in losses in just two orders.

[iansfishy]

I get everything from ocean aquatics (livestock and dry goods). I can phone in the morning and have the stuff in my tank that day. It gets put on a pacific coastal airlines. what more could you want. And im pretty sure wendell has a 10 or 7 day guarantee. I wouldnt know Ive never lost anything from them!

[banditpowdercoat]

I get everything from ocean aquatics (livestock and dry goods). I can phone in the morning and have the stuff in my tank that day. It gets put on a pacific coastal airlines. what more could you want. And im pretty sure wendell has a 10 or 7 day guarantee. I wouldnt know Ive never lost anything from them!

thats great if you live near the airport LOL. BTW, what time does it usually come in? Thats good to know they get flown same day.

[Borderjumper]

IMO its ALL about the packaging.. I mean like how can a bag break in shipping? It just cant happen if they are packaged properly.

Ive ordered 3 or 4 times from Coral Master with 100% live arrival every time.. even when one shipment was misplaced for 24 hours. The frags were triple bagged (labeled with proper names) packed tightly and shipped in a proper stryofoam lined shipping box with heat packs added.

I ordered once from Fragalot. The box leaked so badly that the box fell apart. UPS had to rebox it somewhere along the way and all I got was empty plugs. The frags were replaced and this time the box was so wet that UPS called me and delivered it with a garbage bag wrapped around the box as it was leaking so badly. 1/2 the frags lived. This wouldnt happen if a proper stryofoam box had been used.

[banditpowdercoat]

not the breaking in my case, It's greyhound shipping them 4 hrs further North, having them sit on a loading dock for 2 days, then ship the frozen package to me, with the Live Fish RUSH decals all over the box. Then say OOPS, Sorry........

[iansfishy]

thats great if you live near the airport LOL. BTW, what time does it usually come in? Thats good to know they get flown same day.

I dont know what time. Its kinda all over the place. The crappy thing is that the house that my family lives in 75% of the time, and the home to my "favourite" tank, is an hour from town, so I do have to coincide any orders with a "town" day! No delivery in the sticks! Being any more in the sticks than williams lake to start with is saying alot.( My wife and I pulled a very unhappy bull moose out of the ice yesterday with two very trustung horses,and lost two good ropes in the process! I seen that danm moose trying to cross again this afternoon. hes on his own this time! That shows how in the sticks we are at times!) Your probably closer to the airport than I am Dan! Wow that went way off topic. (superbowl whiskeys are the culprit!)

[banditpowdercoat]

LOL, Ya thats gettin in the sticks. Im about 20 minutes out of 100 Mile. I woulda tied the rope to the moose's neck and...oops, look, we got Moose roasts now HAHAHAHA but really, thats cool, pullin him out. Dumb arse moose LOL

[awa1979]

When it comes to Purolator, Fedex UPS etc. Live packages are not treated much different then any other package is, they don't generally take any extra care for a box that says live, so its possible it can sit outside in an unheated container at an airport waiting for a plane to load it on.

Also once onto the truck for delivery, the truck is only heated to the comfort of the driver and in summer may or may not have a/c.

Airlines typically leave anything living in a heated area until the plane is there and typically loaded close to departure so time spent outside is limited.

I've worked for Fedex and the boxes came too fast to read any labels on them.

I worked at an airport handling West Jet flights and we did take extra care for live animals, making sure they were never exposed to the elements more then needed to get them to/from the plane.

[lorenz0]

Everything made it last nov from wicked frags. one thing i will note, it was all the couriers fault it came right on the dot before it was late. Dave shipped it out and it was in calgary in 6 hours (something like that) but than there were 8 hours of "where the hell is it"

With weather like this it all depends on how the seller packs the box. Dave did a great job and the heat packs luckily were still working and the water was still warm. two thumbs up for his shipping methods in negative degree shipping.

[Whatigot]

I have 25 frags supposed to be coming last week but the snow in to put a stop to that.
Now I'm hoping weather allows delivery tomorrow from fragalot, and I am very interested to see how this online shopping for frags goes.

I travel to ontario for work often, so if things aren't 100% after the fact, I can take some time away from work for a personal visit...

I am hoping that things will go smooth for my first online order, seems about 50/50 on this poll though...

[Parker]

I have only ordered online twice.

CoralMaster - 100% Survival
FragFactory - 50% Survival

[wickedfrags]

IME, if you order from a reputable vendor there should be no issue regarding survival based on the time of year. Just my experience.

I would not be happy with anything less than 100% survival. I paid for it, I want to recieve it in good order. Thats why I try to refrain from getting livestock in the winter months

[Ron99]

This was my first experience with ordering online. Only 3 of the 12 zoa frags I ordered have opened. Of the rest several have started disintegrating and the rest look shriveled and unhappy. At this point I blame FedEx because they screwed up and delayed delivery by an extra day so I hope the replacements will be in better shape.

[Whatigot]

IME, if you order from a reputable vendor there should be no issue regarding survival based on the time of year. Just my experience.

seems like it would be easier to keep a package warm then cold would it not?

[Okguy]

I received my part of the Vernon order 6 days ago. 2 showed up in great shape. 1 looked fine on arrival but has never opened. On Saturday, it detached from its rock (my guess is that it was glued onto the rock the day it was shipped). I'm still not sure the 4th frag is actually a frag. It looks like a piece of coralline and not a Zoa (but I'll reserve my judgment on that one for another week or 2). I also passed along 2 other frags to someone else and I believe their survival rate was 50%. One of the bags had no air in it when it arrived which is why I think it did not survive.

Now the big question... Would I do it again? I would but only if it was a similar sale. In the end getting 2 frags for $40 is still a pretty good deal for the location I live.

[Whatigot]

aren't you going to see if you can be sent some live frags from the vendor?

[wickedfrags]

Neither is that difficult once you ship enough packages. Arrival temperature depends on the shipping container itself and of course how you pack the container.

seems like it would be easier to keep a package warm then cold would it not?

[ShrimSkin]

I hope that experience from this vendor doesn't discourage online ordering. There are some vendors out there that do a great job.

[phillybean]

I had a large Coral Master order, (21 frags) all of which survived.

I had a medium sized Frag A Lot order (8 and 7 survived)

I have another Frag A Lot order (7 frags) coming this week, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Ron99]

Only 3 of the 12 zoa frags I received survived. At this point I blame FedEx more than the vendor as fedEx let my shipment sit in a warehouse for an extra day.

[Whatigot]

I'll hold off on the voting for a week, but so far after 12 hours in my tank, 25 frags (20 sps, 5 zoas) are all alive and well from fragalot.

[phillybean]

Received the 2nd Frag A Lot order today. In total there were 42 frags and 1 Chalice colony.

Everything alive and healthy.

[Mrfish55]

Received the 2nd Frag A Lot order today. In total there were 42 frags and 1 Chalice colony.

Everything alive and healthy.

How was the temp? my order was in transit for only 16 hours and was ice cold on arrival (apparently Burc had a bad batch of heat packs) and I don't think the three bags that leaked helped any, I guess I was lucky I only lost 6 of 25. I am happy with what survived, nice pieces for the price.

[phillybean]

They bags were a little cold, but nothing ice cold.

[mseepman]

I had a Frag-a-lot order...12 pcs, all survived the trip. 2 have since been lost (1 sps which was happy when it arrived but started to RTN 3 days later, and 1 zoa which detached from the rock and was "stolen" by my pistol shrimp as decoration in his tunnels)