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.

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.

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...

I have only ordered online twice.

CoralMaster - 100% Survival
FragFactory - 50% Survival

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.