Shipping on Saturdays.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I would love to ship chicks on a Monday or Tuesday but i can`t. I work from 7am to 4:30 and sometimes 5 pm. I also work 30 mins from home. I don`t even know my work schedule for the next week until Friday afternoon. Sometimes i have to work till noon on Saturdays also. There just isn`t anyway that i can plan hatches to ship or even be home during PO hours. My wife used to help but her schedule doesn`t allow it either now. That is why i asked if i could ship on a Saturday. I have foam egg shippers and chick boxes but i can`t even use them. This is why i am not listed in the directory also. But hey, i may get a new job soon! Lol

[Don]

DeWayne,  Sorry you've had such bad experience with the last shipment.  I had heard that USPS was using FedEx for their live shipments.  Not sure why.  Maybe they have more flights than the USPS.  I know that they are trying to become more user friendly in many ways.  But its pretty hard to schedule with the Post office hours when you have daytime work hours too.  And I think that most of the employees are great to work and care about their patrons and their packages.  But some folks are just not customer service oriented.

But I would encourage you to list your varieties on the Directory and list as "no shipping" for now.  That way new folks will know what you have, and can arrange to meet you or come to your home for stock and eggs.   Good luck on your hatches for the season.  I hope you are able to get out to a few shows this fall too.   

[Temple DaSilva]

I went through this recently with a shipment to Florida.  Shipped on Monday, went into the tracking system "black hole" after 10 pm Monday night - couldn't find them, no one knew where they were for two days.  No tracking updates Tuesday or Wednesday. Showed up around 10AM Thursday - all alive, thankfully.

What I found out after numerous calls to anyone in the postal service who wasn't a machine was that the USPS contracts a great deal of their PRIORITY EXPRESS shipments with FedEx.  When FedEx takes custody of a package, USPS tracking goes black until it is scanned at the next USPS facility.  You do not get end-to-end real time tracking but no one at your local PO will know that.
Shipped Priority Express with guaranteed two days, but they wouldn't refund because it was within the 72 hour window they have on all live shipments.
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That is odd.  I've shipped adult birds lately and over half the shipments ended up being free because the birds were a day late.  I had no problems getting a refund each time.  Actually, the clerk at my local PO who knows me as the chicken lady said he hopes they deliver it an hour late every time so I always get my money back!  Is it different for chicks than adults?  I know there is a specific box on the form that asks if the package is day old chicks.

-Temple in CT

[DeWayne Edgin]

They refunded me the money for the shipping. I then packed up all of the eggs that i had collected that week and mailed them along with the remaining money left over from the return. They told me there was $100 insurance on the birds which all ended up dieing but i had to file a claim online for the money that i wont get anyway. I learned the same thing you did also about the black hole when Fedex takes over.

[Temple DaSilva]

They told me there was $100 insurance on the birds which all ended up dieing but i had to file a claim online for the money that i wont get anyway. I learned the same thing you did also about the black hole when Fedex takes over.

That is such a shame about the birds.  Why don't you think you'll get the money back?

Yeah, the USPS is quick to tout their tracking option but they don't tell anyone the little detail that tracking is only good while it's in their possession - so when you drop it off and right before they deliver it.  That whole middle part is a black hole!

Still, it's the best thing going for the money and I guess you get what you pay for.  :-(

-Temple in CT

[Cesar “CJ”]

Sorry for your loss dewayne its a pain sometimes

If you ship again, give the chicks a few hours so they can get their strength. I realized when they're still wet and you remove them out of the heat the moisture dries and cools them up really fast. Kind of like spraying mist on a hot dry day. I wait for everyone to dry up and move around before shipping.

[Birdcrazy]

I had a thought on this thread. With all of the posts on the subject, should we add the USPS on the list of poultry predators?

[DeWayne Edgin]

I have heard from different people saying that they never got their claim paid for so im just not expecting it. The chicks were dry and running around in the hatcher except one. It was almost dry though it just had a damp spot on it. I guess it ends up being another learning experiance for me.

[DeWayne Edgin]

Well i guess i was wrong! I got my insurance check in the mail today!! 

[Don]

That's great DeWayne.   Maybe the USPS is trying to change its stripes.  You know if Time Warner can change...