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UPS/ShipYourReptiles.com

I couldn't answer that. :)

I believe that if the package is "suspicious" they can. I'd think they'd be hard pressed to justify a package being "suspicious" if it's properly labeled though. I honestly have no idea. I'm just relieved that none of them were taken (knock on wood) since they were opened. If anyone knew what they were looking at they'd have for sure snatched the morph males that are being shipped.
 
Dang! Like you said, at least non were stolen. I think I'd have the make a call to a higher up at UPS about the counter person opening a clearly labeled box if I were there shipper. This sounds to me like a clear case of a dishonest worker. Why else would they open a marked box.
 
Whoa, that really sucks! I'm with Becky on this one... sounds like a case of a dishonest worker or something. I'd certainly be putting in a complaint to the UPS higher ups.

Is there a chance she dropped it off at a wrong location? The first time I went to ship through SYR/UPS I went to one of their standard locations (the equivilent of FedEx Kinkos I think) and was informed that they did not recieve animals of any kind at that location. Apparently you have to go to their "Hub" in order to ship out Live Animals. This may have been an issue. :shrugs:
 
Keep us updated please. I have been following SYR posts wondering if UPS would follow though on allowing reptiles to be shipped because when it comes to the right hand not knowing what the left hand is up to UPS takes the cake.
 
She went to a UPS Store and just dropped it off. No muss, no fuss...Until they opened the package.



According to SYR:

How and where can I drop of my package?

Just walk into any UPS service location and hand your prepaid package to the clerk. That may be the UPS Store, a UPS Customer Counter or UPS facility, an Office Depot/Staples UPS counter, or a friendly business that has a daily pickup and will allow you to place your package in their daily pickup pile. At this point your package should be all taped up and ready to ship, and the prepaid shipping label should be securely and stylishly fastened to the top.

Note regarding live reptiles:

If you bring a package containing a live reptile to a UPS retail location, keep a low profile. If the clerk asks you what’s in the box, don't just blurt out “live snake.” Say live reptile, live vertebrate—something less frightening to a potentially snake-phobic person.

Some clerks are easier to work with than others. If you have trouble in one UPS location, you can try another.



I am kind of curious why they don't want you to say "live snake" if we're allowed to ship snakes? Not to sure what specifically defines a "UPS retail location" either?
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
I am kind of curious why they don't want you to say "live snake" if we're allowed to ship snakes? Not to sure what specifically defines a "UPS retail location" either?
Click to expand...

I have been wondering that myself. I had some brooks kings sent recently and the sender was downright paranoid about Fed Ex knowing about the snakes. The sender requested that I not admit what was in the box even if asked. I just dropped it, everyone at my local hub knows what is in the red and white boxes I couldn't lie about them if I tried.

I am assuming a retail location is anything but the UPS stores and staples type places.
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
If you bring a package containing a live reptile to a UPS retail location, keep a low profile. If the clerk asks you what’s in the box, don't just blurt out “live snake.” Say live reptile, live vertebrate—something less frightening to a potentially snake-phobic person.

Some clerks are easier to work with than others. If you have trouble in one UPS location, you can try another.



I am kind of curious why they don't want you to say "live snake" if we're allowed to ship snakes? Not to sure what specifically defines a "UPS retail location" either?
Click to expand...


I had a problem at a FedEx Kinkos first time, they said they don't accept live reptiles so I made sure I got there the same time as the driver for their last pick up and gave it directly to him. After a couple times doing it this way the clerks started accepting my packages before the driver arrived.
 
It still boggles me why USPS won't just ship for you. I send all my fish through them via express mail, and they're clearly marked "LIVE FISH" all over the box. I've never once had anyone open them and only one in the multitude of shipments I've made arrived doa, and I think that had more to do with the buyer than with the carrier.
 
USPS or UPS?

USPS it's flat illegal to ship snakes...and I wouldn't trust them to ship anything live. USPS doesn't guarantee overnight delivery in the least and their tracking system is crap. At least when UPS misplaced my package I knew generally where it was...With USPS you're lucky to know that a label was created and it arrived at its destination.
 
Let's look at it from the point of view of somebody who DOESN'T like snakes... Any number of things could happen to your box if the person behind the counter hears that there are LIVE snakes in it. Being non-descript is best to prevent people from being uncomfortable or from someone potentially harming the reptiles inside. To me it makes perfect sense.

I was told the same thing at the UPS Store the first time I tried to ship there. Since their "Hub" is only 30 minutes away I've been shipping from that location instead.

Perhaps also keep in mind that this is a fairly new policy for UPS... Some workers may not be completely brushed up on what they're supposed to do. I really think they need to be cut some slack. This is still an early thing and for the majority (you seem to have bad luck...) it's going smoothly.
 
Actually, UPS didn't change their policy that specifies snakes are not permitted and apparently aren't planning to. Shipping snakes UPS is only permitted via SYR as SYR is the only account that this is allowed. SYR has stated that UPS did not and does not plan on notifying the hubs, stores, etc about SYR's snake approved shipping. This is why SYR has not provided a form of some sort for us to take in when shipping to prevent them refusing the package.

So all-in-all, expect this to continue until UPS actually changes their policy and SYR provides some sort of paperwork to include when shipping.

Keep in mind that this package in question wasn't marked specifically "snakes" and she did not have any direct interaction with the staff. She dropped off the package and left. They opened the package some time later, called her and told her to come pick it back up. Per federal law, you are required to at a minimum label the outside of the box as "Wildlife" and include a detailed packing list in an easily accessible location. She did mark the box "Live Harmless Reptiles" (which is completely appropriate) and included the packing list inside. Perhaps instead of listing packages as "Live Harmless Reptiles" we should use "Wildlife," but then how do we know they aren't going to open the packages and refuse it anyway?
 
That's odd, because the times I've dropped off packages I told the staff I was shipping Live Reptiles and they didn't react to it at all. The kid in the UPS Store informed me that they could not hold Live Animals (OF ANY KIND) at that location and it would need to be taken to a whole other location. SYR may say you can drop off at any UPS location, but that obviously isn't the case per UPS. Perhaps that is something you need to discuss with SYR and see what it is we are supposed to do.

And if UPS doesn't ship Live Reptiles then why is it that I can walk in there with a prepaid package from SYR and ship just fine? I'm not understanding that. How can they say they don't ship Live Reptiles when they do? That doesn't make any sense at all.
 
UPS restricts the shipping of snakes. They will accept other reptiles.

The reason why they know there were snakes instead of a legged species in this particular package is because they opened the package.
 
Do you know if she put Live Harmelss Reptile with the common and species name of the snakes on the outside of the package? If so that would explain why they opened the package.
 
She did not put the common and species names of the snakes because that is not required. I would have stated she had if she had done that. She followed the instructions I provided her yesterday morning. Again, the reason why they knew there were snakes instead of a legged species in this particular package is because they opened the package. If the package was labeled with the common and species names, it would obviously be a reason why they knew their were snakes in the package.

Again, my only guess as to why they opened it was because they were curious if their were actually reptiles in the package. Who knows what or why any company does things. I've never been to a UPS Store, but if it's not well managed or supervised, things are more likely to happen.

The snakes are supposed to be picked up directly by UPS today for arrival tomorrow, so hopefully no more glitches.
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
Actually, UPS didn't change their policy that specifies snakes are not permitted and apparently aren't planning to. Shipping snakes UPS is only permitted via SYR as SYR is the only account that this is allowed. SYR has stated that UPS did not and does not plan on notifying the hubs, stores, etc about SYR's snake approved shipping. This is why SYR has not provided a form of some sort for us to take in when shipping to prevent them refusing the package.

So all-in-all, expect this to continue until UPS actually changes their policy and SYR provides some sort of paperwork to include when shipping.
Click to expand...

So I guess if we know this is happening then this
I am kind of curious why they don't want you to say "live snake" if we're allowed to ship snakes?
Click to expand...
is already answered. If UPS isn't telling the hubs, employees ect. then what good would it do to tell and employee behind a counter your shipping snakes? They no the policy is no snakes so yes, they will reject it. Not saying this happened in your case, just stating this area of problem.

Not to mention the statement they make about people scared to death of snake and how they may react is very valid. Like I said before, there are a couple fedex locations I can't ship from because they know there are snakes in my boxes and just out right refuse even though Im certified.

If I went by the "3 strikes your out" rule, FedEx would have been out a long time ago for me. But I can't blame FedEx in a whole because of stupid employees. No matter how reputable a company may be, the employees are only human and mistakes happen. Now we have 2 choices to ship thought. We can either choose to use them both or one or the other.

From my understanding, Pro Exotics has been around for a long time and are trying to help out the reptile community by offering this service for us all. It's not like they are some fresh, new business that just started offering up shipping. I don't think they would risk their entire business on some thing that was not legit. IMO any way.
 
I don't think it's in any way not legit. Though I don't understand why they didn't try to nail down an arrangement with FedEx when FedEx openly accepts snakes.

I think these things can easily be prevented by providing some sort of verification paperwork to include with a package (like some include their FedEx certification paperwork) and having the SYR account "flagged" as having an exemption so that if there is a question, they can look it up. That also was what I was asking...If SYR is permitted to ship snakes, why isn't the account flagged as having that exemption? Seems like a viable solution to me anyway.

The big issue to me is UPS staff (assuming the UPS Store is actually staffed by UPS employees?) are opening packages for no reason. This shipment should have went smoothly because it did not specify snakes in the labeling and there was no reason for concern.

UPS is currently 0 for 2 in smooth shipments for me. Those aren't good odds.
 
I personally think (from experience) that the local facility is where the problem is going to occur if it's going to occur. I used UPS exclusively for several years. My local shipping center knew what I was shipping and even informed (and helped) me set up a business account for my shipping needs just like FedEx. While I was criticized (heavily, by some . . . FYI, I started using UPS before FedEx changed their policy) for using UPS, I had one problem over the course of the time I used them. It was a delayed package. Even at that time, UPS had contracts with certain companies that allowed them to """legally""" ship snakes. (It's a snake issue, not a reptile issue) The SYR situation really isn't anything new, it's just public.

I don't know what my account of this means other than if you're going to use SYR/UPS, I wouldn't drop off shipments at the UPS store. The first time I tried shipping via UPS I made that mistake. I was informed they don't deal with any perishables, not just animals. While that doesn't necessarily sound accurate, it does sound plausible and is probably another of those "depends on the location" situations. :shrugs: Just like with FedEx and using a FedEx Staffed shipping center instead of Kinko's, I'd recommend taking any UPS shipments to a local hub instead of a UPS Store.

D80
 
Brent, can you still ship snakes through your account with them or did they kick you in the behind like they did some other breeders a few years ago?

The package I shipped out via SYR went to a privately owned "Postal Plus" and they didn't give me any issues (I drop my FedEx packages off there too). My closest UPS hub is an hour away, I my as well offer Delta Dash for that drive!
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
Brent, can you still ship snakes through your account with them or did they kick you in the behind like they did some other breeders a few years ago?
Click to expand...
I haven't tried since finally taking the initiative to become FedEx certified. I haven't had my account closed or anything that I can tell since I continue to get updates to service improvements etc. FYI, shipping rates were very similar between the two as well. I was quite satisfied with UPS. I drug my feet to say the least, but the only real reason I changed to FedEx was to be "official". :shrugs:

D80
 
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