Freaked - USPS hasnt arrived w/my cham!

[Chase]

"Okay, well...here's where USPS runs into problems. They do accept live animals, but for Express Mail, they do not guarantee next day arrival:

https://www.usps.com/ship/can-you-ship-it.htm

Quote:
Live animal shipments (including poultry, reptiles, and bees) have very specific packaging requirements. Though you can drop them off at any Post Office, it might take longer to ship depending on the availability of transportation. With a few exceptions, pets and warm-blooded animals such as cats, gerbils, hamsters, mice, and dogs can’t go in the mail.
Live animal shipments using Express Mail® should expect a 2- to 3-day transport, so try shipping early in the week and avoiding holiday weeks with limited acceptance days and times. Express Mail postage will not be refunded unless the delivery or attempted delivery is more than 3 days after the day of mailing.
"

I will settle for a refund of shipping and any incurred expense as a result of nursing the cham back to health. Provided, of course, it's not in prefect condition.. I'm just a pessimist that way. I'll eat the $20 per day in unanticipated kid carpool expense. I don't think anyone would be too excited about receiving a chameleon that's been in a box for three days.

He said the animal was at the airport today at 5pm. This was a lie. I have been on the phone with USPS who can not tell me where this animal is. Unless this seller is clairvoyant, he lied. No one told him animal was at the airport!. He told me that in an futile attempt to make me feel better.

You haven't received the animal yet. You don't know if it is dead. If I were the seller, and I was in the situation, I'd offer a refund on shipping at this point, and if the animal was DOA, I'd refund the amount for animal. But at this point, you just have to hope the animal still arrives alive.

LPR08

 

[bigben2057]

I think he shipped it priority because if he said he paid for it to be there today he is lying because the post office dose not screw up many times.Sorry for the news.Hope he gets their well

 

[Chris Anderson]

Look, I have a good idea who the seller is and if I'm right, I have nothing positive to say about the guy, but until the shipment arrives and you have all the facts, the demands and accusations you're making are weakly based at best.

When the shipment arrives, you'll be able to see exactly when they told him the package would arrive. If it indicates that it was not going to arrive today, he knew that he was not shipping overnight. If it does indicate that it was supposed to arrive today as he told you, you can't say he knowingly shipped it 2-3 day delivery. Wait and see. As far as a refund on shipping is concerned, if it didn't indicate that it would arrive today like he told you or he did not ship as his website states (hint, hint - print it off or take a screen capture if so), you have every right to demand a full refund.

If when the shipment arrives the animal is DOA or ill, he absolutely should refund you. In this case, the fact is had he used proper shipping techniques (ex: using a cold pack and not frozen paper towels), there is a good chance the chameleon would have made it in better condition. If the chameleon arrives in good health, however, you really don't have any reason to request a refund for him.

At this point all you have are speculations and making demands based on only speculations is not appropriate. Wait it out and see what happens. Then you can go from there.

Chris

 

[Carlton]

At this point requesting a full refund is very premature. While shipping USPS is not up to general standards for shipping live reptiles, using frozen paper towels rather than a cold pack is subpar at best, and not attempting to go pick the package up tonight for proper shipment at a later date once it has been verified the animal is healthy is careless, there is every possibility that this animal will arrive in perfectly fine condition tomorrow. Jumping to conclusions about how it will arrive is inappropriate at this point and you should not be writing the animal off. Further, as far as I can tell, at this point you have no reason to suspect that the shipper will not live up to his obligations to refund you should the animal not arrive in good health. I agree that it appears the seller is an irresponsible shipper but I think you need to wait and see what happens before you preemptively write the animal off or make assumptions about the seller's willingness to stand behind the condition of the animal once it does arrive.

Chris

I agree with you and ataraxia! IMHO you are upsetting yourself by agonizing and speculating more and more. There isn't much you can do while everything is in transit. I completely understand how upsetting this is, but remind yourself all you can really do is wait it out. You don't really know anything at the moment. I've found USPS tracking isn't useful at all. The cham could make every connection without any delay. If the box is marked correctly it may end up in temp controlled areas for much of the transit time. Even if it does get delayed that's the USPS's problem not the cham seller's once it leaves his hands. Sure there are better ways to ship and hopefully he learns that this isn't a good option. When you get your cham (hopefully OK) you can decide if any action is needed. If your cham doesn't survive you are owed a full refund. If it does survive with good supporting care (starting off healthy) I don't think you have much recourse except a bad rating for the seller. A refund isn't going to solve anything and once you have a live cham I don't know if you can really claim anything except disgust (and the difference in shipping rates). Forget the childcare costs, forget vet charges you won't see them.

 

[paigesc]

Look, I have a good idea who the seller is and if I'm right, I have nothing positive to say about the guy, but until the shipment arrives and you have all the facts, the demands and accusations you're making are weakly based at best.

When the shipment arrives, you'll be able to see exactly when they told him the package would arrive. If it indicates that it was not going to arrive today, he knew that he was not shipping overnight. If it does indicate that it was supposed to arrive today as he told you, you can't say he knowingly shipped it 2-3 day delivery. Wait and see. As far as a refund on shipping is concerned, if it didn't indicate that it would arrive today like he told you or he did not ship as his website states (hint, hint - print it off or take a screen capture if so), you have every right to demand a full refund.

If when the shipment arrives the animal is DOA or ill, he absolutely should refund you. In this case, the fact is had he used proper shipping techniques (ex: using a cold pack and not frozen paper towels), there is a good chance the chameleon would have made it in better condition. If the chameleon arrives in good health, however, you really don't have any reason to request a refund for him.

At this point all you have are speculations and making demands based on only speculations is not appropriate. Wait it out and see what happens. Then you can go from there.

Chris

A part of me actually agrees with this. Legally it's appropriate, morally and ethically it's not. We know he shipped in styrofoam, in a cloth bag with airholes containing paper towels. I just cant fathom its going to arrive in good shape but I will reserve judgment until it arrives. I am 'assuming' things based on logic and the information I've been provided. That's all. I purchased the cham from the classifieds here and I guess at this point I question EVERYTHING I've been told about this animal and don't feel comfortable with the transaction at all at this point. I had a false sense of security based on his participation on these forums which is most unfortunate. I'm just highly disappointed any seller would ship from the west coast to east coast using USPS express and especially without proper packaging. I have already incurred additional expenses and the cham hasn't even arrived yet...

 

[imcurt]

Shipping USPS was a big mistake. ‘Regular’ people should use a shipping service such as www.ShipYourReptiles.com this allows you to ship in a ‘legal’ way that is usually cheaper than other options. SYR has recently started an insurance option too.

Regardless this is simply a mistake, as long as it’s made right then that’s all that matters. We had a box lost for 2 days this summer, because of proper/overkill packing the little guy showed up fine. Hope for the best.

This is the only company that I ship with ,and ive been 100% so far shipyourreptiles even offers ins on live animal shipment. Now thats a reputable company

 

[Rottsko]

i'm very disappointed and worried about not only this cham but also my cham. i bought a cham from the same seller and i know b/c i compared my tracking number to this one and the seller shipped it at the same time as paigesec's chameleon. mine arrived today on time but i was surprised to find no cold packs. all that was in the package were some paper towels and the chameleon was in a cloth bag.

needless to say, when mine arrived, we gave it a good misting and she drank like a fish. i'm worried b/c her eyes looked a little abnormal to me when we first saw her. her eyes were very wrinkly when she blinked and she was literally blinking every second. i checked on her an hour or so ago and she wasn't blinking as much and i'm hoping her eyes were just irritated from the trip. the seller said there was nothing wrong w/ her eyes before he shipped her so i said i'll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't have any problems. if her eyes do have problems though, do i have enough reason to request a full refund?

i don't know, maybe i'm being paranoid but i'm getting buyer's remorse b/c of the negative things i'm hearing about this seller. this seller was actually recommended to me by a very reputable and contributor to this forum so i dind't think twice ordering from this person. knowing what i know now, i don't think i'll order from this seller again...

 

[armyrec1]

I think we all need to understand that Paige is working off pure emotions right now and rightly so. Some people are looking at it from a business standpoint, and rightly so. From what I have read, it is pretty shoddy business, but that is beside the point.

All we can do is sit and wait and hope for the best.

 

[Carlton]

i'm very disappointed and worried about not only this cham but also my cham. i bought a cham from the same seller and i know b/c i compared my tracking number to this one and the seller shipped it at the same time as paigesec's chameleon. mine arrived today on time but i was surprised to find no cold packs. all that was in the package were some paper towels and the chameleon was in a cloth bag.

needless to say, when mine arrived, we gave it a good misting and she drank like a fish. i'm worried b/c her eyes looked a little abnormal to me when we first saw her. her eyes were very wrinkly when she blinked and she was literally blinking every second. i checked on her an hour or so ago and she wasn't blinking as much and i'm hoping her eyes were just irritated from the trip. the seller said there was nothing wrong w/ her eyes before he shipped her so i said i'll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't have any problems. if her eyes do have problems though, do i have enough reason to request a full refund?

i don't know, maybe i'm being paranoid but i'm getting buyer's remorse b/c of the negative things i'm hearing about this seller. this seller was actually recommended to me by a very reputable and contributor to this forum so i dind't think twice ordering from this person. knowing what i know now, i don't think i'll order from this seller again...

First, don't speculate. Take care of your cham. All may be well. Shipping, even flawless shipping is a stress. A healthy cham can bounce back. Next, go back and read the seller's terms of sale carefully. If it guarrantees "live arrival only" and your cham arrived alive, any health issues it might have are not part of the guarrantee. If it guarrantees "healthy and free of disease" etc. you MAY have grounds for some sort of refund to cover a vet visit IF a problem is verified by a vet. I'd doubt that's the case. You got a live cham so most likely the seller won't agree to a refund. Please understand I am not on the seller's side here, just stating hard business fact. PayPal won't do much for refunding if you actually got what you ordered.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

I'm in your timezone and since it's 9 now, hopefully if it survived the heat it's cooled down alot now, hopefully not too much.

 

[Geckoxp]

I have shipped chams that I have had to give up for this and that through UPS with no issues at all...never did one full cross country but hopefully it all works out well. I deal in sales and shipping everyday and more places are using USPS to go through standard because they give one heck of a deal instead of USP FedEx...

Ah anyways I really hope this turns out good...you will be surprised on how well they hold up...(trying to look at the bright side here)

 

[Carlton]

A part of me actually agrees with this. Legally it's appropriate, morally and ethically it's not. I guess at this point I question EVERYTHING I've been told about this animal and don't feel comfortable with the transaction at all at this point. I had a false sense of security based on his participation on these forums which is most unfortunate. I have already incurred additional expenses and the cham hasn't even arrived yet...

Morals and ethics may matter to some sellers but not others; nothing you are going to do to change that. Join Fauna Classifieds or a BBB rating site and leave a thumbs' down for the seller somewhere it matters. Monetary value of these is really up to the individual but I highly doubt you are going to see much come of your other expenses. Chalk them up to life and focus on your little arrival. Don't second guess everything. Your little cham could be just fine and just as offered.

I think most of us could tell at least one story about buying a cham from a seller we felt was a sleaze. I have. The cham was a joy who lived a full life despite it.

 

[paigesc]

Thanks for all the support The USPS website hasn't updated since yesterday. There's a good chance it won't arrive until Wed... I really don't even WANT a chameleon that's been in a box for 3 or 4+ days even if it is alive.. but I would never refuse it. Crappy situation, all the way around.

 

[Carlton]

Thanks for all the support I really don't even WANT a chameleon that's been in a box for 3 or 4+ days even if it is alive.. but I would never refuse it. Crappy situation, all the way around.

In an odd sort of way, a cham that survives this trip might be a very healthy robust little trooper and a pleasure to establish.

 

[paigesc]

In an odd sort of way, a cham that survives this trip might be a very healthy robust little trooper and a joy to establish.

This is true. Then he can become the forum mascot If he makes it I'm sure he will be THE CHAM OF THE HOUR for a while

Parson's people, you should be afraid. Very afraid

lmao

 

[Carlton]

This is true. Then he can become the forum mascot If he makes it I'm sure he will be THE CHAM OF THE HOUR for a while

Parson's people, you should be afraid. Very afraid

lmao

THAT'S the spirit! I'll be hoping all is well with your little one. You can brag how tough he is.

 

[laurie]

The only thing I can add is when i looked the info up for Steve it did said delivery was guaranteed by this afternoon. That is overnight shipping. Now why the post office dropped the ball who knows. I order a gecko for a neighbor kid, when i was still in CA and is came USPS. It was lost for a WEEK, but the little guy was still alive. I know he lived at least a year after that, then I moved. Moral of the story, the guy shipping it tried to do the right thing shipping, time wise. It does sound like he needs a lesson or 2 in packing a cham for shipping.

My only other thought, is I personally would not ship or allow a cham to be shipped to me in 100 temps.

Now I guess we all just hope for it to be a very strong cham. But consider the trip chams take getting here to the US. He may show up needing a bit of extra water and otherwise fine.

 

[Elizadolots]

A couple of thoughts...regardless of the fact that you have a tracking number and there's information on the internet, you can talk to a person at the post office. It just takes time, persistence and a willingness to wait on hold.

Also, it is not at all unheard of for tracking information to be wrong.

I recently mailed my boss's passport to the central processing center for extra pages. That had to go mail (most government things do) and they recommended overnight. I did that. When I checked on it a few days later there was no record of it being received.

Fortunately the Passport service has a way to check on your order and doing that, I was able to confirm that it had arrived. However, in the meantime, I spoke to 2 people from the Postal Service, one of whom actually called me twice (she was the one who suggested checking the Passport service).

I'm hoping you are pleasantly surprised tomorrow morning to find your chameleon being delivered alive and well. I agree with those who say that should be the determining thing in what, if anything, you request as a refund. Obviously, you are entitled to "next day shipping" costs but just as obviously, if your chameleon is okay, then you aren't entitled to a full refund.

Perhaps, if the chameleon arrives alive and seemingly well, you can take him to a vet for a check and the shipper might refund you that cost? It's just a thought.

 

[Rottsko]

I agree. The seller sent the Cham overnight delivery. He sent it as he should have and it's not his fault that USPS dropped the ball. I posted earlier about my chameleon from this seller but I realize now that aside from needing a cold pack, the seller did what he was supposed to do. My girl is doing just fine after she drank a lot of water. For what it's worth, the seller has been very helpful to me and checked up on my girl and her eyes several times today. I feel a lot better now about the seller than I did earlier...he really does sound like he cares about the animals. I think he made an error and I don't think he was being neglectful.

I hope this little chameleon makes it home to u first thing tomorrow morning safe and sound.

 

[BocaJan]

Did you receive the animal today? I have been waiting to hear if it came. I hope everything is ok. Please post.