Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok heres the story...

I orderd my new baby boa yesterday, and they sent it out then, and it was going to arrive today.. And well around 5-oclock i was getting kindof werryed, and so i called air born express and tracked the package, and they said it had allready been deliverd 3 hours before.. And so i kindof freaked because i knew it wasn't here, and they guy kindof argued with me over that, say that he knows it was deliverd and stuff.. So he didn't know what to do.. And so my father pulled up around that time, and i told him, and he said that its possible that it could have been deliverd to someone accross the bayou because the houses down there has pretty much the same ones on this side.. So we drove over there, and went house to house asking if anyone had gotten a package from airborne express.. And finally we ended up at this old womans house, and she said that she got it, and the guy just let it on her step, and he last before she could tell him it wasn't hers.. And so she brought it out, and i opend it up just to make sure it was ok, and she kindof freaked out and saying that if she knew that there was a snake in there she would have never brought it in the house, and i told her that it was a good thing she did, because there was heat packs in there with it, and it could have easyly got over heated.. So now she's safe at home.. all snugg as a bug... I named her rogue like off of xmen... *big xmen fan*.. ^_^

I ordered a Hog Isle back in Jan. Set their ALL day waiting on it. I finally called AB & they said it had been delivered @ 9:02 am. This was @ 2:30 pm! I walked around my house and there slung off the truck in a snow bank was my package.After numerous disagreements over the phone.....the driver admitted he just dropped off the box and didn't knock.Mind you on the side of the box in larger red print was "keep package warm"
I got some live rats in,same story except they left this box out in the sun,96 degrees..........ALL the rats died
I ordered a jungle carpet...........same story.
I saved the best for last. I called AB and ask if I could ship a reptile.They said yes,as long as it's not hot. They come & pick it up. The next morning I tried to track it.......nothing.They never shipped it cause they opened the box & it had a Col. boa in the box.One of the guys that worked with AB realized it was not a hot animal........still they wouldn't ship
If you move ALOT of animals,AB will gladly take your business & bend the rules. If your a hobbyist.....forget it
PLEASE,PLEASE,NEVER use AB EXpress! I use UPS and have used USPS..........with no problems.
Oh yeah my Carpet python..........they lost it for 8 days during winter! Dave @ East TN Reptiles

I have had good luck with airborne getting it to my house but I live on a new street with only 3 houses and I live in a town with 500 people, so it would be hard to screw up! On my last delivery they didn't knock, and they left the box on my deck against the house next to the door so when I opened the door and looked out I didn't see it. I finally found it about two hours after it had arrived. It was 50 degrees and it was an Irian Jaya Carpet Python. He was cold but OK.

I have had similar bad experiences with AB express. The drivers never knock. They have read delivery addresses wrong, their customer service sucks. You will never get a number to a local airborn express office. The best they will do is contact your local office and have them call you when they get around to it. Use them if you like waiting all day for dead snakes is the moral of that story. Fed Ex priority overnight. Its expensive but it gets there by 10:30 AM. Never had a problem with them.

Great looking boa!
I had a similar problem with Airborne,but 90% of the time they are accurate....

VJ

I don't know why people keep using that service. I no longer buy from anyone that insist on shipping via Airborne. I've had to walk away from a few good deals but it's not worth the risk. They have done the very same thing to me, delivered to a house up the street. Then after a couple of calls, they pick up the package and just drop at my front door and leave. They've misrouted packages and after talking to a supervisor, they agreed to deliver to a workplace the next morning. I've had to drive 40 miles round trip to pickup a package on another occasion when they forgot to deliver. It was 3pm and they would not send it out for a late afternoon delivery. UPS is not much better. Fed-X on the other hand does a great job. Not as cheap as Airborne but they rarely screw up a delivery and their website tracking is awesome.

Airborne is who I always used back when I bred a lot of animals. I still use them every day for ebay purchases. Anyway, I never had a problem with them, but I have heard stories like these before. Maybe I was just lucky.

I have had animals shipped via USPS and UPS before. USPS had an express package from california to NY, and they decided to let it sit in a non climate controlled warehouse in waco (sp) texas for over a week. That resulted in me losing 650.00 in Blue Tegus! Then they wouldnt give the seller the money either, as they said animal shipments arent permitted.

I dont recall ever using UPS for animals, but I have heard others say they arent very reliable with the animals either.

I still think I would stick with airborne, as they have always been good with my shipments, both coming and going. I also order from someone upstate every two weeks for the shop I work in, and they come on time every time I order. Maybe it just depends on the city you are in. Here in NYC they seem to be good.