Second shipment of the season and UPS messed up

[SLW]

<Banging head on keyboard> Stallion owner rang the clinic mid-moring to double check the UPS tracking number on semen we shipped yesterday since it did not arrive at the destination clinic w/ their regular UPS drop off this morning.

Long story short- using the tracking number it sat at the Kansas City hub from 10:58 last night until 5:01 this evening and is now on it's way to MN. No one at UPS could tell us where it was during the day.

With this being only our second shipment of the season it is going to be a long breeding season.

Anyone else already experiencing shipping troubles??

[STF]

Eeeke! Sorry!
I hope it gets better for you!

I had Fed Ex mess up two incoming shippments to me back in 06. I was livid! But since 2003, I have only had two go wrong. Those two just happened to be back to back! :(

[goodpony]

Fed Ex charged the incorrect account....I do not understand how they can charge the wrong account when it is written correctly on the shipping order :eek:

[STF]

Cuz the waybill is only as good as the idiot who enters in into the computer! :lol:

[Hillside H Ranch]

Fedex screws up at least once a year for me, either a shipment going out or coming in. However, with the volume that we ship, that isn't too bad. I've had clients request UPS before and I swear, it never fails that they screw it up. I'm sticking with Fedex!

[SLW]

The reason UPS works for us is our route driver, we have his cell phone number and can ring him as late as 4:30 for a pickup. Like today, when we scheduled a 3:00 collection to send the mare new semen we rang our driver for a pickup. Otherwise, we would have to go to a station to leave the shipment since it was after the 1:00 p.m. call for a pick up time for UPS and Fed Ex.

Heaven knows we are not a volume shipper in any sense of the word. As of tonight UPS has a 50% screw up rate w/ us. :(

[vandenbrink]

Fed Ex is very good...not perfect...but very good.

I like them better then any other courier, or counter to counter.

[Sakura]

I don't want to hear (read) any of this crap... I'm breeding by AI for the first time this year... it is supposed to be rainbows and butterflies PEOPLE!

[spacely]

Fed ex screwed up on me last year when I had semen sent for a Saturday delivery. The SO had filled out the form correctly but whoever entered it in their system did NOT put it in for a Saturday delivery. I was livid but they found my package & luckily it was close by at the Oakland Airport scheduled for a Monday delivery. :mad: I ended up having to go get it but I was lucky. Had it been anywhere else, I probably would not have recieved it until Monday. They did admit it was completely their fault though.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I usually follow my FedEx shipments last thing before I sleep, and crack of dawn to make sure they are on track. If not, I notify the mare owner and we both become a royal PITA. The one shipment last year off track was delivered by about 6PM, but it would not have been if we had not thrown fits, and reminded them that if it did not show up, FedEx would be paying out on a $750. claim. :yes: THAT woke them up.

For the Saturday deliveries, I put about 6 stickers on the container, including one on the actual luggage tag with the waybill.

[SLW]

I usually follow my FedEx shipments last thing before I sleep, and crack of dawn to make sure they are on track. If not, I notify the mare owner and we both become a royal PITA. The one shipment last year off track was delivered by about 6PM, but it would not have been if we had not thrown fits, and reminded them that if it did not show up, FedEx would be paying out on a $750. claim. :yes: THAT woke them up.

For the Saturday deliveries, I put about 6 stickers on the container, including one on the actual luggage tag with the waybill.

But how do you get action????? At noon the tracking info showed the shipment was at a lower Kansas City hub. I spoke to a clerk who told me what I was looking at on my computer screen. Duh.

I played the game, waited 45 minutes and rang them back only to be told by a clerk the same thing again. I asked for a supervisor who came on and told me the same thing. I said "our package was in Lenexa at 10:57 last night. It is now 14 hours later and the package has not been scanned out of Lenexa, is it still there??" He told me they have no way of knowing because of the volume and yada, yada. I then had the honor of explaining the delicate nature of shipping horse semen and the critical element of timing arrival. (Gosh, I just love having this chat w/ a total stranger, a gentleman no less!!) While he was sympathetic, and perhaps blushing a little, there was nothing he could do.

Is the amount of insurance on the package the factor in getting someone to dig around??? As of 7:30 p.m. it was still in Kansas City. We told the MN vet clinic to refuse this shipment so a claim can be filed. Todays shipment was labeled "#2" so they'll know which one to accept.

[eyesontheground]

How timely this thread is...

So, ordered semen to be collected on Tuesday for the new gray mare (I am in loff btw) to arrive from the west coast on Wednesday evening. This was already pushing it close as she had morphed a follicle to gigantor(sp?) over night Sunday to Monday. Semen sat in Memphis, TN FOR OVER 24 HOURS! The entire time we kept calling fedex asking why no semen yet...you know why...they were waiting for someone to scan its tag in memphis. WALK OUT TO THE WAREHOUSE AND FIND IT! IT IS DYING!!!!! Finally it got to our FedEX hub today at 9:30. We actually had to go pick it up bc if we hadn't it wouldn't have made it to our place until 4:30 this afternoon (oh...yeah...that would be helpful). So, we get it, check it, motility is pretty much shot to hell (SHOCKER:mad:), and make the decision to give it the old college try anyway. THANKS A TON FEDEX! (BTW the vet that shipped the semen to us has been nothing but helpful and I am sure everything would have been great had fedex not taken the semen hostage in memphis.)

To make matters worse we started the ball rolling on the claim and no one at fedex can understand the concept that most of the sperm died while they were waiting for someone to scan it! Hopefully, it will all work out.

Hopefully one of the boys has enough strength left from his layover in Memphis to get the job done. Weirder things have happened. Def won't be getting the second dose in her so fingers are crossed. We keep trying to look at the brightside - it is still early in the season and we will def get to try again!

[eyesontheground]

SLW...I think it was very satisfying for the person on our end of the phone to shock the heck out of the poor kid on the fedex end of the phone when explaining the time sensitive nature of our package :winkgrin:.

I believe what she said was..."I do not care what you have to do...but I need MY SEMEN tonight!!!!!!!!!"

She thought about saying..."Put someone in a taxi with my semen and start driving south. I will put the horse in the trailer and start driving north. Your person can help me when we meet half way."

If we had passively waited for the semen to show up instead of pitching several significant fits and asking for higher ups each time I do not think it would have ever left memphis.

[SLW]

SLW...I think it was very satisfying for the person on our end of the phone to shock the heck out of the poor kid on the fedex end of the phone when explaining the time sensitive nature of our package :winkgrin:.

.......fits and asking for higher ups each time I do not think it would have ever left memphis.

I dunno, when this happens and I have to start 'plaining "the facts" it feels like I'm talking dirty to Client #9. :winkgrin:.

[eyesontheground]

LOL...I think that is why she liked it :winkgrin:

I can only imagine that they must have been talking about us in Memphis...it prob went something like this...

*Fedex guys standing at the water cooler* Fedex Guy #1 - "Man...I just got off the phone from a crazy lady in FL ranting about semen. She needs to lay off the coffee and find a man!!" Fedex Guy #2 - "You too? I thought it was a crank call. You reckon people really send semen through the mail?" Fedex Guy #3 - "I kinda thought she sounded hot...what do you think she wants to do with semen she gets in the mail?"

[Foxtrot's]

Fedex delivered two shipments late. One too late for the egg, the other luckily took on the next heat. I submitted a claim for the first one - vets, container, and everything related and they sent me a cheque for the whole amount plus a nice gesture of a gift basket. I think the clerk was red faced when I explained what the shipment was in the thermos.

[Rhyadawn]

LOL...I think that is why she liked it :winkgrin:

I can only imagine that they must have been talking about us in Memphis...it prob went something like this...

*Fedex guys standing at the water cooler* Fedex Guy #1 - "Man...I just got off the phone from a crazy lady in FL ranting about semen. She needs to lay off the coffee and find a man!!" Fedex Guy #2 - "You too? I thought it was a crank call. You reckon people really send semen through the mail?" Fedex Guy #3 - "I kinda thought she sounded hot...what do you think she wants to do with semen she gets in the mail?"

*snort** coffee spewed onto laptop!!!

[Daventry]

OK, listen up Stallion & Mare Owners as some great advice is coming your way!! (besides the fact that UPS blows goats for shipping semen!! :no:)

Fed-Ex started a brand new system last year that was put in place to help get "perishable" items to their destination on time, with no fail delivery.

Fed-Ex calls it "Priority Trace". Every single time we asked for it last year, we actually had EVER single shipment arrive earlier than the guaranteed time. AND...we received a phone call along the way to let us know where it was!! :yes:

Drop off semen as normal with Fed-Ex. Unfortunately, the priority trace cannot be asked for when you drop off the container at the Fed-Ex depot - don't ask me why, they just won't. What I was told was to call the Fed-Ex 1-800 number shortly after dropping off the container (to give the agents time to put the container information into the system). Give them your tracking number on the container and ask for a "Priority Trace" to be put on the package.

The Priority Trace alerts each Fed-Ex manager at each depot, drop off spot, etc. along the way that the container comes in contact with. They immediately know the container is a HIGH priority and they make darn sure it doesn't get left behind. Some of the managers at the drop off spots even called to let me know it was at such and such a place, was leaving at such and such a time, etc. I think they ended up starting this service because...as many of you know, perishable items don't always seem to get where they are going on time. :(

Now, I had two Fed-Ex agents on the phone last year tell me the package didn't need a priority trace or didn't quite understand what it was. DON'T listen to them. :winkgrin: As soon as I explained what was in the container, how quickly it perishes, how much it is worth and what the expenses are at the other end and that if it didn't get there on time, I would come back to haunt them, they either put the priority trace on it or found someone who knew how to do it.

So, Mare Owners, tell your Stallion Owners about Fed-Ex Priority Trace. And Stallion Owners, you absolutely have no excuse not to use it now. All it takes is a quick two minute phone call!!

[Hillside H Ranch]

I, too, am neurotic when tracking semen shipments. If I see it get hung up anywhere (you get a feel for this after you've done it for a while) then I start calling. For Fedex, at least, you will get someone who reads off a computer screen and tells you the same thing you are looking at. However, I've had good luck pointing out the fact that it has been at the same location too long, etc. etc. and gotten supervisors to dig around and find out where it is. You have to be firm. Very firm. One time a shipment was hung up at the Kansas City Airport (I'm only about 1 1/2 hours away from there) and first they told me that they weren't sure where it was because the cargo containers hadn't been emptied yet and it would be several hours. At that point I refused to get off the phone with the local supervisor until an employee went out to cargo and tracked down the package. And they did. Then they told me that since it was "delayed" it wasn't going to make it on the truck and I wouldn't get it until the next day. I offered to drive and get it and they said I "wouldn't be authorized by security" to come and get it. I just kept asking for supervisor after supervisor and informing them exactly what the package was and they did eventually get an off-duty driver to load it up and drive it to our clinic. That was several years ago. I've had better luck more recently, because I've learned that horse semen is actually a "priority item" for Fedex ( I think because they are the "official shipper" for AQHA?) and they have been very responsive to finding lost shipments and getting them to us.

Edited to add: Daventry just covered the priority issue that I was talking about!

[eyesontheground]

Daventry...I think I love you...we will def do this next time! Big bay mare is foaling late this year and it will be muy importante that the semen gets here in a reasonable time frame. If this had been for her then I am sure someone at FedEX would be wondering why we were camped out on their front door...

[Foxtrot's]

We go across the border to p/u ours and it is so frustrating waiting at the border to get into USA or out of USA when you know your girl is waiting, waiting with her egg hot to drop. The lineups drive me mad, even though you know it will probably be in time.

[Edgar]

Another thing,
Print the Fedex shipping bill on line, that way they scan it and do not make input mistakes.

[SLW]

Thanks Daventry. Looks like we need to give FedEx another try.