JoCinWB

The USPS denied me, denied my appeal, and finally on FINAL appeal paid me. I am sure they just wanted to wear me down. The box was delivered to the wrong house. Those ppl waited more than two weeks to bring it here. One of the 6 corys was alive but it only lasted a few days, the rest were goo in the bag.

Aquarium Co-op's blog says snails don't need quarantine so I gave them a good rinse and once they started moving around I put them in my main tank.

Thanks. I'll set up a bucket and get the Q meds going after work. The snails were moving around when I checked.

Update: 2 ppl showed up a little while ago with the box. They said it was one of THREE packages mistakenly delivered to their house on another block on my street. My other missing package is not among them. They also said one of their kids opened my AH box. Why they didn't bring it to me, or give it to the carrier, 2 and a half weeks ago when it got there they did not say. (Just an aside, given the small size of the box, the "live tropical fish" label was not showing at all except on the bottom of the box, so a carrier might not even have noticed it. The tape on top was almost completely covered by the shipping label.) So the 2 snails are in a bucket of fresh water and don't look dead. They don't look lively either but after more than 3 weeks in a box I can't expect much can I. Of the 6 panda corydoras, 1 is alive, 1 is a partial body, and the other 4 dissolved completely. The survivor is in another bucket with some additional water until I can set up a second Q tank after work. I don't want to be running 2 Q tanks but I don't have much choice. So, shocking right?

I see. I don't know what quality and pricing are like elsewhere, but here (NEPA) fish stock is awful and/or expensive. I considered starting a thread to ask about this actually. We have a few local fish stores, plus Petco, Petsmart, and a regional chain. Mostly bad experiences at all the chain shops. I wanted corydoras. A week ago I went to local shop 1. He had a few of several different species. I could not afford half a dozen $14.99 panda corys. He didn't have more than 2 of anything less than $10. The albinos, which I read are usually inexpensive, were $9.99. Is that high? It seems high to me. I ended up paying about $50 for 2 pepper, 2 green gold, 1 sterabi. The sterabi was I think $14, the others less than $10, he said he would give me a deal on them. The receipt wasn't itemized so I cannot say what they cost individually. I wanted 6 of 1 kind, he said it didn't matter the species would school together. I think he fed me a line. Local shop 2, which I visited this weekend, had very little stock. The "assorted corydoras" were $4.99. Not sure what species they were, but once the 4 I have (1 died after 4 days, outside of 48-hr guarantee) are out of quarantine I'll go to shop 2 again and see what they have. I still want pandas but if I can get more green gold (I didn't see any of those at shop 2 though) at least I'll have a good-sized group.

Backing up even further--the morning the fish package was supposed to be delivered, I got a notification that it was ready for pickup at the local post office. It wasn't supposed to be held for pickup but I rushed down thinking something was wrong, maybe it was leaking or something. The guy at the counter said if they didn't have someone to drive the truck out to deliver packages, they put packages "on hold," which generates a "ready for pickup" message. Insane, right? My carrier, when I asked him about the live animals package, said somebody probably scanned it wrong when they put it on a truck. But if that happened, wouldn't it have been delivered eventually?

He said he didn't see it, not that the USPS didn't deliver it. Packages sometimes are brought out with a driver later in the day. He said he would look into it but I am here every day and he never tried to talk to me about it, even when I asked him about the 10/31 package that didn't arrive. None of it makes sense. Whoever changed its status to "delivered" did so at about the time our regular mail arrived (this is also the case with the package I never got 10/31). Is our carrier stealing? Maybe. If I were a thief I'd probably be looking for electronics, not "live animals." But who knows.

I don't know what case you are referring to, but the USPS has not admitted that my packages were never delivered. I have no idea how long I will have to wait to see if the USPS pays my claim. I have not in any way blamed Aqua Huna, I have stated my problem is with USPS and I am not bashing AH. However, unless I missed it, AH did not offer me a choice of shipper. If the company would let me choose FedEx for example, I would consider shopping there again.

USPS gives either as an option

Update: Package never arrived. Wednesday I was finally able to file a report on it with USPS. Unclear if I will be reimbursed for the loss. Incidentally, on Monday 10.31 I got a USPS notice that a package from another retailer had been delivered. If you guess that I never got that one, either, you are right. That retailer said this happens frequently, and told me if it didn't arrive within 2 days of the "Delivery" to notify them. They resent my goods this morning. Also I ordered a security camera that we will install this weekend so I can ask the carrier WHEN HE'S DELIVERING where the packages are. It's more than a little suspicious that my packages are "out for delivery" at 6 a.m., then about 6 hours later "delivered" but never arrive on my porch. Thanks for all the support folks.

Update: I just caught the mail carrier. He said he did not have any live animal packages last week. He checked his truck and it's not there, either. He is going to look into it at the USPS branch, but suspects someone scanned it as "delivered" when they were sorting and it never was put on a truck at all. fingers crossed, it's been a week so maybe they're still alive and he can find them

I have to wait 14 days (from ship date) to request USPS refund. I am unclear about whether the USPS will refund the shipping cost as well as the merchandise cost. From the AH company website: "We are not responsible for any stolen or lost goods once the tracking states that the item is delivered. If you believe the items may have been stolen, please file a claim with USPS to further the matter."

I wonder how long corydoras can survive in a shipping box. They did not arrive over the weekend either. For those asking, this was Aqua Huna's reply. (To be clear, I in no way blame them, but if I ever purchase again I will only do so if FedEx is an option.) "If your tracking number states that the package was delivered but you did not receive anything you will have to contact the United States Postal Service and handle the issue with them. From our experience we have noticed that most of the time when this happens the package needs about 2-4 more days to show up and may have just been a delay or error with the U.S. Postal Service."

Wow your post office answers the phone? I have called many times over the years. They have never answered. I drove there Thursday but they couldn't tell me anything just promised it was on its way.

Well, today's mail came and still no Aqua Huna box. If they never arrive, no way to send photos of dead fish. If they don't come until Monday, that's outside the 3-day period (based on the false delivery report USPS made yesterday). Right now it looks like I'm out $43 and change.