pat99016
Member
I ordered a couple of frags from a vender in CA a couple weeks back and after a couple of days delay due to "packaging & preparation" for shipping they finally got sent out. A day later, Fed Ex shows up and upon opening, I found out that "packaging & preparation" meant hand crafting the shipping box and then lining it with roughcut styrofoam sheeting. Not a bad idea and works well.
After assembly; two of the smallest frags I have ever seen were then individually placed into separate plastic bags, a few ounces of water added to each, each was twisted shut, each placed in another bag, twisted and then rubber banded. All sounds good so far; that is until they were placed in the above mentioned box. Did I mention these frags were small? Well the amount of empty space more than tripled they amount of space taken up from the bags. The box was then sealed shut with duct tape (I'm assuming to keep the water in) and then sent through perfectly "normal" Fed Ex hell. After two flights they arrived on my door step.
Upon inspection I found that both frags had been battered badly due to "normal" Fed Ex handling and more importantly bad packaging. One was DOA and the other is suffering considerably but I WILL save it.:evil: It was almost enough to make me just stick with my local LFS from now on.
But - after checking out RF's livestock thread, I couldn't pass up a really great deal on a frag pack on there. So after taking care of the business end of things, I sat around and waited for my newest additions. After checking UPS's web-site with the tracking number I was provided - i got to admit that I was fairly nervous as to how these would arrive. Four flights to get these to me from one side of the state to the other. How they went from WA, to OR, to CA, back to the same side of WA the shipment originated from and then finally here will always be a mystery to me.
Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much after seeing all that; especially after seeing the condition of the box they arrived in
(must have failed the standard UPS drop test). Much to my surprise, I found that everything I ordered was as promised and in great shape.
How? Well these frags were triple bagged, neatly placed in a cheap plastic 1/2gal Coleman thermos, a heat pack added, styrofoam peanuts to take up the dead space and then the lid was secured with a small piece of tape. BRILLANT!!!:idea: Probably more cost effective and less of a headache than spending a couple of hours trying to figure out how to insulate a box. Virtually shipping proof and gaurantee's that I won't be on the phone "nicely" asking for a replacement.
A big Thank-You to RandyS - they all look great and opened up within minutes of placement.
After assembly; two of the smallest frags I have ever seen were then individually placed into separate plastic bags, a few ounces of water added to each, each was twisted shut, each placed in another bag, twisted and then rubber banded. All sounds good so far; that is until they were placed in the above mentioned box. Did I mention these frags were small? Well the amount of empty space more than tripled they amount of space taken up from the bags. The box was then sealed shut with duct tape (I'm assuming to keep the water in) and then sent through perfectly "normal" Fed Ex hell. After two flights they arrived on my door step.
Upon inspection I found that both frags had been battered badly due to "normal" Fed Ex handling and more importantly bad packaging. One was DOA and the other is suffering considerably but I WILL save it.:evil: It was almost enough to make me just stick with my local LFS from now on.
But - after checking out RF's livestock thread, I couldn't pass up a really great deal on a frag pack on there. So after taking care of the business end of things, I sat around and waited for my newest additions. After checking UPS's web-site with the tracking number I was provided - i got to admit that I was fairly nervous as to how these would arrive. Four flights to get these to me from one side of the state to the other. How they went from WA, to OR, to CA, back to the same side of WA the shipment originated from and then finally here will always be a mystery to me.
Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much after seeing all that; especially after seeing the condition of the box they arrived in
(must have failed the standard UPS drop test). Much to my surprise, I found that everything I ordered was as promised and in great shape. How? Well these frags were triple bagged, neatly placed in a cheap plastic 1/2gal Coleman thermos, a heat pack added, styrofoam peanuts to take up the dead space and then the lid was secured with a small piece of tape. BRILLANT!!!:idea: Probably more cost effective and less of a headache than spending a couple of hours trying to figure out how to insulate a box. Virtually shipping proof and gaurantee's that I won't be on the phone "nicely" asking for a replacement.
A big Thank-You to RandyS - they all look great and opened up within minutes of placement.
