Is my pink birds nest dead?

[pegasus]

I bought a couple of pink birds nest frags a couple of weeks ago. They were shipped on Thursday (1/30/14), but were not delivered on Friday (1/31/14) as scheduled, due to a previous couple of days of ice in the area which created a FedEx backlog. The roads were completely clear on Thursday and Friday, but obviously "overnight/perishable" packages aren't at the top of their priorities list? I was told they wouldn't attempt another delivery until Monday (2/3/14), so I drove 60 miles round trip to pick up my package at the nearest facility. When I arrived, I'm told the package is on the truck for delivery. Okay... somebody needs to get their act together, because this is ridiculous. I go home and wait... and wait. Finally, at 3:15pm, the package arrives. From the time the package was picked up until the time it was delivered was 67 hours. This does not include pre-pickup time, which could easily put them in the bags for over 70 hours. I also had an order for ten Nerite snails, and all of them survived after a 2+ hour acclimation period. The ceramic plugs were both detached from the styrofoam, and one frag was detached from the plug. Both frags were snow white, with tiny brown specks dotting the center sections of both. I assumed they were polyps. After acclimating, I gave them a light swishing to remove any slime they may have excreted, and placed them in the tank. They were both completely snow white. I know that they will shed their polyps is they become over-stressed, but the lack of color is also causing me concern. Some coloration is produced by the coral, but a lot of it is produced by zooxanthellae. Since it provides 85% of the energy this coral needs to survive, if the zooxanthellae dies... the coral does too. Correct? It's been 8 full days since the frags were put in the tank, and there are no signs of polyps of coloration. They look like white honeycomb sticks. Is it too early to tell? They have a 14 day guarantee, and the clock is ticking...

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegasus http:///t/397126/is-my-pink-birds-nest-dead#post_3538644
I bought a couple of pink birds nest frags a couple of weeks ago. They were shipped on Thursday (1/30/14), but were not delivered on Friday (1/31/14) as scheduled, due to a previous couple of days of ice in the area which created a FedEx backlog. The roads were completely clear on Thursday and Friday, but obviously "overnight/perishable" packages aren't at the top of their priorities list? I was told they wouldn't attempt another delivery until Monday (2/3/14), so I drove 60 miles round trip to pick up my package at the nearest facility. When I arrived, I'm told the package is on the truck for delivery. Okay... somebody needs to get their act together, because this is ridiculous. I go home and wait... and wait. Finally, at 3:15pm, the package arrives. From the time the package was picked up until the time it was delivered was 67 hours. This does not include pre-pickup time, which could easily put them in the bags for over 70 hours. I also had an order for ten Nerite snails, and all of them survived after a 2+ hour acclimation period. The ceramic plugs were both detached from the styrofoam, and one frag was detached from the plug. Both frags were snow white, with tiny brown specks dotting the center sections of both. I assumed they were polyps. After acclimating, I gave them a light swishing to remove any slime they may have excreted, and placed them in the tank. They were both completely snow white. I know that they will shed their polyps is they become over-stressed, but the lack of color is also causing me concern. Some coloration is produced by the coral, but a lot of it is produced by zooxanthellae. Since it provides 85% of the energy this coral needs to survive, if the zooxanthellae dies... the coral does too. Correct? It's been 8 full days since the frags were put in the tank, and there are no signs of polyps of coloration. They look like white honeycomb sticks. Is it too early to tell? They have a 14 day guarantee, and the clock is ticking...

Solid white...they are dead...take a picture and send it in for your refund...

Where did you purchase them from? I wouldn't be ordering anymore during winter time from them. All the shipments I ordered get held if the weather is bad. I had ordered nassarious snails and had to wait a week to get them. I also had to wait a few extra days to get my new seahorses....nobody ships during bad weather that I have found.

 

[pegasus]

I purchased them from Reefs2Go in Clearwater, FL. The last winter advisory R2G posted was for 12/5 - 12/6/13. Their overnight shipments go through Memphis, TN for processing the SE region, but getting it to the local facility for next day delivery wasn't the problem. The package was out for delivery on the scheduled delivery day. The driver failed to make that delivery. This is a problem I've encountered not once, twice, or three times with FedEx. It happens a LOT... even in Summer. It's very discouraging when you check the status of your packages and they always say "On vehicle for delivery", but they seldom arrive. I'll be sending pics of the PBC's to R2G and will receive a store credit, but the worst part is... I'm sure I'll never see these corals at the low, low price of $4.99 (each) ever again.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegasus http:///t/397126/is-my-pink-birds-nest-dead#post_3538663
I purchased them from Reefs2Go in Clearwater, FL. The last winter advisory R2G posted was for 12/5 - 12/6/13. Their overnight shipments go through Memphis, TN for processing the SE region, but getting it to the local facility for next day delivery wasn't the problem. The package was out for delivery on the scheduled delivery day. The driver failed to make that delivery. This is a problem I've encountered not once, twice, or three times with FedEx. It happens a LOT... even in Summer. It's very discouraging when you check the status of your packages and they always say "On vehicle for delivery", but they seldom arrive. I'll be sending pics of the PBC's to R2G and will receive a store credit, but the worst part is... I'm sure I'll never see these corals at the low, low price of $4.99 (each) ever again.

So it isn't the store, it's the delivery folks...you can make a pick up schedule from the start, and as soon as it's scheduled to arrive you can be right there. Other then that I don't what you could do, What shame. Maybe if you call them, they could use a different company...USPS also has a delivery overnight.

 

[pegasus]

Yes, it's 100% FedEx. R2G always ships when they say they will, and it normally arrives at the nearest facility overnight. R2G offers the option for the day of shipment, and I always have the option to hold the package at the local FedEx facility, but it's a 60 mile round trip. I have pled R2G multiple times to offer alternative shipping methods, but they haven't... at least not yet. After the last incident, I told them that I wouldn't be using them anymore until they did. I also told them that I didn't think it was my responsibility to waste two hours of my day and burn 1/4 tank of gas to pick up an item that I paid to have delivered overnight to my home. I've gotten good service from R2G, and the owner went above and beyond in resolving an issue I had with a couple of bad fish. I'm always looking for good deals, and often find great deals at R2G. When I say great, I mean prices that no one comes close to matching. Pink birdsnest frags for $4.99? Good luck finding that price anywhere else...

 

[flower]

If they won't budge on giving you a choice of who to ship with...maybe loosing your business will send the message, what good does it do to get a "deal" if the thing arrives dead.

 

[pegasus]

Yeah, it's fair to say the "deal" is gone when you pay overnight shipping charges and receive frags of "fossils". It's been about a week and a half since I wrote and complained, and I haven't gotten a reply. If I don't hear from them by tomorrow, I'll have to make a phone call. They don't like it when I call...

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegasus http:///t/397126/is-my-pink-birds-nest-dead#post_3538700
Yeah, it's fair to say the "deal" is gone when you pay overnight shipping charges and receive frags of "fossils". It's been about a week and a half since I wrote and complained, and I haven't gotten a reply. If I don't hear from them by tomorrow, I'll have to make a phone call. They don't like it when I call...


I don't know about that store...but all the ones I have dealt with, you receive store credit for dead critters, they do not refund your expensive shipping charges, that money...you eat. If you paid $4.99 for the frag that they will gladly replace, but you will have to fork over another $36.00 for shipping. Sometimes, the cheap comes out expensive.

 

[pegasus]

I'll have $9.98 in store credit since they've sold out of the pink birdsnest coral. The only way to cash it in is to pay overnight shipping... again. Then again, if Christina Duncan (owner) reads my email like she did with the last incident, she'll double the order and ship it for free. Well... I can only hope. LOL!

PS: I only pay $20 for overnight shipping from R2G. It must be because of the close proximity...