Delay in Fish Shipping

Delay in Fish Shipping

Well this has been a bad day.  My two new butterflies were supposed to arrive but they didn’t, and I have no way of knowing when they will get here.  Last night I got their QT tank all set up and running in preparation for them, and then this morning I woke up early in case they arrived early in the morning.  By the time 2:00pm came around, I was getting nervous.  Then 4:00pm passed by and I knew there was a problem.  So I called USPS to inquire into the whereabouts of my package; I was still holding out hope that they might arrive today.  I was told the package would definitely not arrive today, but they had no way of knowing where it was or when it would arrive.  On the phone I made it clear that these are live animals that are pretty much priceless to me, and I asked if there was any way to at least find out where the package is right now.  The customer service representative didn’t care that the package contained live fish, and he was not helpful at all.

I’m in disbelief that this is happening again.  Yes, again.  I have gotten lots of fish in the mail before, but I have only used USPS as a carrier twice (this being the second time).  You might remember that in my previous post I mentioned a white butterfly telescope that I bought in 2011, and it was mailed to me through USPS.  Well just like this time, they messed up and the shipment was delayed by two days.  The box was marked all over with “live fish” but apparently that didn’t phase the USPS workers.  That white butterfly arrived dead, along with the red butterfly that was in the same bag.  The only fish that survived from that shipment was the black butterfly, who was bagged separately.  I think being bagged separately is what made the difference between life and death for that fish.  Even though the two butterflies bagged together were very small, I can only assume they ran out of oxygen during the extended shipping and suffocated. 

You’re probably wondering why I chose USPS again after that first bad experience.  Back when the first incident happened, I heard from others who used USPS many times for live fish without any problems.  So I figured my incident was just a fluke and not likely to happen again.  And who knows, maybe both of these incidents are flukes, and I’m just a really unlucky person.  I’m still hoping that the fish will show up alive, but I don’t know what’s going to happen and the suspense is killing me! 

Just to be clear, I am not faulting either of these goldfish sellers inthe least.  In both instances the sellers did everything in their power to rectify the situation, even though the error was on the part of USPS, and I am very grateful for that!

Here’s the QT tub; all set up and ready, but no fish.  🙁

4 Comments

  • Brandon Peng Posted November 29, 2023 6:43 am

    D: that sucks I hope your butterflies come alive. Fighting!

  • Candice Rogers Posted November 29, 2023 7:37 am

    So sorry to hear they haven’t arrived yet. Praying that they get to you safely! 🙁

  • Ayah Papaya Posted November 30, 2023 4:38 am

    I’m so sorry to hear that your fish aren’t there yet.I hope that they arrive quickly, and in good health.

  • Jennie Posted November 30, 2023 6:29 am

    Thanks guys.Hopefully they get here tomorrow, it’s been 3 days now.

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