Poor timing=dead spiders

Cheo Samad

Arachnopeon
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Jan 2, 2017
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Looks like I'm gonna experience my first loss. It's not anything I currently have, but it was meant to be my new spiders.

My girlfriend bought me 2 surprise spiders for my birthday, and they shipped monday overnight expected for tuesday. However, we didnt realize that this massive winter storm was coming as early as it was. We were told late tuesday night not 8pm monday night. Needless to say fedex has been shut down, and my Ts have neen sitting in new jersey since tuesday morning. My local fedex office said they are closing until next week when I spoke with them on the phone this morning so no mail until next week.

I'm devestated, both that the spiders will die, and that my girlfriend wasted a lot of money only to have them get stuck and it all be worthless. Just a lose lose for everyone involved. I guess I'll save up and reorder them myself when the weather is nicer, but honestly, this has just bummed me out beyond belief.
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
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Jan 27, 2017
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I am sorry for your loss.

TBH, I blame the seller more than your gf. The seller has more experience and should have known better.

I am in a similar position; I ordered dubias before the storm forecasts came in. They shipped on Monday, and I live in VA. I am probably getting frozen bug treats rather than live insects.
 

Cheo Samad

Arachnopeon
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Jan 2, 2017
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I am sorry for your loss.

TBH, I blame the seller more than your gf. The seller has more experience and should have known better.

I am in a similar position; I ordered dubias before the storm forecasts came in. They shipped on Monday, and I live in VA. I am probably getting frozen bug treats rather than live insects.

I'm sorry about thr dubais. Those get pretty expensive pretty quick.

And I can't blame her, it's my fault if anyones. She told me we were getting them but I should have had the better judgement to hold on shipping. My impatience killed these spiders, no way around it.
 

TownesVanZandt

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They might still be alive when they arrive. It depends on how well they are packed and where they are being kept. I have had spiders stuck in customs for around ten days, only to arrive all fine nearly two weeks after they were shipped from Poland.
 

Cheo Samad

Arachnopeon
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They might still be alive when they arrive. It depends on how well they are packed and where they are being kept. I have had spiders stuck in customs for around ten days, only to arrive all fine nearly two weeks after they were shipped from Poland.
That gives me some hope. My main concern is how bitterly cold it is right now.
If this was summer time I'd have a bit more hope, but with temps below freezing I'm just feeling pecimistic. If they do show up alive I'd be estatic.
 

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EulersK

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TBH, I blame the seller more than your gf. The seller has more experience and should have known better.
Yes, but most LAG's have lines similar to "If temperatures drop below 40F..." and "Not responsible for carrier delays". The seller should have known better, but at the end of the day, it's the buyer's responsibility to look at weather and determine the best time to ship. There have been times where I pay for the spider and ask the seller to hold off on shipment due to excessive heat.
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
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Yes, but most LAG's have lines similar to "If temperatures drop below 40F..." and "Not responsible for carrier delays". The seller should have known better, but at the end of the day, it's the buyer's responsibility to look at weather and determine the best time to ship. There have been times where I pay for the spider and ask the seller to hold off on shipment due to excessive heat.
This could be argued either way, yes.
 

Cheo Samad

Arachnopeon
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Yes, but most LAG's have lines similar to "If temperatures drop below 40F..." and "Not responsible for carrier delays". The seller should have known better, but at the end of the day, it's the buyer's responsibility to look at weather and determine the best time to ship. There have been times where I pay for the spider and ask the seller to hold off on shipment due to excessive heat.
This is exactly why I don't blame them. At the end of the day this is my problem not theirs. They sorta did their part. If nothing else I'll have to buy more. I'm not upset about the money I can always earn that back, I'm upset that the animals will die. That's not fair for them and they deserve better.
 

TownesVanZandt

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That gives me some hope. My main concern is how bitterly cold it is right now.
If this was summer time I'd have a bit more hope, but with temps below freezing I'm just feeling pecimistic. If they do show up alive I'd be estatic.
I agree, those temperatures are far from ideal. It depends on where they are stuck. If they´re inside of a Fedex office somewhere, they might well make it. I am cautiously optimistic. Good luck and keep us updated when they arrive!
 

nicodimus22

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My local fedex office said they are closing until next week when I spoke with them on the phone this morning so no mail until next week.
The hell? The snowstorm was Monday night through Tuesday night. How do they close until next week? Bizarre.
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
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I'm sorry about thr dubais. Those get pretty expensive pretty quick.
It's not a total loss; I just got the order and many are just stunned by the cold - not dead. But even if they were all dead I could salvage the mess by feeding the dead bugs to my hermit crabs (that's what I do with dead crickets).

And at worst, I only spent about a week's cricket bill on this order (for an order of 100 dubias). The frustration in not being able to start a dubia colony outweighs the financial cost, really.
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
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The hell? The snowstorm was Monday night through Tuesday night. How do they close until next week? Bizarre.
The OP is in a lightly populated part of Pennsylvania. Maybe Fedex decided to focus on urban areas first, and pulled resources from the area?

All I know is I lie in a suburb of DC, near where Fedex has major facilities. I have a couple Fedex shipments in limbo right now. One no longer has an estimated arrival date, and the other is still outside of the region hit by the big storm.

I might not see either package until next week, so I can understand why the local Fedex office in Wilkes-barre is shut down.
 

Cheo Samad

Arachnopeon
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The OP is in a lightly populated part of Pennsylvania. Maybe Fedex decided to focus on urban areas first, and pulled resources from the area?

All I know is I lie in a suburb of DC, near where Fedex has major facilities. I have a couple Fedex shipments in limbo right now. One no longer has an estimated arrival date, and the other is still outside of the region hit by the big storm.

I might not see either package until next week, so I can understand why the local Fedex office in Wilkes-barre is shut down.
We're actually a pretty major area. This is the scranton valley, so not the middle of nowhere by any means, but we're not the most major metropolis around by any means. The representative I spoke to said that the hub that services our area has only permitted the medical emergency supplies to be shipped. Everything else has to stay put until the roads are melted/cleared.

Edit-update. Package is on the move from new jersey. I think they'll take it to the pittston fedex center who services my area. If they take it there before late and call them perhaps I can intercept the package. Theres hope.
 
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nicodimus22

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We're actually a pretty major area. This is the scranton valley, so not the middle of nowhere by any means, but we're not the most major metropolis around by any means. The representative I spoke to said that the hub that services our area has only permitted the medical emergency supplies to be shipped. Everything else has to stay put until the roads are melted/cleared.
I live in Eastern PA too (near York.) Yesterday, everything was shut down. Some people dug out last night, and some dug out this morning. Now, the roads are clear, everything is open, and it's Wednesday. That's why it seems weird to me to shut down until Monday for FedEx. It doesn't take 3+ days to plow and treat the roads. 24 hours for a really bad storm, normally. Ugh. I hope they change their plans and get back to work tomorrow or Friday for you. Fingers crossed.
 

Rob1985

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What did you order? Keep us updated on how they turn out.
 

Moakmeister

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Tarantulas don't need much water, so I can see how they'd survive for that long. Also they're pretty happy apparently in the padded containers. Feels secure.
 

Cheo Samad

Arachnopeon
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I live in Eastern PA too (near York.) Yesterday, everything was shut down. Some people dug out last night, and some dug out this morning. Now, the roads are clear, everything is open, and it's Wednesday. That's why it seems weird to me to shut down until Monday for FedEx. It doesn't take 3+ days to plow and treat the roads. 24 hours for a really bad storm, normally. Ugh. I hope they change their plans and get back to work tomorrow or Friday for you. Fingers crossed.
It's still snowing here just not as bad as before.

I just took this picture. The roads still have like 3-4 inches on them. Havent seen a plow truck since the night the storm started.

There should be 2 C versicolor. And I'm just worried about the cold. They're on the move, hopefully to my local fedex center. If they get here in the next 3 hours ill go intercept them and get them home.
 

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Venom1080

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Tarantulas don't need much water, so I can see how they'd survive for that long. Also they're pretty happy apparently in the padded containers. Feels secure.
its the cold thats the problem. we dont know what kind of heat pack was included .
 

runCMD

Arachnopeon
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Jan 21, 2017
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Another reason why it's great to live in an area where my face doesn't hurt to step outside my front door :). Obviously if something is shipping cross country it could be a problem but I've gotten 2 day deliveries from Jamie's with just the $15 shipping because it's just from southern California to norcal :). Clearly the solution is to move!
 
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