Shipping Delays and Delay Protection
What is the Likelihood of a Shipping Delay?
Shipping delays are RARE. Less than 3% of the packages we ship annually experience shipping delays.
What Happens if a Delay Occurs in Transit?
Our team is constantly monitoring the weather in transit and at the destination, and staying tuned to backlogs at UPS. However, shipping delays in transit may still occur along the way that are outside of our control.
We always pack with delays in mind; 30 years of experience makes a difference here. In most cases, as long as the weather in transit isn't particularly hot or cold, orders delayed a full day arrive with a 100% success rate.
However, in some unfortunate cases, a shipping delay may occur that will result in the loss of your livestock.
Carriers (including UPS) do not cover the losses of perishables (including live animals) in the case of a delay. UPS made us sign an agreement that we could not file claims for losses of perishables. To allow our customers the option to have the peace of mind of full coverage in the case of a delay outside of our control, we are offering Delay Protection at the cost of $20.
What Constitutes a Delay?
A shipping delay is any package delivered after 12 PM local time, the day after shipping. All packages delivered after that time are considered delayed.
What Does Delay Protection Cover?
Delay Protection will cover any items lost due to shipping delays, for the full 15 days after the delayed delivery. In addition, delay protection will allow for a full refund of lost items if requested, in lieu of store credit, if your package is delayed in transit. This way, you are not obligated to place a new order with your store credit, because of something that was lost for reasons outside of your control.
You are required to accept the delayed package and inspect/acclimate the contents upon arrival. If anything does not make it, a photo of the deceased item outside of water is required for the claim to be processed. Being unavailable to accept your delayed package upon delivery and report any losses will void your coverage.
Please note, an item lost as a result of a UPS shipping delay where delay protection is purchased, is the only instance where a refund can be issued once an order has been shipped. Delay Protection coverage is non-refundable.
Our guarantee policy does not cover items lost due to shipping delays, so if you do not select the option for delay protection and a delay occurs, unfortunately any items lost as a result of the delay will NOT be covered by the guarantee.
How Can I Purchase Delay Protection?
The option to purchase Delay Protection can be found in the dropdown menu under "Shipping Options" on our Checkout Page.
Please note, if you Autofill or use Apple Pay, you may miss this option.
Is Delay Protection Necessary?
Delay Protection is not necessary most of the time, as they are very rare. We also have a very high success rate with delayed orders, especially during mild weather.
However, just like any coverage/protection policy, purchasing coverage allows for peace of mind in the case something outside of our control occurs.
Some customers have remarked that we should include Delay Protection automatically. We chose not to do this, as it would mean a noticeable increase in prices, for an instance that does not occur very frequently (nor does it always result in livestock DOA).