Do your shipped eggs arrive in good condition? Have they been handled well?

[Sunny Side Up]

Many of you receive and/or ship eggs on a regular basis. I only occasionally ship eggs, so I would like to know, do your shipped eggs usually arrive in good condition? Do the boxes seem as if they were handled with care?

I'm asking because I recently shipped 4 goose eggs across a few states and was upset to learn that the box arrived in terribly damaged condition. Amazingly, the eggs inside were not cracked, but their air cells are certainly compromised.

I sent them in a flat-rate Priority Mail box, well cushioned inside with bubble wrap and styrofoam egg cartons. The box was clearly marked on all sides with "Fragile -- Live Hatching Eggs". What more can I do to insure that my packages are handled better?

 

[yinepu]

Many of you receive and/or ship eggs on a regular basis. I only occasionally ship eggs, so I would like to know, do your shipped eggs usually arrive in good condition? Do the boxes seem as if they were handled with care?

I'm asking because I recently shipped 4 goose eggs across a few states and was upset to learn that the box arrived in terribly damaged condition. Amazingly, the eggs inside were not cracked, but their air cells are certainly compromised.

I sent them in a flat-rate Priority Mail box, well cushioned inside with bubble wrap and styrofoam egg cartons. The box was clearly marked on all sides with "Fragile -- Live Hatching Eggs". What more can I do to insure that my packages are handled better?

Here's how that box arrived... I'll know in a few days if the eggs are still alive and well







I was really expecting some to be cracked.. none were.. Just hope they weren't scrambled

When I went back to the post office a little later in the day EVERYONE there knew about the box.. some of the guys asked me how the eggs were.. if they were broken..
now they are awaiting updates

 

[mstricer]

Hey that looks like mine do when the come through Cincinnati, Ohio sort station. It got so bad I stopped ordering from those who might go through there. I had a box arrive that was dipping yolk all out the sides. The box was clearly marked. I've even picked them up and the clerk put them on the counter very hard, and even though the box had all sides that said "FRAGILE HATCHING EGGS". When I said easy they are hatching eggs. She said on I'm sorry I didn't know you could ship eggs. So I don't know if they really look at the box. I understand where she is coming from, because work in a factory and on a bad busy day, sadly I look at our boxes as boxes and have to remind myself that someone will be buying that. Our boxes are also marked, HANDLE WITH CARE FRAGILE. It just stinks when it is your eggs being mashed. I heard of someone using labels MSDS I that is what its called. They tell you when things are dangerous or explosive. They are supposed to handle those carefully.

 

[trailchick]

I just received a box of eggs today going from Idaho to SE Colorado.....
This box was mailed on Monday - 5-14 & should have been here thursday at the latest.
(Since I am 180 miles SE of Denver I always get packages a day late.)
Upon tracking the package, there was noted that the box was missent to Grand Junction,
& so it took and extra 3 days, 400-500 highway I-70 miles out of the way, up and over the
continental divide.
2 eggs are broken & dont give much hope for the remaining eggs because we also had a
short lived heat wave while they were way layed ...

Shipper offered to resend for the price of shipping, so i will keep trying.

Some shippers will not mark their boxes with labels for eggs, for the reason
that your box shows, not to mention the clerks that are insensitive to their customers.

I feel your pain!!!!!!!!

 

[sundancenbare]

The people I buy eggs from never mark they are eggs or fragile as it seems to make them targets. The eggs I have recieved are in perfect condition heavily wrapped with bubble wrap and then new paper. Then put on a bed of shredded paper in a sturdy cardboard box

 

[2hot2chicken]

Cases like that should get at leased a refund of the shipping cost! There is no reason that anyones package should be treated so poorly whether it was fragile or not! That should be taken up with a supervisor and pictures should be given to them. If they gave a **** at all then they would appreciate your concern offer you a refund and take the matter to their superiors! Something really needs to be done about that. If it doesn't get brought up to them then nothing will ever be done to fix the problem.... Its not really about the refund its more about the fact that they should be held accountable for their gross negligence in their handling of your package. I have both received and sent a couple that got a damaged corner here or there but I have never seen anything like that! Its shocking to say the leased!

I always write "LIVE EMBRYO" AND "FRAGILE" "HANDLE WITH CARE" I actually give my oldest daughter red/blue/green and orange markers and let her go to town writting on the boxes for me then its bright and loud and really stands out. I have had an egg broken I think 1 time ever here recently and I question the validity of that I think the reciever may have accidentally broke it when unwrapping but didn't want to take responsibility for it. I have received broken eggs twice and both were from a state or 2 over while the ones coming from east coast to west coast all arrive in better condition usually. I think MT is the worst. bothe times I got eggs from 2 different people there and they were both packaged pretty well I believe, they had broken eggs inside. Either way no matter what a box says or where it comes from it still should be better taken care of.

Just like lost mail, well the post office looses my mail all the fricken time especially if its something important like from irs..... I got audited last year and the irs said they sent me 3 different things and I never got a single 1 of them..... Those were extremely important documents that needed to be returned and if I didn't then I could have gone to jail for tax evasion all because the dumb post office lost my mail!!!! Then would the post office pay for my fines and lawyers fees to get me out.... NO! luckily I stayed in touch with the IRS but they didn't believe the post office lost all 3 I am sure, at leased they were nice about it and gave me extensions...... When is the post office going to step up and take responsibility for the damage? If we don't complain and drive them crazy it will keep happening!!!

Just my 2 cents here sorry to complain it just makes me soooo maddd!

 

[Frost Homestead]

I've only ordered eggs through the mail once. They were shipped from Ohio to Texas and they arrived in about the same condition as the box in the pics. The person I ordered them from packed them very well and didn't write anything on the box to indicate that they were fragile but the box still looked like it had fallen off the back of the truck more than a few times. One egg was broken (out of 13) and 6 of them ended up hatching. Considering the condition of the box I was relatively happy with a 50% hatch rate.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Is it reasonable to expect something as fragile as eggs to be handled with care going through the mail? Is there a certain protocol for packages marked "fragile"? Or do you need to pay extra to have them cared for better? What if you have them insured? How do hatcheries and other companies that send live animals get their boxes handled? They're not put through the processing machines but are sorted by hand. Do UPS or Fed Ex offer better care of egg shipments?

 

[yinepu]

Cases like that should get at leased a refund of the shipping cost! There is no reason that anyones package should be treated so poorly whether it was fragile or not! That should be taken up with a supervisor and pictures should be given to them. If they gave a **** at all then they would appreciate your concern offer you a refund and take the matter to their superiors! Something really needs to be done about that. If it doesn't get brought up to them then nothing will ever be done to fix the problem.... Its not really about the refund its more about the fact that they should be held accountable for their gross negligence in their handling of your package. I have both received and sent a couple that got a damaged corner here or there but I have never seen anything like that! Its shocking to say the leased!

I always write "LIVE EMBRYO" AND "FRAGILE" "HANDLE WITH CARE" I actually give my oldest daughter red/blue/green and orange markers and let her go to town writting on the boxes for me then its bright and loud and really stands out. I have had an egg broken I think 1 time ever here recently and I question the validity of that I think the reciever may have accidentally broke it when unwrapping but didn't want to take responsibility for it. I have received broken eggs twice and both were from a state or 2 over while the ones coming from east coast to west coast all arrive in better condition usually. I think MT is the worst. bothe times I got eggs from 2 different people there and they were both packaged pretty well I believe, they had broken eggs inside. Either way no matter what a box says or where it comes from it still should be better taken care of.

Just like lost mail, well the post office looses my mail all the fricken time especially if its something important like from irs..... I got audited last year and the irs said they sent me 3 different things and I never got a single 1 of them..... Those were extremely important documents that needed to be returned and if I didn't then I could have gone to jail for tax evasion all because the dumb post office lost my mail!!!! Then would the post office pay for my fines and lawyers fees to get me out.... NO! luckily I stayed in touch with the IRS but they didn't believe the post office lost all 3 I am sure, at leased they were nice about it and gave me extensions...... When is the post office going to step up and take responsibility for the damage? If we don't complain and drive them crazy it will keep happening!!!

Just my 2 cents here sorry to complain it just makes me soooo maddd!

My mailman showed the box to the postmaster.. she just shook her head

I know that box was shown to a lot of their employees though... not that it will do any good where ever along the line they decided to use it for soccer practice .. but at least my local post office employees know better

 

[2hot2chicken]

I used to work for a manufacturing company that shipped everything with UPS from tiny 6x6x6 inch boxes of parts to larger 1000 lb freight on a daily basis. Let me tell you whether they ship eggs or not I am not sure about that? However I can tell you this from my experience as a pushy type person. I had boxes and yes even a 500 lb pallet with automotive transmissions get damaged by UPS. they actually delivered a transmission to a customer of mine and they must have pushed it off the back of the truck and left as quick as he could because he knew it was wrong to deliver it! The pallet was shattered and the transmission broken! There is no doubt that no matter who we ship with there will always be some degree of damage, its inevitable. The fact comes down to how it is handled. UPS tends to drag their feet about paying it, but as a pushy person I always got a full refund not just for the shipping but for the damaged item as well without insurance paid. If they damaged it then they covered it up to a point without extra cost depending on what it was. I really don't think you could ship hatching eggs with UPS as I know they will not ship chicks but you never know, I guess.
USPS will cover the shipping cost only for damaged items if a claim is filed
UPS covers cost of shipping and cost of return shipping as well as item damaged inside to a point without insurance.

If I had a choice I would use UPS I think if its possible over USPS but I don't think they ship so I never tried it.