Sorry to hear about your babies! Every mail order hatchery is at the mercy of the PO.
I have a relevant anecdote although it isn't about chicks, that one comes later, I shipped my first postal order of etched glass to a customer last spring. I packaged it well and marked FRAGILE - GLASS on all 6 surfaces of the box. I got to the PO and the woman flipped the box around really quick and I said "careful with that there is delicate glass in there." She replied by backing away from the counter and holding her hands at chest height. She said "If I can't drop that box from this height then it isn't packed well enough" WHAT?!?! What in the world is the point of marking a box fragile if they would drop it, flip it around, or toss it from person to person?! The PO is just not right! Thankfully I had packaged it fine and it arrived intact but after she had told me about dropping the box I made sure to insure it!
When I ordered my McMurray chicks last February I was concerned from all the horror stories I had heard. Mine shipped on Saturday and arrived Monday morning, one out of 29 dead in the box and one died later that day. McMurray refunded for both, no questions asked. My PO had the box in one of the plastic mail bins under a desk lamp in the office until I arrived to pick them up. I was so relieved to walk into that building and hear all the chicks peeping!
Later I talked to a friend who keeps chickens and turns out had ordered from MM several times. He said around here it depends upon which postal hub it goes through, apparently there are two possible hubs that MM orders to NH can go through before arriving here. My friend told me that every time it went through one hub all or most of the chicks came happy and healthy and the other hub leaves them on the truck overnight! and they usually arrive dead or dying. It's not always your local PO that is the problem.
Moreover, I got a box of hatching eggs in the late October last year and the PO called me when they arrived and delivered them in another one of those plastic boxes that morning. On the box was taped paper that read LIVE ANIMALS!. They were concerned because the box said "Live Eggs" so they wanted to make sure they arrived safely and quickly!
It's easy to bash MM but really it's the PO and the weather that is the problem. MM is still regarded by many to be the best quality large hatchery. I even know people who have shown some MM birds with great success!
