Live Arrival Guarantee (LAG), Shipping & Hold for Pickup
We get a lot of questions about how we ship live animals—and we understand why! You want your animals to arrive safely, and so do we.
Shipping live animals requires a little more planning than shipping ordinary products. Weather, temperatures, holidays, carrier operations, transit times, and how quickly a package is received can all affect a shipment.
We professionally prepare our live-animal shipments for the expected conditions and maintain a Live Arrival Guarantee (LAG) when the applicable requirements are followed.
Here are answers to some of our most common shipping questions.
Why Don't You Ship During Certain Weather or Temperature Conditions?
Before shipping live animals, we consider conditions at our location, your destination, and anticipated conditions along the shipping route.
Depending on the shipment and expected conditions, our professional packaging may include insulation, heat packs, cold packs, CryoPaks, or other temperature-control methods.
Sometimes the safest shipping decision is simply to wait.
We may postpone live-animal shipments because of:
- Extreme heat or cold
- Severe weather
- Conditions at the origin or destination
- Conditions along the shipping route
- Holidays or increased holiday shipping volume
- Known carrier delays or operational problems
- Labor disputes or strikes
- Natural disasters or other major disruptions
- Other conditions that could interfere with safe or timely delivery
A carrier accepting packages doesn't necessarily mean we believe conditions are appropriate for shipping live animals.
Animal safety comes before getting an order out the door on a particular day.
Why Does the LAG Require Reporting a Direct-Delivery DOA Within 1 Hour?
Our Live Arrival Guarantee covers the animals during shipment when its requirements are followed.
Once a package has been delivered, we have no way of knowing how long it remains outdoors or the conditions it experiences afterward. That's especially important during hot or cold weather.
For a standard shipment delivered directly to your address, any Dead on Arrival (DOA) claim must therefore be reported within 1 hour of the carrier's tracked delivery time, unless different shipment-specific instructions were provided.
If you won't be available, consider having a friend, neighbor, family member, or other responsible person bring the package indoors promptly.
Another option is Hold for Pickup.
What Is Hold for Pickup?
Hold for Pickup allows an eligible shipment to be held at an approved carrier location rather than being left at your home or business.
This can be particularly useful during hot or cold weather, when you won't be available when the carrier arrives, or if you have experienced delivery problems at your address.
Customers may voluntarily arrange Hold for Pickup when the applicable carrier offers it.
Sometimes We Require It!
Depending on weather, temperatures, destination, carrier conditions, expected transit conditions, or other animal-safety considerations, Holy-Poly Isopods may require Hold for Pickup as a condition of Live Arrival Guarantee coverage for a particular shipment.
If we require Hold for Pickup, we will notify you using the contact information provided with your order.
When Hold for Pickup is required:
- You must arrange it directly with the applicable shipping carrier after receiving your tracking information.
- The carrier must successfully accept the Hold for Pickup request.
- You must pick up the package on the same calendar day the carrier first makes it available for pickup.
- Applicable LAG claim and documentation requirements must still be followed.
If we require Hold for Pickup and it is not arranged, or the package is not picked up the same day it becomes available, the shipment will not qualify for our Live Arrival Guarantee.
Why Doesn't Holy-Poly Set Up Hold for Pickup for Me?
Hold for Pickup is ultimately a service between the recipient and the applicable shipping carrier.
Available locations, eligibility, operating hours, redirects, and fees are controlled by the carrier or pickup facility.
Some carrier or third-party pickup locations may also charge a holding, storage, or service fee that is separate from the shipping charges paid to Holy-Poly Isopods.
For these reasons, the customer is responsible for arranging and confirming Hold for Pickup directly with the carrier.
What If My Shipment Is Delayed?
Please monitor your tracking information whenever live animals are in transit.
If you see an unexpected delay, delivery exception, address problem, lack of tracking movement, or another issue that could affect the animals, contact Holy-Poly Isopods as soon as reasonably possible.
You can—and often should—contact the carrier as well, but please don't assume the carrier will notify us about the problem.
The sooner we know there is an issue, the better opportunity we have to assist while the package is still in transit.
A carrier delay by itself does not automatically eliminate LAG coverage when the customer has otherwise followed the applicable LAG requirements and any shipment-specific instructions.
Why Do You Use a Particular Shipping Carrier?
We evaluate shipping carriers and services based on factors such as live-animal requirements, service availability, reliability, transit times, cost, and our experience shipping live animals.
We currently use UPS for live-animal shipments, but we are not permanently limited to one carrier.
Holy-Poly Isopods may select another carrier or shipping service when we determine it is appropriate.
TRANSPARENT SHIPPING INFORMATION
We pride ourselves on providing safe, professional shipping and being upfront about how our shipping process works.
FREE SHIPPING
Orders of $99 or more are currently eligible for complimentary shipping when applicable.
When Holy-Poly Isopods provides Free Shipping, we determine the carrier, service level, and shipping method regardless of the shipping option displayed or selected during checkout.
For example, selecting Next Day Air at checkout does not guarantee Next Day Air when the order qualifies for Free Shipping. We may instead use Ground, 2-Day, or another service we determine appropriate.
For live-animal orders, we select a shipping method we determine reasonably appropriate based on animal welfare, destination, expected temperatures, anticipated transit time, carrier conditions, and other relevant factors.
If you require a particular carrier or expedited shipping service, please contact us before shipment. Additional shipping charges may apply.
A NOTE ABOUT ESTIMATED DATES AT CHECKOUT
Our online store may automatically display an estimated delivery date or delivery window during checkout based on the shipping service selected.
These automated estimates may not account for Holy-Poly Isopods' actual processing and shipping schedule, including our live-animal shipping schedule, weather holds, holidays, carrier conditions, separately fulfilled products, or other circumstances.
As noted during checkout:
“Estimated dates aren’t exact. We’ll notify you when your order ships.”
Estimated dates displayed during checkout are estimates only and are not guaranteed ship or delivery dates.
For live animals, please use the live-animal schedule below when planning for your order. Once your order actually ships, use the tracking information provided by the carrier for the most current transit information.
ORDERS WITHOUT LIVE ANIMALS
Our typical shipping schedule for orders that do not contain live animals is:
- Orders placed Monday–Wednesday: Typically ship Friday.
- Orders placed Thursday–Sunday: Typically ship within 1 day.
Shipping schedules are estimates and may change because of holidays, order volume, product availability, carrier conditions, or other circumstances.
Certain products fulfilled from alternate facilities are excluded from this schedule and may ship separately.
LIVE-ANIMAL ORDERS
Live-animal orders are shipped in our Tuesday live-animal shipping batch the week after the order is placed, weather and shipping conditions permitting.
For example: An order placed anytime Monday through Sunday is scheduled for Tuesday of the next calendar week, not the Tuesday occurring during the same week the order was placed.
This means an estimated delivery date automatically displayed during checkout may occur before the date we actually intend to ship your live animals. The checkout estimate does not override our live-animal shipping schedule.
Because the welfare of the animals comes first, live-animal shipments may be postponed due to:
- Temperatures or weather conditions at our location
- Temperatures or weather conditions at the destination
- Conditions along the anticipated shipping route
- Holidays or increased shipping volume
- Known carrier issues or service disruptions
- Strikes or labor disruptions
- Natural disasters
- Other circumstances that could affect safe or timely delivery
Orders containing both live animals and non-live products are considered live-animal orders and will typically ship together on the live-animal shipping schedule.
If you need supplies or other non-live products sooner, we recommend placing them as a separate order from your live animals.
PRODUCTS SHIPPING FROM ALTERNATE FACILITIES
Certain products—including apparel, glassware, and other printed or specialty merchandise—may ship separately from alternate fulfillment facilities.
These products do not necessarily follow our standard live-animal or non-live-product shipping schedule and may arrive in a separate package from the rest of your order.
If your order contains products fulfilled from more than one location, you may receive multiple shipments and separate tracking information.
Tracking and estimated delivery information for separately fulfilled products will be provided when available.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOCAL PICKUP
Local pickup can be arranged in Southern California at one of our local meetup areas:
- Torrance, CA: Monday–Wednesday evenings. Orders should generally be placed by Sunday to arrange pickup that week.
- Murrieta, CA: Friday–Sunday. Same-day or next-day pickup is often available.
- Thursday: Local pickup is not available.
How to Request Local Pickup
Place your order through our website and add “Local Pickup” in the order notes at checkout.
We will contact you to arrange a meetup in Torrance or Murrieta and will refund any shipping charges paid on the order, if applicable.
Local pickup times and availability are arranged individually and are not guaranteed until confirmed by Holy-Poly Isopods.
Please monitor the email address provided with your order, including your spam or junk folder, for our pickup arrangements.
This page is intended to help explain our shipping practices. Our current Shipping Policy and Live Arrival Guarantee contain the complete requirements governing shipping and LAG eligibility.