The stuff is in the boxes, tight and no way to penetrate till 1-2 days of freezing. The guy is screwed up, does not tell the truth, forget about it.
I doubt they froze. It takes several hours for a orange to freeze when on a tree. Packed in boxes they hold heat for quite a while.
Always take a picture of reefer showing set point and temps including trailer number to verify shipper temps before signing for load. Also lock the keypad if your away from truck.