Group Buy

Mine is confirmed as posted. If they don't have what I want, just drop that item from the list without replacement.

@Pico66: I am getting 5 Mexican Turbos. They come for $2 each or $19 for a dozen. They have more price breaks for higher quantities. This are the large ones that purportedly eat hair algae and even cyano. I'd be happy for you to join in and lower my price.

@Don: I can wait until about 1:30pm for you to bring them back to Powell. It sure beats the drive down to the other side of town. Thanks!
 
well if its not too late. i would like to change mine to a powder blue tang the same size (fiance's suggestion) "trying to get her involved" but really either of those fish will do me, so whatever is easiest
 
Hi all,

Looking like we've definitely made critical mass on the order. I've gotten most of the information I need from everyone, but here's some outstanding questions:

Fishboy42: Got your confirmation e-mail. Everything is in order for you.

Pico: I need you to be more specific in what you'd like to order. Have a look at the MDL website and find the item(s) you want, let me know the quantity. If you want to piggyback on runner's snail order, I can just add to the quantity of either (or both) type of snails he's ordering. Also, I need you to PM me your real name and phone number. You mentioned you're traveling around the 17th, but this is happening this week - orders to be picked up at imsqueak's office *this Friday.* If this doesn't work for you, no worries, but if you want in, please let me know ASAP.

Runner: Saw your post confirming your order, but still need you to PM me your real name and phone number. Sorry - if I'd been in the club longer, I'm sure I'd already know this.

Yellowboyviet: Got your confirmation PM with priorities on sizes and backup choice. Looks like you're all set.

Kafudafish: Haven't heard anything from you - are you in? If so, please see my last post to find out what to do to get me your order information.

skwirl: Got your last post changing to a Powder Blue Tang, >4". Is there an upper limit to how big you'd want to go with that? If there's several sizes in the range of 4" and above, would you rather be on the 4" end of things or on the "as big as possible" end? They might be able to find you a real monster-sized showpiece-fish, but is that what you want (probably could be more expensive than the "Large" price listed on the website)? If a Powder Blue isn't available, I'll switch to a hippo tang as backup, but I'm willing to guess that they'll have PBTs. Also, I need you to PM me your real name and phone number, please.

imsqueak: Got your PM - looks like you're all set.

I'm going to call in the order this evening (Wed. evening, that is), but they may tell me to call back Thursday since we want a Friday delivery. I just want to make sure I have some time to get answers from any of you in case any questions come up while I'm putting in the order.

I'll update tomorrow night on what the status is.

Jeff (vol_reefer)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6853654#post6853654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vol_reefer
Pico: I need you to be more specific in what you'd like to order. Have a look at the MDL website and find the item(s) you want, let me know the quantity. If you want to piggyback on runner's snail order, I can just add to the quantity of either (or both) type of snails he's ordering. Also, I need you to PM me your real name and phone number. You mentioned you're traveling around the 17th, but this is happening this week - orders to be picked up at imsqueak's office *this Friday.* If this doesn't work for you, no worries, but if you want in, please let me know ASAP.
Click to expand...
If it is just snails, my sump can be made available to hold them. From the last order, I still have about 10 of Easttn's 200 snails in my sump that I see from time-to-time but keep forgetting to snag and bring to him at a meeting. :) I have plenty of work for them until you pick them up. ;)
 
Just called MDL to try to put in the advanced order. They said the only way they can check availability is to do it while their guys are out at the wholesalers tomorrow morning. So I'll be calling in tomorrow around 10 am.

Since we have a little extra time now, and some folks have changed their orders in PMs, let me re-summarize everyone's orders one last time. No need to confirm with me again if it's right - just let me know if you catch a mistake. I'm pretty sure I have this right, but tell me if I don't:

fishboy42:
Black polymnus clowns, small, (2)
True seabae clowns, small, (2)
Black variant clarkii clowns, small (2)
Gold neon goby, (no size), (1)
*No backup choices for any of above*

Runner:
Yellow-eye Kole tang, small, (1)
Spotted Mandarin Goby, small, (1)
Mexican Turbo snails, (no size), (5)
*No backup choices for any of the above*

Yellowboyviet:
Undulated trigger, Medium, (1)
Backup choice: If no mediums available, get small undulated. If no mediums or small undulateds available, get small niger trigger

skwirl:
Powder Blue tang, Large (5-6"), (1)
Backup choices: Large Hippo tang
Note: You just said greater than 4". The MDL site specifies that "Medium" is from 3-4" and Large is from 5-6," so since you specified >4" I went with Large. Let me know if Medium is also acceptable.

imsqueak:
Clarkii clown, Medium, (1)
Green chromis, >1" only, (6)
Powder blue tang, Med., (1)
Cerith snails, (no size), 24
Astrea snails, (no size), 21

I still haven't decided if I'm going to add in my own choice to the order. Probably won't, but if I do it'll be a Blue Dot jawfish.

Jeff (vol_reefer)
 
Jeff I PM you yesterday afternoon. Did it not come through? I asked for:
blue leg hermit crabs 24 @19
nassarius snails 12 @19
Astraea snails 12 @ 11.
If it is a problem sorry but do not know why the message did not go through. I will pm you again in case you check before ordering. Thanks.
Mike
 
Runner:
Yellow-eye Kole tang, small, (1)
Spotted Mandarin Goby, small, (1)
Mexican Turbo snails, (no size), (5)
*No backup choices for any of the above*
Click to expand...

If it isn't too late, I'd like to remove the Kole tang from my order. I still want the goby and the snails, though.
 
Hi all,

Good news and bad news, but I think the bad news is fixable...

First, the good news: I called in the order to MDL this morning, as planned. The order I placed included everything except skwirl's PBT because he and I had failed to firmly connect on the details of his order in time (we've already e-mailed back and forth on this, so he's aware of this result). I was, however, able to add the order kafudafish sent me at the last minute. There were a couple items the sales guy wasn't sure about on availability - the gold neon goby for fishboy42 and the kole tang for runner. But later, in the evening, I got an automated confirmation e-mail from MDL that indicated those two items (and everything else) made it into the shipment.

So what's the bad news? Well, MDL normally uses UPS, but as I mentioned before, in the past I had them ship something via FedEx for me. I did this because FedEx has a pickup location right where the planes come in at McGhee-Tyson, but UPS does not (at least there isn't one listed on their website). So this time, I again requested that MDL ship via FedEx and have the shipment held at the McGhee-Tyson FedEx station. This would allow me to get the shipment as early as possible (to lower stress on the livestock) and keep me from having to wait around at home for a delivery truck. The MDL sales guy said this would be no problem, and he verified the address of the FedEx station, which he had from my last order. No problem, right? Well, when I got the automated shipment confirmation from MDL tonight, I saw that it listed a UPS tracking number. This seemed strange. At first it wasn't showing up on UPS's tracking website, so I thought maybe it was just a placeholder number for their system, but later in the evening it started tracking with UPS. It appears that MDL has shipped the package via UPS, but the ship-to address is the FedEx station at the airport (in my name). Not real bright.

I tried calling FedEx's 800 number to see if they could send a heads-up e-mail to the local station so they would (hopefully) hold the package from UPS for me when it gets there. But the FedEx operator is unable to send a message without an associated FedEx airbill number. I also tried calling UPS to see if I could divert the delivery address to either be held at their station or delivered to my house instead of the FedEx station, but they don't operate their customer service line outside of normal business hours.

So what's going to happen? Not sure. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to chase down the shipment somewhere in town in the morning, but it certainly isn't the ideal situation. I may end up having to wait for a big brown truck in the FedEx parking lot at the airport. Very frustrating. I have no idea what time UPS normally delivers to that part of town, so it could be a long day. The worst-case scenario would be if the FedEx station people get the shipment but turn it away because they have no idea who I am or why UPS would deliver the shipment to them. But I'm hoping I can head this off by going over there in the morning and asking them very nicely not to do this.

I've sent an e-mail to MDL telling them about this screw-up. I don't think there's much they can do to fix the problem right now, but I wanted to make them aware of it. If the shipment ends up traveling across town to the UPS station in north Knoxville and then back to the airport later in the morning or in the afternoon, it may add a lot of extra stress to the livestock that it would not have gone through if MDL had shipped with FedEx as they told me they would. If we incur any losses, we can take this up with them - but I figured it would be smart to let them know ahead of time about the problem so it doesn't come at them out of the blue if we bring it up later. As I mentioned before, with the previous livestock loss I had from them, MDL was really good about honoring their guarantee and treating me right as a customer, so hopefully they'll continue that if we run into any problems.

I am going to e-mail imqueak the final spreadsheet showing what's in the shipment and what everyone's tabs are. After I get this shipping problem straightened out, I will take the shipment to him as planned. Then I or he will post here to let you know your items are ready for pickup at his place. The spreadsheet I'm sending him has all your phone numbers, so one of us will call you if we think you haven't gotten word that everything is in. Imsqueak will give you your orders when you stop by at his work for pickup. Please plan to bring cash or a check - I'll leave my full name with him so you can use it for your checks. He'll hand of the money to me later this weekend.

Jeff (vol_reefer)
 
Ahhh shiest....

I was just going over the spreadsheet I'm about to send to imsqueak, and it appears I goofed on one thing when I placed the order: somehow, kafudafish's order was entered twice, and I didn't catch it as being under the same name when I submitted the order. So basically, I have 48 blue-legged hermits coming instead of 24, 24 cerith snails coming instead of 12, and 24 astrea snails coming instead of 12.

This was totally my fault, so I'm going to eat the extra charge for these items. Problem is, I don't have a home for most of these critters. I might take a few of the snails (I need to read up on them quick!) but I can't put all of them in my tank, nor do I want to take the extra blue-legged hermits. So if any of the rest of you on the order would like to give these guys homes, it'll be my treat.

Oh well. At least I didn't order 2x too many Clarion Angels or something like that... snails and crabs are good items to make this kind of error with!

Jeff (vol_reefer)
 
Any of us could take extra snails or crabs, so I don't think that is a problem. I have blue-leg crabs in my system and I am sure they would love more snails to eat. :)

The bad news is fixable, but I would ride them until they refund the cost of shipping or make some other concession. That was a major foul-up on their part. If my fish don't live I'll really regret not going to Coral Reef and getting the same $23 fish (plus shipping) for $30 (plus a 10% member discount). The little guy looked really healthy. That's why I wanted to bail out when I say him yesterday.

I am off work today, so if you can get it held at a UPS station somewhere send me a PM and I might be able to help run it down.
 
Friday Morning Update:

I just got a call from the FedEx station at the airport. UPS delivered the shimpment to them. Even though they're not supposed to sign for this sort of thing, they say that it contained live animals so they signed anyway. I did get a good scolding for this, but at least they did the right thing. I'm on my way to pick up the shipment now, and will take it directly to imqueak's office, per the plan. Please pick up your stuff there ASAP, any time after, say 10:15.

Jeff (vol_reefer)
 
Glad it worked out yellow.

On my drive home after dropping everything off at Don's work, MDL called me on my cell. The sales guy apologized profusely for using the wrong shipper. From what Don and I saw as we looked through the bags, probably nothing was harmed. At most, the screw-up only cost about 45 minutes. However, if anyone has any problems within the guarantee period, be sure to conact me immediately so we can let MDL know. If for some reason you're unable to reach me, call MDL yourself and ask for Eugene. Tell him you were part of the big Knoxville order. I'm sure he'll do anything he can within reason if there's a problem.

Jeff (vol_reefer)
 
Looks like both of my fish are okay. After the mandarin had a run-in with the yellow clown goby (he dropped into his hole at the start), he started wandering around eating. The kole tang hid in a hole immediately but came out after a short hiding period. I had to chase the maroon clown away a couple times, but now the clown has settled down and the tang is starting to wander around and pick at the rocks and green stuff. The snails went right to work, too. All-in-all, looks pretty good with no signs of shock. The Kole tang looks a little skinny, but perhaps I can do something to help him beef up.

This Kole tang I got in this order is about half the size of the one that Coral Reef has, so if you guys want one they have a good one for $30.

Thanks for organizing it, Jeff. And thanks for handling the distribution, Don. This went fairly smooth in spite of the crossed-up shippping.
 
I can use the snails and hermits if you need to find a home. Let me know when, where and how much.

Art
 
kafudafish and I took the extras and will arrange a deal with Jeff to lessen his loss. :D

Thanks again Jeff. It was very smooth in my eyes but I'm sure you spent hours setting it all up with everyone.

I got 1 cromis with scales either missing or standing out. Can they get brookie? His body loos like a checker board. All others look ok. Bad one went in my aips/nudi tank. Pm to the person that wants my damsel.
 
Jeff and Don,
Thanks so much for the work you guys did on this. Maybe we can do a group buy every few months. People can take turns calling the orders in and doing all the hard stuff.
Yes I took most of the extra stuff because it was in the same bag as the rest of the order. So I owe 24 bl crabs, and 12 cert. snails. I will figure out what I owe and can pay either at a meeting or come by your office at school Jeff. I did not think it would be fair for you "to eat it" as you said earlier.
Mike
 
Now that my Kole tang is out and about all the time I can see that he is extremely thin -- almost emaciated. He is playing in the water stream, but he isn't eating yet. Perhaps he doesn't like what's in the tank and what I have. Maybe with time. Hopefully it wasn't caught improperly. I'll see if I can get a bag of those fancy sea veggies and stick some where my clown can't get them. There is a hole in the middle of my rock that the mandarin and tang are sharing right now and the clown can't reach.

I may be concerned but my kids love the new little guy. He moves like Dory. :)
 
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