How difficult can it be?

[jjjimmy]

How difficult can it be to ship an order per your customers instructions? I asked for my order to be shipped out on 3/21/06 for a 3/22/06 delivery. Well low and behold my order was shipped out on 3/20/06 for 3/21/06 delivery and by the time that I got back into the state to get the shipment all were dead.

I had called on the morning of 3/21/06 about the mistake and was very kindly taken care of and was told that the entire order would be re-shipped for the 3/22/06 delivery. When I did not receive an e-mail shipping notification, I called first thing in the morning to find out why. I was told that it was going to ship out on 3/22/06 for 3/23/06 delivery which if would have happened would have had another dead shipment because I would not be able to receive the shipment on that day.

So basically what I am being led to believe is that you will ship whenever you want to no matter what your customer needs. and alter shipping without notifying your customers. I personally find this to be completely unsatisfactory and once receiving this order may never do business with your company again and will no longer be able to recommend others to your company.

Jim Bazdor

 

[DFS/LA1]

jjjimmy:
Thank you for your feedback. We do apologize for the error that was made in regards to the specific ship date you requested on your recent order. It is true that the order was processed a day early and thus shipped when you were unavailable to receive the package. As you mentioned, a new order has been placed which is scheduled to ship on Thursday March 23rd for delivery on Friday March 24th. It is our goal to offer the best customer service at all times, the manner in which your order was processed does not live up to our standards. We will continue to work on ways to improve our processes to consistently extend the level of service our customers have become accustomed to. Due to the inconvenience this has caused you, we have issued a credit to your original form of payment for the entire amount of the order. If we may be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-334-3699.

Suzy S.
Live Aquaria

 

[jjjimmy]

Thank you for your response. My faith in your customer service has been restored pending the arrival of the shippment on Friday.

Jimmy

 

[Ladipyg]

The part that would have me bonkers beyond belief is knowing that what ever I ordered suffered a needless death due to someone else's mix up...our reef's are precious and a loss like this makes no sense.

 

[aquaticvet1]

Ladipyg,
I agree and I ( Dr.Foster) must make every effort to minimize losses . This one was my fault and I apologize.

Thank you , Race

 

[jjjimmy]

I received this e-mail this morning...

Dear Jim Bazdor,

We are unable at this time to fill your order number A2477403.

New shipments arrive at our holding facility daily, so we will process your order as soon as possible. We will send you an e-mail on the day of shipment that will contain a shipping tracking number.

If you have any questions or comments about your order please contact us at CustomerService@LiveAquaria.com or call us toll free at 1-800-334-3699 between the hours of 8am to 8pm CST Sunday - Saturday.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
CustomerService@LiveAquaria.com

Now I know that I asked for the shipment to be shipped today for tomorrow instead of Wednesday for Thursday delivery. Is this what this e-mail is telling me? It seems to state as though you do not have stock to fill the order.

If in fact you do not have stock to fill my order could you please call me at my work. 847-541-1761.

I am very confused by this and need some clarification.

Jim Bazdor

 

[Treeman]

I agree with Ladipyg.

It seems to be all about giving the credit. But what about the fish / corals?

 

[aquaticvet1]

Treeman,
Hello from RDO . Very few of our fish and corals expire during shipping . Our loss rates are usually less than 4 %. Although that is the probably the lowest in the entire hobby it is still tragic when a loss occurs .

Fortunately dropshipping provides the most stress free method of transport and therefore minimizes losses to record lows in this industry . Thank goodness for modern transportation , technology and dropshipping. Loss rates to livestock are being reduced at our company to all time minimums. The lowest we have seen in five years . Our Live Aquaria manager Kevin Kohen is always studyng and coming up with more ways to minimize losses .

Thank you , Dr. Race Foster

 

[maxxII]

Not to minimize or marginalize jjjimmy's current predicament, but my experiances w/ LiveAquaria were exactly the opposite.

I work a rotating 12 hour shift that changes every week so the days I work one week are the days off the next. Factoring a range date and additional training scheduled for that week was no problem for LiveAquaria and my Tomini Tang arrived in great health.

I'm guessing this was one of those fluke situations that occurs occassionally to the detriment of all involved? I did alot of searching and checking up on various vendors prior to ordering online from anyone, and LiveAquaria/Drs Foster & Smith came out almost consistantly on top w/ reports of healthy animals and great customer service.

IME and IMO, LiveAquaria is one of the best.

I hope your situation gets resolved soon and to your satisfaction jjjimmy.

Nick

 

[aquaticvet1]

I just wanted to clarify something for everyone here. We track and monitor the mortality rate for both our retail store and for our LiveAquaria shipments so that we may work with our suppliers and constantly improve our processes and handling protocols. FedEx has done an outstanding job for our company. The 4% loss rate is our company wide rate of return, which is inclusive of all returned merchandise such as dog, cat, fish, pond, bird and small animal supplies. Our actual Dead on Arrival rate for Live Aquaria due to shipping on outbound aquatic life orders on average, is less than 1%. Although we would like to improve further on this statistic, the loss rate is the lowest we have incurred since we started the Live Aquaria operation.

Thank you , Dr. Race Foster

 

[jjjimmy]

Dr. Foster,

You have yet to respond to my last post above in the thread about the e-mail that I recieved this morning.

Jimmy

 

[NiTr0x911]

Boy the rdo members are comin over here in full force. My experience with Foster and Smith has been nothing but positive both on livestock and drygoods.I have ordered several times and have always been 100 percent satisfied. A company like F&S has made this hobby available to hobbyist like myself who dont have many options due to the fact there just are not many decent lfs in my area.And i know of NONE that would even consider the guarantee on livestock Live Aquaria gives.

 

[jjjimmy]

I just talked to a supervisor and a manager at LA and it seems as though I am going to continue to get more aggravated and frustrated and receive absolutely zero satisfaction on getting my order. It would seem as though after all of the problems with this order the fish that were supposed to be held for me to replace the original shipment were sold to some one else and now they are out of stock.

Now I am at the mercy of the collectors for a hard to come by fish that could be weeks or months away.

I am so upset at this point that I can barely think straight. All they can do to fix my problem is create another one.

 

[James87]

Why don't you just get credit if you're so P.O?

:rolleye1:

 

[jjjimmy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7022690#post7022690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by James87
Why don't you just get credit if you're so P.O?

:rolleye1:

They already credited me in full for the order, but that is not the point. I am not concerned about the money. I would have gladly paid double if they just followed my simple instructions and I received my livestock.

 

[James87]

Just admit it... Foster & Smith is the best and there's no other company you'd rather deal with.

j/k.... Sorry to hear about the livestock dying.

 

[Live Aq]

jjjimmy;
I understand your frustrations and as we discussed on the telephone, I wish there was an immediate remedy to the situation. We have clearly taken ownership of the errors that have transpired and are attempting to "make it right". We have credited you in full and will reship the order at no cost to you. You have expressed your wishes to not have the reship processed until we are able to ship the order 100% complete. As discussed, the Radiant Wrasse that you ordered, have become unavailable. Per your request we will not ship any items on the order until we are able to ship the order in full.
Again, I apologize for your inconveniences and the frustration this has created for you.
Please feel free to contact me directly if I may be of further assistance.

Cindy S.
Live Aquaria

 

[jjjimmy]

Cindy, I really did appreciate your call and deep down I do believe that you are doing the best that you can under the circumstances. But consider that promises have been made and broken 3 times on the same order. At this point I think that it is going to take some extraordinary effort on your part to even begin to make me feel better about this.

 

[ViciousFishes]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7023119#post7023119 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Live Aq
We have credited you in full and will reship the order at no cost to you.
Again, I apologize for your inconveniences and the frustration this has created for you. Please feel free to contact me directly if I may be of further assistance.

Cindy S.
Live Aquaria

What else do you want jjjimmy. They aplogized and are giving you the order for free.
What ever you ordered is not going to be the "turning point" in your life. At least I hope not because that would be very sad. Now you probably want a date with Cindy too......

 

[Ladipyg]

I have always had good experience with DFS...and I'm sure the loss of livestock and corals at the hands of beginners is way more than at company's that have to make their living providing fish and corals to us hobbyists.

Jimmy, on a personal note, I'm a great believer of everything that happens does so for a reason. Patience is not easy to have but I'm betting that there is an even more spectaular specimen out there for you and you'll get it sooner than you think. I'm sure DFS will do right by you...computers make mistakes in inventory and they are trying to rectify the problem...take a picture of the prize winner that is surely coming your way and post it when it does...