" Once there is MarineDepotLive staffing to handle forum posts, we will ask Reef Central to set up a MarineDepotLive forum. "
I do not wonder why there is not a forum to discuss Marine Depot Live Stock!
I would have to agree with many that Marine Depot Dry Goods have always been great, but live stock issues have led to our seeking to file a law suit in Georgia for false advertising and a failure to honor a contract.
To begin, Marine Depot looked to be a first class act, they had shipped dry goods to us and they arrived just fine and as stated. But, when we placed two separate orders for Live Stock, we soon discovered what many had mailed us about at reefshow.com.
Marine Depot will not only will ship animals that are not what they say they are, but will completely take your money and run!
The first order we placed was for several hard corals and invertebrate for our large marine ecosystem last February. The order was delayed and stuck in an airport in Ohio (we are in Atlanta) for a full day (with no notice by shipper of Marine Depot) , and when delivered, was left at the door step of a neighbor for 7 hours in 32 degree weather!
When we called, they blamed the shipper, it took five calls to get no settlement to the affair. In fact, they had completely forgot the experience a week after we called. Yet we gave them the benefit of the doubt, chalked it all up to errors by Federal Express, and spent nearly 6 months nursing what was left of a 250.00 order back to health.
Then came the last experience which leads us to say DO NOT BUY FROM MARINE DEPOT!
Desiring a few Peppermint Shrimp, we logged onto Marine Depot and saw they had a sale, buy two, get one free. Not desiring to place an order just for 3 shrimp, we decided to order several corals and polyps.
BUT, when we received the order, the bags were empty of WATER and the animals either dead or dying, and what did "survive" did NOT even remotely resemble the pictures advertised by Marine Depot, we must state that besides poor service, Marine Depot is guilty of Fraud for intentional false advertising regardless of Disclaimers like the one below:
" Due to variations among each species, livestock may not look identical to the image provided. Expect diversity since each animal is unique in color, texture and shape"
We assumed that there would be some variation in the animal, after all, all humans are not alike either, but out of the order, 2 button polyps survived (they WERE BROWN not GOLD) and one small Bullseye Mushroom (this was brown also, and finally died after 3 weeks).
Now, we must add to these facts that we called within 20 minutes of delivery by Federal Express and informed Marine Depot that the bags were empty of water and floating in a mess of dark salt water mixed with newspaper, and they informed us that this would be noted.
We then said we would see if we could rescue any of the animals and would call them back.
The order was for:
a) three peppermint shrimp.
The shrimp were dead in the bag and the bag smelled like it had been sent the week before.
b) a dozen snails.
The snails were dead.
c) Bullseye Mushroom - Rhodactis species
The only survivor was a brown species that lived for 3 weeks (the picture they use is BRIGHT PURPLE).
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1233654.html
d) Zoanthid, Gold / Button Polyp - Zoanthus species
The only survivor of the colony were two polyps that were entirely BROWN (NOT the TOTAL GOLD PICTURE THEY SHOW)
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1233534.html
e) Xmas Tree Worm Rock - Spirobranchus species
The rock had brown porite flesh that bleached over the next three weeks. The worms were dead.They do NOT ship Green Porite Species (even though the picture is a speciman of x-mass worms on GREEN PORITE) that we have discovered
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1193654.html
After calling on the day of delivery, and trying to rescue what animals we could, we called back and was told that the 5 day period had expired.
Not only that, but that even if the time had not expired, they would require us to ship the rock back without the animals at our expense and get a CREDIT, even though we DID NOT WANT A CREDIT due to the fact that it was not simply a question of the animals arriving dead due to the fault of Marine Depot, but because of two orders shipped from them, they both had problems that lead to our losses. We did not want to order anything else from them!
It has been nearly 8 weeks and we have yet to have satisfaction. We are going to request a Charge Back.
now, for those of you who may write how great your experiences were, we simply have to say that is/was great, but two orders with two disasters and a failure to make it right is wrong......
I do not wonder why there is not a forum to discuss Marine Depot Live Stock!
I would have to agree with many that Marine Depot Dry Goods have always been great, but live stock issues have led to our seeking to file a law suit in Georgia for false advertising and a failure to honor a contract.
To begin, Marine Depot looked to be a first class act, they had shipped dry goods to us and they arrived just fine and as stated. But, when we placed two separate orders for Live Stock, we soon discovered what many had mailed us about at reefshow.com.
Marine Depot will not only will ship animals that are not what they say they are, but will completely take your money and run!
The first order we placed was for several hard corals and invertebrate for our large marine ecosystem last February. The order was delayed and stuck in an airport in Ohio (we are in Atlanta) for a full day (with no notice by shipper of Marine Depot) , and when delivered, was left at the door step of a neighbor for 7 hours in 32 degree weather!
When we called, they blamed the shipper, it took five calls to get no settlement to the affair. In fact, they had completely forgot the experience a week after we called. Yet we gave them the benefit of the doubt, chalked it all up to errors by Federal Express, and spent nearly 6 months nursing what was left of a 250.00 order back to health.
Then came the last experience which leads us to say DO NOT BUY FROM MARINE DEPOT!
Desiring a few Peppermint Shrimp, we logged onto Marine Depot and saw they had a sale, buy two, get one free. Not desiring to place an order just for 3 shrimp, we decided to order several corals and polyps.
BUT, when we received the order, the bags were empty of WATER and the animals either dead or dying, and what did "survive" did NOT even remotely resemble the pictures advertised by Marine Depot, we must state that besides poor service, Marine Depot is guilty of Fraud for intentional false advertising regardless of Disclaimers like the one below:
" Due to variations among each species, livestock may not look identical to the image provided. Expect diversity since each animal is unique in color, texture and shape"
We assumed that there would be some variation in the animal, after all, all humans are not alike either, but out of the order, 2 button polyps survived (they WERE BROWN not GOLD) and one small Bullseye Mushroom (this was brown also, and finally died after 3 weeks).
Now, we must add to these facts that we called within 20 minutes of delivery by Federal Express and informed Marine Depot that the bags were empty of water and floating in a mess of dark salt water mixed with newspaper, and they informed us that this would be noted.
We then said we would see if we could rescue any of the animals and would call them back.
The order was for:
a) three peppermint shrimp.
The shrimp were dead in the bag and the bag smelled like it had been sent the week before.
b) a dozen snails.
The snails were dead.
c) Bullseye Mushroom - Rhodactis species
The only survivor was a brown species that lived for 3 weeks (the picture they use is BRIGHT PURPLE).
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1233654.html
d) Zoanthid, Gold / Button Polyp - Zoanthus species
The only survivor of the colony were two polyps that were entirely BROWN (NOT the TOTAL GOLD PICTURE THEY SHOW)
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1233534.html
e) Xmas Tree Worm Rock - Spirobranchus species
The rock had brown porite flesh that bleached over the next three weeks. The worms were dead.They do NOT ship Green Porite Species (even though the picture is a speciman of x-mass worms on GREEN PORITE) that we have discovered
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/1193654.html
After calling on the day of delivery, and trying to rescue what animals we could, we called back and was told that the 5 day period had expired.
Not only that, but that even if the time had not expired, they would require us to ship the rock back without the animals at our expense and get a CREDIT, even though we DID NOT WANT A CREDIT due to the fact that it was not simply a question of the animals arriving dead due to the fault of Marine Depot, but because of two orders shipped from them, they both had problems that lead to our losses. We did not want to order anything else from them!
It has been nearly 8 weeks and we have yet to have satisfaction. We are going to request a Charge Back.
now, for those of you who may write how great your experiences were, we simply have to say that is/was great, but two orders with two disasters and a failure to make it right is wrong......
