On line vendors/shipping

[hogfanreefer]

This is why my list of on line vendors is getting pretty thin.

The two boxes are from two fish I ordered and were delivered yesterday morning. The box on the left is from....well you can see. It housed a 1 3/4" fish and contained over a gallon of water. The fish arrived in pristine condition.

The box on the right contained a 4" fish that was shipped in less than a quart of water. When I opened the bag the water was cold and the smell was horrible. The fish was sticking its mouth out of the water and panting like crazy. I verified salinity match and immediately transfered to QT. The fish perked up for a while but is now sitting in one spot with it's head toward the bottom. I don't expect him to make it.

Neither fish was terribly expensive (in fact they were almost identical in price). I have gotten healthy fish from the vendor on the right before but they have usually been smaller and I didn't think about the small shipping container. Maybe they had a new person packing shipments that day but to me that was a very poor job of preparing the fish for shipment. Has anyone had similar experiences?

 

[NiTr0x911]

if you dont mind can you Pm me the vendor who you got the right box from.Im about to spend a bunch of money on fish and 99% of the time go with L.A. I have been looking @ other sites with fish.Would like to avoid a poor shipper.Thanks

 

[snorvich]

You should see the box that Live Aquaria sends if you have a large fish. Their attention to logistics is incredible.

 

[Deinonych]

This exemplifies why I buy my fish from LA/DD exclusively. Sorry for your troubles; hopefully the fish makes it.

 

[hogfanreefer]

As expected the fish lived about 26 hours. I do have other vendors I have faith in Pacific East and NY Aquatic come to mind. Their packaging has rivaled LA/DD when I've used them

 

[Nina51]

i've never ordered from any online vendor other than LA/DD. doubt i ever will.

so, was there a guarantee from the other vendor on the fish that didn't live?

 

[gone fishin]

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I use LA/DD almost exclusively. I wonder when a vendor will skimp on packing to save a buck what else they will skimp on. just my 2 cents.

 

[planedoc]

Why don't you tell us the other vendor. There is no way you can get in trouble from stating facts unless you are not stating facts and just promoting live aquaria. They don't need promoting because everyone knows that you get top notch products especially when it comes to shipping from LA. So bottom line without telling who the other vendor is you have not helped anyone from getting a bad product from a bad vendor. You have just said LA is great and another company (company X) is not as good.

 

[snorvich]

While LA/DD logistics are excellent, for me the differentiating factor is the nature of the guarantee: 100% refund on all animals for 14 days (which is sometimes extended). And I am not promoting this vendor just stating what I personally do.

 

[hogfanreefer]

Why don't you tell us the other vendor. There is no way you can get in trouble from stating facts unless you are not stating facts and just promoting live aquaria. They don't need promoting because everyone knows that you get top notch products especially when it comes to shipping from LA. So bottom line without telling who the other vendor is you have not helped anyone from getting a bad product from a bad vendor. You have just said LA is great and another company (company X) is not as good.

Talking down the vendor wasn't my desire. I'm not worried about getting in "trouble" and the picture speaks for it self.

If morbid curiosity demands you know, the box on the right was from Blue Zoo. The fish was a 4" pyramid butterfly, the LA fish was a 1 7/8" Square tail bristletooth tang.

As I said I have previously received healthy fish from them, most recently a very nice Lineatus wrasse that was substantially less expensive than LA.

 

[LEOx]

I had the same problem with blue zoo when i Ordered two wrasses one didn't make it the next day in QT and one was a Lineatus wrasse when they had the sale which is doing great with the rest of my wrasses.

 

[adamwheel]

I had a similar issue with a flame wrasse DOA recently (from a reputable vendor) and was shocked at the tiny amount of water shipped. The tiny box was probably 90 degrees with heat packs.

LA is tough to beat even when other vendors offer 14 days.

Guarantees are a necessity but that alone is not enough when a vendor makes such fundamental errors.

I feel your pain,

Adam

I guessed it was Blue Zoo before I replied. Unfortunately, not surprised. Never again.

 

[jnc914]

I only deal with LA/DD exclusively for most of my livestock, with the exception of diver direct for Bandit Angels and Tinker Butterflies. I have learned expensive lessons with the other vendors. My most recent order from BZA, about a year ago, was two DOA fish; then had to wait 10 days for a store credit only refund. Needless to say I still have that credit sitting on file. With LA/DD, you get money back if the fish doesn't make it; no waiting, no hassles.

Their customer service is the best in the business, hands down.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2390554

 

[mbauma]

While LA/DD logistics are excellent, for me the differentiating factor is the nature of the guarantee: 100% refund on all animals for 14 days (which is sometimes extended). And I am not promoting this vendor just stating what I personally do.

I live about 3 hours from their facility in WI and took the tour in March this year. It is an amazing place and I won't buy from other online vendors.

 

[snorvich]

I live about 3 hours from their facility in WI and took the tour in March this year. It is an amazing place and I won't buy from other online vendors.

They used to have open houses once per year that were definitely not to be missed. Worth a trip for sure!

 

[reefgoddess808]

I have contemplated in the past getting animals from Blue Zoo because LA was out of stock. Glad I didnt. Better to wait for what you want to come up on a trusted site than to jump the gun and kill a fish and lose money.

 

[DasCamel]

+1

+1

You should see the box that Live Aquaria sends if you have a large fish. Their attention to logistics is incredible.

I ordered a hybrid powder blue from DD, the box was massive for a 5" fish. If I remember correctly, the weight from all the water was 30 pounds. The fish arrived in incredible shape and still doing great months later. Even after a Brook infestation, second QT, and formalin treatment.

He never showed signs of anything, others didn't do as well.

Arrival condition is everything. Makes life so much easier in the long run.

 

[planedoc]

Talking down the vendor wasn't my desire. I'm not worried about getting in "trouble" and the picture speaks for it self.

If morbid curiosity demands you know, the box on the right was from Blue Zoo. The fish was a 4" pyramid butterfly, the LA fish was a 1 7/8" Square tail bristletooth tang.

As I said I have previously received healthy fish from them, most recently a very nice Lineatus wrasse that was substantially less expensive than LA.

Thanks for clearing that up. I have had good luck with BZA. Its sad not only for the fish but for you as the customer because with any warranty/ guarantee or insurance you never really get everything back. Even if your compensated 100% money wise you still don't have your fish and need to pay shipping again. I've read a few other post's with people having problems with BZA (mostly shipping issues) . I guess I should stay away for now, hopefully they can correct the shipping problems because they always have a nice selection of high quality fish. At least that's what I have received in my 5 or 6 orders.

 

[Brando457]

I made my first online purchase of fish last week and went with a trio of anithas from diver's den. After seeing how well they shipped everything and the health of the livestock I think I am going to use them for all my fish purchases.

I've heard some horrible things about bluezoo and don't think I'll ever risk ordering from them after seeing that tiny box for a big fish!

 

[SteveDColorado]

I got a box of LR from BZ and was disgusted at how poor the quality was.

The box was falling apart because there was 45# of live rock placed on a piece of plastic so the rest of the moisture in the rock was sucked into the box and causing the box to fall apart.

I have had the rock cycling for over a month and have not seen a single bit of life on it yet. I paid a lot of money for dead base rock.


I have ordered from Pacific Island Aquatics before and gotten some nice fish.