Online disaster

[RFL]

I'm first going to vent, and then ask for advice.
I placed an order with an online vendor (located in Boise, ID, not sure if I can say there name), and it arrived late and dead. Six weeks later I can't get them to replace the guarranteed shipment. They won't return my calls, emails, and claim to be too busy to help if I do reach them. They went as far as blocking by number at one point. (I didn't think I call that much). What can I do to get my money back or the coral? If I had the resources, I would only buy locally.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Have you checked the Vendor Experience forums here on Reef Central. There might be more people in your situation, and someone may have gotten it resolved. You might be able to take their experience as an example.

 

[zoomfish1]

If you paid by credit card or even paypal, contact them. They can help. If they are a sponsor here, go to their sponsor forum and complain.

If you raise enough stink, they will act to resolve so they don't loose online business over it. If it's by credit card, they can work to get your refund. Believe me, they don't want mastercard or visa to ban them from accepting their payments.

 

[oddballs]

it wont get you any money back but i would also let anyone by word of mouth who this place is so they wont make the same mistake and there buisness will eventually suffer from this imo ?thats why i really havent done much internet stuff it is just risky.

 

[dugg]

Say the name say the name lol. I'm sure you can as long as you don't post a link with it. It might just save some of us from the same problems in the future. Taking some time to fix a problem is one thing, but blocking your number is just uncalled for. That is what these forums are for, is to help with problems and to share information on product and vendor experiences.

I would personaly call my credit card company and deny charges. Visa and MC can and will yank that money right out of thier account. Even your bank card is most likely Visa, and can do the same. They can get pretty nasty with vendors over things like this.

 

[Russ Braaten]

With Garf it is like playing roulette, Sometimes you get decent but super tiny corals and live products but most of the time you get nothing. They will not do anything to help you out unless you maybe bug the hell out of them so they can't work or tell everyone what happened. That still may bot help. A number of us here on COMAS bought over $300 worth of stuff. Mostly grunge. What we got was all dead stuff. The grunge was just tiny pieces of crushed slate.

The grunge was also almost frozen solid. They put no care into shipping. Remember they are in Idaho. Finally, the grunge was devoid of life. It was inspected under a microscope to find pods and there were none. All Leroy would say is that we needed to wait until the life grew into the grunge.

 

[Serra]

I think you can state facts about a product and who you got if from without fear of getting sued but like travis said...check the vendor forum. Let us know if there is more feedback there.

Did you take pictures of the dead items? You should.

 

[RFL]

I looked around, and several people have had similar problems with GARF. I just called my credit card company, and for the first (and most likely the only time) it was a pleasant experience. I will be getting my money back through Visa. Are most online vendors trustworthy?

 

[TheMcs]

Hit and miss with online vendors. I've placed about 6 online livestock orders over the past few years and I'd say I've been happy with 2 of them. All were reputable and well known with the exception of one.
I've moved a tank that had the grunge, I wasn't impressed at all. I can throw a bunch of the same shells in my tank for a lot cheaper.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8945881#post8945881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Serra
I think you can state facts about a product and who you got if from without fear of getting sued but like travis said...check the vendor forum. Let us know if there is more feedback there.

Did you take pictures of the dead items? You should.

Yes, make sure you document EVERYTHING. Pictures, letters, emails printed out, etc. You've done the right thing about calling your credit card company to get this resolved, and if the vendor throws a stink about it, then you'll have proof that they are in the wrong.

As far as online vendors go about being reputable, it's really up in the air, especially concerning livestock. Many mainstream vendors at least have a moderately good turn out for dry goods, but livestock is a completely different situation. Even if a vendor does an absolutely amazing job on his part, who is to say that the middle man (IE the delivery company [FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc]) isn't going to screw things up. My honest opinion is if you really need to resort to buying things from online vendors, then do just drygoods. Anything that is alive is better off bought from a store, even if the drive or the price is slightly higher. The amount that you would pay in shipping, waiting, fussing, etc is far more expensive in my eyes.

 

[Prater]

I once had a box with about $2K worth of corals left outside in Denver during a snowstorm by the airline shipper.

That was not fun.

 

[hiflykitty]

i second calling your credit card company and disputing the charges. I once got a crappy scooter thru an ebay vendor, and when the vendor quit working with me I was able to call the credit card company and recover all my money (including finance charges). They will be more than happy to help you because they do not want to be associated with sham businesses.

 

[captbunzo]

I, for one, have actually never had a problem with an online vendor....

 

[GARFVolunteer]

If the online vendor is GARF, let me know and I will do what I can by pestering them. I would also second posting in the Vendor forum since there is a lot more exposure there...

Thanks,

Scott