Purchasing from Diver's Den

[CStrickland]

OP said they followed the DD acclimation instruction, and had their own QT set up.
All OP was asking is whether anyone else had a similar experience where a DD fish starved despite following the instructions. Like whether stuff like this just happens sometimes even when you do what you're supposed to and order from top shelf sellers.

The bad news is, it does. And while it feels unfair that you don't get the shipping refunded (like, why should I pay $30 for someone to send me a half dead fish) that's just the way it is. It kinda balances out though because they are generous with the refunds in the first place. Like you don't usually have to send back the corpse for an autopsy or something to prove you aren't scamming them. So I can see why they wouldn't go so far as to cover shipping as well.
Better luck next time!

Sometimes its like people get so excited to lecture about QT or jump on someone for being dissatisfied with a retailer, they don't even read the post.

 

[snorvich]

OP said they followed the DD acclimation instruction,

Which is not best practice. I can assure you, I did read the OP post.

 

[lionfish300]

OP said they followed the DD acclimation instruction, and had their own QT set up.
All OP was asking is whether anyone else had a similar experience where a DD fish starved despite following the instructions. Like whether stuff like this just happens sometimes even when you do what you're supposed to and order from top shelf sellers.

The bad news is, it does. And while it feels unfair that you don't get the shipping refunded (like, why should I pay $30 for someone to send me a half dead fish) that's just the way it is. It kinda balances out though because they are generous with the refunds in the first place. Like you don't usually have to send back the corpse for an autopsy or something to prove you aren't scamming them. So I can see why they wouldn't go so far as to cover shipping as well.
Better luck next time! Thanks you for taking the time to post this, most just to quick to blame and tell people what to do rather understand the question op have

Sometimes its like people get so excited to lecture about QT or jump on someone for being dissatisfied with a retailer, they don't even read the post.

 

[SteveMSE]

OP said they followed the DD acclimation instruction, and had their own QT set up.
All OP was asking is whether anyone else had a similar experience where a DD fish starved despite following the instructions. Like whether stuff like this just happens sometimes even when you do what you're supposed to and order from top shelf sellers.

The bad news is, it does. And while it feels unfair that you don't get the shipping refunded (like, why should I pay $30 for someone to send me a half dead fish) that's just the way it is. It kinda balances out though because they are generous with the refunds in the first place. Like you don't usually have to send back the corpse for an autopsy or something to prove you aren't scamming them. So I can see why they wouldn't go so far as to cover shipping as well.
Better luck next time!

Sometimes its like people get so excited to lecture about QT or jump on someone for being dissatisfied with a retailer, they don't even read the post.

Well at least some people aren't ready to jump down my throat with both feet and tell me that everything I did was wrong and attempt to make me feel like I was scamming a company by getting a refund on a dead fish. I was by no means complaining about their guarantee or service. I had only mentioned that, from other conversations I had read, I was under the impression they also refunded shipping and as their page with their guarantee wasn't explicit on shipping refunds I was (only mildly) surprised.

I didn't come and make a post to sully the name of Diver's Den or be told how bad I am at the hobby. I shared an experience I had recently and was curious if anyone had similar experiences.

I thank you all for the warm responses.

 

[Ou8me2]

OP said they followed the DD acclimation instruction, and had their own QT set up.

He said he followed their acclimation process and unless I'm blind he said nothing about his own personal QT tank and referred to DD as QT their fish, so maybe he assumed he didn't need to QT fish and assumed the fish would be healthy. All reasonable expectations for what is on the site. Is it a little naive to think it's all true? Maybe. Really all a moot point I suppose.

No one wants to lose a fish or coral, and unfortunately, it happens and no matter what a person does to save an animal may or may not work. This can happen even at the best of retailers online. I can't think of an online retailer who can say they are 100% loss free.

I remember my first order back in the day from Jeff's Exotics and it was a 10 pack of corals. Unfortunately, half of them didn't make it and I can't remember if he had a guarantee or not back then. He did refund me the losses and I went on to make several purchases after that and all them made it fine from fish to corals. To refund shipping would be a huge loss for them as they don't get a refund on shipping.

I don't think one experience is enough to judge someone and you may order 10 more times and have no loss at all. We don't know how much care the package was handled in shipping, it could have been tossed around a few times for all we know.


You can go to your LFS and my guess is no matter if the fish dies in 2 hours or 2 weeks, that LFS isn't going to give you a credit for a marine livestock death.

I was speaking in general and not to anyone specific, to be honest. If you decide to give it another try you'll be successful next time.

 

[CStrickland]

unless I'm blind he said nothing about his own personal QT tank and referred to DD as QT their fish, so maybe he assumed he didn't need to QT fish and assumed the fish would be healthy.

I'm not arguing that it's a good idea to quarantine at home, and the fish was introduced into a quarantine tank. My point is that they tote the Diver's Den fish as quarantined and feeding. They even provide a list of foods that the fish you purchased has been being fed. Which was clearly not the case.

It makes sense to me that a fish that's stressed from rough shipping or acclimation or life generally will fast even from foods that it has previously eaten. Especially if it is a picky sort of fish to begin with, or one carrying a disease that has been masked by copper or whatever. My mail mans a real weirdo, I bet he shakes the boxes harder if they say "fragile" just for spite.

I'm curious if people who disregard the acclimation instructions in favor of their own method feel any compunction about getting a refund if the fish doesn't survive. It's a funny thing to ignore the company's instructions and then ask them for a replacement if it doesn't work out. I agree that theirs are not best practices, and I don't use the drip method either. But I haven't had to request a refund since I switched acclimation methods. I wonder if I would feel shady doing that. I mean, if I happened to think that any acclimation was too stressful, and preferred to just toss the fish in a tank of different salinity and temp, then it died, it would be weird to ask for another free one.

 

[Ou8me2]

All good points CStrickland:thumbsup:

Clearly the shipping process from where ever you buy to the customer is stressful in itself. Stress can cause illness and lack of appetite easily. Heck, when I'm stressed I don't even think of eating, to be honest.

I have bought most my fish as much as I can locally, but the online selection is even better and price can be better than the LFS. I'd much rather buy my fish locally even if it means a few hours driving. Which I feel is a lot better than 12+ hours in shipping a fish. There are so many factors in shipping a live animal. Distance, Handling, Extreme Temp Changes etc.

You can order from the most highly recommended company and still have a bad experience compared to everyone else. Now if this was a common situation then I'm sure people would be piling on stating their own bad experiences. Heck, I've even ordered stuff from Saltwater.com and not had a loss yet, while others have had just the opposite.

 

[tattoosandfrags]

There is too many fish stores down here in south florida for me to order from them. Ive bought two pair of my clowns from exotic reef down in key west. Only thing i have thought about ordering are some fathead dendros from a website i know soon. I know alot of people dont have access to fish stores locally where they live and Divers Den has very nice things i just dont see a reason to buy anything from them.

 

[killagoby]

I've never had a problem with them, but the fish are always smaller than advertised.

Someone also posted a short time ago that PetCo bought Dr. Fosters and Smith. Is that true because I believe they and DD are related somehow right?

 

[mitchrapp]

No online fish store refunds shipping costs. Maybe ocassionaly, under exceptional circumstances, like messing up an order, but not on a routine basis, of which your fish would fall under. Your fish died - it happens, they honored their guarantee and refunded your money. What's the issue?

 

[alton]

Steve hopefully you don't feel too picked on, but let me tell you my story of two Chevrons and maybe you can understand that anytime you move a fish there is always chance of losing it.
Chevron#1 - had him for several years decided to add another tang so I sold him to a good friend. In catching him he got pretty scarred up, so much so that when I handed the bucket and air pump to the friend at a fish meeting I told him to wait a few weeks to pay me because I was not sure he would make it. The fish ended up in that bucket for five hours that day, so when I got a call from that friend a week later I figured the worse, instead he told me he sent the payment because the fish cleared up so fast it was unreal.
Chevron #2 - I had this one a year, he went from 1 1/2" to 4" and got very mean so I wanted to re-home him. I set up a 100 gallon tub next to my 300 with 60 gallons of water from the 300 and some liverock. I dropped the net in and with a bunch of luck the fish swims right in and in one swoop he is in the tub. I have never caught a fish that easy. Well I went to sleep that night but woke up to a surprise to find the fish dead on the bottom. Sorry you lost your fish it sux, but sometimes things just happen.

 

[Ou8me2]

I've never had a problem with them, but the fish are always smaller than advertised.

Someone also posted a short time ago that PetCo bought Dr. Fosters and Smith. Is that true because I believe they and DD are related somehow right?

Yes, Petco bought Dr. Fosters and Smith a few years ago, almost 2 years ago I believe.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2458917

 

[SteveMSE]

Steve hopefully you don't feel too picked on, but let me tell you my story of two Chevrons and maybe you can understand that anytime you move a fish there is always chance of losing it.
Chevron#1 - had him for several years decided to add another tang so I sold him to a good friend. In catching him he got pretty scarred up, so much so that when I handed the bucket and air pump to the friend at a fish meeting I told him to wait a few weeks to pay me because I was not sure he would make it. The fish ended up in that bucket for five hours that day, so when I got a call from that friend a week later I figured the worse, instead he told me he sent the payment because the fish cleared up so fast it was unreal.
Chevron #2 - I had this one a year, he went from 1 1/2" to 4" and got very mean so I wanted to re-home him. I set up a 100 gallon tub next to my 300 with 60 gallons of water from the 300 and some liverock. I dropped the net in and with a bunch of luck the fish swims right in and in one swoop he is in the tub. I have never caught a fish that easy. Well I went to sleep that night but woke up to a surprise to find the fish dead on the bottom. Sorry you lost your fish it sux, but sometimes things just happen.

Meh... It's a learning process. And today I learned that trying to open up a discussion on these forums was a bad idea. Seems like some helpful people here and a lot of good information, but I'd rather not wade through the bs and trolls to have a conversation. I'll go back to keeping to myself, reading historical posts, and be active on other forums.