Red Bugs at the Diver's Den

SPotter said:
:headwalls: why didn't I find this thread sooner!!!! I ordered that frag on Tuesday and is out for delivery today! I have ordered from them numerous times in the past with no issues but have to say my experiences with them have declined over the last few orders.

I got this order in at 9:30 long before there 10:30 cutoff so it would be delivered yesterday, they didn't send an order confirmation until 11:45 and since it was past their cut off they said it couldn't be delivered until today. Ok I can live with that. Then yesterday I get an email saying my order cant be shipped because they don't have all of the pieces I requested. I call to cancel and they say that they'll cancel the order and send me a confirmation for the cancellation. 2 hrs later I get an email saying my order has been shipped with no description of whats been shipped. Definitely my last order with them.
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Wow, I am sorry to hear that you were the one who purchased the coral, I figured they took the coral off their website after I contacted them. Please keep us updated whether they did cancel the order or if you receive the order today.
 
Rickyrooz1 said:
Wow, I am sorry to hear that you were the one who purchased the coral, I figured they took the coral off their website after I contacted them. Please keep us updated whether they did cancel the order or if you receive the order today.
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I see it as a bright side actually. If he gets the coral, he'll be able to inspect it and let us know whether those were truly red bugs, and now he knows he needs to quarantine that frag. I've seen bugs on other big brand names, and was curious where this was going.
 
Wow! Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I dip all of my coral regardless, however I will look at other sources for my corals. Why pay premium price for coral that I can get at my LFS for half the price. The only reason I buy from LA is for their quarantine procedures, which appears to have gone out the door. Good find :thumbsup:
 
So I inspected all of the frags with a magnifying glass and happy to say there were no signs of red bugs or any pests. I am disappointed that none of the frags have any decent coloration to them and since I didn't she pictures of what I bought im not sure if I got what I purchased. I know corals lose color in shipping but these are almost brown. I also received an order from Jason Fox today and every single piece has amazing color and pe right out of the bag. I've always been a big supporter of LA and DD but I don't I'll be shopping there any longer.
 
Yeah, I ordered a "red" granulosa and there was not a single tinge of red on it. It was as brown as, well, you know what. My LA DD ordering days are over.
 
Maximus said:
Yeah, I ordered a "red" granulosa and there was not a single tinge of red on it. It was as brown as, well, you know what. My LA DD ordering days are over.
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Too funny....I ordered that one as well and got the same thing! I also ordered a rainbow millepora that's totally green! So much for WYSIWYG!
 
Corals can brown out from shipping... but not under normal circumstances. That's just an excuse businesses use for why the frag you got doesn't look like the saturated photoshopped photo posted online..

DD has gone to complete crap. Still the best place for fish IMO, but I would never buy sps from them. There are excellent hobbyists that sell on here, and better places to get good sps. Chopping up a wild colony, giving it a fun name, and letting it heal does not make it an "aquacultured" coral.. and now you get red bugs with it too?
 
Rickyrooz1 said:
Isn't Kevin Kohen still in charge at Live Aquaria even though PetCo took over? One thing I have noticed with the change in ownership is the photo's on the Diver's Den have changed dramatically. The SPS section used to have overly saturated colors and now they look pale/brown. I am not sure if it is the water conditions or if the old photos were enhanced in Photoshop.
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Your not joking, the coral shots look horrible. I would wager they are selling much less. One would wonder if this was on purpose to justify a change within. :(
 
After the recent changes they made with cheaper shipping and lower threshold for free shipping I would agree.
 
Yep more bugs. You can clearly make out multiple red bugs/bugs in that photo. Sad thing is it only took me about 10 min to go find another acro with bugs on it in DD.
acro_zpsrnsqdy8a.jpg
 
SPotter said:
So I inspected all of the frags with a magnifying glass and happy to say there were no signs of red bugs or any pests. I am disappointed that none of the frags have any decent coloration to them and since I didn't she pictures of what I bought im not sure if I got what I purchased. I know corals lose color in shipping but these are almost brown. I also received an order from Jason Fox today and every single piece has amazing color and pe right out of the bag. I've always been a big supporter of LA and DD but I don't I'll be shopping there any longer.
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Jason Fox out of Florida? Foxy saltwater? If so he is awesome!
 
This is sad...:(
I haven't ordered anything since I bought my anthias, but now I think I will stick with my local lfs. Specifically now that they are carrying Jason Fox , ORA and some others.
 
No one can be perfect forever. I can't see them taking this lightly, they've been an awesome company for the last decade, best customer service I've delt with in the hobby. I'm sure Mr. Kohen has seen this and is taking care of it ask we sit on our computers and defame the name. I feel bad for y'alls sports teams...Red Bugs are probably the easiest pest I've ever delt with anyways. Like everyone else said, QT.
 
mwladdicted said:
No one can be perfect forever. I can't see them taking this lightly, they've been an awesome company for the last decade, best customer service I've delt with in the hobby. I'm sure Mr. Kohen has seen this and is taking care of it ask we sit on our computers and defame the name. I feel bad for y'alls sports teams...Red Bugs are probably the easiest pest I've ever delt with anyways. Like everyone else said, QT.
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You're being too nice giving them the benefit of the doubt based on their old ownership under Foster and Smith. On the first page I copied my email to Drs. Foster and Smith as well as their reply and it seems as though they are taking it pretty lightly. Under the new ownership of PetCo they still continue to post WYSIWYG photos with Red Bugs. Yes bed bugs are easy to eradicate with interceptor treatment but that does not give them an excuse to sell corals with pests at a premium price. Like you said red bugs are pretty easy to eradicate why can't they do that for their customers? It is more time consuming for a hobbyist to go to a vet and have them write a script for interceptor than for Drs. Foster and Smith who also sell Interceptor on their website to do the treatment for us.
 
Maximus said:
I can also assure you that the "red" granulosa will not show any hints of red after shipping.
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I'd be interested in knowing if this colors up. I was thinking about ordering this because I haven't seen a granulosa in that color before.

I wonder if they have started dipping frags with obvious red bug infestations before shipping them out. That could explain browned out corals. That would also be pretty cool of them to dip before shipping, but it would be even more cool if they waited for them to color back up before shipping.
 
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