What is the standard garuantee on a fish purchase?

[Riffraffreef]

What is a reasonable amount of time to hold the LFS responsible for the survival of a purchased fish?
This is assuming all responsible acclimation, quarantine, and environmental parameters were inline with the hobby's best practices.

48 hours? 2 weeks? 7 days?

Consider you made a $75 fish purchase, the fish never acclimated, went down hill from the moment of purchase until death some 4 exhausting days later.
Is a refund in order? A store credit? What would you request as fair compensation?
Your comments are appreciated.

 

[keithhays]

r

What is a reasonable amount of time to hold the LFS responsible for the survival of a purchased fish?
This is assuming all responsible acclimation, quarantine, and environmental parameters were inline with the hobby's best practices.

48 hours? 2 weeks? 7 days?

Consider you made a $75 fish purchase, the fish never acclimated, went down hill from the moment of purchase until death some 4 exhausting days later.
Is a refund in order? A store credit? What would you request as fair compensation?
Your comments are appreciated.

I am assuming it died in quarantine otherwise we need to work on your quarantine procedures, but I would think store credit would be in order at the very least. What type of fish was it?

 

[alton]

None of the fish stores here in San Antonio give a refund or offer a stay alive guarantee. If you have a question on a fish watch them feed it, make sure it looks healthy. And definitely QT.

 

[Balletomane]

I assume that this varies considerably. My LFS guarantees the fish for two weeks after purchase. but if the fish dies you must present the carcass and a current sample of your water. Their receipts clearly state their preferred acclimation procedure and strongly advise that you adhere to it if the guarentee is to be honored. I've never had a fish die on me (disclaimer: I'm only one year into the hobby).

Yippee! This post finally gets me to the magic 50...now if only I had money to make a run through the buy/sell forum.

 

[tommyz44]

IF they give a refund or even think about it, they will ask you most likely what is your parameters, how long did you accilmate and how did you dot it, most likely will need the fish back and also a water sample. Thats what my LFS does. Personlly i would call wouldnt hurt.

 

[mperales]

My LFS gives a 24 hr guarantee and you must present carcass and a water sample ( if they don't know you). If water checks out, they give a store credit for fish.
I had one fish that from quarantine time was not doing well (within 24 hrs). I called them to let them know what was going on. The fish eventually died a few days later. Because I had called them to let them know they honored the guarantee beyond the 24 hrs.

 

[Wolverine]

I've seen everything from no guarantee to a few weeks. Most common I've seen are in the 24-48 hour range. As Tommy mentioned, they'll usually want at least your water parameters, and some will ask for water itself for them to test.

Some stores will let you take fish straight from their order before it even goes into their tank. They may give you a discount, but will often not give you any guarantee at that point.

 

[sucker_fish]

My Lfs does a 2 week guarantee, bring the dead fish and a water sample. I have only ever lost 1 fish from them, they are a smaller store but carry really good quality livestock.

 

[GreshamH]

What is a reasonable amount of time to hold the LFS responsible for the survival of a purchased fish?
This is assuming all responsible acclimation, quarantine, and environmental parameters were inline with the hobby's best practices.

48 hours? 2 weeks? 7 days?

Consider you made a $75 fish purchase, the fish never acclimated, went down hill from the moment of purchase until death some 4 exhausting days later.
Is a refund in order? A store credit? What would you request as fair compensation?
Your comments are appreciated.

All that aside, whatever their policy on DOA/DAA is what you get... not a lot of room for requests when policies are in place. Its always a slight roll of the dice as you, as well as the store, truly have no idea of what went down in the CoC (chain of custody) prior to them.

 

[whodeydan76]

I used to work at a lfs in my area.. we guaranteed fw fish for 14 days, sw fish for 7 days...but if the fish dies you needed a water sample (without the fish in it...don't laugh you would be surprised) the dead fish, receipt, and a replacement in stock..providing we had another fish we would test the water and if it checked out we would replace the fish and add another guarantee.. if the parameters were out we would replace the fish or give a gift card but until u brought us a good water sample you weren't getting another guarantee... if the customer insisted on leaving with another fish then that was on them.
I would def call to ask if they have a policy in place though...good luck! It sucks losing any fish..especially an expensive one!

 

[coralreefdoc]

As long as its not an opposite/reverse guarantee, such as this one at a "used car salesman" owned LFS:

 

[ehaleyjr18]

We sell fish as fry develop into salable size. We are confident in the process so we guarantee our fish for 14 days if acclimated into quarantine tanks for that period.We ship next day del. by 10:00 A.M. Receipt signature required.

 

[kreef82]

I don't expect any guarantee for sw fish.

 

[Reeferz412]

Almost all LFS's in my area have a sign basically saying: You buy it, your loss if you lose it. That is why I stare at the fish at any LFS for probably an hour to at least eliminate any visual diseases/tears/parasites.

If you want a return policy on dead fish, and this might get bashed, is to go to Petco. Petco will actually refund you depending on your water quality. Granted their livestock isnt the most fascinating, but some stores get some cool fish every now and then.

 

[ggsteve]

Petco has one of the most liberal sw fish return policies I know of. At the LFS I used to work at we guaranteed sw fish as far as the front door, two weeks for FW with the deceased and a separate water sample.

 

[Ostara]

It's standard for an LFS owner/employee to laugh in your face if you mention a guarantee around here. :lol:

Our Petco does offer a 15 day guarantee on marine fish. I'm not sure if they're supposed to or not, but they do.

 

[Kawi9_cf]

As long as its not an opposite/reverse guarantee, such as this one at a "used car salesman" owned LFS:

Both local fishtores in my area have this same policy

 

[Shells4]

I believe we have 8 stores that sell saltwater in our area (only 3 worth while) and NONE of them have a guarentee on saltwater. Freshwater is usually 48 hours with a water sample. We have stopped at several fish/coral stores when we travel and have never seen a saltwater guarentee. The best LFS in our area the owner tells you up front if there has been any problem he has noticed with his fish. Often he won't sell them until they are healthy and eating well. If he has a sick fish he will often give it away or discount it to someone he knows has a hospital tank, but never a guarentee.

 

[jbowen]

I worked at a LFS in the 90's, no guarantee on any fish period. We were also a third the cost of other places who offered guarantees.

 

[Riffraffreef]

r

I am assuming it died in quarantine otherwise we need to work on your quarantine procedures, but I would think store credit would be in order at the very least. What type of fish was it?

It was a male black onyx clown and part of a pair, female is still doing fine and never showed any signs of stress.