Who do you trust most when it comes to ordering online

[Jyetman]

Getting ready for Black Friday Sales and wonder which company would you trust or not trust. Marine Depot dropped the ball on a order back in April has others had problems? Trying to save myself a headache before it happens. Going to buy PM2, Salinity Probe and Red Sea Refractmeter so have this new company ordering fear.

Companies considering:

1. Foster & Smith <--Never a problem but no black Friday deals advertised yet
2. Marine Depot <--Messed up on a order but made it right
3. Aqua Cave <--Bought only a light bulb once
4. Bulk Reef Supply <--Never bought from this company

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Companies considering:

1. Foster & Smith <--Never a problem but no black Friday deals advertised yet
2. Marine Depot <--Messed up on a order but made it right
3. Aqua Cave <--Bought only a light bulb once
4. Bulk Reef Supply <--Never bought from this company

Drs. Foster & Smith - I've been ordering from them for years and never had an issue. Good with returns too. I will say they are a bit limited on Reef specific stuff.

Marine Depot - They charge tax to Cali orders...

Aqua Cave - Never ordered

BRS - My go-to for all things reef. They ship fast and have everything you could ever want. A couple times I've had issues with items damaged in shipping (not their fault) but they corrected the issues super fast. Very solid customer service!

 

[SecretiveFish]

1. Foster & Smith -- Have had things get broken in shipment, but they always rectified the situation quickly. Order from them frequently... too many pets...
2. Marine Depot -- Have only ordered from them a handful of times but have only had good experiences
3. Aqua Cave -- Never purchased from
4. Bulk Reef Supply -- As DivingTheWorld said, this is our go to for aquarium equipment and supplies. Great customer service, great packing (man do they use a lot of peanuts!), and great selection of products. They have some stellar black Friday sales going on now!

 

[DavidinGA]

Foster and Smith - best prices.

Marine depot - never bought from

Aqua Cave - great prices, fast shipping

BRS - super slow shipping, expensive shipping, try to avoid as a whole

 

[sanchoy]

Foster-n-Smith= best prices, anything over $50 free shipping. No brainer, if you buy salt over $50 its free shipping.

Marine Depot= average prices. Good source for reading product reviews

BRS- Very expensive shipping. Average to expensive prices. Did I mention very expensive shipping!

Fist-street (china)= cheapest prices. knockoffs! but do the job. If you are cheap Charlie this is the go to spot. Slow shipping due to being shipped from China.

 

[biomek]

BRS - fast (not cheap) shipping. any issues are corrected quickly
F&S - my go to for salt with free shipping
Marine Depot - hit or miss on price and selection but have been great the few times i've used them.

 

[D-Nak]

Marine Depot - They charge tax to Cali orders...

Nope! Use the code: NOCALTAX



http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_pay_no_sales_tax_NOCALTAX_coupon-ap.html

I've been ordering from them more lately because it's quicker than BRS -- I usually get it within two days.

 

[slief]

Nope! Use the code: NOCALTAX



http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_pay_no_sales_tax_NOCALTAX_coupon-ap.html

I've been ordering from them more lately because it's quicker than BRS -- I usually get it within two days.

+1!!
Marine Depot and Premium Aquatics are my two go to online sources. NOCALTAX is always motivating for MD plus they are local to me and stuff arrives the next day. I use MD for the little knick knack stuff and Premium for my high end purchases like skimmers and such. I've never had an issue with either and both generally ship the same day and provide excellent service.

 

[gone fishin]

I use DRs F&S and BRS on 99 % of supplies and equipment. Due to my location I usually get thing the next day If I order early enough. I have only had a few issues and all were taken care of quickly and efficiently.

 

[snorvich]

For livestock: Drs. Foster and Smith, For equipment: Marine Depot

 

[Ilsimen]

Who do you trust most when it comes to ordering online

I've ordered about $1500-$1800 worth of stuff from BRS this month and didn't pay a dime shipping. I'm pretty sure it said any order over $175 ships free. Everything arrived within 3 days of placing the order (three separate orders.)

 

[ReefDoberman]

BRS ships fast and as long as your total is $175 it ships free so I'm not sure where the comments are coming from that state otherwise. If you order by 3pm then it ships same day without fail. Now, they are not always the cheapest on the actual item but they have great customer service and to me it's worth paying a little more to deal with them.

SaltySupply.com is decent. I've had good experiences with them in the past but you need to shop for deals on their site.

 

[anbosu]

I've used all four and never had any issues.

 

[snorvich]

By the way, I order equipment from Marine Depot because their selection is broader.

 

[myaerica]

Depending on where you live, bulk reef I get orders the same day. Foster and smith top notch and also have come same day. Im only 2 hrs from either one.

 

[Molly1414]

Unfortunately Fosters and Smith was bought out by Petco. If you buy from them you are now buying from Petco. Given how Petco treats their marine animals I can no longer buy from Fosters and Smith.

 

[NSimpkins]

BRS is who I use as long as they have what I want. Shipping maybe a touch more expensive but nothing that I've noticed. Also had to return and they are awesome to deal with. Worth a little more in my opinion.

 

[lespaul339]

Ive ordered both from Foster And Smith and Bulk Reef Supply. Never had issues with either one.

 

[hart24601]

My experiences:

Dr Foster and Smith, never had any issues. I can say for liveaquaira the customer service is the best I have ever had from any company.

Marine Depot, I bought a sump that was broken on arrival. The same day I contacted them they put in a claim with UPS and sent me a new sump. I didn't have to do a thing. I was impressed. Their shipping time can be long sometimes.

BRS, I would have to say is my fav for dry goods. I bought a vertex 180i skimmer 10 days before their black friday sales. The price dropped from 500 to 300. I was pretty bummed and sent them an email. They gave me a one time credit of 200 bucks for the difference.

 

[Rob6311]

Unique corals I ordered from them and they had wonderful customer service, and plus they have the cheapest shipping it's like 17 dollars for shipping while I've found other websites are 35 dollars. But back to their customer service, I have dogs that seem vicious (all bark no bite) and we've actually had packages that have been thrown and we told the lady at unique corals when she called to confirm the purchase and she hand wrote "please do not toss" and she even wrote to "leave the package by the lower garage if no one was there to get it" so I believe that unique corals is a very good company