jbisDVM
Community Member
Normally I’m just a reader on these forums, but I do feel the need to speak up when I’ve noticed an established patter of deceit from a company. In the past, I’ve had fairly good experiences with @AquaSD , however, this last order has led me to make the final decision to not utilize their services again and take my business elsewhere.
For the last several orders, they have reached out to me the day before shipping to tell me one frag wasn’t in stock. One time it was Valyrian Steel Zoas that apparently were being sold by a local hobbyist. The order was placed weeks in advance and the call comes the day of shipping to let me know they couldn’t get it to the store in time. This time it was an Oregon Blue Tort that they were supposed to be replacing because the first one RTN’ed in the bag on my last order. Of course, the explanation is “we don’t have it, but we will include it on your next order”. Which basically means they force you to make another order with them in order to grab what you originally paid for. It’s a nice cycle of success for them that guarantees that another order needs to be placed in the future if you wish to receive a product you already paid for.
This time when I received the call I asked several questions and tried to sort out a resolution, which unfortunately, never came.
Listen, I am a very reasonable guy and I kept all these communications very professional. However, there is a point where taking advantage of customers is just not going to be tolerated. Dishonesty and downright deceit is what is occurring here. I know what good and honest service looks like… Aqua SD is not it. A very easy and simple solution to this would be covering the cost of shipping for their own mistake and sending the frag that was purchased. And if you cannot, then the next reasonable resolution is to give the person their money back. Stop making up policies or referring to your website when each and every “policy” is in the store’s best interest only. Stop it with the explanations that make no sense like “UPS has a minimum”. The attempts at securing another future order in order to receive everything you already paid for is a really gross tactic. Your customers are not uneducated. Treat them with respect and run an honest business if you want repeated loyal followers. I am happy to take my money and business to many other vendors in this hobby that choose not to undermine their customers.
So, if any of you readers made it this far…. Congratulations. I hope you also choose a different company for your reefing needs and coral purchases.
For the last several orders, they have reached out to me the day before shipping to tell me one frag wasn’t in stock. One time it was Valyrian Steel Zoas that apparently were being sold by a local hobbyist. The order was placed weeks in advance and the call comes the day of shipping to let me know they couldn’t get it to the store in time. This time it was an Oregon Blue Tort that they were supposed to be replacing because the first one RTN’ed in the bag on my last order. Of course, the explanation is “we don’t have it, but we will include it on your next order”. Which basically means they force you to make another order with them in order to grab what you originally paid for. It’s a nice cycle of success for them that guarantees that another order needs to be placed in the future if you wish to receive a product you already paid for.
This time when I received the call I asked several questions and tried to sort out a resolution, which unfortunately, never came.
- I asked why they can’t just ship out the one coral once they actually get it in the store. They responded saying that they need to source it from other local hobbyists because they didn’t have a colony to frag. The replacement frag was planned out last week, and I have an email from them stating that we were “all set” to have it added to the order going out. The response Darren provided me regarding shipping out the Tort once they get one with was that UPS has a minimum and they cannot just send one coral. We all know that UPS has nothing to do with this and they would ship a box of used toilet paper if you paid them to do so. Aqua SD simply does not want to take on the cost of shipping- that is the honest answer. It has nothing to do with a UPS minimum. As I pointed out to Darren on the call- I can order one frag and have it shipped…. So, they can send one frag if they really wanted to, but apparently, they do not. Next time, try an excuse that actually makes logical sense. The $100 minimum order is their policy.
- I then said to Darren that I would rather just take a refund for the piece then, since I had no plans of a future order. He stated he would have to check with “upper management” and get back to me by email. Literally less than one minute after the phone call, an email comes through with a “gift card” in the amount of the original frag (of course not even including the cost of shipping that I had paid for). I guess “upper management” made their decision in 30 seconds and processed a gift card in record time. A refund for the piece was clearly denied.
- I called back and then said that I would just use the gift card immediately, choose another frag on the site, and just be done with this whole ordeal. Well, that didn’t work either because he stated that “unfortunately, the cut off for adding to your order was yesterday”. Despite the fact that their website states that the cut off is noon on the day the order gets packaged, this attempted resolution was also denied. Less than 15 minutes ago, they were just packaging my order with the corals they did actually have- why can’t you just stay true with trying to resolve this and allow me to add on to an order you literally have sitting in your store waiting to be picked up?
Listen, I am a very reasonable guy and I kept all these communications very professional. However, there is a point where taking advantage of customers is just not going to be tolerated. Dishonesty and downright deceit is what is occurring here. I know what good and honest service looks like… Aqua SD is not it. A very easy and simple solution to this would be covering the cost of shipping for their own mistake and sending the frag that was purchased. And if you cannot, then the next reasonable resolution is to give the person their money back. Stop making up policies or referring to your website when each and every “policy” is in the store’s best interest only. Stop it with the explanations that make no sense like “UPS has a minimum”. The attempts at securing another future order in order to receive everything you already paid for is a really gross tactic. Your customers are not uneducated. Treat them with respect and run an honest business if you want repeated loyal followers. I am happy to take my money and business to many other vendors in this hobby that choose not to undermine their customers.
So, if any of you readers made it this far…. Congratulations. I hope you also choose a different company for your reefing needs and coral purchases.
