Can we please treat corals for what they are?

[Ben549]

TLDR: Corals are animals with specific care requirements and deserve respect.

I can't believe that I have to say this but can we please treat corals as animals as opposed to dollar signs?

This post is directed at mystery frags and freebies where a customer is sent a random coral and is expected to be prepared to care for it.

You don't see Petco running promotions where if you buy a pet, you get a free mystery pet. Just imagine:
Petco: "Congratulations Timmy, because you bought that hampster you've won a mystery pet!"
Timmy: "Gosh golly! That sure is swell!"
Petco: "Guess what! That mystery pet is a python! I'm sure it will be fine in the same environment as your hampster......"

Before I go any further, I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not opposed to games, contests, prizes, etc. I am opposed to using animals to drive engagement without regard for the animals' wellbeing.

So now you're thinking: "This guy is pretty negative, I love getting free frags but I also care about these animals". Guess what? Me too, so here are a number of ethical ways to handle this:

1. Call them mystery frags during the contest/raffle. Once the winner is selected, tell them what it is, if they can't care for it, they can decline.

2. Call them mystery frags during the contest/raffle and state the care requirements for the coral. Once the winner is selected, tell them. If they can't care for it, they can decline.

3. Call them mystery frags during the contest/raffle. Once the winner is selected, tell them 5 corals and ask them to pick which ones they want. Then, send them one of those so that it is still a mystery to the winner.

Note: There are cases where this probably isn't an issue such as:
If a customer's order is 99% sticks, giving them a stick as a freebie is probably pretty safe.

So what led up to this you might ask?
Timeline:
Jun 19, 2023
@CodyBot : Congratulations on winning! Send me your shipping order number and I will issue you your prize. Thanks!

Ben549: any chance we can ask them to let me pick between a few options? I have a small tank and I would hate for them to send something I already have or something I cant care for.

CodyBot: Unfortunately, you are not able to pick a mystery frag. What I would recommend doing is to try and win the next game for a $30 GC. That way, you can claim the $30 GC, pass the mystery frag to the runner up, then use that GC towards the exact frag you want.

Ben549: do you want me to ask them?

CodyBot: The prize for this game is a mystery frag. The next game will have a $30 GC prize. That's the one you will want to shoot for.

Also, the first rule for my games in the first post of the thread specifies one prize per household.

You can ask TCK, but they're going to tell you the same thing. I'm just doing what I'm asked to do.


Jun 25, 2023
My email to @TCK Corals wrote:
Hi,

I won several freebies as part of your games on R2R. I have a small tank that's already really full. Would it be possible to work together so that I can get frags that I'm looking to put in the tank versus the trash (since the tank is so full)?

FWIW, I've been buying from you guys since 2019 and have been an advocate for you on R2R.

Thank you,
Ben

Jun 25, 2023
TCK Corals replied:

The frags wouldn’t be “mystery” frags if we did that. I assure you none of our frags are trash. If you end up with something you already have or don’t want, I’m sure you can find someone that will trade you. Thanks for shopping with us and for participating in our thread on r2r and congrats on winning. Let us know if we can answer any other questions.

Gregg

Jun 25, 2023
Oh wow, I haven't had a vendor be unwilling to work something out.

I don't trade corals and I don't have a QT tank so everything I get either goes in the display or gets thrown away. I'm not able to leave my house at this point which is why I buy corals online.

What if I provided you with a list of like 5-10 corals that TCK sells and you pick from that list? Then it's still a mystery of what I will actually receive.

Thank you,
Ben

Jun 26, 2023
My reply to TCK Corals wrote:

Hi,
I'm following up because I never received a response. Please let me know.

Also, can you tell me when my order is scheduled to ship?

Thank you

Jun 27, 2023
Received order shipped notice



This is really frustrating because if they would have just responded to my email on the 25th, I could have declined the mystery frags entirely.


What do you think? What would you do?

 

[afrokobe]

You should just decline the freebies next time

 

[Ben549]

You should just decline the freebies next time

Did you read to the end? I would have if they would have responded. I'm not opposed to freebies that I can care for. All freebies don't have the same care requirements.

 

[exnisstech]

I still don't know what the heck a codybot is but if you don't want a mystery prize maybe don't play the games

 

[The_Paradox]

Not sure the exact circumstances but I don’t enter contests for things I don’t want. I do have a frag tank and even I would not want a mystery frag. Last thing I need is some stupid star polyp or more meteor shower.

 

[Ben549]

I still don't know what the heck a codybot is but if you don't want a mystery prize maybe don't play the games

I like playing the games though. Codybot is the guy that runs the games. A lot of them have interesting facts that I end up googling because I want to know more.

 

[Ben549]

Not sure the exact circumstances but I don’t enter contests for things I don’t want. I do have a frag tank and even I would not want a mystery frag. Last thing I need is some stupid star polyp or more meteor shower.

GSP DESERVES LOVE TOO I get your opinion though.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes comes to mind. I agree with everything you’re saying…..up until the winning of said mystery item.

 

[The_Paradox]

GSP DESERVES LOVE TOO I get your opinion though.

I get it. Contests are fun. Just as you pointed out any life/pet is a responsibility. IMHO that’s not a prize it’s an obligation. Corals are money though and the vendors run these promotions for customer acquisition.

Pseudo related a buddy here is trying to pawn off a 15lb live rock totally covered in Xenia. He got the Xenia as a “freebie” and we all told him not to put it in his tank. His weekends are now spent pulling Xenia out of his pumps

 

[Ben549]

I get it. Contests are fun. Just as you pointed out any life/pet is a responsibility. IMHO that’s not a prize it’s an obligation. Corals are money though and the vendors run these promotions for customer acquisition.

Pseudo related a buddy here is trying to pawn off a 15lb live rock totally covered in Xenia. He got the Xenia as a “freebie” and we all told him not to put it in his tank. His weekends are now spent pulling Xenia out of his pumps

I've experienced that before, a little zenia though a pump or powerhead, and then it is everywhere!

 

[billyocean]

 

[Reefer Matt]

I am curious as to why you participated if you weren't prepared for a truly random frag?

 

[Cell]

Fair point, but you could just pass on the prize instead of expecting special treatment.

 

[Justdrew]

Wow.... more complaining.

 

[Cell]

They gave you their answer, you didn't like it and tried again. Had you not opened with this snark:

Jun 25, 2023
Oh wow, I haven't had a vendor be unwilling to work something out.

Maybe they would have responded and reiterated the no answer.

 

[Cell]

Vendor: Here is a free frag for you!

Customer: Can I pick it out?

Vendor: Sorry, no, it's a mystery frag.

Customer: WOW you are being unreasonable, how about if I give you a list?

Customer: Why didn't you respond to my last email?


Come on man! This exchange went exactly as one would expect. You did not need another response to tell them you don't want the mystery frag. Then to ping them on this to drag them and attempt to get what you want is not cool.

 

[Ben549]

I am curious as to why you participated if you weren't prepared for a truly random frag?

Sometimes the games happen pretty quickly or you just happen to win. I wasn't after a mystery frag but I ended up winning that game. I certainly played plenty of games that I didn't win.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

TLDR: Corals are animals with specific care requirements and deserve respect.

I get it and agree with you, although any living being ending up in your trash goes against what you are suggesting (treating corals with respect), so I truly hope you are finding other humane options.

…this post does clarify for me, how the previous owner of my tank gave me a biocube 14 with a condy in it, having no idea what kind of nem it was until I told him… So yeah, small tank, big condy (who thankfully hosted the clowns instead of eating them!), I get where you’re coming from.

 

[Ben549]

Fair point, but you could just pass on the prize instead of expecting special treatment.

I guess I don't see it as special treatment for me. I hope that the vendor and the customer both care about the livelihood of the coral and want to make sure it goes to someone who can care for it.

 

[Ben549]

I get it and agree with you on the contest part, although any living being ending up in your trash goes against what you are suggesting (treating corals with respect), so I truly hope you are finding other humane options.

…this post does clarify for me, how the previous owner of my tank gave me a biocube 14 with a condy in it, having no idea what kind of nem it was until I told him… So yeah, small tank, big condy (who thankfully hosted the clowns instead of eating them!), I get where you’re coming from.

In my old tank, my wife had the idea to add a bubble tip. Which was pretty, until it started splitting and killing the other corals. You could argue to just take the other nems out but that's not what my wife was willing to do. Sure made cleaning the tank fun by getting stung by all the nems ha ha

I wish I had a bigger tank and could offer better diffusion of flow in order to support more types of corals. Mixed reefs can be tricky.