Does LiveAquaria Ship Orders?

[Aspect]

Do they? I've had an order for 3 weeks with no update or responses

 

[Saltyreef]

Uh........have you called them?

 

[Aspect]

Uh........have you called them?

I've left emails

 

[Gordo8]

I had a DOA claim issue two years ago and was not able to get a response or a hold of anyone on the phones. Once I threatened to to file a complaint with my state and listed all the times and ways I tried to contact them, I received my DOA claim funds. Most people have stopped doing business with them.

 

[Biokabe]

Yes, they ship orders.

They are not very responsive, particularly by email. They have gone through multiple changes of ownership in the last 10 years or so and a lot of the business seems to run on a, "Squeaky wheel gets the grease," sort of basis. If you are easy to ignore (which you are when you operate on email) you will be ignored.

Moreover, the way they seem to operate is this:

• Receive a list of livestock they should be able to get quickly. These items are listed as "in stock."
• When they receive an order for an animal, actually attempt to acquire said animal.
• Once they receive the animal, attempt to keep it alive for a day or two.
• If it survives that observation time, they package and ship the animal.
• If it doesn't, start over again.
• If the customer forces the issue and finds a way to get past the "ignore" firewalls, short-circuit the observation period and drop-ship the fish directly from the wholesaler once it comes in.

I have no idea if that is what they are actually doing, but it's consistent with what people have reported for them over the last few years and what I myself saw when I made the mistake of ordering through them.

Orders seem to sit in limbo for a long time, exactly as if they were trying to bring in something and failing to actually get it. Eventually, without warning the order is fulfilled, usually when the customer has decided that they won't be getting it. When the order is fulfilled, it's a complete crapshoot as far as health, packaging and everything else. Someone recently had a great experience with a pyramid butterfly, but in my case my flameback angel was almost DOA and didn't make it past the first day.

If you want to get your order going, call them on the phone. Make yourself un-ignorable. If you don't really care, just leave it alone and they'll eventually ship, probably when it's very inconvenient for you to receive a fish.

 

[Aspect]

Yes, they ship orders.

They are not very responsive, particularly by email. They have gone through multiple changes of ownership in the last 10 years or so and a lot of the business seems to run on a, "Squeaky wheel gets the grease," sort of basis. If you are easy to ignore (which you are when you operate on email) you will be ignored.

Moreover, the way they seem to operate is this:

• Receive a list of livestock they should be able to get quickly. These items are listed as "in stock."
• When they receive an order for an animal, actually attempt to acquire said animal.
• Once they receive the animal, attempt to keep it alive for a day or two.
• If it survives that observation time, they package and ship the animal.
• If it doesn't, start over again.
• If the customer forces the issue and finds a way to get past the "ignore" firewalls, short-circuit the observation period and drop-ship the fish directly from the wholesaler once it comes in.

I have no idea if that is what they are actually doing, but it's consistent with what people have reported for them over the last few years and what I myself saw when I made the mistake of ordering through them.

Orders seem to sit in limbo for a long time, exactly as if they were trying to bring in something and failing to actually get it. Eventually, without warning the order is fulfilled, usually when the customer has decided that they won't be getting it. When the order is fulfilled, it's a complete crapshoot as far as health, packaging and everything else. Someone recently had a great experience with a pyramid butterfly, but in my case my flameback angel was almost DOA and didn't make it past the first day.

If you want to get your order going, call them on the phone. Make yourself un-ignorable. If you don't really care, just leave it alone and they'll eventually ship, probably when it's very inconvenient for you to receive a fish.

This makes much more sense. I make sure even if I don't get responses to communicate through email in case of a dispute becomes necessary. Thanks for the info

 

[winxp_man]

This makes much more sense. I make sure even if I don't get responses to communicate through email in case of a dispute becomes necessary. Thanks for the info

You can simply use a recorder to record the convo just as most companies now do for “quality” assurance. Thus the phone call becomes a better option. But yes they will ignore you emails. My last order through them was for a purple tang. About 2 years ago. The shipped me two By mistake. I ended up keeping one that was 2” when I got it, it’s now 5.5”, the second was smaller but the dude just wanted to murder my two yellow tangs so I have him to a buddy of mine!

After the most recent bankruptcy ordeal, I have not even dared looked into their direction. No thanks!

 

[Aspect]

You can simply use a recorder to record the convo just as most companies now do for “quality” assurance. Thus the phone call becomes a better option.

Thanks, not really looking for possible options on what I can and can't do, just looking for people with recent experiences with the company like I asked.

 

[JGT]

I use them only for their frozen foods and I order like 20-30 16oz flat packs. They usually ship a couple days after I place my order. If they don’t have something in stock or less quantity than I requested, they charge me only for what’s been shipped.

 

[Louis Z]

I thought they went bankrupt . Maybe their website is still accepting orders . That bugs the heck out of me . Call your credit card company and start the process . Once in bankruptcy o the the large creditors get a small percentage back of what they are owed

 

[Louis Z]

Let’s see , I will add them to my list of buyer beware with RedSea aquariums . Arizona aquatic gardens . Ford motor company

 

[billrob71]

I’ve done several orders they seem to ship with in a couple days at the longest

 

[Ryan - Serious Reefs]

What is generally accepted as the modern replacement for LA?

 

[mpatterson42]

I ordered a fish on May 4, it was shipped on June 1 and arrived June 2.

I did email/call them several times as I thought it would ship within a few days of being ordered and I would get fairly generic response of "The reason the order has not yet shipped is that our team has been closely monitoring the condition and overall readiness of the livestock to ensure they meet our health and quality standards before shipment."

Fish arrived, I did a quarantine treatment, transferred it to my display tank and it's still doing good.

 

[Aspect]

I ordered a fish on May 4, it was shipped on June 1 and arrived June 2.

I did email/call them several times as I thought it would ship within a few days of being ordered and I would get fairly generic response of "The reason the order has not yet shipped is that our team has been closely monitoring the condition and overall readiness of the livestock to ensure they meet our health and quality standards before shipment."

Fish arrived, I did a quarantine treatment, transferred it to my display tank and it's still doing good.

Thank you so it seems my timeline is typical, I'll probably wait another week.

 

[MizzouMark]

I just received an order from LiveAquaria. Placed the order July 15, received it July 24. By far the longest lag time between order and receipt. I've had much faster timing using Saltwaterfish.com and Reef Beauties. I order captive bred through BRS (ORA) and Biota and receive good timing from both.

 

[BloopFish]

They sure changed a lot since Kevin Kohen left it...

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Cleaned this thread up. We never tell people with questions to go search somewhere else. This is part of why this forum exists. We also don’t mock one another. Thats a violation of the TOS. Let’s treat one another kindly please. Thank you,