LiveAquaria Experiences: Still Bad

[Biokabe]

I won a gift card to LA last year, and it's been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. Their dry goods section is so limited it's sad, and I couldn't really find anything worth spending it on there... so I hung on to it, and with this last week and LA's shipping promo (free shipping on livestock orders $99 and up), I decided to take a gamble and see if Live Aquaria was really as bad as their reputation.

They were.

I ordered a flameback angel. LA shipped when they said they would ship... which is about the only positive thing I can say.

When I opened the package, I immediately knew there were going to be issues. It was a standard 12x12x12 shipping box, and there was basically no fill in the package. Three pages of newspaper, loosely wrapped around the shipping bags. With only two bags in the package (the angel and a pack of snails), there was nothing to keep the bags upright. I also don't think there were any heating packs in the package - I'm not 100% sure on that, I'd have to retrieve the package to check, but I don't remember any.

So, I pulled the shipping bags out. Mr. Flameback was in the bag, loosely floating around. At first I thought he was dead, but closer inspection revealed that he was just breathing. Flopped over on his side, unable to swim, colors faded, and very thin. Even if he had been properly packaged I'm not sure that he would have survived... but we'll never know, because he was definitely not properly packaged. His bag had very little water in it compared to previous fish shipments I've received, and there was no positive pressure in the bag - it hadn't been filled up with oxygen. Just a bit of water filled in, crimped closed, and double bagged.

As mentioned, there was very little fill in the box, and when I pulled the bag out it was on its side; like that, there was barely enough water to keep him submerged, and depending on how the bag shifted during shipping, it would have been very possible for him to be trapped out of the water.

I still acclimated him according to LA's directions (which themselves are very outdated and not really the best practices for fish-shipping these days). As he had absolutely no swimming power, I added him to the tank (lights off) in an acclimation box with some PVC piping for shelter. He couldn't even get into the piping. To no one's surprise, he didn't make it.

I'm not sure how healthy he was to begin with - he was very thin and his colors were definitely faded. But I'm not sure that any fish would have survived the way he was shipped unless it got very lucky. Maybe it works out if you order enough so that the bags themselves are packed tightly enough that they don't fall over... but who wants to give LiveAquaria that much money?

 

[Uncle99]

I won a gift card to LA last year, and it's been burning a hole in my pocket ever since. Their dry goods section is so limited it's sad, and I couldn't really find anything worth spending it on there... so I hung on to it, and with this last week and LA's shipping promo (free shipping on livestock orders $99 and up), I decided to take a gamble and see if Live Aquaria was really as bad as their reputation.

They were.

I ordered a flameback angel. LA shipped when they said they would ship... which is about the only positive thing I can say.

When I opened the package, I immediately knew there were going to be issues. It was a standard 12x12x12 shipping box, and there was basically no fill in the package. Three pages of newspaper, loosely wrapped around the shipping bags. With only two bags in the package (the angel and a pack of snails), there was nothing to keep the bags upright. I also don't think there were any heating packs in the package - I'm not 100% sure on that, I'd have to retrieve the package to check, but I don't remember any.

So, I pulled the shipping bags out. Mr. Flameback was in the bag, loosely floating around. At first I thought he was dead, but closer inspection revealed that he was just breathing. Flopped over on his side, unable to swim, colors faded, and very thin. Even if he had been properly packaged I'm not sure that he would have survived... but we'll never know, because he was definitely not properly packaged. His bag had very little water in it compared to previous fish shipments I've received, and there was no positive pressure in the bag - it hadn't been filled up with oxygen. Just a bit of water filled in, crimped closed, and double bagged.

As mentioned, there was very little fill in the box, and when I pulled the bag out it was on its side; like that, there was barely enough water to keep him submerged, and depending on how the bag shifted during shipping, it would have been very possible for him to be trapped out of the water.

I still acclimated him according to LA's directions (which themselves are very outdated and not really the best practices for fish-shipping these days). As he had absolutely no swimming power, I added him to the tank (lights off) in an acclimation box with some PVC piping for shelter. He couldn't even get into the piping. To no one's surprise, he didn't make it.

I'm not sure how healthy he was to begin with - he was very thin and his colors were definitely faded. But I'm not sure that any fish would have survived the way he was shipped unless it got very lucky. Maybe it works out if you order enough so that the bags themselves are packed tightly enough that they don't fall over... but who wants to give LiveAquaria that much money?

I thought these guys were done reporting an $8m loss in October and a supposed file under chapter 11?

 

[NanoSteam]

I thought these guys were done reporting an $8m loss in October and a supposed file under chapter 11?

Not quite but at this pace it wont be long.

 

[Uncle99]

Not quite but at this pace it wont be long.

Agreed.
Under chapter 11, a business can still sell, but are shielded from there creditors.
This is to allow time for the business to reset itself.
Unfortunately, success is rare.

 

[Biokabe]

They're still operating. There do appear to be court filings around a bankruptcy, and they were definitely selling off facilities. But still marketing, still operating, still selling.

They really have no business doing so. Amazon packages that are only protecting $10 plastic junk were better packaged, with more fill, than the package they sent me with live fish. If that represents their standard shipping procedure, I can't imagine many of their shipments result in good outcomes.

 

[PapaFishRocks]

The fact that peeps are still ordering from them and expecting no issues, amazes me.

 

[Biokabe]

I agree. The only reason I gambled with them is that I was basically playing with house money. If I were actually sitting down to spend my actual money... I can think of dozens of companies I'd go with before LiveAquaria.

And that's sad, because they used to be the industry standard.

 

[mfinn]

They stopped adding any padding in their boxes several years ago.
I placed an order ( several years ago) for 2 corals and some inverts.
This was early winter, temps in my area were in the middle 40's daytime temps and near freezing at night.
The box came and it had one of those cheap insul bags. The top of the box was mostly open. It was taped, but with zero support underneath, any pressure from above, and the tape let go.
The bag wasn't sealed shut, and had 2-3 air pillows in it. No heat pack inside the bag. The bags were just loose to roll around. Nothing survived. Water was in the low 40's.
They gave me a store credit which I used on frozen food.
That came too in the crappy bags they use.
But they shipped it ground ( even thought it was billed as frozen food ) and it was thawed and warm. (temps in the 60's by this time).

 

[Terry Le]

Sad they used to be the best 15 years plus ago. Customer service were awesome. But no I wouldn’t order from them nowadays

 

[Mebbid]

Thanks for sharing, glad I saw this. I am recently back to the hobby after too long away and didn't realize they went downhill that much.

 

[freepizza80]

Liveaquaria just came up with new business strategy to increase their sales. Send out incomplete orders and only issue store credit. That way people have to buy again to use store credit. In my case, they forgot to send something worth around $35. They are refusing to send the missing items or refund, only store credit. So in order to use my store credit, I have to spend same amount for shipping. I can understand store credit for DOA but you can't do that if you didn't even send the items.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Rates a big fat in my book.