Liveaquaria Shipping Disaster :|

[Viva'sReef]

I've backed out of a few items in my LA cart because of threads like this.

What irks me the most is that live chat you had with them where they tell you over and over again that it's YOUR responsibility to ensure that YOU'RE available and that YOUR frustration has been noted in my account. Why couldn't they handle it better then? Why did it take a post on this public Reef forum for them to step up? That's too late, your REP has already been put out on blast. Fix the problems before they reach this stage.

 

[revenant]

wow.. I have never ordered from LA but literally just placed an order for 25 blue legged hermits from them before reading this lol. hmmmm.... well I will cross my fingers. I hope this all gets sorted out for you for the best.

 

[hds4216]

I was able to get a hold of a neighbor to bring it into their house, but I don’t have a way for anyone to get into my house to put it in the QT. I’m not having them open it up - not sure if they should.

Don't have them open it. The ammonia is more more dangerous when pH rises, and it will if exposed to air.

 

[czoolander]

Not the best situation for sure but to play devils advocate here I really don't think you should have stated that shipping on 3/1 would be fine if you knew you would be out of town on 3/3 and 3/4 . That does not leave a lot of wiggle room if they miss delivering to you on 3/2 . Not an ideal situation for sure but I would not put blame 100% on the shipping company . Hopefully it works out for you and the fish is safe and happy !!!

 

[kenchilada]

It would be rather easy to add a feature to the site that shows a shipping window on a calendar and let the customer block off days for their order. Might make this all easier to manage for support. I know I’d use it.

 

[hds4216]

This is particularly unfortunate because leopard wrasse don't ship very well. Unfortunately OP, I would prepare for the worst

I think @EvanDeVita knows something about leopard wrasse, maybe they can weigh in.

 

[Viva'sReef]

Not the best situation for sure but to play devils advocate here I really don't think you should have stated that shipping on 3/1 would be fine if you knew you would be out of town on 3/3 and 3/4 . That does not leave a lot of wiggle room if they miss delivering to you on 3/2 . Not an ideal situation for sure but I would not put blame 100% on the shipping company . Hopefully it works out for you and the fish is safe and happy !!!

There isn't any wiggle room when shipping fish IMO. It delivers the next day or it's dead. LA understands that, so did the buyer. It was communicated in advance and LA failed on all parts other than being somewhat proactive in nature to ask the customer what days were best for him because of the recent weather delays across the country.

Some coral might be ok extending into a 2nd day but that's not a risk anyone ever really wants to take anyway. That's when it's unfortunate, when it's out of peoples hands and nature causes unexpected delays. Then again, it's been mentioned before that this is not the best time of year weather-wise, throw in covid and an unusually high rate of packages shipping around the country things happen but alas, people want stuff.

 

[awwinterfall]

Premeasure a cup of salt. put an ammonia or chlorine binder in a zip lock bag. put a large piece of rock and sand from the main tank in a bucket.

Give the bucket to the neighbor and instruct them to mix the salt with tap water and then add the contents of the zip lock.

The rock should keep the ammonia down.

Also tell them to cover the bucket to prevent jumping. maybe give them a heater and teach them how to plug it in.

I would pay the neighbor or treat them to a good dinner for the inconvenience.

 

[awwinterfall]

It would be rather easy to add a feature to the site that shows a shipping window on a calendar and let the customer block off days for their order. Might make this all easier to manage for support. I know I’d use it.

It would be helpful if they have a programmer input a system where the customer selects the shipping date.

It also saves the company headache from annoyed customers and employees getting screamed at. Also the cost of replacing livestock and the efforts of rectifying situations.

 

[hds4216]

Premeasure a cup of salt. put an ammonia or chlorine binder in a zip lock bag. put a large piece of rock and sand from the main tank in a bucket.

Give the bucket to the neighbor and instruct them to mix the salt with tap water and then add the contents of the zip lock.

The rock should keep the ammonia down.

Also tell them to cover the bucket to prevent jumping. maybe give them a heater and teach them how to plug it in.

I would pay the neighbor or treat them to a good dinner for the inconvenience.

If OP had access to the main tank/QT they could just put the wrasse in there lol

 

[jmichaelh7]

This is sort of just a rant, so I apologize if nobody cares. I'm just SO frustrated right now and I don't know what to do.

I buy almost all my fish from Live Aquaria's Divers Den. I've spent literally thousands of dollars with them for my fish. Things have been pretty reasonable. Expensive prices for some fish, but overall the quality has been reasonable and better than what I get from my LFS.

I purchased a Leopard Wrasse from them on February 12th. It was a Friday, so they didn't actually process the order until early the following week. Well by then that big storm was brewing, so I reached out and let them know that I would still be willing to accept the package if they shipped it out, but suggested that they delay it until the end of the week until the storm passed.

I received an email on February 16th stating that the shipping date was rescheduled for Wednesday February 17th. Cool! February 17th rolls around, no shipment email. 18th, nothing. 19th, nothing.

On February 23rd I send an followup email asking if there was an ETA on the shipment.

On February 25th I follow up again because I had still heard nothing.

Later in the afternoon on the 25th I received a response saying that they will try to get any shipments that were being held out by March 1st. The email also said, and I quote, "If you cannot receive your order on certain days, please call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx, email, or use our Live Chat feature".

Well, I was going to be out of town on 3/3 and 3/4, but would be back home early on 3/5. I immediately responded to the email letting them know that if they shipped on 3/1 that would be fine, but that I would be entirely unable to receive delivery of the fish on 3/3 or 3/4. If they were unable to ship on 3/1, they would need to hold it and ship it on 3/4 for a 3/5 delivery. I received an email back saying that the request was received.

Fast forward to 3/3. I get an email at 6:00PM saying that I have an overnight package being delivered for the morning of 3/4. WHAT?! No! You asked me when I would be unable to receive the shipment and I clearly said 3/3 and 3/4! I franticly send an email to support and try calling their support line, but by then they were closed for the day.

So now, the day before I'm set to arrive home, I have a live fish sitting outside my front door. That fish has the luxury of sitting there for the next 12 or so hours before it either suffocates, freezes to death, or chokes to death on the ammonia buildup in its bag. If it does miraculously survive, who knows what sort of damage it will have.

I still haven't received a response to my email asking why the heck they shipped it after asking me what days I wouldn't be available to receive it, so I hopped on their chat to speak with someone. And this was the most frustrating part.

I was expecting something along the lines of "We're sorry, yes this was a mistake, we'll credit you the cost of the fish if it's dead, or we'll extend the guarantee", or SOMETHING along those lines, especially since this fish is strangely considered "expert only" which doesn't come with a guarantee after delivery. Instead, I was simply told over and over again that it's my responsibility to ensure that I'm available and that my frustration has been noted in my account.

WHAT!?

You people literally asked for days that I would be unavailable. I assume this was not just so you could make a pretty calendar of random customer's "unavailable" days. I assumed this was because you didn't want to send people a fish that they bought 3-4 weeks ago to sit outside their house and rot. But clearly that's not the case. Obviously if this was a normal situation and I purchased the fish and wasn't available several days after the purchase, that's on me. This was an unusual situation, though. I can't be expected to remain available indefinitely after they hold on to my shipment for nearly a month. And to essentially tell me that it's MY fault? That was about all I could take.

Really really REALLY disappointed in this company.

And on that note, what are some good alternative companies out there for livestock?

I’ve ordered 2 leopard wrasse that showed up dead man..
It’s very common I see

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have had fish spend an extra day in transit (including a leopard wrasse) and be fine, so don’t lose hope. Have to be honest I just don't trust these vendor to consistently read/acknowledge these kind of shipping notes. I also have had shipments come on days that were supposed to be blocked.

This would be fine if the shipment wasn't delayed in the first place and L.A. didt request to let them know specifically if you're not there to accept the shipment.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I’ve ordered 2 leopard wrasse that showed up dead man..
It’s very common I see

This is why I'd only pick these up only locally.

Surprisingly enough Petco gets these here and there and if it wasn't for the fact they jump i'd have 100% survival rate from Petco.

 

[BZOFIQ]

try tsm corals. better service and way healthier fish

At these prices, it better be.

 

[jorwill]

This is sort of just a rant, so I apologize if nobody cares. I'm just SO frustrated right now and I don't know what to do.

I buy almost all my fish from Live Aquaria's Divers Den. I've spent literally thousands of dollars with them for my fish. Things have been pretty reasonable. Expensive prices for some fish, but overall the quality has been reasonable and better than what I get from my LFS.

I purchased a Leopard Wrasse from them on February 12th. It was a Friday, so they didn't actually process the order until early the following week. Well by then that big storm was brewing, so I reached out and let them know that I would still be willing to accept the package if they shipped it out, but suggested that they delay it until the end of the week until the storm passed.

I received an email on February 16th stating that the shipping date was rescheduled for Wednesday February 17th. Cool! February 17th rolls around, no shipment email. 18th, nothing. 19th, nothing.

On February 23rd I send an followup email asking if there was an ETA on the shipment.

On February 25th I follow up again because I had still heard nothing.

Later in the afternoon on the 25th I received a response saying that they will try to get any shipments that were being held out by March 1st. The email also said, and I quote, "If you cannot receive your order on certain days, please call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx, email, or use our Live Chat feature".

Well, I was going to be out of town on 3/3 and 3/4, but would be back home early on 3/5. I immediately responded to the email letting them know that if they shipped on 3/1 that would be fine, but that I would be entirely unable to receive delivery of the fish on 3/3 or 3/4. If they were unable to ship on 3/1, they would need to hold it and ship it on 3/4 for a 3/5 delivery. I received an email back saying that the request was received.

Fast forward to 3/3. I get an email at 6:00PM saying that I have an overnight package being delivered for the morning of 3/4. WHAT?! No! You asked me when I would be unable to receive the shipment and I clearly said 3/3 and 3/4! I franticly send an email to support and try calling their support line, but by then they were closed for the day.

So now, the day before I'm set to arrive home, I have a live fish sitting outside my front door. That fish has the luxury of sitting there for the next 12 or so hours before it either suffocates, freezes to death, or chokes to death on the ammonia buildup in its bag. If it does miraculously survive, who knows what sort of damage it will have.

I still haven't received a response to my email asking why the heck they shipped it after asking me what days I wouldn't be available to receive it, so I hopped on their chat to speak with someone. And this was the most frustrating part.

I was expecting something along the lines of "We're sorry, yes this was a mistake, we'll credit you the cost of the fish if it's dead, or we'll extend the guarantee", or SOMETHING along those lines, especially since this fish is strangely considered "expert only" which doesn't come with a guarantee after delivery. Instead, I was simply told over and over again that it's my responsibility to ensure that I'm available and that my frustration has been noted in my account.

WHAT!?

You people literally asked for days that I would be unavailable. I assume this was not just so you could make a pretty calendar of random customer's "unavailable" days. I assumed this was because you didn't want to send people a fish that they bought 3-4 weeks ago to sit outside their house and rot. But clearly that's not the case. Obviously if this was a normal situation and I purchased the fish and wasn't available several days after the purchase, that's on me. This was an unusual situation, though. I can't be expected to remain available indefinitely after they hold on to my shipment for nearly a month. And to essentially tell me that it's MY fault? That was about all I could take.

Really really REALLY disappointed in this company.

And on that note, what are some good alternative companies out there for livestock?

Contact paypal and get your money back, send in the emails of the requested delivery and all that and also the delivery attempt they decided to make on their own. Paypal will reimburse. I do not buy from liveaquaria or saltwaterfish anymore. Learned they are terrible. Everytime I ordered from liveaquaria 3/4 of my order was DOA. Saltwaterfish i don't know they even know how to properly do anything there. I mentioned in another thread 3 out of 4 of the fish I ordered the bags were not even attempted to be sealed, literally not tied, crimped or banded, nothing fish floating in the box dead no water in the bags. The 4th bag was tied in a knot...How does that even happen.