My BAD experience with Mfollen (Buyers Beware)

[Camaro Show Corals]

I bought a large zoa pack with solar circus zoas from him for $650 they came in this past Friday packed well and a warm heat pack but all closed up like most zoas do during shipment. Few hours later all opened up Except the Lunar Eclipse ($40) so I figured they were just slow and we all know zoas can stay closed for a few days. So Monday I contact him as I feel 3 days should be enough. From the start Mark wasnt very nice and said they were very hardy and asked for a pic, I sent a pic of them along with the others from the pack and on my rack that he could see open and beautiful. Mark then refused a refund and said 3 days is too long. I have sold tens of thousands of coral and if it was my customer I would have refunded the $40 no questions asked. I feel a zoa that never opens is not right and if the whole pack did not open I would have contacted him right away. If the guy has problems refunding $40 on $650 then he has problems. He also wanted me to pay as a friend which is a huge NO NO in the rules here and after I said no jacked up the price on the pack. All the other zoas from him are open and looking great zero issues there and I was very happy with the color and sizes.

 

[nex64]

I am always skeptical of closed polyps during shipment these days.

Usually very healthy specimens will either already be opened up in bag still or immediately open somewhat after acclimation.

Anyhow, sorry to hear about this and hopefully this seller does something to save his reputation...

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I am always skeptical of closed polyps during shipment these days.

Usually very healthy specimens will either already be opened up in bag still or immediately open somewhat after acclimation.

Anyhow, sorry to hear about this and hopefully this seller does something to save his reputation...

Much agreed.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Buyer Beware

 

[danreefman]

Some people love money to much. This the only place I've ever experienced the buyer is pretty much at full risk. Why when you buy something are you responsible for anything happening? Including shipping. Seller should cover everything without any questions. I dont even demand a pic. I just figure if they're dishonest it'll come back to get em.

I'm in deep on an order I just received from a coward! I no this guy wont pay up.

I'm hopeful you and @mfollen can get this measly 40.00 squashed. Always seemed like an upfront seller that wouldn't stress on crediting back 40.00.

Camaro Show is a stand up seller, and seller.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Some people love money to much. This the only place I've ever experienced the buyer is pretty much at full risk. Why when you buy something are you responsible for anything happening? Including shipping. Seller should cover everything without any questions. I dont even demand a pic. I just figure if they're dishonest it'll come back to get em.

I'm in deep on an order I just received from a coward! I no this guy wont pay up.

I'm hopeful you and @mfollen can get this measly 40.00 squashed. Always seemed like an upfront seller that wouldn't stress on crediting back 40.00.

Camaro Show is a stand up seller, and seller.

Thanks Dan I hope you get taken care of, You have some amazing sps and healthy at that! His was thing was I broke the plug in half and separated the zoas. Ive fragged 1000s of zoas many finicky and more expensive ones at that so when I broke the tiny amount of tissue it shouldn't have an issue unlike he thought. Sure $40 isn't a ton of money but I sure don't think twice crediting back under $100. Stuff like this goes a long way with me and people know I buy a lot of coral and sell a lot of coral every week, I like to buy from the same guys and ill be real honest there was a few sticks I really liked on his sps thread but I still keep this in the back of my head.

 

[mfollen]

I didn’t even know this thread existed, thank you @danreefman for letting me know.

First, this is the only requested refund I have not provided. Any issue with any other coral I have shipped, I have refunded. The buyer here left out a few details... the reason I did not refund was not money, it was lack of transparency from the buyer.

After receiving the coral, the buyer gave me no updates until 3 days after. After the three days, the buyer then informed me that the coral at some point wasn’t looking great so he tried a couple different dips, fragged the coral in half as well, and “tried all the tricks in his bag”.

So I provided the coral, and without the buyer updating me of any issues, the buyer proactively pursued his solely determined coarse of action. After the coral has been in his care and after I have no idea what he did to it, he then decided to ask for a refund.

If the buyer was transparent up front, informed me of an issue with the zoa looking bad upon receipt, and/or we worked together to determine the issue and best course of action, I would of refunded the coral. I have refunded other reefers who update me within a day and are transparent with what’s going on.

The coral was delivered and no complaints were made until 3 days later. I did not offer a 3 day guarantee that included doing whatever you want to the coral. There are many possible issues with zoas and many resulting solutions. Often the best option is to leave them alone in a medium flow and let them be to heal and grow. Many top zoa farmers have said this as well. If you do the wrong things, it will surely lead to the demise of the zoa.

This was not about the money, I have refunded far more money than $40. This was because the buyer operated on their own rules, did not provide any insight or updates to me until the decisions he made by himself failed.

Every other buyer I sold to has been very happy with my coral and service. This is the only buyer who I have had a problem with.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I didn’t even know this thread existed, thank you @danreefman for letting me know.

First, this is the only requested refund I have not provided. Any issue with any other coral I have shipped, I have refunded. The buyer here left out a few details... the reason I did not refund was not money, it was lack of transparency from the buyer.

After receiving the coral, the buyer gave me no updates until 3 days after. After the three days, the buyer then informed me that the coral at some point wasn’t looking great so he tried a couple different dips, fragged the coral in half as well, and “tried all the tricks in his bag”.

So I provided the coral, and without the buyer updating me of any issues, the buyer proactively pursued his solely determined coarse of action. After the coral has been in his care and after I have no idea what he did to it, he then decided to ask for a refund.

If the buyer was transparent up front, informed me of an issue with the zoa looking bad upon receipt, and/or we worked together to determine the issue and best course of action, I would of refunded the coral. I have refunded other reefers who update me within a day and are transparent with what’s going on.

The coral was delivered and no complaints were made until 3 days later. I did not offer a 3 day guarantee that included doing whatever you want to the coral. There are many possible issues with zoas and many resulting solutions. Often the best option is to leave them alone in a medium flow and let them be to heal and grow. Many top zoa farmers have said this as well. If you do the wrong things, it will surely lead to the demise of the zoa.

This was not about the money, I have refunded far more money than $40. This was because the buyer operated on their own rules, did not provide any insight or updates to me until the decisions he made by himself failed.

Every other buyer I sold to has been very happy with my coral and service. This is the only buyer who I have had a problem with.

First off I told you stuff was warm and majority of the zoas were not opened when they arrived. This is why I’m now always cautious when I get closed polyps. We both know zoas can take a while to open up, I give zoas 2 days to open up. I said I flat up broke the plug in 2. Everyone else on this site knows my tank is extremely stable and how anal I am with it, Shouldn’t have been any difference about dipping, should dip your corals for pests before adding to your tank anyway. At this point I don’t care, but I do know I will never ever give you any more of my money and I know many others will not as well. It will come around.

 

[mfollen]

The first update was three days after delivery (April 24th) on April 27th which was “Hey Mark these lunar eclipse have never opened up”. There was never a mention of a warm box.

As a buyer, if I receive problematic coral I document it with a picture and inform the seller as soon as possible. I do not decide what is best for the coral, treat it how I see best fit, and ask for a refund days after it doesn’t work.

In order to at least find a middle ground solution, I offered a replacement if the buyer paid shipping which was declined.

Every other buyer of mine is very happy with their coral. And any issues of theirs was met with timely and quality support from me, including refunds.

I hope you enjoy all the other healthy coral.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

The first update was three days after delivery (April 24th) on April 27th which was “Hey Mark these lunar eclipse have never opened up”. There was never a mention of a warm box.

As a buyer, if I receive problematic coral I document it with a picture and inform the seller as soon as possible. I do not decide what is best for the coral, treat it how I see best fit, and ask for a refund days after it doesn’t work.

In order to at least find a middle ground solution, I offered a replacement if the buyer paid shipping which was declined.

Every other buyer of mine is very happy with their coral. And any issues of theirs was met with timely and quality support from me, including refunds.

I hope you enjoy all the other healthy coral.

I always take a picture in bag and document in tank pictures for the first few days. I will do some digging. Doesn’t make a lot of sense for someone to pay shipping on $40 zoas I can get elsewhere. I would have offered a completely free. Two weeks ago I had one of my $1,500 mythical corals bounce electus detach in a guys tank 4 days after receiving it, the buyer said he may have had it in a little more flow then he should and he wasn’t a huge mushroom guy and mostly a sps guy. You know what I did? I cut him another while he got a shroom box ordered and that’s a $1,500 coral I gave him. Breaking the plug is actually less stressful then even replugging that some people do.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

As you can see in bag and popped out of cup. If the seller really thought he was top notch he would put a zip tie or dab of super glue to hold the plug in the cup.