OMG! Liveaquaria switched their 14 day guarantee to a store credit!!!

[TheOne]

Also, I just got off the phone with LA customer service, and they said:
1. Store credit counts towards the free shipping minimum. The credit is only applied after your total is calculated for free shipping.
2. Store credit can be used towards any product sold on the LA/DD website. This includes dry goods. LA said it could even be used to cover the cost of taxes.

It seems that @TheOne had a different experience, so I don't know what to say to that.

Yes, the credit is only applied after you meet the $149 minimum for shipping. And my experience is they tell you what you want to hear over the phone. Trying to actually use the store credit is another story. Good luck. I got my money back from PayPal. Their customer service basically told me if I disputed it then they would not accept paypal payment from me again.

 

[Hal3134]

Yes, the credit is only applied after you meet the $149 minimum for shipping. And my experience is they tell you what you want to hear over the phone. Trying to actually use the store credit is another story. Good luck. I got my money back from PayPal. Their customer service basically told me if I disputed it then they would not accept paypal payment from me again.

Yeah, that's why I edited my post to name the customer service agent. I don't normally like to do that kind of thing, but you have a lot more credibility if you can say "On December 3, Hunter told me...".

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I just ordered from LA.and have a question. Since I purchased a box for 10 bucks should I expect a refund if my box arrives damaged?

I used to shop exclusively from them because of their great policies and service.
I will still shope there, but look at other options for every purchase. They are now on par with everyone else instead of being the top dog.

Change is hard lol I had just gotten over them buying out flying fish Express!

 

[vangvace]

Just wondering - do any of your lfs provide any credit or guarantee on marine life?

I have 3 in my area. The two that promote it heavily also seem to have less healthy livestock.

 

[Kzang]

Can we knock you for not treating tangs with copper even if they don't show signs of illness? A powder blue with ich? shocking!!!

Well, copper was treated early at first signs. Why put a fish through a toxic treatment if it doesn't have what your treating? This time around, I'm doing TTM

 

[Kzang]

Meanwhile my order that was supposed to be here today was held by UPS for an extra day, luckily I'm off tomorrow as well to receive it - but I'm worried about what I'll be receiving at this point. Not LA's fault by any means, this one is 100% on UPS.

This happened to my LA order today too. Contact them and let them know. ******* UPS

 

[Kzang]

Yes, the only way to get free shipping is to spend an additional $149. Then you can add on your store credit. It is absolutely ridiculous. Especially if you are given a store credit of $150 because then you have to spend $299 to recieve free shipping.

I just recently went thru this whole headache with them. I even had them pull up my account showing I have spent over $700 with them over the last 18 months and now they are changing all of their policies and will just keep giving you the runaround. I tried every way possible to spend my $150 store credit but ultimately I realized they were just going to end up with at least $50 of it back unless I spent $299 or more on live stock.

Granted I can add that much livestock but what about the person with a nano tank or similar? How are they suppose to add that much in livestock? They can't and liveaquaria knows it.

This is wholly incorrect. I had $106 credit. I ordered 186. I was charged $80. I didn't pay for shipping.

 

[hotdrop]

I don’t understand why anyone would buy fish for delivery after Black Friday or cyber Monday unless you want to use them for cat food.

 

[TheOne]

This is wholly incorrect. I had $106 credit. I ordered 186. I was charged $80. I didn't pay for shipping.

Wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong. Anyway, It's a free country. Buy what you want, ha. Still it looks like they got you for another $80 bucks though.

 

[Thales]

Not sure if you have visited their Wisconsin facility, but their ‘QT’ process is no better than any LFS out there. None of the fish receive prophylactic treatment. Most people would be better off at a LFS then Liveaquaria now.

That’s a shame.

 

[Bossman]

I bought a Ornate Leopard Wrasse and Black Leopard Wrasse from my LFS this past Friday. They both ate in the store and looked good. The Ornate is doing great, but the Black went to the bottom of the tank and laid on his side before hiding away in the rock. No sign of him for 3 days.

I kinda doubt he's survived. My LFS is great! But it happens. I won't get my money back without bringing him back in with a sample of my water. And I think my cleaner shrimp will get him before I do.

Today I received my beautiful West African Three Banded Butterfly fish from LA's DD. It's eating PE Mysis immediately after acclimation. And my BTA I received from DD today is doing great too.

I've had fish die from the LFS, swap shops and LA. I really don't see any difference. Except LA has a great selection and the prices are WAY cheaper then most other sources. I'll keep buying from LA.

 

[Ligeia]

You have to ask yourselves "Would it have been better if Dr. Fosters and Smith just closed their doors 5 years ago and never sold to Petco?"

I mean, this is one of the problems with corporate America. Smaller operations that actually care about the quality of care for livestock are bought out by bigger companies that ultimately care about making money only. Most of the people sitting on the board of Petco that make the decisions about how liveaquaria operates probably don't own reef tanks themselves, they just want to find a way to maximize profit for the least amount of payout. Sure it shouldn't have closed, but this is indicative of a larger problem with greed.

 

[ruppertb]

DD animals are at a facility where the are qt'd and watched. Non DD animals are drop shipped from the wholesaler/importer.

I live 30 minutes from the divers den facility and they are the only decent fish store within 3 hours of me. Fosters and smith shutting down there retail store really changed things for me as I get everything from amazon now. But for livestock I just drive to Rhinelander for pickup. I have had one issue with a sick fish that wiped out my whole tank, but then again that is my fault for adding them to my tank without an observation period.

 

[ruppertb]

i don't necessarily mind the store credit thing, although it's a pretty disappointing thing when you get a bunch of sick fish, they all die, and your recourse is to.. order more fish from that very same place.

Use that credit to get corals, live or frozen foods

 

[primoleo]

I agree with you all guys. The $10 box is a shame, prices went higher, UPS delays etc...

But honestly, apart from a good LFS, there is no good online alternative, to my knowledge.
At least speaking of the DD: standardized WYSIWYG pics with a huge stock and diversity, wild colonies of SPS, LSP, Clams, soft corals + the 14-day guarantee.
I feel they take advantage of that. No real competitors around, so the can do the hell they want, they'll still have people doing business with them.

 

[thewalkingdad]

Man, after reading this thread, it looks like I'm sold on Aqua Locker.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Man, after reading this thread, it looks like I'm sold on Aqua Locker.

I have never ordered from aqualocker, but I did order from their old name. What advantages do you feel aqualocker offers over LA?

 

[Reef AquaCult]

When I walk into any LFS there is no emphasis on aquaculture or sustainability. When I shop on LA/DD I know exactly what I’m getting. I can see the origin of the animal. I also appreciate they tell you which supplier the fish / corals come from. I can’t walk into any LFS and find a single captive bred yellow tang. In addition I’ve found the mortality rate of LA much lower than my LFS. I also like having the ability of getting ORA corals and fish shipped directly from their facility. So store credit is fine for me. I actually prefer the transparency and quality of LA over my LFS, even if there is a box fee and a new refund policy. I had a $100 coral arrive with RTN on it and it was fully refunded without issue.

Now if my LFS had clean, quality fish with good customer support and return policy, it would be different. But for now I will still support LA.

 

[mattzang]

When I walk into any LFS there is no emphasis on aquaculture or sustainability. When I shop on LA/DD I know exactly what I’m getting. I can see the origin of the animal. I also appreciate they tell you which supplier the fish / corals come from. I can’t walk into any LFS and find a single captive bred yellow tang. In addition I’ve found the mortality rate of LA much lower than my LFS. I also like having the ability of getting ORA corals and fish shipped directly from their facility. So store credit is fine for me. I actually prefer the transparency and quality of LA over my LFS, even if there is a box fee and a new refund policy. I had a $100 coral arrive with RTN on it and it was fully refunded without issue.

Now if my LFS had clean, quality fish with good customer support and return policy, it would be different. But for now I will still support LA.

that's a good point on the aquacultured angle, i've tried several times with numerous LFS near me and nobody wants to do an ORA/biota order

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Looking at Aqualockers site, don’t see why there is excitement around them. They seem like any other online vendor. Personally LA was the only online vendor I purchased from, none of the others seem to provide anything substantial. I’m basically done adding fish, but if I do it will most likely be from a lfs. My experiences with LA have always been positive, and I still find them to be the best among the online vendors. I am perfectly fine with store credit for fish that do not survive, however their prices are higher than most of my lfs. Positive about lfs is I get to see the fish eat prior to purchase, and no added shipping stress. For those of you that lack a decent lfs LA is still worth looking at. From personal experience there is no advantage of DD to LA.