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

[AaronFReef]

My first shipment from them two months ago came in with fish in hyposalinity. I’m talking 20 ppt. Luckily I had my QT ready so I just pulled water and added RO and dropped salinity to match. I called cuz my yellow coris came in weak and sickly. Died shortly. I had called before finishing acclimation to say they were in hyposalinity and poor shape. I called for replacement. Got charged $60. Got a second fish in hyposalinity. It also died.

 

[dvmsn]

I also agree it is turning for the worse. What other online fish vendors do y'all like?

 

[Whispers]

I lost 3 fish one came with pop eye and one with lymphocystis first and last time

 

[Specfishin]

So just got done reading all these complaints and praises. First time order from live aquaria got delivered today. Past noon but expected with some extra deliveries this time of year. Very disappointed. 5 (4salt & 1 fresh) out of 8 were DOA. 1 wasnt even shipped so i got shorted a fish. Out of the remaining 2 (both freshwater) the electric blue jack dempsey had a blue dye in the water and fish wasnt colorful one bit and seemed lethargic. The other one was just semi responsive/lethargic. All shipped in one box(no issue), very little water in the bags and absolutely zero heat packs!! It was in the 40's here in FL. The bags were ice cold in the box. Cant explain how disappointed and frustrated i am over the lack of packing care given. I say this due to a package from DD showed up day before with heat pack inside. (Those salt fish are doing alright even though they seemed to have bite marks on them, which wasnt pictured and they were shipped separate bags. So overall a very disappointing experience. Not satisfied one bit and i hope, even though the freshwater fish werent for me, that i can keep the remaining 2 alive for their sake. Lost some really nice salt fish in that order and definitely wasnt cheap at all. Hope they resolve this in a manner suitable to make things right. Im not gonna let a living fish die because it "bled out its color". Still confused if this is possible or if it was dyed. The water was light blue in color like a nitrite api test "zero" reading color. I posted a pic of it for reference and the colorless fish. Maybe its some medicated additive? Not sure. Definitely leary on getting anymore livestock after this

1st order debacle. We will see. Hard to come by some of the more exotic/exquisite fish locally.

 

[alton]

What makes the ones from Africa better? Just curious.

I found out about African fish many years ago when I walked into one of my LFS and saw a cleaner wrasse and the owner told me they where the only ones he will stock since they won't die like others collected from other regions. I had mine for almost ten years. My two juveniles where over five inches before changing. My two favorite places to buy from are Africa and Maldives. My LFS can no longer get fish from Africa, it seems DD gets them all.

 

[alton]

Sadly the policy change is most likely due to customer fraud. I truly hope LA updates prices to reflect the new guarantee. It is very unlikely LA will stop selling marine fish, but if they do then what alternative is there? As I am looking at online vendors, most have policies significantly worse than LA's current one. Didn't realize how little responsibility many of these online guys take. I figured LA was on par with most other vendors, but no, they are still better.

I agree evidently it must be bad? If you look at Aqualocker they want two 30 second video's of DOA fish to get money back.

 

[alton]

I think our biggest problem as a whole is the fish are coming in with more disease's, and are not treated as well in shipping as in the past. DD gets the best fish out there, and yet they still end up with many fish marked blemished.

 

[Anchorboy]

I have been a customer for years having spent thousands of dollars. Live aquaria ships from three facilities. DD(Wisconsin) and Florida are both good about sending you what you ordered and in good condition. The Los Angeles facility is awful and has always been so. On a recent order which I complained about getting the wrong live stock, customer service told me that I would be better off ordering from DD or the Florida facility as they were better about sending the correct size fish and correct colored clam. I will no longer order from the Los Angeles facility given the lack of the money back guarantee as losses or wrong items are common place. I will order from the other two facilities.

 

[mike550]

Thank you to all who have shared their thoughts on this thread. I’m a newbie here so these experiences are helpful as I figure out “best” ways to stock my tank.

 

[iramack]

Thank you to all who have shared their thoughts on this thread. I’m a newbie here so these experiences are helpful as I figure out “best” ways to stock my tank.

I have been a customer for years having spent thousands of dollars. Live aquaria ships from three facilities. DD(Wisconsin) and Florida are both good about sending you what you ordered and in good condition. The Los Angeles facility is awful and has always been so. On a recent order which I complained about getting the wrong live stock, customer service told me that I would be better off ordering from DD or the Florida facility as they were better about sending the correct size fish and correct colored clam. I will no longer order from the Los Angeles facility given the lack of the money back guarantee as losses or wrong items are common place. I will order from the other two facilities.

I managed to get banned from ordering DD/LA livestock in August when on the second occasion I had ordered a unusual/unique looking coral, they reported it as "damaged" and unshippable. I called BS on them with some very "colorful" language included.............I was hopping mad!! So now to hear all this about them is quite a relief. I have spent thousands with them over the past few years......They can basically KMA! Which is the least of what I told/called them!!

 

[phil bevilacqua]

I have spent 1000’s with them. And will continue. Unless you can tell me where someone else has a 14 day guarantee.... most are just doa. I just ordered from a company off here and my powder blue tang was doa.... they blamed shipping company and now I have to wait for the shipping dispute for my fish... what bs! At least with them you get a credit ... for TWO WEEKS.. I mean really. Come on who does that. Lol. Fish in mail is hard enough. 2 weeks is awesome, and I just want another fish so I don’t care about store credit. Sent me 10 fish till it works. Lol.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Unless you can tell me where someone else has a 14 day guarantee.... most are just doa. . Lol.

Ummm, aqua locker has 14 day guarantee.

 

[Hypan]

Dead/Sick fish is something the hobby has been dealing with since its inception.

Makes me wonder what the demand would be for a company to do a real 30-60 day quarantine and conditioning of fish before sale. Of course the price would be higher but how much value would that peace of mind hold? $250 sailfin tang? $30 green chromis. Just like anything else , you pay for quality .

With the prices we are used to I suspect that we are just going to have to deal with a certain amount of these things. I mean, we are dealing with wild animals here. We could shift the risk to someone higher up the supply chain but that would incur costs that I fear most reefers would lose their minds over.

These are live animals that have their own individual story and history. Who knows what the heck happened to them in the ocean before they were scooped up and shipped halfway around the world to arrive on your doorstep.

From my time in the hobby and seeing dumpsters, literal dumpsters full of dead fish from the wholesalers. Its no surprise that these health issues crop up. By the time the fish hit our tanks they have already been through hell.

I think We need to work together as a group to drive quality upstream and push for better collection and husbandry practices across the board.

 

[Scott (Mack) McIntosh]

I'm pretty angry about this. It wasn't in place the last time I ordered a few months ago and I don't remember LA telling me about the change. They are going downhill fast. I'm seriously reconsidering giving them my business.

The last two times I dealt with them I got burned....watch out

 

[Thaxxx]

I have spent 1000’s with them. And will continue. Unless you can tell me where someone else has a 14 day guarantee.... most are just doa. I just ordered from a company off here and my powder blue tang was doa.... they blamed shipping company and now I have to wait for the shipping dispute for my fish... what crap! At least with them you get a credit ... for TWO WEEKS.. I mean really. Come on who does that. Lol. Fish in mail is hard enough. 2 weeks is awesome, and I just want another fish so I don’t care about store credit. Sent me 10 fish till it works. Lol.

You'll pay shipping and box fee plus tax 10 times too.

 

[phil bevilacqua]

Ummm, aqua locker has 14 day guarantee.

Ty

 

[MnFish1]

I just think it's total crud to give store credit. That's the kind of junk that shady running-on-a-shoestring stores do. In the physical/meat world anytime I see a sign behind the register that says "No refunds, store credit only" I walk to a different store.

I guess I disagree. I mean - the goal was 'the fish' - and a store credit gets the fish replaced. On the other hand - if you buy a TV - for example - you couldn't go into the store and say 'I bought a TV yesterday' - it doesnt work and ask them to replace it (assuming you didnt bring the TV back). You aren't returning a live fish. To me, anyway, thats the difference.

I have no real dog in the fight - I dont buy any fish online anymore

 

[divewsharks]

So just got done reading all these complaints and praises. First time order from live aquaria got delivered today. Past noon but expected with some extra deliveries this time of year. Very disappointed. 5 (4salt & 1 fresh) out of 8 were DOA. 1 wasnt even shipped so i got shorted a fish. Out of the remaining 2 (both freshwater) the electric blue jack dempsey had a blue dye in the water and fish wasnt colorful one bit and seemed lethargic. The other one was just semi responsive/lethargic. All shipped in one box(no issue), very little water in the bags and absolutely zero heat packs!! It was in the 40's here in FL. The bags were ice cold in the box. Cant explain how disappointed and frustrated i am over the lack of packing care given. I say this due to a package from DD showed up day before with heat pack inside. (Those salt fish are doing alright even though they seemed to have bite marks on them, which wasnt pictured and they were shipped separate bags. So overall a very disappointing experience. Not satisfied one bit and i hope, even though the freshwater fish werent for me, that i can keep the remaining 2 alive for their sake. Lost some really nice salt fish in that order and definitely wasnt cheap at all. Hope they resolve this in a manner suitable to make things right. Im not gonna let a living fish die because it "bled out its color". Still confused if this is possible or if it was dyed. The water was light blue in color like a nitrite api test "zero" reading color. I posted a pic of it for reference and the colorless fish. Maybe its some medicated additive? Not sure. Definitely leary on getting anymore livestock after this

1st order debacle. We will see. Hard to come by some of the more exotic/exquisite fish locally.

LA does add Methylene Blue to the water for freshwater fish shipments. So that blue tinge you see is medicated water.

 

[divewsharks]

Ty

If you pay for it. You have the option not too, it is an add on that you can choose.

I have ordered from them, they do a good job but if a fish was to die you will be issued a store credit after you send them a video of the fish (to verify it is actually dead).
Their customer service was good; but I also never had any complaints when I called LA/DD either.

 

[Rgbpixels]

I'm pretty angry about this. It wasn't in place the last time I ordered a few months ago and I don't remember LA telling me about the change. They are going downhill fast. I'm seriously reconsidering giving them my business.

Agreed. I just placed my last and final order from them using credit from fish that didn’t make it to purchase Hikari food. They have gone downhill rapidly.