Saltwateraquarium.com

[ARCkeeper]

Sorry you feel that way unfortunately that's the way things happen sometimes, I don't have anything close to that experience so I can't say the same. I also feel like all these places look through customer purchase history and make a judgment call based a little off that as well, so sometimes it's a bad business call to lose money for someone they aren't making any money from or enough money from over an extended amount of time, thats just business, plus alot of people have a sense of entitlement in their complaints that just rub customer service people wrong so they may not be recieved the same way when someone is polite, not that this is fair to said person but it's completely understandable, this is an American company and people are free to go take their business to Walmart if they so choose. Luckily there's tons of saltwater aquarium type stores locally and online to suit everyone's needs!

#my opinions

I totally get what you're saying but that type of behavior from a customer service rep is unprofessional and if they react that way to upset customers they made a poor career choice. This was my first email to them

My order of Fritz marine mix was delivered today and to my surprise it was not delivered in the original manufacturer's box. The bag of salt had been removed from the Fritz box and put in a clear trash bag and a plain brown shipping box along with the packing slip, and crudely taped shut. Is this a new shipping policy or was it done by FedEx in transit?

I checked the bag that Fritz packages the salt in and it doesn't appear to have been compromised, but the re-usable zip tie they close the bag with doesn't look to be cinched as tightly as it should be, making me wonder if the bag was opened.

If this is the way you're shipping the salt now, it makes me uneasy. If FedEx damaged the original box in transit, they shouldn't have delivered it in the condition they did. That would also make it the second time they completely botched my salt delivery from you in less than a year. After the last time I started buying my salt locally, but I recently decided to try you again because your prices are better. If the reboxing was done by you then I will trust the salt and use it; if not, then I have no assurance the the bag wasn't opened and possibly contaminated.

I didn't think I was being demanding or entitled, but I could be wrong. and even for the 3 months that I was buying my salt locally I continued to buy other goods from them. I guess it just stings after so long as a loyal and enthusiastic customer.

 

[EagleEye121]

I buy most if not all of my supplies from Saltwateraquarium.com, they have been nothing short of fantastic in my experience

 

[SaltwaterAq]

I totally get what you're saying but that type of behavior from a customer service rep is unprofessional and if they react that way to upset customers they made a poor career choice. This was my first email to them

My order of Fritz marine mix was delivered today and to my surprise it was not delivered in the original manufacturer's box. The bag of salt had been removed from the Fritz box and put in a clear trash bag and a plain brown shipping box along with the packing slip, and crudely taped shut. Is this a new shipping policy or was it done by FedEx in transit?

I checked the bag that Fritz packages the salt in and it doesn't appear to have been compromised, but the re-usable zip tie they close the bag with doesn't look to be cinched as tightly as it should be, making me wonder if the bag was opened.

If this is the way you're shipping the salt now, it makes me uneasy. If FedEx damaged the original box in transit, they shouldn't have delivered it in the condition they did. That would also make it the second time they completely botched my salt delivery from you in less than a year. After the last time I started buying my salt locally, but I recently decided to try you again because your prices are better. If the reboxing was done by you then I will trust the salt and use it; if not, then I have no assurance the the bag wasn't opened and possibly contaminated.

I didn't think I was being demanding or entitled, but I could be wrong. and even for the 3 months that I was buying my salt locally I continued to buy other goods from them. I guess it just stings after so long as a loyal and enthusiastic customer.

ARCKeeper - Thanks for posting this. I'm sorry for your experience, it should have been better. This is not the way we ship salt. Fritz boxes are blue/red double wall graphic boxes just like the photos on our listings. These meet all the criteria for FedEx & ups to ship directly so we just put the label on the outside of the fritz boxes and double tape the seams. When FedEx or ups damages a salt shipment enroute to you they will do one of three things.

1. They will deliver a mangled pile of mess, leaking salt everywhere. It will look like a truck ran over it. In this instance all we need is a photo of the damage (so we can submit a claim to FedEx/ups) and we ship you a new one.

2. They will deliver an empty box with a note that says sorry we screwed up your package. In this instance all we need is a photo of the note (so we can submit a claim to FedEx/ups) and we ship you a new one.

3. They will discard the fritz branded box, put the contents of the old box in a new brown box, and put a shipping label on the new brown box that says re-labeled. That is a good way to know that the shipping service damaged and reboxed your order. If the salt bag is sealed then your are fine to use the product because it's still in good condition and hasn't been tampered with. In this instance you can keep the salt and use it or if for some reason you want to return it because the outside package was replaced in transit just let us know. In this instance all we need is a photo of the relabel shipping label (so we can submit a claim to fedex/ups) and the reboxed salt and we ship you a new one.

We would never rebox salt, there is no reason for it. That is a complete waste of our time, materials, etc. We see this reboxed of items probably 20-50 times a year on average. It's a pretty common resolution for FedEx or ups when something get's smashed or damaged by their trucks/workers/machines.

As for the ziptie, that's how fritz seals their packages. They have been using them since day one. I can understand why you would have questions about your package if a zip tied bag shows up in a random brown box and this is your first shipment of fritz with a ziptie bag.

Again sorry for the confusion and the carriers repackage relabel.

 

[ARCkeeper]

ARCKeeper - Thanks for posting this. I'm sorry for your experience, it should have been better. This is not the way we ship salt. Fritz boxes are blue/red double wall graphic boxes just like the photos on our listings. These meet all the criteria for FedEx & ups to ship directly so we just put the label on the outside of the fritz boxes and double tape the seams. When FedEx or ups damages a salt shipment enroute to you they will do one of three things.

1. They will deliver a mangled pile of mess, leaking salt everywhere. It will look like a truck ran over it. In this instance all we need is a photo of the damage (so we can submit a claim to FedEx/ups) and we ship you a new one.

2. They will deliver an empty box with a note that says sorry we screwed up your package. In this instance all we need is a photo of the note (so we can submit a claim to FedEx/ups) and we ship you a new one.

3. They will discard the fritz branded box, put the contents of the old box in a new brown box, and put a shipping label on the new brown box that says re-labeled. That is a good way to know that the shipping service damaged and reboxed your order. If the salt bag is sealed then your are fine to use the product because it's still in good condition and hasn't been tampered with. In this instance you can keep the salt and use it or if for some reason you want to return it because the outside package was replaced in transit just let us know. In this instance all we need is a photo of the relabel shipping label (so we can submit a claim to fedex/ups) and the reboxed salt and we ship you a new one.

We would never rebox salt, there is no reason for it. That is a complete waste of our time, materials, etc. We see this reboxed of items probably 20-50 times a year on average. It's a pretty common resolution for FedEx or ups when something get's smashed or damaged by their trucks/workers/machines.

As for the ziptie, that's how fritz seals their packages. They have been using them since day one. I can understand why you would have questions about your package if a zip tied bag shows up in a random brown box and this is your first shipment of fritz with a ziptie bag.

Again sorry for the confusion and the carriers repackage relabel.

Thank you for reaching out to me, but we still aren't communicating. I am very familiar with Fritz salt and the reusable zip tie. The point I was making in my first email was that it looked as though the bag had been opened and that it had been reclosed. The zip tie was loose and all the way at the top of the bag instead of tight to the salt the way Fritz usually ships it. I later weighed the bag and it was 2 lbs short.

Where things fell apart was that I said in my email that it looked like the bag had been opened and reclosed and Greg responded to me that there was no way to reuse the zip tie. I admit that I lost my temper and responded badly. I live chatted with Greg on your site, and he refunded the order and helped me delete my account. I do regret losing you as a source for my reef needs after all these years, but under the circumstances I think it's the right course.

 

[SaltwaterAq]

Thank you for reaching out to me, but we still aren't communicating. I am very familiar with Fritz salt and the reusable zip tie. The point I was making in my first email was that it looked as though the bag had been opened and that it had been reclosed. The zip tie was loose and all the way at the top of the bag instead of tight to the salt the way Fritz usually ships it. I later weighed the bag and it was 2 lbs short.

Where things fell apart was that I said in my email that it looked like the bag had been opened and reclosed and Greg responded to me that there was no way to reuse the zip tie. I admit that I lost my temper and responded badly. I live chatted with Greg on your site, and he refunded the order and helped me delete my account. I do regret losing you as a source for my reef needs after all these years, but under the circumstances I think it's the right course.

Ok. Now I understand what your putting down. So it sounds like your issue has been handled. It was just a matter of FedEx & UPS damaging the outer part of the shipment, but the bag of salt was still sealed and there were no visible leaks but the ziptie had slid up the bag. In any case it looks like we refunded your order in full even though the salt was probably perfectly fine to use, did you use the salt or toss it? Either way I'm glad it was handled, looks like a communication issue trying to figure out the condition of the shipment after the repackage. You can always open a new account if you need more supplies. We really do try to do what's best.

 

[ARCkeeper]

I tossed the salt. I didn't see any obvious contamination but because the weight was off I am sure the bag had been opened. I pictured the bag opening in the middle of the warehouse and them scooping the salt back into the bag and resealing it. I have too much time and money invested in my tanks to take the chance.

 

[Alex_star]

I love this company and let’s not mention the customer service it’s one of the greatest, I just ordered a Neptune Apex system bundle kit from these guys. And the packaging didn’t even have a single scratch! There in Gettysburg PA and I live all the way here in Texas and I even ordered livestock from them like Scarlett hermit crabs and even fish! In my opinion, they’re the best place online to get invertebrates for your cleanup crew they come alive and very active and I have never experienced anything arriving dead! Don’t underestimate these guys!

 

[Hallowhead]

Nothing but good things to say on my end. I believe I also bought stuff thru them via eBay.

 

[Gill the 3rd]

This is an old thread, but since its been brought back to life I figured I would put in my 2 cents. I've always had a great experience ordering from saltwateraquarium.com. I've ordered everything from salt, equipment and corals (ORA through saltwateraquarium.com) for a few years now. Their rewards points and gifts are great. I have so many saltwateraquarium.com pint glasses lol. Shipping is super quick as well, often times I will get it the next day if it ships out of their Gettysburg location. They are my first go-to and only order from BRS when saltwateraquarium.com doesn't carry the item I'm looking for. I had an awful customer service experience at BRS however...

Saltwateraquarium.com customer service was great to me when I had an issue with an ORA coral order. ORA customer service was terrible and non responsive, but saltwateraquarium.com customer service stepped in and was fantastic.

 

[Genvid]

I shop from saltwateraquarium.com often and love everything. Everything arrives quickly, my order arrived yesterday 100 Gallon Standard Reef Cleanup Crew
, everything arrived alive, beautiful packaging. I am very pleased.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

just to put up some numbers lol, I love these guys I too found them on ebay first and have been with them ever since, I also prefer them over the "big reef store" but both are great and actually carry different products, I find more stuff and in stock at saltwateraquarium and never any issues.

 

[Lavey29]

This is an old thread, but since its been brought back to life I figured I would put in my 2 cents. I've always had a great experience ordering from saltwateraquarium.com. I've ordered everything from salt, equipment and corals (ORA through saltwateraquarium.com) for a few years now. Their rewards points and gifts are great. I have so many saltwateraquarium.com pint glasses lol. Shipping is super quick as well, often times I will get it the next day if it ships out of their Gettysburg location. They are my first go-to and only order from BRS when saltwateraquarium.com doesn't carry the item I'm looking for. I had an awful customer service experience at BRS however...

Saltwateraquarium.com customer service was great to me when I had an issue with an ORA coral order. ORA customer service was terrible and non responsive, but saltwateraquarium.com customer service stepped in and was fantastic.

Totally agree here, saltwateraquarium.com is great but that ORA vendor they work with is terrible.

 

[jhadaway]

I go between BRS and SaltwaterAquarium.com depending on what I'm looking for. SA sells everything ORA and I have bought lots of inverts from them. They've always been great and they have a few different brands than BRS. I give BRS a little more business b/c I feel a loyalty to them for everything I've learned from the videos. Same goes for Tidal Gardens. Great website and great videos on coral. My LFS Leaves a lot to be desired and I steer clear unless there is an emergency.

 

[SaltwaterAq]

Thank you guys for all the love. Were just a small fish in a big pond trying to help our customers be successful and enjoy the hobby.

 

[adammarcos]

I have had three transactions - two bad (dead fish and the wrong item shipped) and one that was received in great shape.

 

[AquaLogic]

Wow the experiences are mixed in here.

I will say this, as someone who managed/trained/hired/fired customer service reps in a call center for over a decade. The vast amount of poor customer experiences are because the customer is rude from the get go and it raises the hackles of the rep. That's not right, but it's human nature. Being nice on the phone goes a long way. That said, I also had plenty of customer service reps that I had to fire because they were crappy to customers and did a terrible job. It's a mix, but anecdotally most problems are actually about a customer being a jerk. (Coming from the experience of listening to many thousands of calls monitoring our agents.)

But everyone has misses. I always get good service from BRS, but I see they have complaints. A lot of people love Aquarium Specialty, but when I ordered salt from them last week they just set the order to "closed" after a few days and refunded it. I had to e-mail them twice to ask what happened and was finally told they didn't have stock, even though their website showed it.

Regardless, I just ordered a bunch of Hydros stuff from Saltwater Aquarium, so I guess we'll see how it goes!

 

[ARCkeeper]

I didn't realize this thread was still alive. I would like to post a follow-up. I won't say I didn't have a bad customer service experience (and no, I wasn't rude until I thought I was being called a liar) but I had used saltwateraquarium.com for years with only good experiences. I was frustrated with problems that affected several consecutive shipments of salt. These problems originated with the shipper, not saltwateraquarium.com. I was frustrated that I was out of salt and, once again, the shipment was botched. I was likely oversensitive and let my temper get the better of me. It still left a bad taste in my mouth, and I still don't use them regularly, but when I was looking for a particular fish I found it on their site. Communication could have been better, but the fish was healthy, active, and eating like a pig. Over time I could see myself using them again. Baby-steps !