Tropic Marin Pro Reef, bye bye

William Morris · Mar 4, 2021

aquaregia said:
I fell for this as well, but mine was supposedly shipped via USPS not UPS. Are you sure yours was UPS?

Yes it was UPS - they were able to track it and tell me that it was not delivered to my address.
PayPal is supposedly going to call UPS and verify it.

Not an IT guy · Mar 4, 2021

Don’t know why people bash on IO so much. I know it’s like a “starter” salt but I’ve been using it for going on 3 years now and I see lots of growth, fish are happy, and not so much fluctuations in elements. My PH is a bit higher than I like and I have toyed with the idea of trying a different salt like RS coral but then I look at the price and no.

rc1626 · Mar 5, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
have you reached out to tropic Marin? He has plenty of it.

Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt 200 Gal Bucket [AT922LL7] - $69.23 : hototin.com

Not sure if this warning went out yet but........
WARNING*** Don't go this route. It is a scam.
vetteguy53081 - I know you put this up on here in good faith to help everyone out but unfortunately it's just a money grab.

I purchased one bucket. Payed through PayPal with a credit card for protection due to the price looking too good to be true and it was. I received shipping info through PayPal a couple of days later with tracking for UPS. Shipping day came and according to UPS it said package was delivered and signed for but I had no delivery. Then I noticed on UPS website that it said shipment 1 of 2. I thought that was weird due to that it was only one bucket that was ordered but let's wait and see if that comes. Dead giveaway right away was the referenced weight of each. A bucket of salt is 50lbs or more. One package was 12lbs and the other less than a pound. I immediately filed a claim with PayPal and within hours was denied due to the tracking saying it was delivered and signed for.

I called UPS yesterday to do a little research to see if maybe the packages were dropped off at a local UPS store by mistake. When I asked the UPS representative where the packages were actually shipped to she told me a local veterinary hospital. I know the hospital and confirmed with her to make sure. I drove over after work today and after speaking with the billing manager at the hospital was told that both those tracking numbers were associated with their recent deliveries but one was for horse meds and the other some medical supplies. I immediately drove home and called PayPal to explain what I had found. The PayPal rep. listened to my story and immediately opened the case again, favored on my side and closed the case. I should be getting a refund in a couple of days. If it wouldn't have gone this way I would have filed a fraud claim with my credit card company.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but it sounds like a theft of tracking numbers was done of packages that were being sent to the same town. PayPal did not initially confirm the receiving address so it looked as if the packages were delivered. Unbelievable!!!!

I expressed my concern to the PayPal rep. about this person doing business on PayPal and scamming others and she said they were shutting down this sellers account.

One other red flag was that the seller's email address was a mail.ru address which I assume is of Russian origin?

Thankfully I got my $69.23 back but lesson learned.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 5, 2021

rc1626 said:
WARNING*** Don't go this route. It is a scam.
vetteguy53081 - I know you put this up on here in good faith to help everyone out but unfortunately it's just a money grab.

I purchased one bucket. Payed through PayPal with a credit card for protection due to the price looking too good to be true and it was. I received shipping info through PayPal a couple of days later with tracking for UPS. Shipping day came and according to UPS it said package was delivered and signed for but I had no delivery. Then I noticed on UPS website that it said shipment 1 of 2. I thought that was weird due to that it was only one bucket that was ordered but let's wait and see if that comes. Dead giveaway right away was the referenced weight of each. A bucket of salt is 50lbs or more. One package was 12lbs and the other less than a pound. I immediately filed a claim with PayPal and within hours was denied due to the tracking saying it was delivered and signed for.

I called UPS yesterday to do a little research to see if maybe the packages were dropped off at a local UPS store by mistake. When I asked the UPS representative where the packages were actually shipped to she told me a local veterinary hospital. I know the hospital and confirmed with her to make sure. I drove over after work today and after speaking with the billing manager at the hospital was told that both those tracking numbers were associated with their recent deliveries but one was for horse meds and the other some medical supplies. I immediately drove home and called PayPal to explain what I had found. The PayPal rep. listened to my story and immediately opened the case again, favored on my side and closed the case. I should be getting a refund in a couple of days. If it wouldn't have gone this way I would have filed a fraud claim with my credit card company.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but it sounds like a theft of tracking numbers was done of packages that were being sent to the same town. PayPal did not initially confirm the receiving address so it looked as if the packages were delivered. Unbelievable!!!!

I expressed my concern to the PayPal rep. about this person doing business on PayPal and scamming others and she said they were shutting down this sellers account.

One other red flag was that the seller's email address was a mail.ru address which I assume is of Russian origin?

Thankfully I got my $69.23 back but lesson learned.

Wow- Good to know

William Morris · Mar 5, 2021

rc1626 said:
WARNING*** Don't go this route. It is a scam.
vetteguy53081 - I know you put this up on here in good faith to help everyone out but unfortunately it's just a money grab.

I purchased one bucket. Payed through PayPal with a credit card for protection due to the price looking too good to be true and it was. I received shipping info through PayPal a couple of days later with tracking for UPS. Shipping day came and according to UPS it said package was delivered and signed for but I had no delivery. Then I noticed on UPS website that it said shipment 1 of 2. I thought that was weird due to that it was only one bucket that was ordered but let's wait and see if that comes. Dead giveaway right away was the referenced weight of each. A bucket of salt is 50lbs or more. One package was 12lbs and the other less than a pound. I immediately filed a claim with PayPal and within hours was denied due to the tracking saying it was delivered and signed for.

I called UPS yesterday to do a little research to see if maybe the packages were dropped off at a local UPS store by mistake. When I asked the UPS representative where the packages were actually shipped to she told me a local veterinary hospital. I know the hospital and confirmed with her to make sure. I drove over after work today and after speaking with the billing manager at the hospital was told that both those tracking numbers were associated with their recent deliveries but one was for horse meds and the other some medical supplies. I immediately drove home and called PayPal to explain what I had found. The PayPal rep. listened to my story and immediately opened the case again, favored on my side and closed the case. I should be getting a refund in a couple of days. If it wouldn't have gone this way I would have filed a fraud claim with my credit card company.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but it sounds like a theft of tracking numbers was done of packages that were being sent to the same town. PayPal did not initially confirm the receiving address so it looked as if the packages were delivered. Unbelievable!!!!

I expressed my concern to the PayPal rep. about this person doing business on PayPal and scamming others and she said they were shutting down this sellers account.

One other red flag was that the seller's email address was a mail.ru address which I assume is of Russian origin?

Thankfully I got my $69.23 back but lesson learned.

Same thing happened to me.
My mistake was having my PayPal account linked to my checking account.
I first went thru PayPal and they denied the claim saying the package was delivered.
Eventually I was able to call and the PayPal rep was able to track the scam as the post above states.
I am getting my money back now.

However, lesson learned here - I had called BofA and they said because it was a ACH transaction that could not help me get my money back. If I had used a CC or DC they could have stepped in.

I immediately deleted my checking account from PayPal and replaced the payment method with a CC.

I was using my checking account because I'm lazy and don't want to have to reconcile CC every month. I pay cash for everything.

rc1626 · Mar 5, 2021

William Morris said:
Same thing happened to me.
My mistake was having my PayPal account linked to my checking account.
I first went thru PayPal and they denied the claim saying the package was delivered.
Eventually I was able to call and the PayPal rep was able to track the scam as the post above states.
I am getting my money back now.

However, lesson learned here - I had called BofA and they said because it was a ACH transaction that could not help me get my money back. If I had used a CC or DC they could have stepped in.

I immediately deleted my checking account from PayPal and replaced the payment method with a CC.

I was using my checking account because I'm lazy and don't want to have to reconcile CC every month. I pay cash for everything.

Sorry this happened to you as well. I also have my bank account connected to PayPal but it's not set as my preferred method of payment.

William Morris · Mar 5, 2021

rc1626 said:
Sorry this happened to you as well. I also have my bank account connected to PayPal but it's not set as my preferred method of payment.

I deleted my bank account because if for some reason the CC doesn't go thru it will default to your bank account if that is the only other source.
Probably the better way to play it is to have your debit card as the backup - I have never had a dispute with my credit card that couldn't be resolved by the bank.

Mellotang · Mar 5, 2021

Mellotang said:
Especially @ $69 for 200g

wholesale cost more than that

suspicious

Hate to say it but....

Mellotang · Mar 5, 2021

Sorry guys

At least you caught it up early

William Morris · Mar 5, 2021

It was worth a shot - and there was a financial lesson to be learned with banks not being able to mitigate ACH transactions. That will serve me and others for a lifetime.

Sportn · Mar 5, 2021

jaganshi066 said:
Well not all stores are doing that so I don’t know what to tell you

I don't mind supporting my LFS and will pay a little more per bucket to do so as there are other trade offs that make it mutually beneficial but there are limits. Bottom line, if they go through with a $20 bump per bucket it says to look for another LFS or distributor to get my salt.

rc1626 · Mar 10, 2021

Here it is again......don't fall for it. They take your money and you get nothing.

KStatefan · Mar 10, 2021

rc1626 said:
Here it is again......don't fall for it. They take your money and you get nothing.

Why post a link to a scam?

rc1626 · Mar 10, 2021

My apologies if that was a bad move. My intentions are to show people the link so they know what to look for. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

mike550 · Mar 10, 2021

rc1626 said:
My apologies if that was a bad move. My intentions are to show people the link so they know what to look for. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

Not a bad move. I saw that post a few times but went back to if it’s too good to be true it probably probably isn’t.

dank reefer · Mar 15, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
have you reached out to tropic Marin? He has plenty of it.

Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt 200 Gal Bucket [AT922LL7] - $69.23 : hototin.com

Have you purchased from this vendor you posted before? This price seems to good to be true!