A nightmare experience with shipping: my worst encounter

[bettaMagenta]

1st off, my F-1 angel is a sweetheart, just chillin' and no drama... Mrs. Loves the baby Cory's from that shipment, they're adorable...

Now, the other shipment - total disaster... First off, it was supposed to be a 2-day shipment, but the box wasn't even marked 'live fish' or 'fragile'... I was supposed to get 5 fish, but they scratched that down to 3... and to make matters worse, they charged my card for the full 5... I think they actually threw in a dead one from their own facility - I've never gotten a fish that was already decomposing in the bag... 2 out of the 3 were DOA, and one was literally falling apart... I'm at a loss for words... gonna let them try to explain this mess.

[Ceese]

Was this from Discus Madness?

[bettaMagenta]

No, not from Discus Madness - they're actually my second favorite seller and shipper. Mrs. Loves the baby Cory's that came from them today. Got 5 of the little ones and they're all doing great, pictured below. The bigger one I've had for a year now, survived through my bad water before I got the RO.

This other seller, though, is a whole different story. I've ordered from them twice and the first time, a year ago, I never even got my fish but at least I got a refund. This time, there's just so much wrong - no excuse for it. Do we have a section for bad sellers? I want to make sure no one else has to deal with this. I'll list all the details once I get my refund or if they refuse to credit my card.

[infold]

That's just ridiculous, shipping you 3 and charging for 5. I'd definitely want to hear their explanation too. Never heard of this happening to anyone before, just don't know what to say.

[wandg]

Sounds like a shady deal to me. I'm definitely interested in hearing the seller's name when you're ready to share. Hopefully, you'll get your refund and some answers.

[coltin]

Do you have any photos of the bags when you first opened the box? I'd love to see how they were packaged.

What's the size of the Geophagus? Were the cichlids packed together or separated in individual bags?

Was the water cold when you received the shipment? Did the box have any heat packs in it?

Generally, fish can survive two days in bags if they're packed correctly. But you'd think they'd at least put live fish stickers on the box and opt for a 24-hour express shipment.

[sSjey]

1st off, my F-1 angel is a sweetheart, just chillin' and no drama... Mrs. Loves the baby Cory's from that shipment, they're adorable...

Now, the other shipment - total disaster... First off, it was supposed to be a 2-day shipment, but the box wasn't even marked 'live fish' or 'fragile'... I was supposed to get 5 fish, but they scratched that down to 3... and to make matters worse, they charged my card for the full 5... I think they actually threw in a dead one from their own facility - I've never gotten a fish that was already decomposing in the bag... 2 out of the 3 were DOA, and one was literally falling apart... I'm at a loss for words... gonna let them try to explain this mess.

We do have a seller review section, you're more than welcome to use that. It's actually called 'Store Reviews', where you can review places you've purchased hobby equipment from.

Just a heads up, we have to be careful with negative reviews as there's a risk the forum could be sued. However, as long as you stick to the facts of your experience, you're fine. Describe your experience with ordering, how the fish were packed, what they sent versus what you ordered - that kind of thing. We're not looking for rants with no evidence, just the facts of what happened.

[bettaMagenta]

The Geophagus were roughly 3 inches, all 3 in the same bag. Styrofoam-lined box, heat pack included.

[Emeraldsea]

When I buy from online stores, I expect fish of that size to be in individual bags, not three in one. Normally, when they're wild-caught or from a fish farm, multiple fish are in one large bag, but that's not usually the case with online purchases.

[bettaMagenta]

Got a response from Arizona Aquatic Gardens this morning. They claimed, "We do not ship out fish that are dead, we have been in business for 36 years, so that is not any way to be." I'm not buying it. They're refunding the unshipped fish, and issuing a credit for the DOA ones - $24.00 to be exact.

I fired back, expressing my dissatisfaction with their response. I told them the third fish, the one that was swimming in that rotten soup, didn't make it through the night. I should've flushed them all, to be honest. The Loaches looked fine, but I'm hesitant to order from them again, given the issues I've had with both orders. No 'Live Fish' or 'Fragile' labels on the box? That's just not right.

I'm a farmer myself, we raise our own meat on my wife's family farm, so I'm trying to be understanding. But Arizona Aquatic Gardens needs to step up their game. Raising all those fish is commendable, but if they can't get them to the consumer in one piece, they've failed. I won't be recommending them to anyone on the fish forums I'm a part of. Two out of two orders with problems? That's enough for me.