Rant about ordering fish online from store

[Proteus]

Wanted to vent little bit on a order that just ruined my morning.


First: I saw a perfect opportunity to re-build the L204s colony, this site was having SUPER clearance. Might as well order whatever they had left at 10 bucks apiece that was a steal.

Second they had Jaguar cats as well.... was thrilled about that as 2 left, was going to be a perfect addition to the Jaguar cat tank, which made it more complete.


This morning, waited and was excited for the Fed Ex to pull up and give me the package.


Got the package, was lighter than I expected.


first thing I see is a post-it saying sorry that they were short 3 fish, 1 jaguar cat and 2 of the L204s when I opened the box... fine that's normal, little bit disappointed but common for business like that.

I immediately opened the wrapping , the jaguar cat fish this fella was obviously sick from the get-go.

poor fella. on the thin side too but a trooper. Head's all scrapped up. - Wasn't happy from the start.

the last bag... that was supposed to have 4 L204s in there just immediately infuriated me beyond belief that a fish store would think those were L204s.

2 female BNs
2 clown plecos, P. Maccus was the first thing I thought of when I saw them.

a hour of trying to cool off, and not getting in the car and stepping on the gas to that store.... its a 1 hour drive one way with good traffic, with gas price I was glad to pay 25 in shipping.

I know there are many stores that have clueless people, but this one just took the cake. I don't care if I got mistakenly sent in a p. maccus as long as I get a refund, but BN plecos - I do not want any of those in my tanks- ever. I'm still catching juvies - they're unwanted weeds to me right now. Thats total of 5 fish that I'm looking at right now next to me in a rubbermaid tub that I just don't know what to do right now until I hear back from the store

[MatsP]

Sorry to hear about your problems... And confirming my main concern with mail-ordering anything. If you see the fish before it goes in the bag, you can say "Not that one", etc.

I understand that sometimes it's difficult to get to the shop and back again, especially in less densely populated parts of the world (like parts of the USA). And of course, there are some very good shops that will ship what it says on the web-site, and fish will arrive in good condition.

--
Mats

[joefish72b]

I have been on both ends of the situation as buyer and seller. Like Matts says it's much easier in person no matter which side you are on.

As the buyer I've been completely misled only once by a private seller and pretty much never heard from him again. Another time I was shipped fish that were smaller than quoted from a regular fish shop. The shop couldn’t apologize enough and bent over backward to make me happy. In the end I kept the fish and was given a more than generous discount.

As the seller I have had only one customer complaint due to poor wording in my item description. Without them asking I shipped another order that met their needs at no charge and no expense to the customer and told them to keep the first order. They couldn’t believe I was so helpful and honest and since then they have ordered several more items with no problems. Which proves that exceeding customer expectations should be the first rule of business.

I hope the person you are dealing with does the right thing for you. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Proteus]

The jag cat is healing up along nicely- would be a stunner once fully grown-

ending up putting BNs into the LFS, clowns are still under QT with the jag cat.


So hopefully this is an happy ending for an unhappy beginning

[apistomaster]

I think that source was not even trying to be honest.
I have to both buy and sell fish on line or keep Zebras(Danios); the pickins' in town are pretty slim.
An honest on line dealer should never substitute fish without your express permission and only then from a list of alternatives you have provided.
If they are short on the numbers of the fish you want you are owed the opportunity to decide to cancel the order. I mean you are already knowingly paying through the nose for the high cost of overnight delivery so you should get only the fish you want.

I would be mad as hell if I received P. maccus as L204 and receiving unwanted Bushy Nose Guppyostomus is completely unacceptable. I still have a few but I take pains to prevent unwanted breeding. Like you, I consider them the "weeds" in my tanks. Can't wait to replace them with a more desirable species. I am trying to replace common bushy nose with Ancistrus claro(LDA08) and those are the only Ancistrus species I want in the house.

I am receiving fish from 2 different on line dealers this week and I know I will get what I ordered. One of the dealers already let me know he did not have the 120 Green Neons I ordered. I was able to come up with some other fish so I can justify the expense of the freight. My greatest worry is still the weather because even with overnight delivery, there is still a considerable risk of the fish getting too cold en route. Spring seems slow in arriving this year here and many other parts of the country.

Basically you only received one very expensive Jaguar Cat you may or may not have ordered if all that was you could get from their stock on hand. I think you deserve a refund and not a credit. Credit is fine when you get what you ordered and the carrier does not protect the fish from the cold. That is out of the control of buyer and seller. Dumping their garbage and misrepresentation to you deserves some compensation to you from the seller.

As a seller, I have a very simple philosophy. Would I be happy to receive the fish I send out? If the answer is yes, then no one gets disappointed.

[Proteus]

I'm glad that someone feels the same way I felt.


Cheers

[Joost]

As a seller, I have a very simple philosophy. Would I be happy to receive the fish I send out? If the answer is yes, then no one gets disappointed.

[apistomaster]

Hi joost, Thank you for your encouragement. I really try to make sure my customers get nice sized fish instead of 1 inch/2.5 cm baby plecos and my prices are the same as those who sell babies.

I just ordered a few fish from http://www.wetspotcx.com in Portland, OR and I was really peeved they would not match the $1.00 each others sell Green Neon Tetras and wanted $1.60 each even in 100 lots.
That cost them a lot of this order and future orders. I intended to buy about 140 Green Neons and the salesman wouldn't budge. I know I can get them for $1.00 each by being more patient.
All I ordered were 6 Farlowella, 25 common Otocinclus and 6 of a Characidium species of Darter tetras.

I am waiting to hear from http://www.anubiasdesign.com about whether or not they have received more Green Neons at $1.00, 25 N. eques Pencilfish and 25 Silver Hatchetfish.

I am stocking a heavily planted 125 gal, small fish community tank instead of using it for wild Discus like I usually do.