Items arriving dead on arrival from saltwaterfish.com?

alzika · 05/01/2007, 10:27 AM

I'm a little disappointed. I ordered a few items and 2 of the chromis didn't make it, as well as my randalli pistol shrimp.

Honestly, I spent over $80 just so I could get the shrimp since my LFS doesn't have them, and I'm very mad now that I would have to spend another $100 (shipping included) just to attempt to get another one, which might arrive dead also.

Is this the norm for buying fish and inverts online? If so, I won't be doing it again.

sufunk · 05/01/2007, 10:29 AM

Seems to be the norm for saltwaterfish.com. Their customer service sucks and it seems that they have a vested interest in sending you dead items so you will spend another $79 or watever the minimum is.

Try liveaquaria.com, their shipment to me went very well even with a major screwup by fedex. All 5 anthias were alive even coming almost 2 days late.

NanoGurl · 05/01/2007, 10:38 AM

All of the crabs and snails that I bought from Saltwaterfish.com died and came in at a pathetic size. I won't order from them again for live stuff. Crabs and snails I bought locally all lived. Go figure.

papagimp · 05/01/2007, 11:19 AM

Every order I have made from saltwaterfish.com has come out just fine, no dead arrivals and all livestock looked to be in good health. Some of the better fish I ever had came from them. There are alot of variables when ordering online and even the good places will have dead arrivals from time to time. Now I'm not calling saltwaterfish one of the good places by any means, just saying it happens.

msudawgs56 · 05/01/2007, 11:28 AM

I order from Live Aquaria. They have like a 2 week guarantee. Excellent customer service!!!

Tehrab · 05/01/2007, 11:52 AM

I second the Drs. Foster & Smith sites (LiveAquaria, eTropicals, etc.), all livestock shows up happy and healthy.

fatdaddy · 05/01/2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alzika
I spent over $80 just so I could get the shrimp since my LFS doesn't have them, and I'm very mad now that I would have to spend another $100 (shipping included) just to attempt to get another one, which might arrive dead also.

Have you contacted saltwaterfish.com? They have a 15 day warranty, so just return what didn't live (directions on website). They can't do anything to help you unless you give them a chance to help you.

I've ordered from them several times without incident, and I've been very happy with the quality of the fish.

As a newbie, I order some Sally Lightfoot Crabs and then promptly found it laying dead out in the open. I contacted saltwaterfish.com and they were happy to have me return it for another. Fortunately, I was too lazy to send it in and I found my crab 5 days happy and alive. Apparently, it molted.

On another occasion, I ordered 7 emerald crabs, but *wait* I had only six! Turns out, that they gave me some very large crabs as well as one that is smaller then your pinky nail and almost translucent. I'm still happy with the deal, and I keep my eye open for the little guy.

Even with Fedex delivery, I'd pick an online vendor that is close to you. It's just a lot of stress to ship things across the country. Saltwaterfish.com is just a few hundred miles from me. LiveAquaria is great for the midwest. Not sure about west coast vendors.

Kanicky · 05/01/2007, 12:25 PM

Most of the posters on SWF.com are very happy with their orders of fish/inverts/corals. I haven't ordered from there as yet, because I'm not too thrilled with the minimum order deal, but may consider it if they ever get the Boxing Crab back in stock (unless any of ya'll know where I can get one now??)

But yes, SWF.com does have a 15 Day Guarantee, but you have to read the "to do's" on that, as I believe they require you to freeze all dead items before shipping it back to them, so that they can inspect them upon return and possibly find out why they died.

Good luck in getting things straightened out!

Cshradr7 · 05/01/2007, 02:19 PM

The online vendors should not be defined as how often the items arrive dead, but rather how they handle the situation when something does go wrong. That being said, if a company has repetative reports of DOA, it is likely that they are sending out unhealthy specimens are have poor shipping techniques.

Quote:

Originally posted by fatdaddy
Even with Fedex delivery, I'd pick an online vendor that is close to you. It's just a lot of stress to ship things across the country. Saltwaterfish.com is just a few hundred miles from me. LiveAquaria is great for the midwest. Not sure about west coast vendors.

LiveAquaria is located in Rhinelander, Wi, but most of their fish ship from their holding facilities in florida or california. Only the DiversDen items ship from Wisconisn i believe.

05/01/2007, 10:27 AM	#1
alzika Moved On Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 367	Items arriving dead on arrival from saltwaterfish.com? I'm a little disappointed. I ordered a few items and 2 of the chromis didn't make it, as well as my randalli pistol shrimp. Honestly, I spent over $80 just so I could get the shrimp since my LFS doesn't have them, and I'm very mad now that I would have to spend another $100 (shipping included) just to attempt to get another one, which might arrive dead also. Is this the norm for buying fish and inverts online? If so, I won't be doing it again.

05/01/2007, 11:19 AM	#4
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	Every order I have made from saltwaterfish.com has come out just fine, no dead arrivals and all livestock looked to be in good health. Some of the better fish I ever had came from them. There are alot of variables when ordering online and even the good places will have dead arrivals from time to time. Now I'm not calling saltwaterfish one of the good places by any means, just saying it happens. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

05/01/2007, 11:28 AM	#5
msudawgs56 Go Dawgs! Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mississippi Posts: 170	I order from Live Aquaria. They have like a 2 week guarantee. Excellent customer service!!! __________________ Mississippi State University Bulldogs!

05/01/2007, 12:25 PM	#8
Kanicky Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 194	Most of the posters on SWF.com are very happy with their orders of fish/inverts/corals. I haven't ordered from there as yet, because I'm not too thrilled with the minimum order deal, but may consider it if they ever get the Boxing Crab back in stock (unless any of ya'll know where I can get one now??) But yes, SWF.com does have a 15 Day Guarantee, but you have to read the "to do's" on that, as I believe they require you to freeze all dead items before shipping it back to them, so that they can inspect them upon return and possibly find out why they died. Good luck in getting things straightened out! __________________ Katie & Nick Seahorse, 45G Hex: h. kuda (4); Sexy Shrimp (5) Undecided, 1/2G Pico: Possibly a couple of Sexy Shrimp Current Tank Info: 45G Seahorse

05/01/2007, 10:29 AM	#2
sufunk Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Davie, Florida Posts: 2,004	Seems to be the norm for saltwaterfish.com. Their customer service sucks and it seems that they have a vested interest in sending you dead items so you will spend another $79 or watever the minimum is. Try liveaquaria.com, their shipment to me went very well even with a major screwup by fedex. All 5 anthias were alive even coming almost 2 days late.

05/01/2007, 10:38 AM	#3
NanoGurl Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Earth Posts: 4,306	All of the crabs and snails that I bought from Saltwaterfish.com died and came in at a pathetic size. I won't order from them again for live stuff. Crabs and snails I bought locally all lived. Go figure.

05/01/2007, 11:52 AM	#6
Tehrab Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 116	I second the Drs. Foster & Smith sites (LiveAquaria, eTropicals, etc.), all livestock shows up happy and healthy.