[leebca]

I'd like to hear about your experience either negative (-) or positive (+) with an online fish seller/provider. No need to even mention the name of the supplier. Just would like to know your experience.

Why did you decide to order online? No local fish store? No LFS you trust? or $ or ?
Did you get 'good' fish?
Was there a guarantee? what?
Did you ever make a claim on the guarantee? How did that turn out?
Did you receive what you thought you ordered? Was it straightened out?
How was the communication, service, responsiveness?
Would you order again from that same place?
Would you order again from an online supplier if you had a local fish store with those same fishes that would cost the same?

Please post! Please share! [I see you lurking -- squeak up! ]

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by leebca

Why did you decide to order online? No local fish store? No LFS you trust? or $ or ?

The fish I wanted were not available locally and the LFS in my area refused to order them for me.

Did you get 'good' fish?

Yes.

Was there a guarantee? what?

The guarantee was live arrival.

Did you ever make a claim on the guarantee?

Yes.

How did that turn out?

Fine. My original pair of Cirrhilabrus scottorum were shipped from Dallas on what turned out to be an extremely cold night (low 20's). Water temp in the bags was 63 degrees Fahrenheit on arrival. The male was in bad shape and he died within 24 hours. The vendor promised to ship me a replacement out of his next shipment. The replacement was shipped five weeks later.

Did you receive what you thought you ordered?

Yes. In fact, the fish were spectacular!

Was it straightened out?

Yes, the fish that did not survive the shipping stress was replaced free of charge, no questions asked.

How was the communication, service, responsiveness?

Good but sometimes it is difficult to reach them.

Would you order again from that same place?

Yes. Their prices are not cheap but their livestock is superb and their packaging is excellent.

Would you order again from an online supplier if you had a local fish store with those same fishes that would cost the same?

I do not order online if the same fish is available locally and I know the source of the fish. I refuse to buy fish that have been kept in tanks running copper 24/7 and I hesitate to buy fish from certain areas because of the risk of harmful collection practices. My preference is for captive-bred fish when they are available.

[Ixthys]

Why did you decide to order online? No local fish store? No LFS you trust? or $ or ? Convenience, availability and guarantee.
Did you get 'good' fish? They've always been beautiful and as promised. Did have a few Fairy Wrasses that didn't survive one order.
Was there a guarantee? what? 14 days. I find this amazing that anyone can offer this (www.liveaquaria.com if you haven't figured it out!). This is the number 1 reason I support this vendor.
Did you ever make a claim on the guarantee? How did that turn out? Great. Refunded my money and appologized for the loss.
Did you receive what you thought you ordered? Yes Was it straightened out?
How was the communication, service, responsiveness? Very good
Would you order again from that same place? Definitely
Would you order again from an online supplier if you had a local fish store with those same fishes that would cost the same? Yes, b/c my local fish store won't give a 14 day guarantee. A company/store that offers a return or replacement policy says it stands behind it's product. They want the fish to survive so health of the fish, quality of packaging, speed of delivery, water quality fish are shipped in...all have to be considered.

[leebca]

Thanks Ninong and Ixthys. I hope others will post their experience(s).

For myself, I've received fish from 6 different online sources. It's a mixed bag when it comes to results. Some of the more (or less) reputable Internet large operations are pretty good at honoring their guarantee, though my experience is that the fish 'wax and wane' in quality over the years.

Some of the online companies have deals with wholesalers in Los Angeles to drop ship fishes to the online customers on behalf of the seller. It is interesting to note how many online fish sellers don't keep or see the fish they sell.

I've also seen the wholesaler picking the fish for those sales. Some of their employees are careful when filling these orders, and pick a healthy fish (but often not the 'cherry' in the group) and yet others pick any old fish (in shock or hiding in a corner) they can quickly net.

The number of wholesalers using copper is sadly increasing.

Anyone obtaining fish from an online source, should take the 10 minutes it takes to test the bag water. In fact, when the bag is first opened during acclimation (It Was Acclimation, I know. . .) I like to save a few ounces of the water for testing. Not every bag, just a random sampling. I test for copper amongst some other things.

Has anyone else bought from online sources? Please share!

[prow]

Why did you decide to order online? No local fish store? No LFS you trust? or $ or ?

wanted a hard to find fish. now i order often from online.

Did you get 'good' fish?

yes never had a sick one or a skinny one either.

Was there a guarantee? what?

on some of the fish. its like a 15 day stay alive

Did you ever make a claim on the guarantee? How did that turn out?

yep, one bag came in leaking, the fish died that same day. had another sent out and got it that same week in great shape.

Did you receive what you thought you ordered? Was it straightened out?

most of the time. however the last three times i have ordered i got everything but one fish. here is what i ordered and got those times.
;order a yellow clown goby got a moroon clown(online vender let me keep the maroon and gave credit for the yellow clown)
;ordered 2 bluejaw tile fish and got 1 purple tilefish(again let me keep it and sent out the 2 bluejaws)
;ordered a kenya tree coral and got maybe a pocillopora Cauliflower Coral(posted it here coral ID, ordered one and this is what showed up. still waiting to see what is it might be the right one we will see.

How was the communication, service, responsiveness?

very good

Would you order again from that same place?

yes

Would you order again from an online supplier if you had a local fish store with those same fishes that would cost the same?

same price, LFS for sure. always a plus to see it, maybe seeing it eat even before you buy it. but online i find is alway cheaper. i usually buy some snails or something else, one fish at time is about the same as LFS after shipping. but if you buy a few iteams it becomes cheaper than the LFS. i do find i can buy drygoods cheaper than most of the LFS can buy it for themselves.

[dougc]

Why did you decide to order online?

I couldn't find the fish I wanted locally.

Did you get good fish?

Yes. In both cases, the fish were in good condition when received. I did make it a point to order only when weather conditions were appropriate. I would not order fish online in the dead of winter or during a heat wave.

Was there a guarantee?

15 days (liveaquaria.com).

Did you ever make a claim?

Yes. I ordered seven spinecheek cardinals and one died the day I received it. They gave me credit without any hassle.

Did you receive what you ordered?

Yes.

How was the communication, service?

No problems. The only disconnect is that the customer service people are not anywhere near the place where the fish were shipped from, so they couldn't answer questions about the livestock.

Would you order again from the same place?

Absolutely.

Would you order again from an online supplier if you had a local fish store with those same fishes that would cost the same?

Probably not. I'd rather eyeball the fish myself.

[leebca]

Thanks prow and dougc!

Any others want to contribute?