Beware of eBay seller "mcfish3", aka Dr. Fish, aka caribbeancreatures.com

[Rob]

Beware of sloppy and scammy outfits selling on eBay.

The eBay seller mcfish3, aka Dr. Fish, also known as http://www.caribbeancreatures.com are an unattended internet operation that does not communicate with customers.

After paying promptly, they wouldn't answer my eMails, chose their own shipping date without sending me a tracking number or so much as a confirmation, and the result was that the livestock that I ordered got killed.

Couldn't get my money back, although the vendor DID respond once to eBay's mediation service...but did nothing.

I've never seen a vendor behave like this before. This "Dr. Fish" scheme is set up to automatically run eBay auctions and hit customers' credit cards without human intervention. Somebody comes in when he feels like it (it seems to be once a week) and ships the orders out without even bothering to send a tracking number to the customer to warn that livestock are coming!

I'm glad for the opportunity to warn people. Should I stay away from eBay in general?

[Ninong]

Hi Rob,

Wow! I haven't seen you around in ages!

I think you should stay away from eBay, considering your luck with them. Remember your skimmer disaster?

Personally, I have never used eBay because it appears to me that many of the items are overpriced and I have read too many "horror stories" from folks who were burned. I'm sure there are a lot of satisfied users who are happy with eBay but I think I'll pass.

Regards,

Ninong

[MarkS]

Have you disputed the charges with your credit card company?

[Rob]

Hi, everybody.

Yes, I've disputed.... it's not about the money, it's about my time, and the growing amounts of alge that are trying to take over my reef tank.

Ninong, I only had one bad experience with eBay before.... but lots of good experiences. Have actually found some good prices, and also a few good laughs when I see how high some items go. Good to hear from you again! How are things? Did you finally get your tank set up?

[scubadude]

Hi Rob

Thanx for the headsup! I think this is also true for the boards as well....I have seen ppl on the reef boards scam ppl too. Sorry to hear about your mishap. This guy is apparently out of Tavernier Florida which is down in the KEYS and he also does dive charters down there....Im not sure if you have ever been down there, but things seem to move alot slower down there....no one is in a big rush to do anything! This is NOT an excuse for poor customer service though! I know a few ppl that are starting up their own fish/coral sales down here/there....there is a big demand for it! unfortunately the customer service is not to great! If I where you I would email him a link to this thread! let him know that he could easily cut his own throat if he isnt careful!

[dattack]

What's his ebay rating? Can't seem to find it.

[naser]

ebay is almost all scam with some real.

[Firefish]

agree with Naser, ebay has given me nothing but a hard time. You might hit a good deal once every blue moon but for the most part I've come to realize that you can mostly buy the item new for a few more bucks and save yourself all the trouble and potential rip offs. Someone should e-mail this to ebay....

[Rob]

Any recommendations on where to get a lot of healthy turbo snails, blue-leg hermits, or other algae eaters? I can't keep up with the algae in my 90g, and am getting tired of spending my Saturday afternoon, often my only free time, tearing it out!

As for his eBay rating, it's at:

http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...userid=mcfish3


I can file a report with eBay after 30 days, which I'll do. However, the unwritten truth is that theyr'e on the side of the seller. If I don't cooperate fully with a seller, including paying an exorbitant "handling fee" if an auction closes at a low price, I get warnings from eBay and then get kicked off.


However, I bought my 90g tank and oak stand and canopy from a lady who listed it on eBay. This was a great experience. But she was just an individual like me, not an unattended side business. I also met my current girlfriend through eBay... she came to inspect a car that I was unloading on eBay. Believe it or not, after a year we're still in love. Maybe that's because I advised her NOT to buy my car ;)

[Green Mariner]

I had the same experience with buying live sand off e-bay!

Someone is selling what they are calling "Walt Smith Ultra Fiji Live sand" I won the bid got 23# for $5+$33 Shipping, sounds like a great deal. Well shipping was very expensive considering they shipped UPS ground from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, I recieved it in about a day and once I open the bag I knew I was ripped off. The "Ultra Live Fiji sand" was nothing more than Southdown that they added to the bag dry then added saltwater. I did get a prompt refund, but it was the fact of the trouble I went threw. So as already stated you have to be very careful about E-bay, the potential to get ripped off is very high!!

BTW, I sent Walt Smith an e-mail about these people, seems to me they are hurting his reputation!

[dattack]

Wow, sounds like ebay can be a good place to find love.
And I guess that's the good part about your experience with ebay. hehe.

But anyways, it appears that this guy hardly responds to a complaint unless you outright said he was a liar or scammer. If you stated he doesn't respond to email, he just lets it go. His dang computer is doing all the business while he sits back on vacation somewhere.

[BlueWater]

I have never had a bad thing from ebay happen to me (knock on wood)

But if you're going to buy online, I would recommend www.exoticfish.com
Its only 10 min from me, so I can just go there and pick out the live
rock, sand, creatures I want myself

Some people buy from SaltWaterFish.com as well. Havent heard any
bad things from it.

[FishTechie]

Hey Rob whats up? sorry to hear about your exp. with Ebay, If you like I have an lfs down the street from me and down the street from them is a Fedex droplocation, so if you want i can pick up some snails for you have them bagged at the lfs and drop them at fedex all within 30 min, so you'd have them the next day. I think nassarius and astrea snails down here are like 1.50 and scarlet reef hermits are 4.99 ea. so if you or anyone else is interested shoot me an email so we can get something started...

hope i can help.

[ranaman]

There is also Sea Critters which is a nice operation see http://petsforum.com/seacritters/ Them and Gulf-view have the nicest aquaculture rock. E tropicals has a build your own clean up crew special but I don't know what the service is like.

[JustPhish]

That person on ebay selling the sand has since changed the sand to Flying Fish Express origin. People should really investigate a seller some before placing a bid...especially when they are selling 25lbs of live sand for $2.

Maybe an email to FFExpress is in order now.

[scubadude]

Originally posted by Rob
Any recommendations on where to get a lot of healthy turbo snails, blue-leg hermits, or other algae eaters?

Premium Aquatics
Mexican Turbos 2.00/12+1.75/24+1.50
Nassarius $1.00 12+ .80, 24+ .70, 50+ .60 each
Margarita Snails $1.00 12+ .80, 24+ .70, 50+ .60 each
Baha Snails $1.00 12+ .80, 24+ .70, 50+ .60 each
Astrea Snails $1.00 12+ .80, 24+ .70 each, 50+ .60 each
Black White Hermit $1.00 12+ .80 / 24+ .70 each

Their website is www.premiumaquatics.com

HTH

[Green Mariner]

FFExpress already knows, and they notified EBay!

[dragon0121]

Reeftopia.com has a special where you can get 120 Astrea + 12 free Nerite snails shipped to you for $69. They also have a lot of other package deals, but I'm in desperate need of a ton of snails, so I ordered today! I only have about 20 in my 180g tank .