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Unread 10/29/2019, 05:46 PM   #1
nightOwl
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Live Aquaria box charge...hmmmmm

So is LiveAquaria now actively trying to loose customers? First the refund policy now this. Today I went on to order some fish and noticed there was a box charge on my order that was under $149. So I pushed my order up to $174 and noticed the box charge was still there. Does anyone know if this is a permanent thing? I just ordered less than a month ago and there was not box charge. Any suggestions on other online vendors with quality fish for a reasonable price?


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Unread 10/30/2019, 02:56 AM   #2
ThRoewer
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Yeah, they thought that they were selling too much livestock and so they did what they could to dissuade people buying from them...

After the latest changes I haven't ordered from them and am kind of hesitant to do so. I still have some credit from earlier orders with them so at some point I will use that up, but most likely to buy frozen foods or dry goods.

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3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

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Unread 10/30/2019, 11:20 AM   #3
nightOwl
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That's just crazy! I would have rather them raised their prices than to start nickel-and-diming people. I remember box charges back in the day for stuff and it sucked then and still sucks. I have a credit there too but dealing with them has been a pain since the Petco acquisition. I talked to them and reps are saying the they are not sure the box fee is permanent as of yet. They are saying packing materials have become more expensive and in order to avoid cutting corners on packing they introduced the box fee. I guess all we can do is shoot them an email and let them know we are not happy and or find a new place. I already see one of their competitors sending emails saying no box fees. I did not know what they were talking about until I went to place my order at Live Aquaria....


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Unread 10/30/2019, 11:40 AM   #4
ThRoewer
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Oh, they actually also raised the prices across the board.

The final straw for me was eliminating the 14 day warranty on "expert only" specimens. Most of those fish are really just finicky eaters but otherwise no more demanding than similar species that are not classified as "expert only". Nearly all of those "expert only" fish will last way beyond 14 days even without eating. Had they just restricted the warranty that the specimen are not guaranteed to be eating it would have been fine, but restricting it to a simple "arrive alive" guarantee allows them to send you sick and half dead fish and then say it was the customer's fault when the animals died hours after arrival or the next day.

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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

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Unread 10/30/2019, 03:32 PM   #5
nightOwl
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LOL I had not noticed that. I was too busy trying to figure out how many fish I needed to get rid of the box charge and have them arrive before my wife got back in town...lol. I feel you on that expert thing. I just wish they had thought it out a little better and implemented it better. I should have known things were going downhill when I started getting emails about all these things...lol. Oh well we live and we learn. Big corporations always mess it up. This helps me stick to avoiding Petco...lol. They are like a meddling friend that causes you to break up with your girlfriend....


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Unread 10/30/2019, 08:52 PM   #6
ThRoewer
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Around here we are lucky to have several great LFS within just a few miles and even more if you are willing to drive an hour or two, but the people living in the middle of nowhere are screwed.

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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...
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Unread 10/31/2019, 12:35 PM   #7
NYCBOB
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Yep they are like airlines now. Next they might start charging a bagging fee.


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Unread 10/31/2019, 06:06 PM   #8
nightOwl
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Yep they are like airlines now. Next they might start charging a bagging fee.
NYCBOB - Good one...LOL or for the "peanuts" for the that matter. I unsubscribed today so I am done with them.

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Around here we are lucky to have several great LFS within just a few miles and even more if you are willing to drive an hour or two, but the people living in the middle of nowhere are screwed.

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ThRoewer - For me the closest place that has consistent good and healthy fish is over an hour or so away. Not a bad drive but requires a little more planning and takes time away from other activities. When I lived in VA I had more choices of quality places that were closer . I guess I need to find a new supplier .


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Unread 10/31/2019, 06:22 PM   #9
ThRoewer
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As for prices going up: DD listed a number of Bluespot Jawfish today for a whooping $300 each! That's about double what they were 2 or 3 years ago.
Around here those go for half of that or less these days!

Diving an hour or more was normal to me back in Germany to get fish. At times we would drive even 3 to 4 hours to get to DeJong in the Netherlands or some further away store that had gotten something special in (you would call around to ask what they have in stock). Walking in at DeJong felt like Christmas at times, especially if they had just gotten a shipment in. They often had fish you would only see in public aquaria and even there only rarely.


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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...
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Unread 10/31/2019, 09:10 PM   #10
wildman926
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A bunch of whining and crying here....no one has a gun to your head buying from DD. Take your business elsewhere. Capitalism will weed out the bad businesses.


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Unread 11/01/2019, 05:53 AM   #11
Dmorty217
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Its more about the abrupt changes that happened in August with the refund policy, box charge, alive arrive on fish they deem "expert only" and the price increase on all fish across the board.

No one likes change and especially no one likes change after almost 14 years of doing things one way. The problem is Petco, its just sad to see honestly. I have been buying fish from LA/DD since they opened but they have now taken what made them better than everyone else away.

I have 2 LFS within 20 mins of me that have hundreds of tanks between the two of them, the problem is all of their fish are sick or are in systems with sick fish so having to deal with a sick fish from the start is the problem..


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Unread 11/01/2019, 11:36 AM   #12
alton
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Dmorty you said it when you stated no one likes change! The problem is Dr.s F and S didn't just sell yesterday to Petco they sold a few years ago and we have been enjoying great price, shipping and products for years. FYI they are not the only online selling BSJF for $300
https://aqualocker.com/fish/jawfish/...otted-jawfish/


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Unread 11/01/2019, 12:37 PM   #13
CTaylor
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FWIW and to add to those with a credit. Im pretty sure that credit or loyalty credit , etc expires pretty quickly now. That was a change a few months ago. I didnt know about the box charge or no more real guarantee on expert only. I'm lucky with my ritteri! . I got it not knowing about that expert only lack of guarantee. LUCKILY it wasnt sick when I got it. Or sick soon after with something it had in shipment of from them etccccccc. I would have thought twice if I kneow there was no guarantee. It's good actually I did not see that, as I just pretty much got lucky with mine.
Same with my OSFF. I got those though before the changes. I probably wouldnt have noticed that until I saw this post. So whoever said dont complain. I'm glad you did!


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Unread 11/04/2019, 06:50 AM   #14
alton
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At first they had a few months to use credit, but enough complaints changed that to a year for using your credit


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Unread 11/04/2019, 09:00 AM   #15
CTaylor
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At first they had a few months to use credit, but enough complaints changed that to a year for using your credit
I miss (knowing about ) these things!. I'm glad for this thread


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Unread 11/25/2019, 03:59 PM   #16
AquaLocker
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Dmorty you said it when you stated no one likes change! The problem is Dr.s F and S didn't just sell yesterday to Petco they sold a few years ago and we have been enjoying great price, shipping and products for years. FYI they are not the only online selling BSJF for $300
https://aqualocker.com/fish/jawfish/...otted-jawfish/
Hi there! We actually have our Blue Spot Jawfish listed for $181.99. The current $238 price includes a 14 day Guarantee. We hope that seems a bit more reasonable to you. Happy Thanksgiving!


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Unread 11/25/2019, 04:19 PM   #17
ThRoewer
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Quote:
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... FYI they are not the only online selling BSJF for $300
https://aqualocker.com/fish/jawfish/...otted-jawfish/
LFS here charges $150 for BSJ. That means they are at the most $55 to $75 wholesale. Charging $300 or more is a bit steep.


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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

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Unread 11/26/2019, 05:37 AM   #18
alton
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https://aqualocker.com/fish/jawfish/...otted-jawfish/
Only one left at $238
They did send out a sale item for BSJF for $179/$169 yesterday


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Unread 11/26/2019, 05:55 PM   #19
biecacka
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Recently ordered a few fish from LA. Box charge is absurd, what happened to free shipping? 2 fish showed up dead, and all others have died since. Not sure why or what’s going on but I don’t like it for sure.


Corey


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Unread 11/26/2019, 06:44 PM   #20
RBU1
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Save yourself headache and trouble. Order fish from here.

Www.tsmcorals.com

All quarantined and healthy. You will not have any issues.


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Unread 11/26/2019, 06:46 PM   #21
CTaylor
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Originally Posted by biecacka View Post
Recently ordered a few fish from LA. Box charge is absurd, what happened to free shipping? 2 fish showed up dead, and all others have died since. Not sure why or what’s going on but I don’t like it for sure.


Corey
I had a coral come in no color.. now it's dying. So I'll have paid the box charge like you did for nothing. Next order came in a few days later (i ordred before the first one got here) came in really nice, probably about the best as far as health I have gotten from them in a long time. I also have recently (2 months ago) received a super nice ritteri -- not sick at all (knock on wood). So at least my experiences have been worth the cost -- assuming they credit me for the dying acro.


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Unread 11/26/2019, 06:49 PM   #22
CTaylor
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save yourself headache and trouble. Order fish from here.

www.tsmcorals.com

all quarantined and healthy. You will not have any issues.


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ty


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Unread 12/08/2019, 01:10 AM   #23
ThRoewer
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Save yourself headache and trouble. Order fish from here.

Www.tsmcorals.com

All quarantined and healthy. You will not have any issues.


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They are insanely expensive with many fish. One single Ventralis Anthias for nearly $300 is outright robbery. DD sells trios for $600 and locally I can get them for $75 each. The same goes for most other fish they have listed.


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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...
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Unread 12/08/2019, 06:00 AM   #24
RBU1
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Originally Posted by ThRoewer View Post
They are insanely expensive with many fish. One single Ventralis Anthias for nearly $300 is outright robbery. DD sells trios for $600 and locally I can get them for $75 each. The same goes for most other fish they have listed.


Prove it. I have found their prices fair. I will also consider the health of the fish you get from them worth the cost. I haven’t lost one fish I purchased from them. Make sure your comparing identical fish.


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Unread 12/08/2019, 05:12 PM   #25
ThRoewer
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Prove it. ... Make sure your comparing identical fish.
I think I did precisely that in my post above. BTW, according to one of the LFS here those Ventralis are just $65 wholesale.
With other fish that are "easier" to acclimate they may have less markup but they are still significantly more expensive compared to what local stores here charge for those.

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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...
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