Bad LFS Experience

szavoda

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Hi -

I wanted to post a recent poor experience that I had with a LFS, but before doing so I want ed to see if there were any rules / etiquette around doing so...

Thanks

Shawn
 

Dr.DiSilicate

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
MASC Vice-President
#2
Posting bad experience is ok as long as it is done with tact imho. If it is a sponsor I'd contact the BOD to see if they can help. Just be objective. This is just my opinion of course.
 

CRW Reef

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#3
+1 to what the Doc said so long as you aren't out to bad mouth nasty like, you are free to your opinion and experience.
 

szavoda

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
Ok - here it is then.

A few months ago, I stopped in at Aquamart to prep for my fish purchases. This was in lieu of using LiveAquaria and supporting local LFS. It was also before I was familiar with others such as Aquatic Art or Stone Aquatics. So I pre-purchased about $800 in fish to be picked up over the next few months. I explained my QT approach and he agreed to extend a 14 day live guarantee to match up with LiveAquaria.

A couple of annoying snags along the way like selling a fish I was suppose to pick up to someone else.

The real kicker is when I got a PBT that died by the next morning. Jeff refused to give me credit on the fish and said they don't offer a guarantee.

Granted, it is not a lot of money, but very disappointing that he would not honor our sales agreement. Too bad...

Shawn
 
#5
I just want to say a couple weeks ago a fish I bought from them had velvet. It's my fault for not quaranting but all of my fish died. I demanded compensation and was super stern and Jeff gave me 50 dollars of store credit. Sadly I think I might only get coral, I'm not buying fish from them ever again.
 
#6
But I lost 6 fish, including my 5 year old bursa trigger and that really upset me. I guess be thankful the Pbt didnt kill everything. I have to wait until mid november to have fish again
 

SilverSurfer

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
Wow, thanks for the heads up everyone. I know where ill not be going. I firmly believe in reviews.
 

SilverSurfer

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
Likewise I have been wanting to check out Stone hopefully I can get my background done this weekend and get some water in this tank.
 

SilverSurfer

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
Thanks definitely will let you know, and please do the same. Still digging those new lights? How are your corals looking/reacting?
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
Sophie1213;359944 said:
Me too! Looks like I'll stick to elite reef. I might check out stone aquatics, I've heard good things about them
I wouldn't let a case of velvet steer you away from a vendor. I got velvet from a mandarin that I failed to quarantine at aquatic art, and we all know how incredibly well maintained and awesome that store is. Nasty parasites are a risk you take from any vendor, regardless of their reputation if you fail to quarantine.
 

MuralReef

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
MASC Vice-President
#14
zombie;359950 said:
I wouldn't let a case of velvet steer you away from a vendor. I got velvet from a mandarin that I failed to quarantine at aquatic art, and we all know how incredibly well maintained and awesome that store is. Nasty parasites are a risk you take from any vendor, regardless of their reputation if you fail to quarantine.
+1000000 it is our responsibility to QT. I lost 9 fish last year because I didn't QT. I think it was big if him to give you the $50 in credit. What should be the focus of this is that they we need to QT. Also he is not complaining about the fish dying but that the arrangement they agreed upon was not being upheld.
 

MuralReef

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
MASC Vice-President
#15
BTW I didn't blame the vendor I still blame myself. Had it not been for our supportive vendors Jeff included I would have lost all of my fish not just 9.
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
Sophie1213;359965 said:
Hmmm I got velvet from a mandarin also, do they carry it?
Yes. Mandarins do not carry ich, but can be infected with velvet and many of the areas that they are collected from have a velvet problem.
 
#18
Um... Mandarins can indeed get ich... Their heavy slime coat makes them more resistant to it but a stressed out mandarin is just as susceptible as any other fish...
 
#19
Good Morning MASC Members Shawn and Sophia,

I don't normally respond to post good or bad because its your thoughts and everyone is entitled to express. The latest ones I feel the need to. As a local fish store owner of Aquamart I take great pride in the products we offer and how best to keep marine life. In Shawn's case I did cover 100% the cost of the other fish that he had lost while in his QT system as a good faith action. Obviously there was a misunderstanding on the 14 day guarantee. What I wanted to do for Shawn was to QT them 14 days at Aquamart before releasing them to Shawn's QT regiment. If the fish never leaves the store its easier to monitor its health and environment it is in. Once the marine life leaves we have no idea what conditions they will be placed in or even the amount of time until they are able to be place in a healthy system. It was need my intention to mislead Shawn and I hope the $100.00 plus in replacement fish supports this statement.
In regards to Sophie I want to share the email I had sent her after reading the email about her loss. Here it is:
Good evening Sophie,First I'm sorry to hear about the losses you have experienced. It's hard to loss one fish let alone 6. We would never sell a fish that was ill or showed signs of illness. That was why my staff directed you to the mandrin that you purchased. We do put all fish through a QT for 5 days and treat them if we see or they show signs of being ill. We encourage to further QT all fish before introducing them into any system. Since we don't know what type of environment they will be in once they leave the store we do not guarantee any live stock. This is information is posted throughout the store and printed on the sales receipt. Unfortunately there isn't a water test that shows bacteria or viruses in the water. If the mandrin you purchased had marine velvet we would have seen very simular losses within our invert system. I can tell you this system is very clean and we have had no losses in it. With that said, I would like to offer you a live stock credit of $50.00 to use towards rebuilding your tank. Please know that we want to help get your system back to the way it was prior to this issue. When you come to the store please ask for me so that I can assist you personally. Im responding to you via message since i wss not able to call you today. If you would like to discus this further I can call you tomorrow Thank you Jeff
In conclusion, Aquamart will continue to do our best to exceed our customer expectations without a shipping charge for purchases made at our store.
Thank you for your time,

Jeff
 
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