Advice for shipped almost dead mushrooms

[Acrofiend]

Hi reefers I’m looking for some advice. I purchased two bounce mushrooms for $650 and both arrived in mushroom soup with life hanging on.
-Received in less than 24 hours in horrible shape.
-No cold pack and shipped with a handful of water.
-Shipped from 95+ degree weather to 80+ degree weather.
-Driver supposedly “attempted to deliver” twice with video proof to show it wasn’t attempted. (drivers will do this to avoid having to go out of their way until they reach that area.) Overnights are first priority.
-I even went out of my way to find the driver after supposed 2nd delivery attempt.
-Unfortunately paid through friends and family.
-They have agreed to partial refund or replacement but not taking responsibly and putting blame on me.
So my question is how much or what do you think is fair? Hopefully some vendors can chime in.

 

[James M]

Well your first mistake was paying through family and friends. I would just to accept the replacement

 

[Matt1997]

Not an emergency. Mushrooms might be fine. I wouldn’t say it’s the sellers fault more so the shipping company. Hopefully seller helps you out with a replacement though at your shipping expense. If it’s a grown coral what is the cost to replace it? Nothing.

 

[Acrofiend]

Yes they’re agreeing to a replacement if they die. It just sucks because I paid so much for nice mushrooms and now they’re only worth $250 to me but they agreed to $200 refund which is something but not fair enough.

 

[Acrofiend]

Well your first mistake was paying through family and friends. I would just to accept the replacement

Yes definitely learned my lesson from now on.

 

[dank reefer]

Was it shipped overnight?

 

[Acrofiend]

Was it shipped overnight?

Yes overnight.

 

[Reef.]

I fail to see the emergency here, asking what refund is fair is hardly an emergency!

$200 refund and replacement if it dies seems fair, as said the courier is at fault here, I would be putting in a complaint there.

 

[Acrofiend]

I fail to see the emergency here, asking what refund is fair is hardly an emergency!

$200 refund and replacement if it dies seems fair, as said the courier is at fault here, I would be putting in a complaint there.

Complaint to fedex?
It’s $200 refund if they survive. Not both.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Yes definitely learned my lesson from now on.

Never pay Friends and Family its a big no no here and again the forum rules for them to even ask for it or another form a payment. I can't stand sellers who do that and we really need to crack down on it as its very common and has caused many issues.

 

[Acrofiend]

Never pay Friends and Family its a big no no here and again the forum rules for them to even ask for it or another form a payment. I can't stand sellers who do that and we really need to crack down on it as its very common and has caused many issues.

I was actually the one that suggested it to cut down on cost but obviously end up getting me in the end.
Also wasn’t purchased on reef2reef. Sorry, should have specified.

 

[Reef.]

Complaint to fedex?
It’s $200 refund if they survive. Not both.

yes complain to fedex, check you can take the $200, and if it dies, return the $200 and get the replacement. If that is not on offer then it’s not fair, and I would be wanting a replacement now or a refund. if I understand correctly delivery was the correct day but later in that day than it should have been, so not something that would justify a near dead coral, the seller has to take responsibility for that.

 

[Acrofiend]

yes complain to fedex, check you can take the $200, and if it dies, return the $200 and get the replacement. If that is not on offer then it’s not fair, and I would be wanting a replacement now or a refund. if I understand correctly delivery was the correct day but later in that day than it should have been, so not something that would justify a near dead coral, the seller has to take responsibility for that.

Yes, delivery was on the correct day. That seems fair.
I appreciate your reply. They’re wanting to wait until next week to see if it dies...

 

[Reef.]

Yes, delivery was on the correct day. That seems fair.
I appreciate your reply. They’re wanting to wait until next week to see if it dies...

the seller is not thinking this through, if he replaces now he gets a coral back that could survive, he can then resell at a later date, or As he has done ask you to wait a week, you see that the coral doesn’t make it to get a healthy replacement, the seller then misses out on the return! But still has to replace.

 

[KrisReef]

What is fair?
I don't know, but if the mushroom dies who pays for that? The vendor for no ice pack (although they were presuming/gambling(?) that the delivery would occur in closer to 15 hours, not 21 hours), the delivery driver chose to gamble that the package was ok (maybe assumed ice packs were inside?) and you were trying to save a few bucks going family and friends (which often cues the vendor into corner-cutting also) The mushrooms paid, and that is not fair. I hope they survive.

 

[Katrina71]

Mushrooms are pretty hardy. I'm betting they bounce back just fine.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Was it shipped priority over night with FedEx? What time was it delivered? Did the packaging state that it contained live animals? If not, you may be out of luck with FedEx, pretty sure that has to be declared in the shipment.

 

[Alenya]

I work in sales and as a general rule of thumb if a buyer elects to have goods shipped rather than pick them up, then the buyer is accepting risk due to transport. The seller is not required to deliver to you in one piece as part of the sale price. You accepted overnight transport and would know the risks involved if transport is delayed especially at the moment.

The seller imo has been generous in giving you a discount.

 

[Acrofiend]

Was it shipped priority over night with FedEx? What time was it delivered? Did the packaging state that it contained live animals? If not, you may be out of luck with FedEx, pretty sure that has to be declared in the shipment.

Yes priority overnight through fedex. First death with almost 10 overnights.
“Live coral” was written on the box. Not sure if it was stated on delivery.

 

[Acrofiend]

I work in sales and as a general rule of thumb if a buyer elects to have goods shipped rather than pick them up, then the buyer is accepting risk due to transport. The seller is not required to deliver to you in one piece as part of the sale price. You accepted overnight transport and would know the risks involved if transport is delayed especially at the moment.

The seller imo has been generous in giving you a discount.

That seems a little disappointing. So if a coral was shipped with horrible packaging that becomes the buyers responsibility? I can understand dry goods but not live goods. I don’t see why anyone would want to buy from that vendor or any live good online if it’s not guaranteed alive.
Coming from a sales stand point I appreciate the feedback though.