Rant begin:
The three or four times I've gone to AlgaeBarn (over a period of several days), and looked at their chat option which says "we're online," no one is actually there.
I received an email with a coupon/promo code to use today and, after populating the field, when I clicked apply, the status icon just spins indefinitely. (I previously brought this issue to their attention; it doesn't matter what browser I use.) The code was "EarthDay."
I dug up a phone number for them and called during their business hours.
It said to either leave a message or, if calling during business hours, to wait for someone to answer. So I waited for someone to answer.
After a few minutes on hold, during business hours, it went to voicemail.
Later on, I got a call back from "Samantha," with a kiddo in the background, who advised I should place an order and then call to have her go back and apply the discount.
Within five minutes, with the items I needed to order queued up, I got to the point of clicking the submit / pay now option and called back as I wanted to be sure I could reach them and not have to chase them down after the fact as I've found the customer service on the front end of a transaction is typically the best one can expect.
I reached Samantha again and she said to go ahead and submit the order. I did and gave her the order number within moments when I got the confirmation email.
I was then told she didn't have the clearance to adjust the cost (despite her having told me that was what she'd do perhaps five minutes earlier). When she asked if she could just throw in an extra item, I told her I didn't need anything else. I was put on hold.
She then asked if I tried applying multiple coupon codes. I told her I did not - just the one code.
She then said she was working with her supervisor and that it "should be" fixed. I told her that "should be" doesn't work for me and that I don't want her or me aggravated any more and I'd just as soon have her cancel the order. After asking her two or three times to cancel it, she indicated it would be cancelled.
Edit: They've cancelled the order and refunded me.
What a waste of time.
I was planning on waiting for PodYourReef to get their plankton back in stock as they are a pleasure to deal with. Shame on me for not being more patient and chancing it with a new (to me) store. Oh well. You live and you learn.
Rant over.
The three or four times I've gone to AlgaeBarn (over a period of several days), and looked at their chat option which says "we're online," no one is actually there.
I received an email with a coupon/promo code to use today and, after populating the field, when I clicked apply, the status icon just spins indefinitely. (I previously brought this issue to their attention; it doesn't matter what browser I use.) The code was "EarthDay."
I dug up a phone number for them and called during their business hours.
It said to either leave a message or, if calling during business hours, to wait for someone to answer. So I waited for someone to answer.
After a few minutes on hold, during business hours, it went to voicemail.
Later on, I got a call back from "Samantha," with a kiddo in the background, who advised I should place an order and then call to have her go back and apply the discount.
Within five minutes, with the items I needed to order queued up, I got to the point of clicking the submit / pay now option and called back as I wanted to be sure I could reach them and not have to chase them down after the fact as I've found the customer service on the front end of a transaction is typically the best one can expect.
I reached Samantha again and she said to go ahead and submit the order. I did and gave her the order number within moments when I got the confirmation email.
I was then told she didn't have the clearance to adjust the cost (despite her having told me that was what she'd do perhaps five minutes earlier). When she asked if she could just throw in an extra item, I told her I didn't need anything else. I was put on hold.
She then asked if I tried applying multiple coupon codes. I told her I did not - just the one code.
She then said she was working with her supervisor and that it "should be" fixed. I told her that "should be" doesn't work for me and that I don't want her or me aggravated any more and I'd just as soon have her cancel the order. After asking her two or three times to cancel it, she indicated it would be cancelled.
Edit: They've cancelled the order and refunded me.
What a waste of time.
I was planning on waiting for PodYourReef to get their plankton back in stock as they are a pleasure to deal with. Shame on me for not being more patient and chancing it with a new (to me) store. Oh well. You live and you learn.
Rant over.
Last edited:
