Has anyone else had issue with orders from Clammania?

[Robert Ranciato]

Hi all,

I found an Instagram account names clam mania and bought a clam during one of their live sales. I spend $99 plus $20 shipping in a 1.5 inch blue maxima. When my package arrived there were three clams in the package and none of them being the clam I chose in the live sale.

I let the owner know and he said I could keep the two extra clams for $50 more dollars. I could have told him he could come pick them up if he wanted them back, but I was a nice guy and paid him the $50 right away.

Fast forward 6 days and the blue maxima clam, that looked similar to the one i originally bought in the live died. The other two additional clams are alive and happy. I emailed the seller and his response was:

“Yes it must be something in the water or some pH shock not really sure as I’m not monitoring your system, But it’s good that it didn’t affect your other clams because sometimes ammonia spike can affect the other claims. I’m Sorry for your loss.”

So my question is: if there was something wrong with my system wouldn’t all three clams die? They were placed near each other with the same lighting and water flow.

Shouldn’t sellers provide some type of guarantee especially when paying $99 for a 1 inch clam?

I purchased 2 from him they were really beautiful but died clams that small are very hard to keep. If your water is ok it's hard to determine what killed them. I think it's great that we finally have a source of clams but also don't think he should sell them that small. As for him asking you to pay 50 bucks for his mistake. I would have told him I want the original claim I ordered ( always snap shot a picture of the one you buy) if you want me to send back your 3 clams I need you to send me a heating or. Cooling pad and a pre paid slip and I will put them in the mail as soon as I get the one I ordered. I have heard mixed things about claim mainna.

 

[Robert Ranciato]

Also all you get with salt water is live on arrival past that your out of luck . The hobby is expensive and one of the most important things when purchasing is finding a reputable seller sorry for the loss but in the end u have 2 other clams!

Not correct. Vivid aquariums offers a 15 day guarantee on his live stock and I believe liveaquaria.com also dose. A lot of big dealers do the overpriced guys at wwc and top shelf also do

 

[TheTruTaric]

Never ordered from this person, but this seems pretty suspect / scammy. Sending things you didn't order then asking for more money...

the dude is just not honest at all, selling claims already in bad condition, sending the wrong clams and being a liar.

 

[i cant think]

You guys and gals, it’s just too risky buying a clam thats under 3-4 inches.

I bought a deresa that was 2 inch, he’s been happy for the 2-3 days I’ve had him. This wasn’t from Clammania as I personally refuse to buy anything like a clam or something as finicky as these guys online (Also over here in the UK we have some decent rare stock come in that is healthy and have quite a few LFS’s around the south). This may be due to the clam being one of the “easier” species so to speak but I personally don’t think this.

 

[Bleigh]

I just want to say that I’ve helped John for a long time on live sales and at shows. He has been a close friend even longer than that. So even though I may be biased, I have personal experience with the clams he sells.

I’ve had nothing but amazing experiences. These clams have been in his possession for a long time (months-years). They are not wild collected, but are bred from a microscopic size. A 2-3 inch clam has been in a tank for several years. Clams wouldn’t survive that long if they were truly unhealthy. Maxima clams are incredibly sensitive to water chemistry/ph and lots of critters in our tank enjoy snacking on them. They have less ability to recover than sps, which might explain their protected/endangered status and the unexplained deaths you hear that comes from all clams or any other sensitive organism in a reef tank.

I have purchased 1000’s of dollars of clams from John. Unfortunately I lost them due to high tin levels in my water, as well as some other lps and sps (completely heartbreaking). They grew in my tank happily until my mess up. I have no problem taking ownership of my own misstakes and have made adjustments to try to prevent similar failures in the future. None of the companies that I lost animals from were responsible for my water quality parameters. I imagine we have all experienced losses in our tanks due to known and unknown reasons. I cannot get on board with the idea that clam mania is selling unhealthy clams or scamming people due to my own in personal experiences with 100’s of clams several times a year. I have no qualms buying more clams from clam mania now that my parameters are back on track.

I think it is reasonable to take all reviews into account, but do keep in mind, you will always hear more negative reviews than positives. just wanted to add my .02 to the convo.

 

[cdw79]

Thought I would add an interesting anecdote here.

I've not kept any tridacna but have been keeping an eye on threads here, and Clam Mania does seem to be a point of contention. I reached out to him early just hoping to get a reply about some basics, but didn't get a reply (in fairness I'm sure he had more important things to do than educate a noob like myself lol)

But at Reefapalooza Orlando I was checking out the Coral Vault booth and started talking to the owner about some clams he'd bough from the ORA folks. He wasn't thrilled with his purchase overall (this was toward the end of day 2) but said unprompted that the "absolute best place" he had purchased from was Clam Mania. He said he'd never had healthier, more vibrant, and especially as rapidly growing clams as he'd gotten from there, and said he owns multiple personally (it seems like the ORA purchases were to try them out from the sounds of it).

Rereading the threads about him, it seems like the guy in charge probably does have good clams overall, but that some organizational challenges might be a part of why people have had very mixed experiences overall. Just thought I'd share, because it came from what I would consider to be an especially trustworthy and unbiased source.

 

[djf91]

I just want to say that I’ve helped John for a long time on live sales and at shows. He has been a close friend even longer than that. So even though I may be biased, I have personal experience with the clams he sells.

I’ve had nothing but amazing experiences. These clams have been in his possession for a long time (months-years). They are not wild collected, but are bred from a microscopic size. A 2-3 inch clam has been in a tank for several years. Clams wouldn’t survive that long if they were truly unhealthy. Maxima clams are incredibly sensitive to water chemistry/ph and lots of critters in our tank enjoy snacking on them. They have less ability to recover than sps, which might explain their protected/endangered status and the unexplained deaths you hear that comes from all clams or any other sensitive organism in a reef tank.

I have purchased 1000’s of dollars of clams from John. Unfortunately I lost them due to high tin levels in my water, as well as some other lps and sps (completely heartbreaking). They grew in my tank happily until my mess up. I have no problem taking ownership of my own misstakes and have made adjustments to try to prevent similar failures in the future. None of the companies that I lost animals from were responsible for my water quality parameters. I imagine we have all experienced losses in our tanks due to known and unknown reasons. I cannot get on board with the idea that clam mania is selling unhealthy clams or scamming people due to my own in personal experiences with 100’s of clams several times a year. I have no qualms buying more clams from clam mania now that my parameters are back on track.

I think it is reasonable to take all reviews into account, but do keep in mind, you will always hear more negative reviews than positives. just wanted to add my .02 to the convo.

I don’t think many people are questioning the quality of his product but simply how to get in contact with the guy.

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills trying to endlessly explain this.

 

[minus9]

I don’t think many people are questioning the quality of his product but simply how to get in contact with the guy.

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills trying to endlessly explain this.

To me it comes down to customer service, if you fail in this department, then you can lose a lot of potential customers. It's really not that hard to communicate with people, you just have to put the time into it. Having worked in the wholesale/retail side of this hobby, customer service is paramount.

 

[matt_work27]

I had a mixed experience with this seller. First off I think his clams are healthy in his tank and are extremely beautiful. I have bought two maxima clams from him both being around 2 inches (in the live streams they look a lot bigger, although that is kind of my fault for not asking how big they were). The first clam I bought from him I picked up, but the second one I had a hard time getting. I bid on and won the clam on the live sale and paid for it in full like a day or 2 later (in the asked for time frame). I also paid for the in state shipping. However, he insisted that I don't have it shipped because I only lived like an hour away. There were pretty large gaps our communication where he just didn't respond (like 24 hours+). In the end, he ubered the clam to my house which was pretty cool and definitely cost more than I paid for in shipping, however the whole process was kinda of botched. Both of the clams died after like a month or so, but that is the game you play when you buy small maximas. Overall, I think the owner is a good dude but he didnt/doesn't have the business side of things dialed in (this order was like 2 years ago).

 

[KrisReef]

I had a mixed experience with this seller. First off I think his clams are healthy in his tank and are extremely beautiful. I have bought two maxima clams from him both being around 2 inches (in the live streams they look a lot bigger, although that is kind of my fault for not asking how big they were). The first clam I bought from him I picked up, but the second one I had a hard time getting. I bid on and won the clam on the live sale and paid for it in full like a day or 2 later (in the asked for time frame). I also paid for the in state shipping. However, he insisted that I don't have it shipped because I only lived like an hour away. There were pretty large gaps our communication where he just didn't respond (like 24 hours+). In the end, he ubered the clam to my house which was pretty cool and definitely cost more than I paid for in shipping, however the whole process was kinda of botched. Both of the clams died after like a month or so, but that is the game you play when you buy small maximas. Overall, I think the owner is a good dude but he didnt/doesn't have the business side of things dialed in (this order was like 2 years ago).

I think this was a fair summary of the likely cause of many folks frustration with online sales in general, and the added cost of shipping and associated mortalities of clam, corals, fishes that go through the mail is going to get worse and worse as the internet/Amazon/Governmenttaxedsupplychain trys to swallow up the local fish, book,"you insert product name here" markets.

Lots of people fail (INCLUDING me) with communication in person, by telephone, by text, even Skype because our ability to think and speak at the same time is hindered by so many things common to life. I don't recall when or why I spoke with salesperson x at Clammania years ago and they seemed very distracted or uncomfortable talking directly to me, in person. That handicap isn't a fatal flaw, unless it is connected to dishonesty or deception that is derailing the conversation. I don't think that was the issue, I think this person, for whatever cause or reason wasn't comfortable talking with me. (Let's call it good discernment! ) I didn't buy a clam. I was too poor and the seller's discomfort reinforced my decision not to risk the coins on a beautiful clam.


Reading that others have experienced perhaps similar interactions, combined with the reports of the owner being a stellar and fair guy by folks who know him make me glad that our justice system presumes innocents until proven guilty.

A close friend just sold his local fish store. He is very fair and honest and yet people criticised him online similar to what I've read here. "Item looked bigger in the picture." "No-way the item they sent was what I saw in the picture." I was in his store when he posted online a beautiful anemone that just came in. People accused him of photoshopping the nem, called him out online as a con artist and thief, all the usually stuff. The nem died the next day, money was refunded and the internet was merciless towards his reputation. The guy had the best prices, great corals and fishes and fair shipping costs and that wasn't good enough?

Sad. We could all be better.

 

[Xur]

The guy doesn't know how to run a business years later apparently. I bought three clowns on sale from this guy (two extreme mochavincis and a basic phantom on sale) for about $250 worth and scheduled a two-day turnaround date for shipping, a day later he sent an email asking if he could send them a week later, he never sent them, he never responded to my 3 emails asking for status or a return. I finally had to take it up with my credit card company. I'd stay away. I'm a newbie, a little over a year into the hobby, and have purchased from big box stores and independents with zero issues..well until Clamania that is. Get your stuff somewhere else-Cultivated Reef, QCC, Tidal, TSA, LRO, the options are endless for good critters and amazing customer service. I've seen better clams at better price points elsewhere anyway. Don't bother.

 

[Robert Ranciato]

I have had some trouble with contacting them. For years they supposedly had a website in the works . I believe they finally got one but I tried to contact them several times through email and never got a response. I wanted to order something,I did catch a live sale once and I ordered 3 clams they came in ok but they were really small. They all died within a few months.. I can't say there was anything wrong with the clams except they were small but I can't say it was my system because I have had success with many clams. The guy isn't to concerned about getting new online business because he would have contacted me back. Maybe he sells enough at the live events.

 

[radiata]

I had an unpleasant experience with this business this past weekend at RAP-NY. I was standing alone at the booth when the person running it announced he'd be back in a few moments. He apparently had to hit the men's room, which I can understand. But upon his return, he ignored me completely and proceeded to pay attention to someone who had apparently purchased a clam earlier and was there to pick it up. That might have been OK, but this customer and the vendor proceeded to have an incredibly long and in depth conversation about the freakin' state of the hobby that lasted far too long. I turned my back and walked away, when the vendor asked me if I had a question. I turned back and told him I'd be back when he had more time. I didn't return. His total lack of savoir faire cost him my purchase then, and will also cost him my business going forward. Combining my experience with some of the above comments ~ caveat emptor.

 

[KrisReef]

I had an unpleasant experience with this business this past weekend at RAP-NY. I was standing alone at the booth when the person running it announced he'd be back in a few moments. He apparently had to hit the men's room, which I can understand. But upon his return, he ignored me completely and proceeded to pay attention to someone who had apparently purchased a clam earlier and was there to pick it up. That might have been OK, but this customer and the vendor proceeded to have an incredibly long and in depth conversation about the freakin' state of the hobby that lasted far too long. I turned my back and walked away, when the vendor asked me if I had a question. I turned back and told him I'd be back when he had more time. I didn't return. His total lack of savoir faire cost him my purchase then, and will also cost him my business going forward. Combining my experience with some of the above comments ~ caveat emptor.

I have not been to the store in Huntington Beach but I am curious to meet this guy. I have spoken with him many years ago and I am wondering if age or life has warn him down? I checked out the website and I have been aware of this thread and I am thinking that he may be a victim of the hobby and the difficulty of getting by in the modern rat race?

No one gets out alive