Live Aquaria policy on purchases/shipping dates?

saltyhog · May 28, 2020

I received an email notification of a fish I've been trying to get for quite a while (Anampses chrysocephalis) and immediately logged on and ordered the fish. Checkout was uneventful. I requested a shipping date 5 days later (only time I could be off of work). Fast forward to the shipping day I get an email saying there would be a delay in shipping my fish. My order is still in que almost two weeks from the order being placed.

I spoke with a representative and from what I understand it doesn't matter when you order and pay for the fish, if someone else orders after you and specifies an earlier shipping date Live Aquaria ships them the fish.

Live Aquaria...is this your policy?

TriggerFinger · May 28, 2020

They offer the option to ship later but still take your money and then sell it to another person who will take the fish now? That sounds like a ridiculous policy. It shouldn’t have shown available after you paid for it.

saltyhog · May 28, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
They offer the option to ship later but still take your money and then sell it to another person who will take the fish now? That sounds like a ridiculous policy. It shouldn’t have shown available after you paid for it.

In all fairness they don't run your card,etc. Until they ship.

TriggerFinger · May 28, 2020

Sorry, Didn’t realize that @saltyhog. I still don’t think it should show available after you went through the checkout process.

saltyhog · May 28, 2020

TriggerFinger said:
Sorry, Didn’t realize that @saltyhog. I still don’t think it should show available after you went through the checkout process.

I agree. I was just wondering if that's what really happened or if something else was in play. Not much use of "in stock notifications" if this is policy. Oh well, there are other fish(suppliers) in the ocean.

IKD · May 28, 2020

If that’s true, then they should state at checkout that someone else could purchase ahead of you if they pick an earlier ship date. Sounds like there was no indication someone’s purchase could be usurped in this manner.

Snedabyte · May 29, 2020

Maybe you missed the bold red text on every page that says All Diver's Den® items must be shipped within 2 shipping days of placing your order.

James M · May 29, 2020

Snedabyte said:
Maybe you missed the bold red text on every page that says All Diver's Den® items must be shipped within 2 shipping days of placing your order.

Where did it say divers den in the thread?

IKD · May 29, 2020

And if it was Divers Den, why would they allow him to select a shipping date beyond that if that’s their policy?

alton · May 29, 2020

I have had this happen twice and I didn't ask for a longer shipping date. I got one order cancelled when I called because DD was offering the same fish and got it from them. The other order was delayed a week and then I was shipped my fish. Those emails go out to a bunch of us and sometimes two people may place an order for the same limited number of fish. You can call them and ask to refund your money or wait and you will get the next one available. With DD it is quick once you buy a fish it is pulled immediately, with LA they have to contact the Quality Marine which takes time, and your fish may have gone to a different business all together?

saltyhog · May 29, 2020

Snedabyte said:
Maybe you missed the bold red text on every page that says All Diver's Den® items must be shipped within 2 shipping days of placing your order.

It was not a Diver's Den fish.

saltyhog · May 29, 2020

alton said:
I have had this happen twice and I didn't ask for a longer shipping date. I got one order cancelled when I called because DD was offering the same fish and got it from them. The other order was delayed a week and then I was shipped my fish. Those emails go out to a bunch of us and sometimes two people may place an order for the same limited number of fish. You can call them and ask to refund your money or wait and you will get the next one available. With DD it is quick once you buy a fish it is pulled immediately, with LA they have to contact the Quality Marine which takes time, and your fish may have gone to a different business all together?

The only thing that makes me doubt the other order was placed simultaneously is that I didn't get the email about not being able to fill the order till 5 days later. If someone else ordered it the same day why the delay? It's unlikely they will get more of this species any time soon.

alton · May 29, 2020

I wish I could remember what fish was back ordered for me? But it was fairly rare, I would give it a couple more weeks since the market is finally opening back up you might have a chance since your order is sitting upfront at QM. LA is at the mercy of QM, I don't see them holding any fish for anyone.

puffy127 · May 29, 2020

It doesn't sound right that their policy is that someone can come in and swipe it after you placed your order. Could it be that the fish died and therefore is no longer available? Rather than cancel your order, maybe they are hoping that another one comes in stock that they can ship to you?

I wouldn't necessarily trust what the phone rep said. I have not found them to be very helpful or infomed. @LiveAquaria here on R2R is usually pretty informed and helpful. Hopefully they can chime in.

LiveAquaria · May 29, 2020

@saltyhog Good morning! We are very sorry that we were not able to ship your anampses chrysocephalis. Based on your experience, you are familiar with the many factors that come into play with availability of aquatic life. The In-Stock alerts are awesome, however, are not a guarantee. Even though, you were successful with the checkout process, unless ordering DD, inventory is not 100% real time. Rest assured, you are only charged for the items that ship, any authorizations that were pending, drop off if unable to ship. Thank you for your understanding and we appreciate your loyalty to LiveAquaria. Have a great weekend and stay safe!

Aquarist76 · Jun 10, 2020

saltyhog said:
I received an email notification of a fish I've been trying to get for quite a while (Anampses chrysocephalis) and immediately logged on and ordered the fish. Checkout was uneventful. I requested a shipping date 5 days later (only time I could be off of work). Fast forward to the shipping day I get an email saying there would be a delay in shipping my fish. My order is still in que almost two weeks from the order being placed.

I spoke with a representative and from what I understand it doesn't matter when you order and pay for the fish, if someone else orders after you and specifies an earlier shipping date Live Aquaria ships them the fish.

Live Aquaria...is this your policy?

Yes, that is 100% their policy. For awhile I was waiting for them to get in a Fowleri tang. They finally did and I ordered one. My order wasn't going to ship for several days (non-DD). When the order arrived no Fowleri tang. I had to call them and they told me it was out of stock but they would hold my order for 2wks if they got more in. Of course they didn't get more in for months. Never did get it.

What also drives me crazy with them is they'll ship your order without one or more items you ordered and not tell you before shipping it. They'll just ship out the rest of the order and maybe send you an email a day later saying they couldn't ship item X. Ethically they should let you know before the order ships and still make sure you want to go with the order as is.

memphissmc · Dec 20, 2021

saltyhog said:
In all fairness they don't run your card,etc. Until they ship.

Not completely true. I ordered fish last Tuesday, was supposed to be shipped wed and arrive Thursday. Haven't heard anything about my order (delayed, out of stock, etc). They charged my card the following day of the order being placed.

memphissmc · Dec 20, 2021

LiveAquaria said:
@saltyhog Good morning! We are very sorry that we were not able to ship your anampses chrysocephalis. Based on your experience, you are familiar with the many factors that come into play with availability of aquatic life. The In-Stock alerts are awesome, however, are not a guarantee. Even though, you were successful with the checkout process, unless ordering DD, inventory is not 100% real time. Rest assured, you are only charged for the items that ship, any authorizations that were pending, drop off if unable to ship. Thank you for your understanding and we appreciate your loyalty to LiveAquaria. Have a great weekend and stay safe!

I would LOVE to knkw what is going on with my order! It was stated that my order was to be shipped the following day and arrive the day after that. I took off work expecting it to be dropped, especially after seeing that the card had been charged. Nothing!! Since I didn't hear ANYTHING I took the following day off as well because I didn't want a 300 order being dropped off without me knowing.. No email of shipment being delayed, no email of something may be out of stock, no communication of any sort. To top it off, the online chat is only automated and when it gets to a point it says it will send an email and I will hear back. Thats been probably atleast 10 times now. Oh yeah, and the phone is apparently having technical difficulties and isn't working. By taking off 2 days thats 450 out of my pocket!! First time ordering from you guys and really can't see me making this mistake again. Comlletely understand that orders can be delayed especially with how crazy everything is, there is no excuse for simple lack of communication other than just not caring for your customers. Very disappointed to say the least!

LiveAquaria · Dec 27, 2021

memphissmc said:
I would LOVE to knkw what is going on with my order! It was stated that my order was to be shipped the following day and arrive the day after that. I took off work expecting it to be dropped, especially after seeing that the card had been charged. Nothing!! Since I didn't hear ANYTHING I took the following day off as well because I didn't want a 300 order being dropped off without me knowing.. No email of shipment being delayed, no email of something may be out of stock, no communication of any sort. To top it off, the online chat is only automated and when it gets to a point it says it will send an email and I will hear back. Thats been probably atleast 10 times now. Oh yeah, and the phone is apparently having technical difficulties and isn't working. By taking off 2 days thats 450 out of my pocket!! First time ordering from you guys and really can't see me making this mistake again. Comlletely understand that orders can be delayed especially with how crazy everything is, there is no excuse for simple lack of communication other than just not caring for your customers. Very disappointed to say the least!

@memphissmc Good evening. We sincerely apologize that due to recent inclement weather, we have experienced issues with our phone and internal systems. We would be happy to look into this. Please PM your order number so we can review.