Liveaquaria's new warranty policy

[rawbomb]

Had a bad experience for the first time ever today with liveaquaria. Ordered a lemon peel Tang from divers den along with about 4 other fish and received them yesterday. This morning I find the lemon stuck to the side of my mp40 and when I called and told them what happened they refused the warranty claiming the fish died from the vortech. Now I've been keeping saltwater fish for over 10yrs and every fish I've ever had get stuck to a powerhead is already on its way out if not already dead.

Anyone have something like this happen to them? I spoke with a manager who asked for pictures which I have no problem getting but was told if there are powerhead markings on the body then it would not be honored.

 

[lakai]

Next time just take pictures of the dead fish with no explaination and send it through the web form. of course if its all chopped up then they will likely not waranty

 

[JayKim]

I've ordered about 25 fish and 12 died. Two Rhomboids died outside of warranty period. When I emailed them and told them that I was unhappy with the purchase, they asked for tank specs and params. Part of their response... "With order A3580933 alone, the specimens ordered total 72.5 inches when fully grown, and the specimens that have survived total 60.5 inches when fully grown. Given that you have other fish in the tank besides this order, you are likely significantly over 75 inches when fully grown. We note that the pH of 8 is lower than the range of 8.1 to 8.4 we recommend, the calcium of 480 ppm is higher than the range of 350 to 450 we recommend, and the magnesium of 1380 ppm is higher than the range of 1250 to 1350 we recommend." Maybe I am wrong but I don't think these differences will kill fish within day or two. I am no longer ordering fish online and will no longer do business with Live Aquaria or Petco or Drs Foster Smith.

 

[rawbomb]

It wasn't cut up at all. Just stuck to the side but I learned and valuable lesson today.

 

[ca1ore]

There seems little question that LA/DD have been less 'flexible' in their guarantee. I think one should not volunteer too much information - let them ask for more if they feel they need more.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I've ordered about 25 fish and 12 died. Two Rhomboids died outside of warranty period. When I emailed them and told them that I was unhappy with the purchase, they asked for tank specs and params. Part of their response... "With order A3580933 alone, the specimens ordered total 72.5 inches when fully grown, and the specimens that have survived total 60.5 inches when fully grown. Given that you have other fish in the tank besides this order, you are likely significantly over 75 inches when fully grown. We note that the pH of 8 is lower than the range of 8.1 to 8.4 we recommend, the calcium of 480 ppm is higher than the range of 350 to 450 we recommend, and the magnesium of 1380 ppm is higher than the range of 1250 to 1350 we recommend." Maybe I am wrong but I don't think these differences will kill fish within day or two. I am no longer ordering fish online and will no longer do business with Live Aquaria or Petco or Drs Foster Smith.

The thing is however reef parameters don't effect fish unless they are to a very high extreme. Those parameters are for corals AND should be pointed out to them. lol

 

[rawbomb]

There seems little question that LA/DD have been less 'flexible' in their guarantee. I think on should not volunteer too much information - let them ask for more if they feel they need more.

Yes it was my error. I was treating the situation as if it was the old version of live aquaria before they took this turn.

I just can't understand how it is they can say with a straight face that it was injured by a powerhead. That just makes no sense at all.

 

[JayKim]

The thing is however reef parameters don't effect fish unless they are to a very high extreme. Those parameters are for corals AND should be pointed out to them. lol

Goes to show how much they know. I have fish only 150 gallons. He didn't complain about my nitrate being at 20 so not sure what he was thinking when he responded...

 

[Aardvark1134]

While the MP 40 probably was not the cause I do agree that once stuck to one it become hard to know for sure. While their 14 day warranty might not be perfect it's better than just live arrival warranty...also I have seem some places that on expensive angels say they can't even promise it will arrive alive...what the heck So overall I still prefer LA to most

 

[tehmadreefer]

Goes to show how much they know. I have fish only 150 gallons. He didn't complain about my nitrate being at 20 so not sure what he was thinking when he responded...

They are just using a canned response of reef parameters for corals to justify a policy of not refunding money. I would go over his head and demand to speak with the office of the president or look up their executives and start contacting them.

 

[asting]

The fish was clearly drifting aimlessly, with no motor control. Perfectly healthy, but not able to cope with a powerhead.


I just got credit for a tomini tang. I think they didnt activate the heatpack as it was cold.

I still like it more than SWF, which claim that credits you use dont count towards free shipping minimums. Sort of BS. If you ship me a box of diseased, doomed fish why is it my responsibility to pay shipping on the replacement?

 

[link81]

I will play devils advocate here, I just got a response back from them.

a week and a half ago i placed an order with them that included a yellow head jawfish,
Sadly the fish has passed inside of his cave. I sent them an email stating what happened, and that i could attempt to retrieve him if they needed. I also stated that the other fish in the delivery were doing well.

I just received a response back from them saying they would refund my card for the amount, and to dispose of the remains as i see fit. They never asked what my water conditions were or anything of the sort.

In short, i will not hesitate to order from them again in the future.

 

[408Dartfish]

I will play devils advocate here, I just got a response back from them.

a week and a half ago i placed an order with them that included a yellow head jawfish,
Sadly the fish has passed inside of his cave. I sent them an email stating what happened, and that i could attempt to retrieve him if they needed. I also stated that the other fish in the delivery were doing well.

I just received a response back from them saying they would refund my card for the amount, and to dispose of the remains as i see fit. They never asked what my water conditions were or anything of the sort.

In short, i will not hesitate to order from them again in the future.

After a certain amount I believe 100$ they sometimes want more info about fish death. Even possibly sending them the fish back. I’ve gotten refund my one time I needed to.

 

[JayKim]

They are just using a canned response of reef parameters for corals to justify a policy of not refunding money. I would go over his head and demand to speak with the office of the president or look up their executives and start contacting them.

To clear things up, I DID get refund for all the fish that died within 14 days. But once I told them that I was unhappy is when they asked for my tank info. This is also when they realized that I had above normal fish fatalities. Although I am no expert, I am not a noob either. I was in the hobby since 2007/2008, but got out of it in 2012 and got back into it late 2018. It's just that they ship fish direct from wholesaler and assume everything is good when it's not. The male flame wrasse I got died in 2 days, they are hardy fish if they are healthy to begin with. Their customer service is good but the quality of fish I don't believe are, unless it's from diver's den at premium cost. DD fish ships from their facility in Wisconsin.

 

[JayKim]

After a certain amount I believe 100$ they want more info about Fish death. Even possibly sending them the fish back.

They haven't asked me to send fish back but I kept all the dead ones. Maybe someday it'll be cheap enough to do autopsy on them and find out the real cause of death.

 

[lakai]

I just received a response back from them saying they would refund my card for the amount, and to dispose of the remains as i see fit. They never asked what my water conditions were or anything of the sort.

In short, i will not hesitate to order from them again in the future.

This is the reason why so many of us continue shop at LA and pay the premium they tack on to the price of all their livestock.

 

[JayKim]

This is the reason why so many of us continue shop at LA and pay the premium they tack on to the price of all their livestock.

Yes, this is why I ordered more than $2,000 worth of fish without hesitation. I was offended when they implied that small difference in certain parameters are causing these deaths.

 

[asting]

They haven't asked me to send fish back but I kept all the dead ones. Maybe someday it'll be cheap enough to do autopsy on them and find out the real cause of death.

I just imagine your freezer looking like an expensive bait store.




Another thought on the policy. The fish I bought was on sale for $40, and is now $60. I asked through support but they ignored this part of my question: will they honor the original price on a subsequent order? That would seem equitable to me.

 

[JayKim]

I just imagine your freezer looking like an expensive bait store.




Another thought on the policy. The fish I bought was on sale for $40, and is now $60. I asked through support but they ignored this part of my question: will they honor the original price on a subsequent order? That would seem equitable to me.

Yes, there are about 1k worth of frozen fish. They refund what you paid for, so if you want another one you'll have to pay more or wait till it goes on sale again.

 

[Subsea]

I've ordered about 25 fish and 12 died. Two Rhomboids died outside of warranty period. When I emailed them and told them that I was unhappy with the purchase, they asked for tank specs and params. Part of their response... "With order A3580933 alone, the specimens ordered total 72.5 inches when fully grown, and the specimens that have survived total 60.5 inches when fully grown. Given that you have other fish in the tank besides this order, you are likely significantly over 75 inches when fully grown. We note that the pH of 8 is lower than the range of 8.1 to 8.4 we recommend, the calcium of 480 ppm is higher than the range of 350 to 450 we recommend, and the magnesium of 1380 ppm is higher than the range of 1250 to 1350 we recommend." Maybe I am wrong but I don't think these differences will kill fish within day or two. I am no longer ordering fish online and will no longer do business with Live Aquaria or Petco or Drs Foster Smith.

After more than 15 years of buying from live Aquaria, yesterday, I ended my business dealings with them because of poor customer service.

I vote my displeasure with my pocketbook.