Planet Zoa - not so great :o(

[1mbrews8]

Well I am having difficulties with Planet Zoa/Travis and wanted to get some others opinions about my situation. I am not super angry or anything, just feel I am being treated unfairly and taken advantage of. Here goes..:

I had made an order a month or so ago when I won the first Bowser. Since I won it, I felt thankful and ordered, i believe, 5 more kinds of z/p. When they got there the bag water was extremely cold, heat pack barely warm, and i think it got here to me before 12 noon. We have been having cold weather here in GA and they all didn't look great. I made sure I emailed and texted pics to keep him in the loop. It ends up being that luckily all but 2 made it. That is not the issue. ************ He gave me a $50 credit since they died. I thanked him and was appreciative and went on about life. No big deal.

Now it comes time for the last sale PZ had. It had a similar contest (which apparently I am good at ) and I was the first to spot the hidden pic again! Once it was over, and the white elephant stealing part of the contest was revealed, I and the 2nd place person arranged a deal so I would keep the 2nd Bowser and he would not steal. Cool. I decided to order one of the packs for $125 + $50 shipping that Travis put up and paid right away and all was great.

I pm'd him a day or 2 ago to check on the status of the zoas and to see about adding on some more. I mentioned a few I was interesed in (Super Sians and TDF Vampires). He said he could do a frag of 2 of each for $50. That mention of $50 made me remember about my $50 credit and so I said I wanted to use that. No problem right? yup.. problem.


**Here is where I get confused if I am thinking wrong or not. The analogy I use is if I am at Walmart and happen to have a $50 GC from whatever (returns, gift, etc) and see a chair on sale for $50, are they going to say no you can't use that? Of course not. I would understand if for some reason they have a sign posted or something saying must use online or not combinable with sale items or something..

He said at first "what gift card" even though it was from maybe a month ago and I was the only one who had a loss from that sale. So i exlained it to him. He then started talking about the "retail" value of the polyps i wanted being worth more than the ones I lost and had 2 options.

1)I could use the $50 credit towards the "retail" value of the new z/p (retail was $142) and pay the rest. UHHHHHHH that would be $92!!!!!! So it went from me paying cash $50 to using a $50 credit AND having to pay $92?!?!?!?

2)Or he said that I could take the original offer of $50 cash (and I think) still lose the credit of the other $50.

I was a bit suprised but responded "talked to her a bit and she/i want to know if we are not able to use the $50 credit on this, what will we be able to use it on? If we can't use it the same as "cash" it seems a bit pointless. And it is a credit, has nothing to do with wich are worth more. the price of x is the price of x, shouldnt it be able to be paid for with x money/credit?

Maybe if u had specified can't be used on discounted items or has to be "retail" price, but I never heard/saw that?
Again, not trying to be a jerk, just trying to use my credit on something without paying "extra"... thx"

Notice that I was still trying to be polite and understand what we could do..I did not refuse the original offer of $50 for them, i was just trying to confirm how i could use the $50 credit. He then started to bring up that I had won 2 free Bowsers and was taking advantage of him and that he might have undervalued the SS and TDF and that I knew how much they were worth. He said that we (my wife and I) didn't agree with what he said he would refund everything and i would be disqualified for the 2nd free Bowser.

I respond:
Lol! it apparently is misscommunication... I am not taking advantage of you. I did win 2 free bowsers, which is awesome and i certainly appreciate it! But i didnt cheat or anything to win them and it has nothing to do with whatever else i buy from you. I know what the retail and all is on the ss and tdf, that is why i was extremely happy and pleased when you said only $50 for them. That is a great deal!
I had forgot about the credit at first as well which is why i didnt mention it sooner when i bought the recent pack. I am not comparing the value of anything of my z/p that died and the ss and tdf, i am just looking at the #'s.


He then proceeds to refund the $125 for the newest pack, not received yet obviously, $50 for the shipping, and $50 for the credit. so i shoot a msg as soon as i see it:
uhh... just got a refund on paypal for the pack and doa, but never said that I wanted that? I do not want a refund on the pack and certainly dont want to lose the bowser. The confusion is with the ability/how to use the $50 credit. nothing else. Don't know what u are trying to do here, but i think you need to slow down and talk...

all he says is sorry. i sent another msg that i didnt think it was fair that he took away a Free Bowser, a coral pack i wanted and paid for, and a credit and that we needed to compromise. No reply. My last pm i sent was:

"tying one more time to see if you want to try to work something out that is agreeable to both of us. Neither you nor I are newbies in the coral buying/selling world and I am not mad, just confused and concerned you are taking things away without asking/confirming because I have won a contest twice or want to use a GC you issued me.

I am hoping for the best, and maybe i am wrong and seeing it from some point of view nobody else would, but will have no choice but to ask who is in the wrong in a thread on r2r. If everyone says I am wrong, then i will appoligize and move on. If it appears everyone thinks the "unnamed for now vendor" is in the wrong I hope you will step up to make it right. I will try my best to convey both sides of the story fairly.

Please lets not be childish and compromise? lmk by tomorrow morning, eastern time, say 10AM if you have ideas on working it out or if you just want to leave it to the website to decide?
(ps - this is not a threat or anything silly like that, i just don't know of another way to "prove" I think i am in the right so it is the best option imo. I don't want to just "forget" about a $200 Bowser)"

His last reply was a bit rude and said that i disrespected and insulted his generosity and a little bad publicity did not worry him at all and that I should just move on.


Maybe I should, but I wanted others opinions to see if I am off base on being a little dissapointed in Planet Zoa? I have heard great things, and I am sure there are many who are pleased with their orders/outcome... but.. if what was above happened to you, what would you think? Thanks to all who read this long read!

 

[1mbrews8]

now i just read that noone except me and travis can post in this.. sorry rev! well... I'm at a quandry how to resolve it??

 

[Aquaph8]

now i just read that noone except me and travis can post in this.. sorry rev! well... I'm at a quandry how to resolve it??

Thanks for pointing this out. Yes, please keep feedback between the two parties in question, thanks.

 

[1mbrews8]

just to clear up due to the part of the last post from someone - i did not "negotiate" the discounted price of the SS and TDF, he offered them at $50. So that would change your macy's anology to the pearls being on sale for $50, not me "asking if I could have them for $50". I am pretty sure I could use a Macy's GC to buy them..

 

[Akwarius]

The majority (99.9 percent) of the customers on R2R are amazing! People like 1mbrews8 are the exception, and Im sure we just caught each other on a bad day.

Before anyone questions my ethics, ask around about Planet Zoa shipments. Take a look at buddythelion's unboxing video. I always send extra stuff and go the extra mile for people. The contests are a fun way to interact with my customers and bring them amazing discounts and freebies. This is something that would have gotten me excited as a hobbyist. In fact, just about every decision that I make as a coral vendor stems from my foundation as a hobbyist. My business is exactly what I would have "liked" to see back in the day.

Back on topic...

How much free stuff will be enough for 1mbrews8? Two $200 frags wasnt enough. Offering additional frags for 75 percent off wasnt enough either.

I simply asked him to use his store credit on something that was regular price or equivalent to what was lost, and he refused to do so. After he argued his point and I disagreed, he wouldnt let it go. The best option was a full refund and to wash my hands of the entire situation.

I stand behind my last PM to 1mbrews8, which I think was accurate and not rude at all:

"First of all, as the owner operator of Planet Zoa, I can decide who to do business with. You disrespected and insulted my generosity, so I gave ALL of your money back and now I owe you NOTHING.

Your threat (but its not a threat) to go public does not worry me in the slightest. Best case scenario, the thread will be shut down and you will be told to resolve this issue via PM. Worst case scenario, you will expose yourself as a greedy and difficult customer, causing other vendors to think twice before dealing with you. The only thing that will happen to me is a little negative publicity that few people will even notice.

I dont need or want an apology, just count your losses and move on."

 

[1mbrews8]

Thank you for responding. All i want is a healthy discussion with an outcome that is agreeable to both parties. You take that as not letting go. As i said in my pm's i would like to compromise..

Winning the Bowser 1 time or 10 times has nothing to do with anything. I loved the contests and thought they were a great idea! Thats why i am so disapointed you took it away.



You "asked me to use my store credit on something that was regular price or equivalent to what was lost"....? Was this the option to spend $92 plus my $50 credit on the 4 zoas? or the lose my credit and still pay $50 for the z/p YOU OFFERED TO ME FOR $50? You did not explain everything well at all and like I said, this was AFTER you put the $50 price tag on the 4 z/p.


Let me be clear, I would have 0 problem with the $50 credit not being able to be spent if you had said from the begining that I could only use it on full price items. But it makes me wonder when you put that rule out there after you give a price...
and I had someone pm me that was able to use their cedit towards a discounted pack. how is that diff?

What can we do to get back on track to get my bowser and the others? Again, I would love to compromise and no matter how difficult you think i am, i have countless transactions with all the big sponsors regularly on here with no issues...

 

[Akwarius]

What can we do to get back on track to get my bowser and the others?

Nothing. We are done. Just enjoy the first free bowser that you got and take your business elsewhere.

Thanks for all the pms of support guys! This really is the best reef forum on the web!

 

[1mbrews8]

wow.... that says something. not willing to admit you made an obvious mistake is a bad habit and will bite you.

I got a ton of pms saying you lost their business for good and unfortunatly i guess u lost mine too.. I run a successful business as well and am glad i would not treat customers as u do. If you change your mind, i'll be the mature one over here )

 

[1mbrews8]

ps - just because i had a pm about it, what are you going to do with the Bowser I WON? Give it to the 2nd quickest guy? or re-do the whole picking process for all the others "who weren't disqualified"?

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Please take anything further to PM's. If something changes PM me and we'll open it back up.