RareReef (Spoiler, stay away)

[LbulletM]

TL;DR: Ha, save your time and sanity.

Let's do this:

- On December 20th I ordered 4 corals and a 5 pack of Rock Flower Anemones. Their website clearly states that RFA orders may take 14-21 days to ship. Alright, so I'm in this for the long haul.

- On 12/27, I contacted them via their gmail address just to get an update and coordinate shipping since I was going to be out of town and they had sent out emails saying they were moving and they were trying to reduce their stock. Cool! I'll be receiving my stuff pretty soon before they move! (Spoiler: Wrong). Was told he was on the road, but if he hadn't gotten back to me by 10pm that night to hit him up again. I didn't hear from him, so I shot him another message around 10:30. No response.

- On 1/17, my vacation has come and gone and I'm back into get-my-first-ever-order-of-corals mode. Yay, I just had an awesome vacation and now can look forward to some awesome corals! (Spoiler: Wrong again). Send another email to the original thread asking for an update since my travel is out of the way. No reponse.

- On 1/20 I send another email just saying I never received a response and was wondering if he could give me an update. Also asked if I should run a reversal on my card in case things got messed up during the move. No response.

- On 1/24 I send a fresh message thread to their gmail asking for an update and if I should do a reversal of credit card charges. I get a response! Something along the lines of 'I'm pretty sure it's because you ordered RFAs. "As it says, there could be a three to four-week (wrong according to your own website) waiting period on them". We should have them in by the end of the week.' Sweet! Some purdy flowers coming my way soon! I respond pointing out that it's been 5 weeks and I just wanted to make sure everything went well and thanks for the update!

- On 2/6 I send another fresh email since those seem to get a better response (Spoiler: Wrong, yet again) asking if my order will be ready to ship out that week while I'm on vacation. No response.

- On 2/8 I responded to the last successful email thread again pointing out that it has now been over 7 weeks (50 days) from my order date. "Would really like my order to be shipped this week so I can receive it on a day that I'm already taking off work." No response.

- 2/15, I dispute the charges with my credit card company and have a fun time in the ASD live sale that I now have $200 for.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Please also leave your review here: https://www.reef2reef.com/showcase/category/saltwater-aquarium-stores.5/

Thanks.

 

[LbulletM]

Please also leave your review here: https://www.reef2reef.com/showcase/category/saltwater-aquarium-stores.5/

Thanks.

Done. Kind of. That 1000 character limit is a killer. Sounds wayyyy less light hearted and much more like a police blotter over there.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

It's still a pretty new system so we could up the character limit.

 

[LbulletM]

It's still a pretty new system so we could up the character limit.

I see it two ways:

1) More characters means you can be more comprehensive;
2) If you're not lazy like me and trying to bust out the review before leaving work on a Friday, it forces a good, succinct review that is quick enough to read that people can go through multiple reviews quickly before making a purchase.