Hey all,
Wanted to share my experience with you all. So I originally ordered a male bells flasher wrasse from
@Reef Pro. The shipment came well packaged but it came late nearly 4 PM, no fault at all of the vendor. While the vendor was located on the east coast, and I’m on the west coast, Gilbert was readily available over text to help guide me. We tried acclimatizing the fish and after a couple of hours of waiting, we declared the fish DOA. No visible illness on the fish that I could see. Reef pro issued a full refund including shipping. Unfortunately they were out of the bells flasher so instead I decided on a candy basslet and a Yosha gobby. Again great communication with Gilbert, sent me pictures of the fish before shipping. Again everything was well packaged but another DOA, with the package showing up at 430 PM! The basslet was placed in a container in a big. Upon opening the bag after floating it, the basslet was floating upside down. When I looked at it, the fins were moving slightly. I messaged Gilbert again and followed his instructions to slowly acclimate. Unfortunately the fish stayed upside down and by the morning was dead. I reached out to Gilbert who was shocked that 3/3 fish were doa. We discussed that the shipping delay was the issue here. Box was loaded on the truck at 9 am and wasn’t delivered until 4:36 PM. Gilbert explained that they’re not responsible for shipping delays and that insurance was able to be purchased when ordering fish(but I opted out because I’ve never had issues). We reviewed the shipping and both agreed that the shipping from UPS was vague. Packages were “guaranteed by 10:30 am in most major cities but by end of day everywhere else.” Unfortunately UPS did not provide a guaranteed delivery time so Gilbert took ownership and issued a full store credit! He explained how important customer service was to his business and wanted to make sure I was happy. About $1300 in fish that he took an L on to ensure that the customer was happy, find me a vendor willing to do that. We discussed the next shipment and agreed I would place a hold order on the package and just pickup early in the morning to avoid having expensive fish sitting in the back of cold truck for over 8 hours.
I want to highlight that all the fish looked healthy, no sign of illness or parasites. While the fish are held in medicine, no claim of disease free was ever made by reef pro, and they suggested I quarantine all new shipments regardless of being placed in medication for over 30 days. As a small business owner I appreciate the fact that he was willing to take a $1300 loss to ensure his customers had a positive experience. I look forward to doing future business with reefpro simply because of their customer service. I’d rather spend a little more and have amazing customer service, which they delivered, then save some money and have someone who isn’t responsive. I look forward to my next purchase (screw UPS!) and will update after my next delivery. I don’t doubt for a second that reefpro fish are healthy when they ship them and if you have any doubt, email, call or text them and ask for videos and pictures of the fish before you place your order. When I requested pictures of them eating, they provided me tons of pictures and videos to ensure I was happy before placing the order.
In short, UPS sucks, Reef Pro service and dedication to customer service is amazing, and the look of the fish, although DOA, looked like they were shipped healthy and I don’t hold it against reefpro for UPS issues.
