Shipping surprises: Has it happened to you?

Peace River · Jul 8, 2023

There have been threads about what to do with a shipment that shows up with reef supplies that were never ordered (and not charged); extra items in a shipment; missing items; etc. My recent experience with shipping surprises was a bit different. I ordered a fish/saltwater related book two months ago and it stayed in a pending status and was never shipped. Today I was surprised with a notification that the order, that I had since forgotten about, would be arriving tomorrow. What is your experience with shipping surprises?

By the way, for those who care what the book was:
Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota: Volume 4, Ecosystem-Based Management

Reefer Matt · Jul 8, 2023

Yes, this has happened to me. I ordered a skimmer, and got shipped the wrong one (they sent a bigger more expensive model, but it was too big for the tank). I contacted the company, and they arranged the return label, and shipped out a new skimmer. Well, they fulfilled the corrected order twice from two separate warehouses, and didn't realize their mistake. I called them up and returned the extra $300 skimmer, though I had the right to keep it per law. (So I ended up returning two skimmers) I have a business relationship with this company, and value it.

Kellie in CA · Jul 8, 2023

One time I ordered from Reef Cleaners and there was some kind of mix-up because I ordered a cleaning crew for a 15 gallon and received close to 300 snails.

I ended up having a couple reefers with large tanks come pick up most of them.

JGT · Jul 8, 2023

I ordered a bucket of salt which usually comes in a box ( not really sure why, but anyway). So the box gets delivered but there is a big tear in the box and no salt. Instead there is a smaller box that is addressed to someone else a few states away. I think what happened is the salt tore a hole through the box and a random box addressed to someone else made it’s way into the salt box in the back of the Fedex truck. Never found my salt though I got credit for it and I gave the box to Fedex and they delivered it to its rightful owner. Strange.

Cichlid Dad · Jul 8, 2023

Reefer Matt said:
Yes, this has happened to me. I ordered a skimmer, and got shipped the wrong one (they sent a bigger more expensive model, but it was too big for the tank). I contacted the company, and they arranged the return label, and shipped out a new skimmer. Well, they fulfilled the corrected order twice from two separate warehouses, and didn't realize their mistake. I called them up and returned the extra $300 skimmer, though I had the right to keep it per law. (So I ended up returning two skimmers) I have a business relationship with this company, and value it.

And you can sleep at night! Love your videos btw

Peace River · Jul 8, 2023

Reefer Matt said:
Yes, this has happened to me. I ordered a skimmer, and got shipped the wrong one (they sent a bigger more expensive model, but it was too big for the tank). I contacted the company, and they arranged the return label, and shipped out a new skimmer. Well, they fulfilled the corrected order twice from two separate warehouses, and didn't realize their mistake. I called them up and returned the extra $300 skimmer, though I had the right to keep it per law. (So I ended up returning two skimmers) I have a business relationship with this company, and value it.

There is the law of commerce and the law of karma. And you know what they say about karma!