Trials of ordering filefish through Live Aquaria...

Arthroverts · Sep 5, 2019

Hello all, we recently ordered a bonded pair of Radial Filefish from Live Aquaria (Diver's Den: https://www.liveaquaria.com/divers-den/product/477633/biota-captive-bred-radial-filefish-bonded-pair). It arrived yesterday, and we were super stoked! That is, until we opened the box. We found one filefish, and another bag filled with just water and a minuscule piece of plastic floating in it. There is no possible way the fish could have jumped, as there was nothing in the bag before we opened it. Understandably we were (are) quite upset about this; I haven't always heard the best of Live Aquaria, but this is crazy.

Has this happened to others? We sent in a complaint, but finding the other one of the pair seems slim.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

P.S The one filefish we did get is doing fine.

Dragon52 · Sep 5, 2019

I've bought alot of fish/inverts from LA/DD but never had anything like this happen. That's very strange.

smartwater101 · Sep 5, 2019

I order from them all the time and, overall, have had a good experience. Their customer service is pretty responsive. That said... this is the weirdest thing! I've never gotten an empty bag before!

Get ahold of customer support ASAP. I'm curious what happens with this one. So strange.

jacksin · Sep 5, 2019

recently had a major issue with them. Ordered an orange plate coral with green tentacles from divers den, rec'd a significantly larger green plate coral. O f course this isn't exactly wysiwyg to me!
Sure they refunded the cost but will not send me a replacement coral when one becomes available. Why should I have to pay shipping costs again because they sent me the wrong coral? Their error should not cost me money.

Silver14SS · Sep 5, 2019

jacksin said:
recently had a major issue with them. Ordered an orange plate coral with green tentacles from divers den, rec'd a significantly larger green plate coral. O f course this isn't exactly wysiwyg to me!
Sure they refunded the cost but will not send me a replacement coral when one becomes available. Why should I have to pay shipping costs again because they sent me the wrong coral? Their error should not cost me money.

Request a refund through your payment method if the vendor won’t resolve it. Credit card companies or PayPal should have your back if you didn’t receive the goods you paid for.

smartwater101 · Sep 5, 2019

jacksin said:
Sure they refunded the cost but will not send me a replacement coral when one becomes available.

Does anyone do this anymore? I haven't had a company offer a replacement in a loooong time.

Arthroverts · Sep 5, 2019

I sent them a message yesterday, but no response insofar. I will call tomorrow. I am really hoping I can get the other of the pair, or a least a replacement pair IP (If Possible). I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

scchase · Sep 5, 2019

Hearing this kind of thing a lot lately, for me it was a damsel sent instead of a False Personifer Angel

User1 · Sep 5, 2019

I hope for your sake that you took a picture of the bag(s) before you opened them. If so, email plus photo and you will be refunded properly. On the other hand if you didn't then it may take a bit more time.

Every time I've ordered from them and had any issues as long as I had a photo and sent an immediate email upon first inspection they resolved the problem. I ordered a pair of fish earlier this year (Scopus and Lavender Tang) and the shipment was correct, arrived earlier than estimated time, and properly bagged this time with black bottom bags. Fish are doing super great and I would probably order from them again. Also a few corals I ordered from them are also doing well and arrived correct.

Having said that I only use Pacific East Aquaculture at the moment although their fish selection would be limited to captive raised which may not work for you of course. I hope this works out for you. I'm sure it will.

smartwater101 · Sep 5, 2019

Call them. Don't email. Don't chat. Actually speaking to someone will always help. Human nature and all that...

WV Reefer · Sep 5, 2019

Arthroverts said:
Hello all, we recently ordered a bonded pair of Radial Filefish from Live Aquaria (Diver's Den: https://www.liveaquaria.com/divers-den/product/477633/biota-captive-bred-radial-filefish-bonded-pair). It arrived yesterday, and we were super stoked! That is, until we opened the box. We found one filefish, and another bag filled with just water and a minuscule piece of plastic floating in it. There is no possible way the fish could have jumped, as there was nothing in the bag before we opened it. Understandably we were (are) quite upset about this; I haven't always heard the best of Live Aquaria, but this is crazy.

Has this happened to others? We sent in a complaint, but finding the other one of the pair seems slim.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

P.S The one filefish we did get is doing fine.

I know someone that ordered from there recently and when they opened the box the fish were laying in the packing material and the bags were empty.

Arthroverts · Sep 6, 2019

@saf1, I have video footage of the whole thing, as well as photos. It was supposed to be an unboxing video; this one is going to be one of the ultimate "gone wrong" unboxing's, ha ha.

@smartwater101, I will. Thank you for the advice!

@WV Reefer, seriously? That is crazy; did the bags open up in transit and spill the fish out? Or were they literally just thrown in the box with empty bags?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

WV Reefer · Sep 6, 2019

@WV Reefer, seriously? That is crazy; did the bags open up in transit and spill the fish out? Or were they literally just thrown in the box with empty bags?

Thanks,

Arthroverts
[/QUOTE]

She never figured it out. One bag was sealed and the other was open. She got her money back though.

Arthroverts · Sep 6, 2019

@WV Reefer, well, I'm glad she at the very least got her money back.

Good news though; they had simply misplaced the other filefish, and they are shipping it out. It will arrive Tuesday, *breathes sigh of relief*.
Now if everything works out in Florida with Live Aquaria's facility, we should be getting our Yellow Line goby to go with our Blue Line here soon.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

smartwater101 · Sep 6, 2019

Glad to hear everything worked out. I'm betting the guy who packaged your fish is getting a lot of crap from his coworkers for that one lol

Arthroverts · Sep 6, 2019

@smartwater101, so am I! That is, if his coworkers even care (which I hope they do). I guess it happens, but I figured they would at least check the bag to make sure they had the fish, ha ha ;Hilarious.

Thanks,

Arthroverts