Next-Day shipment didnt arrive.. will they survive?

[LBC]

Next-Day didnt arrive.. will the SALTWATERFISH.com fish survive?

Ordered $160 in livestock (mostly caribbean) from saltwaterfish.com on Wednesday. They shipped Thursday for Friday via Fedex.

It's Friday nite 10pm and the shipment still is in Memphis, TN.

I'm in Cali. Fedex said they'll deliver the fish 'first thing' tomorrow 'morning'.

Sure.

Is there any chance any of the fish survive?? For those of you that are (not) familiar with saltwaterfish, they ship in TINY bags with TINY amount of water.

I get 99% of my stuff from LAX area wholesalers but for certain Caribbean species I've found saltwaterfish (and the gulf coast diver dude) cheaper than wholesalers ie, the teeny weeny cherub pygmy, one of my fave fish for nano size tanks

Guess I'll see tomorrow; I notice (in anticipation) that swf.com set up their system so that if the shipment arrives late/never, one cannot request a refund for dead animals!! Will definitely never order from them again in this lifetime since they're obviously already blocking online refund requests after a certain time. I tried earlier in the day and it showed the ability to request a refund for dead animals online.

 

[duromega]

no warranty on DOA

that's BS , file a paypal claim

 

[LBC]

exactly.

what a shame now i see why they should NOT ship in teeny tiny bags nor in tiny bits of water.

assuming it even arrives tomorrow, they're all bound to be dead. i paid by credit card and since their ssystem doesnt seem to accept doa filing online when shipment arrives late, i might as well send them an email complaining of that, then file a chargeback with my CC.

sucks they take saltwater lifeforms for granted so

 

[duromega]

ha!
that's why I always use paypal
you will have your money back first then they ask what happened

 

[Rob&Gab]

please take some photos of when it arrives and share it with us. never heard of fish being shipped with tiny bags and little to no water.

also file a dispute with them. It should be on them cause it was not cause of weather related issues.

 

[Waleedwale1]

Yea I've seen those bags when fire fish and other small fish get shipped, a bit bigger than your palm.

 

[Dogbed]

How are you buying from the wholesalers.

 

[greg 45]

Most are package to survive 48 hours or more !!!

 

[LBC]

Most are package to survive 48 hours or more !!!

saltwaterfish.com are the only shipper that arent. yea, i'll post pics since they said i can't refuse a shipment; i have to accept it even if it arrives a week late! because there is a 'chance' something might be alive

really.. you guys who seen it, know how tiny the bag is.. and how little water they put in each bag, like barely 2 OUNCE in each bag!

well, u'll see so ya know before if u ever order from SWF =D

 

[jcdeng]

if u do get it today they should survive. If Monday then no. I had an expansive flame wrasse T male shipped to me in bad (cold weather) and didn't make it on time, the next day the fish bag was so cold and wrasse inside not moving but after temp acclimation it came back to life.

 

[Cibo]

I think the claim would be with fedex! I think the sender needs to file the claim and thay should refund your money! that why I like Foster and smith! no ?'s asked!

 

[LBC]

I think the claim would be with fedex! I think the sender needs to file the claim and thay should refund your money! that why I like Foster and smith! no ?'s asked!

Foster Smith (LiveAquaria.com) actually sent me a UPS LABEL and required the dead bodies before a refund issued:

Thank you for your recent order with Live Aquaria. We apologize for the losses in your aquarium. We will be sending a prepaid UPS return label, which you may use to return the remains to us. We will credit your file upon return of the specimen.

Ever since, I have been picked up a couple wholesale orders direct from QM they're just minutes away (I recently started an exotic plant nursery with some aquatic plant/pond livestock but its been more of a hobby til i get things growing)

Most of the wholesalers seem to be located on the same street (104th) which is just north of LAX.

I'll post a pic when/if i received them.

 

[Cibo]

I think at a high price point they want the dead fish back but if it is dead why not send it back its on their dime!

 

[LBC]

Yep since I'm not a shipper its not like I knew how to package the dead fish nor how to get it over to UPS.. they said it would be $8 to pick up so I dropped it off at a local UPS store in Signal Hill; in retrospect it was definitely a hassle because they did not say they want the bodies on phone but only until in an email a day later, when I had tossed them in the trash then had to dig up the dumpster to find the bag when i saw the emai. then pack it in a box, print out the label then drive over to signal hill to ship out bodies that were shipped from just minutes away.. all the way to wisconsin... Live Aquaria/FosterSmith, never again, not even for supplies =D

i do understand how liveaquaria is a great resource to those of yall not local to LAX and can get decent prices/free ship over $225 but hey, petsolutions has got a special right now they ship free over $100! and even when the special ends, their minimum for free ship is like only $175 and likewise their shipper is QM and they have coupons where you get like 10% off your order whereas Liveaquaria has no coupons.. if i still had to purchase retail, i'd definitely go with petsolutions rather than liveaquaria.

 

[l Morphine]

Yep since I'm not a shipper its not like I knew how to package the dead fish nor how to get it over to UPS.. they said it would be $8 to pick up so I dropped it off at a local UPS store in Signal Hill; in retrospect it was definitely a hassle because they did not say they want the bodies on phone but only until in an email a day later, when I had tossed them in the trash then had to dig up the dumpster to find the bag when i saw the emai. then pack it in a box, print out the label then drive over to signal hill to ship out bodies that were shipped from just minutes away.. all the way to wisconsin... Live Aquaria/FosterSmith, never again, not even for supplies =D

i do understand how liveaquaria is a great resource to those of yall not local to LAX and can get decent prices/free ship over $225 but hey, petsolutions has got a special right now they ship free over $100! and even when the special ends, their minimum for free ship is like only $175 and likewise their shipper is QM and they have coupons where you get like 10% off your order whereas Liveaquaria has no coupons.. if i still had to purchase retail, i'd definitely go with petsolutions rather than liveaquaria.

Most of the time LA doesnt require you to send them back the bodies unless youve had an extraordinary amount of issues, or its alot of money. Can you blame them? I for one, received a 90$ chalice coral dead, and they gave me half the shipping and the full cost of the coral in credit to use next time. And honestly, did they really need to say they need the bodies? I mean if they tell you to ship them something, it has to have something in it lol. But by far, LA is the best. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Id pay double the shipping to have my animals live.
Also as far as the OP, you can challenge the charge. Just make sure you tell them that the package was delayed.

 

[LBC]

thanks for the input. its refreshing to see a diversity of opinions/viewpoints on any matter even trivial ones.

i called and emailed saltwaterfish last nite the fact that i waited around all day yesterday and it never showed, and still today seems the same waiting game

swf website states they are only able to respond to enquiries M-F only til 4:30p Eastern.

what is sad is the fact they ship in such tiny bags and water quantities; in my order note i specified to ship large healthy specimens in ample space.

lets see if they did. it is a shame for creatures to be harvested brutally, travel across the world successfully, only to die because of a cheap shipper not actually packing them with enough water, oxygen & amox to survive more than just 1 day en route..

 

[drej424]

I ordered once from saltwaterfish. The fish arrived on time, but it was so thin. It didn't make it. Never again for me, either.

 

[LBC]

indeed, they're the skimpiest seller in terms of specimen size and shipping quarters!

i had little choice since i want to introduce multiple pygmy angel specimens & caribbean tangs simultaneous in a new tank (i hav multiple tanks now) and they were the only that have cherubs for so cheap as im on the pacific coast.. buy yea swf (and liveaq): never again! =D

 

[LBC]

fish never arrived (shipped Th for Fri; its Sat nite and still nothin)

whats worse is nobody at SaltwaterFish replied my voicemail or emails i sent since Friday afternoon and nite.

again, given tiny bags they ship in, i'm not even gonna wanna open those bags and deal with the rotting fish odors when fedex shows up Monday and does like business as usual, and leaves it at my doorstep without even ringing the bel.

is there a way to refuse the package before delivery attempt Monday (or later)?

[Monday wil make it 5 days since the box of TEN fish (angels, tangs, clowns) shipped]

 

[edd]

i would refuse it and stop payment.