We did talk on Tuesday, the day the clownfish arrived DOA. When I woke up and checked my emails and saw this happened. The first call was to ORA to see if they had any other Picasso's by chance so that I could try to work this out. And of course they did not. I was on a waiting for many months for these guys. However, they said they were willing to work something out for me and try to get me some real soon to help me rectify this. My second call was to DHL, my shipper. To ask about their shipping. I was informed that planes kinda have two parts to their cargo area. Part is cold and there is a part that stays warmer. Live animals are kept in the section that stays warm, however, sometimes animals get put into the wrong section and that is when problems arise. Needless to say, DHL or other carriers for that matter do not have guarentees on live animals that they transport.
Then I spoke to you (on Tuesday the day you received the fish) to try and rectify this. You asked me if you had a three Picasso credit, I said that we do not have a arrive alive guarentee since we cannot gaurentee shippers will get them there with no issues. You said that you assumed we had one. I said no, but to make it up to you, we would credit you 50% of your cost, less shipping since we did not want to lose you as a customer. And that I had spoke to ORA about getting more Picasso's as soon as possible to try to get you more. You said that was not an option for you since you did not want to do business with me, someone without a arrive alive guarentee. That was your decision. I would have gladly sent you more at cost. Which would have been $165 for three. So with your credit refund, would have been $27.50 plus shipping. But, I do not have a arrive alive policy. That was not an option for me with you.
Since Tuesday, after we spoke, I have been away and not at the shop until this morning. You sent me several emails, which I received this morning when I was able to check my emails again and you left one phone message on Tuesday evening. No one was here, we close at 5:30pm PST. Your call was at 6:06pm according to caller ID. No one was monitoring caller ID to try and ignore Doni's phone calls.
As for your emails, I will answer them here since you are bringing my business practice into question. Your report to the Better Business Beareu is noted. Your PayPal claim for a dispute is noted. Actually, FYI. Live goods purchased via Paypal and not purchased through a eBay auction are ineligible for seller protection. I didn't want to use Paypal, since they charge me more for merchant processing. However, since I do not accept AMEX, and you said you lost your credit card and Paypal had it on file, could we use them and I said ok. You did offer to pay the extra charge they would charge me and I said no, but that was very nice of you.
Doni, I thought I was very fair to you. You saw them advertised on a site that is global, but for a large part frequented by people in Washington state.I use it to advertise to the people in my area since my website is not up and running at the moment. I am having it rebuilt. Hence the $95 Picasso's, vice $149 Picasso's like other sites charge. At $149, I could have a arrive alive guarentee like some other sites do, because the replacement price is built into the price you already paid. Not sure who said I just started shipping. I have shipped fish, corals and live rock for years. As of late, I have shipped a lot of fish since finding a breeder of the black faced Black and White Ocellaris clownfish. Everyone wants them since no store has them. Also, I thought I was very fair to you when you wanted to purchase them and have me hold them for 10 days before shipping them out while you were on vacation visiting your mom. You said you did not want your husband to have to acclimate them since he didn't know how. While they were here, they were eating, swimming around and doing just fine.
I had 4 Picasso's, sold two of them to you along with two Australian Black and White Clownfish. Then I sold one other Picasso to someone else. And had many offers for a pair, however, I only had one available. Then someone asked me to hold that one for a day while he checked the paramters of his new tank before adding it. Then you contacted me before I was to ship them out and asked me if you could add another Picasso. I checked with him, he wasn’t ready yet, so I asked him if I could sell his Picasso to you and I would get him one as soon as I could. He said sure. I then contacted you and said yes, I can add another Picasso clown to your order. And you contacted me back, said great, and said just to make sure we are on the same page, you did not want the two Black and White clownfish anymore. I said ok, credited you the difference toward the third Picasso and said your owe me another $15 plus the cost of shipping which I had not charged you yet. Actually, looking at it now, I misscharged you, it should have been $25. $95 times 3 is $285. I only had you pay me another $15, which was $275 or $91.66 a Picasso.
As for your friend calling me this morning. Age of Aquariums or whatever your name is from phone number (843) 408-017?. I did not care for your tone on my voicemail. You said to call you back, not sure why I would do that, to my knowledge, you have nothing to do with this transaction.
And for the two emails I received today from smcq and pcn, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this matter. Your threats to my business are noted. I took them as a threat, and so did a sponsor friend of mine here at this site.
Like I stated earlier, I just got back today, and now I will issue you your 50% credit as we discussed on the phone on Tuesday, $137.50. I also contacted ORA and stated that I was issuing you a credit as we discussed on Tuesday and not to worry about trying to get me more Picasso's asap since I am not shipping more to you for this order. And to just place me at the bottom of the list and I will wait another six plus months for my turn to come up again. But since you do not want to do business with me again, as I stated on Tuesday, I will make an exception this time and issue you a Paypal partial refund.
We do not guarentee livegoods once they leave the shop. In the rare occasion something happens, at our retail location, on a case by case basis we issue store credit towards their next purchase, that is our policy. Here locally, just last week. Two customers purchased fish, took them home and they died. I had no idea why this happened. Since they lived close, I said let me come and look at your tank, this doesn’t make sense. One customer had been topping off the system so much, he forgot to check his salinity and it was none existant. The other one, his nitrates turned my test kit candy apple red, he was totally off the chart without even waiting the five minutes the test normally takes to fully change. I am aware this case is different, I am just stating why I have this policy in place.
I was looking into becoming a sponsor here once my site is completed. I guess that would not be a good idea with everyone knowing how horrible of a business Ocean Reef Aquatics is. As you said in your emails, you will spread the word at how bad of a business we are. And you have been doing just that. I have shipped to members from this site and others. Funny how Vendor Experience forums turn into places where individuals can sound off about negative and rarely positive experiences. We are a direct importer of corals, fish and live rock from Jakarta, Bali, the Marshall Island and now Australia.That is why we have such great prices. But who would want to do business with me now, a person with $85 Helfrichii Firefish, $95 Mystery Wrasse, $200 Black Tangs, Bluejaw Trigger pairs for $99 and live rock as low as $4.99 a lb!! Who would want to do business with me now??
Your credit has been issued. With you being staff/moderator here, I wonder how long my post will stay here for everyone to read, since everyone here was allowed to read your side.
Have a good day. And once again, I am sorry this all happened.
