searoyalwulf
Member
Hi fellow Reefers.
I wanted to let you all know about a poor vendor experience I had. Initially I wasn’t going to post anything about the transaction, but the lousy way this vendor has dealt with the situation has prompted me to broadcast my experience.
Vendor Saga.
Well since they are one of the sponsors here on this site I thought I would try them out. They had a blue xenia that I liked very much.
So on 8-2-07 (6am EST) I placed my order online ($185.99) When I hadn’t heard anything from them by Friday afternoon I thought I would check the status of my order on their website. I found something I had previously missed,
“Orders are shipped the day after it has been validated, in most cases, unless otherwise specified. Please note that shipping days are Monday thru Thursday.”
Not really knowing what “VALIDATED” meant, I thought, OK. That’s understandable, since Paypal isn’t always that swift at the completion of money transfers.
Well when I didn’t hear anything from Trieu Exotics by Tuesday morning 8-7-07, I sent them a message on their website. Late Tuesday I received an email with the tracking number of my package (shipped Monday 8-6-07). Which was still sitting in Indianapolis IN (until 9:11pm). FedEx tracking showed it had arrived at 2:06am, and did not leave their Indiana facility until 9 pm that night (17 HOURS). All I could do was wait for the delivery (after calling FedEx myself to find out what had happened to my package, they blamed the weather for the delay).
My neighbor received the package for me on Wednesday 8-8-07. She told me the package felt WARM when the driver handed it to her.
Here’s where the problems were multiplied. I was amazed at the skimpy packaging. The very small (5x5x10) box offers little protection for EXPENSIVE, DELICATE corals. I was even more shocked by the small amount of water in each bag with the corals (<4oz), and no method of regulating temperature inside the box. Clearly this vendor is trying to economize on his shipping expenses (free shipping for orders over $168). But to sacrifice the health of the corals doesn’t seem to be a good solution to me. There wasn’t even enough water there to properly acclimate them to my system water. If I had to pay for this type of packing I would be even more upset.
Well, as you may have guessed. Corals delayed in shipping are already stressed to the max and being exposed to high temperatures. NONE SURVIVED!!
Well I contacted Steve at Trieu Exotics (sent him an email with photos of the dead corals). I called him on the phone this time. When we spoke he apologized for the mishap and told me he had to contact FedEx before he could tell me what type of credit I could expect. A day or so later I got an email stating that the credit would be $130.00. I thought this wasn’t very good since the dead corals were not my responsibility at all. I mean would you agree to pay $55 dollars for absolutely nothing?
Well on my next payday 8-16-07 I went back to his website to place a new order (mainly only to get my $130.00 credit). Since it didn’t seem likely he would refund my money via paypal. I even called him to make sure I would receive my credit with this order.
Well again I selected some corals on his site, $173 worth. This time the corals were shipped on Thursday. My neighbor received my package for me on Friday. Well every thing arrived in tact.
I was amazed that after the disaster of the first shipment. The packaging was exactly the same. Less than a half cup of water with each coral in it’s own separate bag. The same 5x5x10 box with 1/2 foam surrounding the corals. NO TEMPERATURE SAFEGUARDS! With such a small amount of water, ANY lengthy exposure to HIGH or LOW temperatures could be disastrous. I’m not terribly impressed with the corals either. Quite a bit of money for such tiny items, some looked as though they had just been fragged the day before (major stress). I’m lucky most of them seem to have survived.
So now were going on the third week since my original order. I had to send him an email Tuesday morning (8-21-07), reminding him about the $130 credit. I got no response. So I have called him each night since, and have not been able to reach him. The man who answered the phone told me he would relay my message. As of (8-24-07 8am) still no response or satisfaction.
Only after I tried to file a claim with Paypal did he respond, saying he had some trouble with his account and he then sent me $110ºº (8-24-07 10 pm). Claiming that he would send the other $20ºº over the weekend. Well here it is one week later (9-1-07) and I have still not received the last $20ºº.
Do yourself a favor and avoid this Vendor. I don’t believe he has your best interests (or that of the corals) in mind. Purchases to date $358. Approx value of corals received alive $120.
I wanted to let you all know about a poor vendor experience I had. Initially I wasn’t going to post anything about the transaction, but the lousy way this vendor has dealt with the situation has prompted me to broadcast my experience.
Vendor Saga.
Well since they are one of the sponsors here on this site I thought I would try them out. They had a blue xenia that I liked very much.
So on 8-2-07 (6am EST) I placed my order online ($185.99) When I hadn’t heard anything from them by Friday afternoon I thought I would check the status of my order on their website. I found something I had previously missed,
“Orders are shipped the day after it has been validated, in most cases, unless otherwise specified. Please note that shipping days are Monday thru Thursday.”
Not really knowing what “VALIDATED” meant, I thought, OK. That’s understandable, since Paypal isn’t always that swift at the completion of money transfers.
Well when I didn’t hear anything from Trieu Exotics by Tuesday morning 8-7-07, I sent them a message on their website. Late Tuesday I received an email with the tracking number of my package (shipped Monday 8-6-07). Which was still sitting in Indianapolis IN (until 9:11pm). FedEx tracking showed it had arrived at 2:06am, and did not leave their Indiana facility until 9 pm that night (17 HOURS). All I could do was wait for the delivery (after calling FedEx myself to find out what had happened to my package, they blamed the weather for the delay).
My neighbor received the package for me on Wednesday 8-8-07. She told me the package felt WARM when the driver handed it to her.
Here’s where the problems were multiplied. I was amazed at the skimpy packaging. The very small (5x5x10) box offers little protection for EXPENSIVE, DELICATE corals. I was even more shocked by the small amount of water in each bag with the corals (<4oz), and no method of regulating temperature inside the box. Clearly this vendor is trying to economize on his shipping expenses (free shipping for orders over $168). But to sacrifice the health of the corals doesn’t seem to be a good solution to me. There wasn’t even enough water there to properly acclimate them to my system water. If I had to pay for this type of packing I would be even more upset.
Well, as you may have guessed. Corals delayed in shipping are already stressed to the max and being exposed to high temperatures. NONE SURVIVED!!
Well I contacted Steve at Trieu Exotics (sent him an email with photos of the dead corals). I called him on the phone this time. When we spoke he apologized for the mishap and told me he had to contact FedEx before he could tell me what type of credit I could expect. A day or so later I got an email stating that the credit would be $130.00. I thought this wasn’t very good since the dead corals were not my responsibility at all. I mean would you agree to pay $55 dollars for absolutely nothing?
Well on my next payday 8-16-07 I went back to his website to place a new order (mainly only to get my $130.00 credit). Since it didn’t seem likely he would refund my money via paypal. I even called him to make sure I would receive my credit with this order.
Well again I selected some corals on his site, $173 worth. This time the corals were shipped on Thursday. My neighbor received my package for me on Friday. Well every thing arrived in tact.
I was amazed that after the disaster of the first shipment. The packaging was exactly the same. Less than a half cup of water with each coral in it’s own separate bag. The same 5x5x10 box with 1/2 foam surrounding the corals. NO TEMPERATURE SAFEGUARDS! With such a small amount of water, ANY lengthy exposure to HIGH or LOW temperatures could be disastrous. I’m not terribly impressed with the corals either. Quite a bit of money for such tiny items, some looked as though they had just been fragged the day before (major stress). I’m lucky most of them seem to have survived.
So now were going on the third week since my original order. I had to send him an email Tuesday morning (8-21-07), reminding him about the $130 credit. I got no response. So I have called him each night since, and have not been able to reach him. The man who answered the phone told me he would relay my message. As of (8-24-07 8am) still no response or satisfaction.
Only after I tried to file a claim with Paypal did he respond, saying he had some trouble with his account and he then sent me $110ºº (8-24-07 10 pm). Claiming that he would send the other $20ºº over the weekend. Well here it is one week later (9-1-07) and I have still not received the last $20ºº.
Do yourself a favor and avoid this Vendor. I don’t believe he has your best interests (or that of the corals) in mind. Purchases to date $358. Approx value of corals received alive $120.
