drsfostersmith slowest shipping

[kragon]

dr foster and smith is awsome in my opinion some times i get my stuff in two days but mostly 4 days well i guess they just like me or something.

[rmlevasseur]

I can't speak highly enough of 2 Docs. They have replaced a salinity monitor and a refractometer of mine w/o a question asked. I have found their shipping to be very expedient, and their inventory numbers are always correct.

On the other hand, this is what I HATE. I ordered from Marine Depot once and I noticed some things weren't shipped. I called and they said the warehouse must have been out. I asked if they were going to send it when it was in. Nope, had to reorder it. Naturally they credited me, but wtf? I order stuff online in bulk to save on shipping. I wouldn't order if I knew it wasn't in.

And here's another one...

I order a light fixture and bulbs from Champion Lighting, chosing them over Marine Depot. I get the fixture soon enough but no bulbs. I call and they say they are coming directly from the mfg. Again, WTF? I would not have ordered the damn thing if I knew I wasn't going to get it all at once. What good is the fixture w/o the bulbs?? But do they tell me that on ordering it...nooooo.


Grrr, now I'm angry.

[Varga]

the Doc's sell on Ebay! Bought some salt from them for I think $35 shipped and got it in 3-4 days

[new reefer 03]

Originally Posted by kragon

dr foster and smith is awsome in my opinion some times i get my stuff in two days but mostly 4 days well i guess they just like me or something.

X2
my first order got here 3 days early, second came in 6 days, on time

[joephys]

I have ordered from them twice. Both times the boxes came all beat up (which could be fedex), and they gave me customer returns. A product box was so worn out it looked like it may have been returned a couple of times, and something in plastic packaging that had been cut open with a razor blade. The packaging was terrible, the stuff was just thrown into the box with a handful of peanuts. Great way to send a refractometer. I am done with them.

[alphasierra]

Sorry to hear about that joephys. I've ordered twice and thought they were great. I especially like the magazine that they throw in. It is excellent! Great stuff guys!

The RSM Adventure

[morau89]

I have always found there methods of shipping to be slow too. I just always forget about the slow shipping right before i order from them. I am currently waiting on a package that i ordered last Friday. You are not alone Bigal

[Jeremy0322]

I have ordered a bunch of stuff from the doctors and found the shipping to be awesome and the customer service was also very good. I ordered a pump that was too small and just called them and told them what had happened and they paid to ship the pump i bought back to them and then gave me free shipping on the right one. They are really the only place online i have ordered from.

[michael_cb_125]

For Livestock, there is no other place that can touch them. They are simply THE BEST IMO.

For drygoods, I think that it is a tie between them and marine depot. Both places have amazing CS, and will do anything in their power to resolve an issue. Both have very good prices, on all products, and stand behind everything they sell. I think with any company, there will be a few customers that feel as though they got jipped, but that is just the nature of business. You cant make everyone 100% happy 100% of the time. All you can do is strive for that goal, and IMO the doctors and MD do just that.
~Michael

[JoJo]

my experiences with DrFS have been great. quick & cheap shipping with no delay or damages.

[miaskies]

Originally Posted by smith66

I ordered 10 buckets of reefcrystals salt from them. It was a "bad known batch" of salt. My magnesium tested at 950 NOT 1300ppm like natural sea water. I was very bummed by their response back to me.

WHY DOES THE MAGNESIUM HAVE TO BE SO HIGH- IF YOU HAD USED THE SALT WOULD IT HAVE HURT ANYTHING IN THE TANK?

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by miaskies

WHY DOES THE MAGNESIUM HAVE TO BE SO HIGH- IF YOU HAD USED THE SALT WOULD IT HAVE HURT ANYTHING IN THE TANK?

It may not have "Hurt" anything but our goal is to provide the very BEST environment for these animals. You'll notice that Natural Sea Water should be in the 1300 range where as the newly made batch was 950. All of these elements need to be in the correct levels for many reasons one of which is... MOST are directed related to another element and if one is WAY off something else is right there with it. We're looking for a balance and that particular batch was out of whack. This isn't one of those cases where we just "Settle" for what we've got. Even though it may not "kill" anything immediately (and I'm not saying it wont just putting out some ideas there) it's not ideal and at the very least it wont promote a HEALTHY thriving environment for the animals.

[lynxpilot]

I've ordered one or two dry goods items from DF&S, and three orders of live goods from liveaquaria. Dry goods arrived promptly with no issues. First order of livestock had one dead arrival and they credited my account no questions asked. Second batch shipped just after we had an ice storm. Fedex claimed delay at hub (Memphis) and package arrived at distribution warehouse too late to make delivery truck. It's about 50 miles and I could have driven there because conditions weren't that bad. Delivery truck came into town and wouldn't go down our road (I had negotiated the same road twice that day with my little VW without any problems). He dropped all of his packages for our little town at a store in town that subcontracts for them as a drop/pickup. My wife had to go get it hours after the already late delivery. Lost 5 fish and 3 featherdusters in that shipment. Liveaquaria immediately shipped again to replace them except what they no longer had in stock and they gave me credit for that. I've had absolutely no problems with
DF&S/liveaquaria. Now Fedex on the other hand. . .(catapult quip was very funny)

[Bounce]

I've spent a LOT of money over the last 10 years through DFS and have usually been pretty happy with my orders and customer service. It does seem like it takes them an unusually long time to get orders shipped out the last year or so though. I've never really had any major complaints about them until recently. I had submitted a "testimonial" to their site for a canister filter that I have owned two of (neither were actually purchased from DFS) and both of them broke or failed within a year. The testimonial I submitted detailed the problems I experienced with the filters and concluded with a statement saying that for those reasons I wouldn't recommend the product. They sent me an email regarding the testimonial and essentially said that because it was 'negative' that it would not be posted on their site.

That's what really irks me.

Testimonials/feedback/ratings, whatever you want to call them, are supposed to allow potential purchasers to evaluate feedback on a product posted by previous purchasers in their decision on whether or not to purchase a product. By hosting the testimonials on their site, they [DFS] give the appearance of product reviews or feedback. However, the statements they maintain are grossly biased since they don't allow negative testimonials--which are every bit as legitimate as positive ones--to be posted for the products they sell. This is, in my opinion, entirely unethical and downright deceitful. I think it defeats the purpose behind allowing users to post comments about products at all, since the only comments potential purchasers can see are the positive ones that would help DFS profit from selling the merchandise. I feel this it utterly reprehensible.

For what it's worth, here is the "negative testimonial" I submitted regarding Marineland C-Series cansiter filters.

I've had two of the C-360 models for nearly a year and was originally very pleased with them. They maintained an impressive flow rate, held a great amount of media in the baskets, and seemed to be of reliable, sturdy construction. However, one of them completely quit working after three months for no discernible reason. I disassembled and cleaned the entire unit three times but my efforts proved fruitless. I've had at least one of every filter on the market in the last 15 years and am no stranger to maintaining or repairing them. This one just crapped out.

Last night during a media change on the second unit, the shut-off valve under the lock lever snapped off. It was not due to excessive force; the plastic just broke. The unit still functions, but I can no longer detach the hoses from the motor housing without having to remove the hoses from the aquarium to prevent siphoning.

Given these issues on two separate units in the past twelve months, I cannot recommend this particular product.

I have spent over $5,000 through DFS just since the beginning of the calendar year, not including purchases through their Live Aquaria site. With the exception of their name brand dog food, I will be making future purchases through competing retailers instead of rewarding this once-respected company with my business.

[livingword26]

Originally Posted by Bounce

Testimonials/feedback/ratings, whatever you want to call them, are supposed to allow potential purchasers to evaluate feedback on a product posted by previous purchasers in their decision on whether or not to purchase a product. By hosting the testimonials on their site, they [DFS] give the appearance of product reviews or feedback. However, the statements they maintain are grossly biased since they don't allow negative testimonials--which are every bit as legitimate as positive ones--to be posted for the products they sell. This is, in my opinion, entirely unethical and downright deceitful. I think it defeats the purpose behind allowing users to post comments about products at all, since the only comments potential purchasers can see are the positive ones that would help DFS profit from selling the merchandise. I feel this it utterly reprehensible.

I've had the same experience. I was very disappointed to find out that their "testimonials" were filtered. I recently ordered a light fixture from them on a Sunday and received it the following Wednesday, it was to big for the Fedex/USPS smart post.