Look at your purchases before leaving the store

[Mountaineer]

I want to share with you my bad experience as a matter of lesson learned and ask that you please not ask me the name of the LFS.

 

I bought 10 Trochus snails today and while the store employee was bagging them up I looked around the rest of the store. I paid for these without question or examination along with a few other dry good items.

 

When I got home I placed the bag in my quarantine tank to get ready to acclimate the new snails when I noticed that one of the snails was completely outside of the shell. I took a photo of this to share with you.

 

 

I opened the bag and nearly vomited at the smell that poured out of the bag. I did not bother to acclimate the living snails as this water was so wretched that I immediately put them into quarantine without acclimation.

 

Not only was there a rotting dead snail in there, but a completely empty shell that I paid I think $2.49 + tax for!

 

 

 

My fish room smelled so bad that I had to mix up some Revive to freshen up the place. That was a foul smell that I do not understand how that was not noticed.

 

Whose fault was this? Mine! I know better, but figured that it was just snails, and I have never had this experience before.

 

Learn from my foolish mistake, and examine your items before you bring them home. I will admit that it is hard to look closely at 10 snails in a bag, but I was foolish for not paying better attention. I hope the stores response to this will not disappoint me.

[octopus]

I know that smell. It is not pleasent.

[flowerseller]

Have you spoken to the store you purchased from?

I'd call them now and ezplain the situation.

Looking throught the glass and then reaching into the tank the associate may have picked up the wrong one by honest mistake.

Call them and give them the chance to make it right.

It's not the $2.49 you paid, it's the point. Any shop would want to know they gave you dead, dying snail and an empty one.

[Mountaineer]

Have you spoken to the store you purchased from?

I'd call them now and ezplain the situation.

Looking throught the glass and then reaching into the tank the associate may have picked up the wrong one by honest mistake.

Call them and give them the chance to make it right.

It's not the $2.49 you paid, it's the point. Any shop would want to know they gave you dead, dying snail and an empty one.

 

I have not bothered to call the store yet and it is certainly not a priority issue for me. I certainly don't think it was intentional, and I hold myself accountable for letting it happen. I'm sure it will be resolved, but I wanted to share as a way of reminding all of us to pay attention. It doesn't matter where they were purchased, because this could have happened anywhere. I will admit that I expect some of this when ordering online, but not at my LFS. Lesson learned for me.

[DWG]

I hope the stores response to this will not disappoint me.

 

Well, first of all, you never gave the store a chance to right the situation, before you blasted them on the net. That is WRONG... end of sentence period....

 

As a consumer, you need to call the merchant directly and voice your dissatisfaction... ask for a resolution that is fair to both parties, than voice your experience here. Good, bad,or indifferent. Not come on a forum and play the ...... " I should have known better card"......

 

Because it's not to hard to figure out the merchant.

[deleted by Mod]

 

Dennis

[L8 2 RISE]

Well, first of all, you never gave the store a chance to right the situation, before you blasted them on the net. That is WRONG... end of sentence period....

 

As a consumer, you need to call the merchant directly and voice your dissatisfaction... ask for a resolution that is fair to both parties, than voice your experience here. Good, bad,or indifferent. Not come on a forum and play the ...... " I should have known better card"......

 

Because it's not to hard to figure out the merchant.

[deleted by Mod]

 

Dennis

 

He's not blasting the merchant at all, he's warning others. Also, plenty of stores have trochus snails, not J***'s post about it being someone that wanted 50, yet mountaineer only got 10... If that is the LFS, then I can almost guarantee you that they'll more than be happy to help mountaineer out. Also note that he wasn't talking about dissatisfaction, just warning others. I personally have made similar mistakes, so I second mountaineer's suggestion. No one was bashing anyone here.

 

Mountaineer- how did the rest of them do?

[Mountaineer]

Well, first of all, you never gave the store a chance to right the situation, before you blasted them on the net. That is WRONG... end of sentence period....

 

As a consumer, you need to call the merchant directly and voice your dissatisfaction... ask for a resolution that is fair to both parties, than voice your experience here. Good, bad,or indifferent. Not come on a forum and play the ...... " I should have known better card"......

 

Because it's not to hard to figure out the merchant.

[deleted by Mod.]

 

Dennis

 

 

YOU ARE DEAD WRONG ON THE MERCHANT AND OUT OF LINE WITH THE SUGGESTION! You owe that merchant you listed with your link an apology.

 

I never "blasted" anyone on the net and did not name any store by name and will not do so. The only person doing any "blasting" and WAY OUT OF LINE in my opinion here is you. My intent was simply to share and remind all of us to be aware.

[Origami]

Good reminder. We should always check our livestock before leaving. It's easier on both the buyer and the seller that way.

 

I agree, Mountaineer did not accuse a particular LFS. There's nothing wrong with this post and we should be careful not to jump to conclusions.

[Incredible Corals]

Well, first of all, you never gave the store a chance to right the situation, before you blasted them on the net. That is WRONG... end of sentence period....

 

As a consumer, you need to call the merchant directly and voice your dissatisfaction... ask for a resolution that is fair to both parties, than voice your experience here. Good, bad,or indifferent. Not come on a forum and play the ...... " I should have known better card"......

 

Because it's not to hard to figure out the merchant.

[deleted by Mod]

 

Dennis

 

+1

 

Why not just call the store right when it happened. I'm sure it's a very easy mistake to make. They probably would have issued you a store credit right then.

 

At least you didn't order 100+ inverts online and have half of them show up dead and the water close to 50 degrees.

[Mountaineer]

The store in question has been responsive, apologized, and I understand, but I am not asking for anything here. My personality is such that I will not ask for a refund in the store for 2 snails when I should have paid attention. I simply wanted to remind us all to pay attention. No need at all to accuse me of "blasting" anyone.

[DWG]

YOU ARE DEAD WRONG ON THE MERCHANT AND OUT OF LINE WITH THE SUGGESTION! You owe that merchant you listed with your link an apology.

 

I never "blasted" anyone on the net and did not name any store by name and will not do so. The only person doing any "blasting" and WAY OUT OF LINE in my opinion here is you. My intent was simply to share and remind all of us to be aware.

 

I still stand by my statement, call the merchant first, ask for a solution, than make your post. Because you have made everyone look at past post as to who it could have been. Regardless who it might have been, you have created a doubt..... the power of the internet, get real bold because it is only a keyboard, and not face to face.

 

Hope everything works out for you.

 

Dennis

[Origami]

I still stand by my statement, call the merchant first, ask for a solution, than make your post. Because you have made everyone look at past post as to who it could have been. Regardless who it might have been, you have created a doubt..... the power of the internet, get real bold because it is only a keyboard, and not face to face.

 

Hope everything works out for you.

 

Dennis

 

I disagree, Dennis. Really, all he did was to warn us all to be careful and to inspect our livestock whenever we make a purchase. That's the prudent thing to do because, regardless of whether or not there was sinister motive (and there probably wasn't), once you leave, it creates doubt later on when the problem is discovered. A quick 30 second inspection can save a lot of travel time and headache.

 

Heck, when it came to placing blame, he put is squarely on himself! "Whose fault was this? Mine! I know better, but figured that it was just snails...."

[DWG]

I disagree, Dennis. Really, all he did was to warn us all to be careful and to inspect our livestock whenever we make a purchase. That's the prudent thing to do because, regardless of whether or not there was sinister motive (and there probably wasn't), once you leave, it creates doubt later on when the problem is discovered. A quick 30 second inspection can save a lot of travel time and headache.

 

Heck, when it came to placing blame, he put is squarely on himself! "Whose fault was this? Mine! I know better, but figured that it was just snails...."

 

I have an issue with it is too easy to take time to post a negative experience, than a positive experience, see it all the time.

 

Than if you look back and follow the post: ie: looking for snails, than a,mechant post, who is looking, I have them, than I bought snails and they are bad, not exact quotes, but you get the just of it. It casts a shadow of a doubt, by the original poster.

 

If you have a problem, like I said to start with, contact merchant, try a fair reasonable resolution, than post your experience. And tell the name, the truth will not hurt, actually, I remember hearing someone saying the truth will set you free.

 

Dennis

[hlem]

Than if you look back and follow the post: ie: looking for snails, than a,mechant post, who is looking, I have them, than I bought snails and they are bad, not exact quotes, but you get the just of it. It casts a shadow of a doubt, by the original poster.

 

i read Mountaineer's first post and tell myself, yep, he's right, i should check my purchase before i leave a store so if there is any issue, i can tell the store right there and then.

 

i have no clue which merchant you are talking about or any old post.

 

But, i just had to post cause i was LOL-ing about "blasting" around... because some people just have too much time to be "looking back and follow the post...", and definitely think too much of a simple reminder from a fellow reefer...

[Grav]

Most of this thing make perfect sense to me. As someone who plucks snails out of a holding tank every day, I can tell you that:

 

1. Snails die.

2. Dead snails stink REALLY bag but:

3. Unless it is out of the shell and out of the water for a while, dead snails can be hard to notice and

4. A snail can die in a bag and very soon after will STINK.

 

Since we generally pick the snail up by the shell, often the dead S-car-GO falls back into the holding tank... this time it fell into the bag, or slid out a little while later. My honest opinion is the snail died after he was bagged, or was so recently dead that nobody would have noticed.

 

What I don't understand is why people are getting worked up about this? A guy givse a little advice about "buyer-be-ware" (which is good advice) and specifically states he is not blaming the store and doesn't want to name them... I think half the point was he didn't want the one dead snail to foul the bag and kill the 9 others.... a REALLY good point.

 

And the next thing he is getting accused of failing to give the merechant the opportunity to make things right and being told he needs to call this person and ask for that to be made right, and don't make a negative post and being a keyboard "tough guy."

 

It's a fish tank. It's suppsed to bring enjoyment and relax you. If it doesn't, get out of the hobbie.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Grav

[treesprite]

Good advice to check the bags before leaving the shop! I do check when it's fish or corals, but I don't think I've ever bothered checking when it comes to snails - now I will check those too.

 

I will add that I probably wouldn't bother going back to the store either, just for a snail or two when they were not expensive items.

 

It's very easy to pick up an empty shell by mistake - I have done it many times in my tank and I'm sure a lot of others among us have also done it.

[Coral Hind]

Mr. Groves,

 

I think you have expressed your ideas enough and have taken the OP off course if not blowing it out of the water. You have very few posts here at WAMAS and most are in this thread, in a heated manner where noone else is agreeing with you. I think you just need to relax and check out the other great posts full of information here.

 

Better yet, go take the plane out for a nice afternoon flight today.

[arwndsh]

That is really good advice. I got home once and started putting my purchases in the tank only to realize I'd come home with an empty bag of water. The store was busy he got distracted and didn't realize the coral didn't make it into the bag. I didn't either. I called they fixed it. No problem. We all got a good laugh. Now I check my bags.

[Jan]

Mountaineer, Thank you so much for taking the time to remind us that we should check ALL livestock thoroughly. Its good sound advice that's very much appreciated. I check fish and corals before I buy them looking for fin rot, ich. parasites and pests, but I've never checked my snails. It's something I'll do from now on, thanks to you. It's very important to post experiences like this for everyone, not just the newbies.

 

I sympathize with what you've experienced with that dead snail. I had a very large Mexican turbo snail die and cloud my ten gallon tank. I didn't know what was causing the cloudiness in the water. I thought it was precipitation. I checked all the parameters and discoverd that not only did I have ammonia in the water but it was very high. An indication of something decaying. Since I only have macro and a couple of snail in there I started to search through the macro to see what I could find. I never thought it was a snail. Then there it was. A dead snail. It was turned over on it's back but still in it's shell. I tapped it and it didn't move. I pulled it out and nearly dropped from the horrible stench. I was very surprised by how the amount of water and circulation prevented the tank from smelling. Thanks again for sharing your experience with us all. Even though I've experienced what a dead snail can do and how badly it smells when it's dead I would have never thought to check them before I purchased them at a LFS. Please continue to share your experiences with us.

Jan

Edited March 19, 2010 by Jan

[ctenophore]

Why is it that dead mollusks have that worse-than-death smell that no other marine animal can replicate? Clams and snails both. Maybe it's some strain of bacteria that naturally lives in them that goes crazy when they die?

 

Good post Mountaineer.

[Happyfeet]

Those dead snails really stink!!!!

 

I had a close call at a LFS recently. I was buying a couple of snails and I was busy being distracted by a starfish. I didn't notice until he was tieing up the bag that the snails were the wrong kind. No harm done and honestly if I got home I wouldn't have been to upset at all.

[Hilary]

That is really good advice. I got home once and started putting my purchases in the tank only to realize I'd come home with an empty bag of water. The store was busy he got distracted and didn't realize the coral didn't make it into the bag. I didn't either. I called they fixed it. No problem. We all got a good laugh. Now I check my bags.

 

I've never made it home with an empty bag, but I have pointed out something I wanted, got excited and ran off to look at something else, and got home to discover I never did get the item I had pointed out. You think I'd at least check to make sure I had all of my items before leaving the store......

[trockafella]

I have an issue with it is too easy to take time to post a negative experience, than a positive experience, see it all the time.

 

 

 

Become a paid member and you can read lots and lots of positive experiences in the vendor experience page.. I see positive posts way more often than negative in this club.. How many people on here have said thanks to brk or f&f for there great help and wonderful service.. If you track posts back you can even find those vendors thanking each other... Become a real member of the club before you start blasting members..

[L8 2 RISE]

I've never made it home with an empty bag, but I have pointed out something I wanted, got excited and ran off to look at something else, and got home to discover I never did get the item I had pointed out. You think I'd at least check to make sure I had all of my items before leaving the store......

 

Wow, that's not like you at all .

 

 

 

I don't know if I would have been ticked off or if I'd just start cracking up if I got home with a bag of water, lol.

[Coral Hind]

Why is it that dead mollusks have that worse-than-death smell that no other marine animal can replicate? Clams and snails both. Maybe it's some strain of bacteria that naturally lives in them that goes crazy when they die?

 

Good post Mountaineer.

 

You can add anemones to that list. What a foul smell!

 

 

I agree Mountaineer's post was very informative. I bought a dozen hermits a month ago and when I got home I had three empty shells in the bag. I know the guy was busy as the store was crazy that day. I called them up and on my next visit they gave me my replacements.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Coral Hind