LiveAquaria / Diver's Den - Horrible

[jackers]

First, I'm not sure this is the right section. Mods, please move it if it isn't. 

 

A few weeks ago, I placed a double order from LiveAquaria, one to their main site and one to the Diver's Den. I placed this

order because I really wanted a matched trio of the Panama Red Cardinal fish and a twin spotted soapfish. To fill out the rest of the order, I ordered three blue reef chromis from their main site. 

 

Upon arrival, one of the red cardinals was already dead and a blue reef chromis was on it's way out. This really sucked because I wanted to keep odd numbers of the chromeis and I paid extra for the matched trio of cardinals. 

 

So I called and they gave me a credit, as well as free shipping on my next order. So I placed an order for three MEDIUM Tracey's Damselfish since they were out of the blue reef chromis. Now these blue reef chromis and tracey's damselfish aren't your average $5 petshop fillers. The blue reefs were $20+ each and the tracey's damsels were $27 each. Obviously they weren't crazy expensive either, but for damsels/chromis they are. It doesn't seem LiveAquaria did though. 

 

I just unpackaged the box and the bags were cold to the touch. Real cold. So I floated two of the bags and dumped one right into my acclimation bowl so I could take a temperature reading. It was 64.5 degrees :(

 

One of my fish is already dead. Two more look very stressed. And the real kicker, they are tiny. I ordered mediums to ensure an easy transition since the other chromis are already in the tank. This is the description:

 

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 3/4"-1", Medium: 1"-1-1/2", Large: 1-1/2"-2"

 

These three damselfish are less than 3/4". They are tiny. 

 

So I called to tell them that I got another bad shipment. Cold bags, one dead, two stressed, all tiny. I said I am afraid to put them in my tank because they might get eaten. And I was told, after a chuckle, that unfortunately, that is life in the reef. 

 

I take it serious when I lose a fish. I am upset enough to post this on here in the hopes others don't fall for the LiveAquaria hype. I paid the premium prices from them to ensure I have the best possible fish. What I got were three bad shipments (2 from their main site, 1 from Divers Den). 

[bbyatv]

Sorry to hear you had a bad run with Live Aquaria.  I have ordered from them at least 10 times and have never had a problem.  I think in all of the orders I have never had a fish that was DOA and I have only had 2 die after arrival and they credited me for them.  I think this was just a bad run.  I hope things work out.

 

Bruce

[jackers]

Sorry to hear you had a bad run with Live Aquaria.  I have ordered from them at least 10 times and have never had a problem.  I think in all of the orders I have never had a fish that was DOA and I have only had 2 die after arrival and they credited me for them.  I think this was just a bad run.  I hope things work out.

 

Bruce

I hope so too, but now I am nervous about reordering from them. I can't believe they would ship without a $0.99 heater. I'm just really bummed because I hate losing fish. The one I though was dead is still alive, but barely. It is on it's back, flapping it's two front fins. I have him floating in my 79 deg tank, hopefully warming up. Is there anything else I can do for him? 

[jackers]

If this isn't a sign that I shouldn't buy my fish from them, then I don't know what is. I was litterally sitting here at the computer with my credit card thinking of buying a fish off divers den, when I decided to go to Wamas real quick and came across this post.

Now I'm going to hold off on this fish.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. Let us know what else they say in regards to your previous order.

I know a lot of people had good experiences with them in the past. And I know you pay more for the same fish from them, but I figured it was because of the extra care they give. And I'll say, the other fish that survived the first order are doing great. Very healthy, all eating, good color. 

 

I have seen some bad reviews on them as well though. I figured it was from people that just can't be made happy. Guess they have their slumps as well.

 

If you are planning on ordering from the diver's den, just know, those are specialty fish and they won't jump through any hoops making it right. Like when one of my trio of Red Cardinals died, I called and emailed asking if they could let me know when another was available. I really wanted to keep three in my reef but they said they don't do that. They said there was no way of informing the customer, yet two days later, another trio was up for sale on the Den. I got a refund and that was it. 

[trockafella]

If this isn't a sign that I shouldn't buy my fish from them, then I don't know what is. I was litterally sitting here at the computer with my credit card thinking of buying a fish off divers den, when I decided to go to Wamas real quick and came across this post.

Now I'm going to hold off on this fish.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. Let us know what else they say in regards to your previous order.

Nothing against the OP, and I feel for him, but dont be discouraged. Ive ordered from and been a part of many LA group buys and NEVER had an issue. Ive had fish arrive that looked better in the bag then they do in a lot of LFS in the tank.

Again, I am very sorry for the OP's experieince, its unfortunate and hopefully it can get resolved properly..

Edited October 16, 2013 by trockafella

[jackers]

Nothing against the OP, and I feel for him, but dont be discouraged. Ive ordered from and been a part of many LA group buys and NEVER had an issue. Ive had fish arrive that looked better in the bag then they do in a lot of LFS in the tank.

Again, I am very sorry for the OP's experieince, its unfortunate and hopefully it can get resolved properly..

No offense taken. I just wanted to put out my two latest experiences to the club. 

[trockafella]

FWIW some of our local vendors can get you special order fish, just reach out. Were lucky to have as many quality local fish stores as we do.. Take advantage of there great service..

[Origami]

Thanks for reporting the experience. I'll move this to the appropriate forum for this sort of thing.

 

This is definitely unusual for LA - not only the first experience, but also the repeats. Sorry for the losses and hopefully you'll be able to resolve this with them and maybe get to the bottom of why their shipping  has failed you as much as it has.

[jackers]

FWIW some of our local vendors can get you special order fish, just reach out. Were lucky to have as many quality local fish stores as we do.. Take advantage of there great service..

Completely understand. Problem is, I'm not local to Northern Virginia. I'm down at the tip of Southern Maryland. It's about a two hour drive to make the meetings.

 

And normally I do buy from the vendors. I just bought two LED setups and I've done a lot of business with ERC. Always a good point though, but locally when you can!

[trockafella]

He still got refunded, so it wasnt a total loss.. Im sure he isnt satisfied, but it couldve been worse.

Again, if you want a $200 fish, ask your LFS to order it if you feel more comfortable.

[jackers]

To clarify, they have always refunded me the money spent. They even shipped out the second order while waiving the shipping.

 

It's just the fish came in very stressed, water cold, undersized on my last order, and wouldn't work with me on replacing the divers den item.

 

The money wasn't an issue, it was the condition of the fish. And when the last lady joked about it being life in the reef if my new little guys get pecked apart, it makes me question their overall level of care.

[trockafella]

The money wasn't an issue, it was the condition of the fish. And when the last lady joked about it being life in the reef if my new little guys get pecked apart, it makes me question their overall level of care.

This would royally %$#* me off too.... Cant say I blame you there..

[dmatt56]

Remember that the general live aquaria and divers den are two very different places. The general site ships their fish directly from the distributors. The divers den fish come healthy and quarantined from the showroom facility in Wisconsin. Only divers den get the extra care and attention.

[Supernova26]

I have ordered from them about 4 times and I would order from them again but I am not 100% happy. 1 DOA fish out of the 4 times but on the last order all the fish arrived super stressed and died within a couple of days. 

[monkiboy]

The money wasn't an issue, it was the condition of the fish. And when the last lady joked about it being life in the reef if my new little guys get pecked apart, it makes me question their overall level of care.

sorry to hear about the trouble, jack. don't question the level of care of their wisconsin/dd facility - it's world class and first-rate. the person on the phone, unfortunately for you, was not, it seems. i've always had a good and compassionate customer service experience with dd/la service when it came to deaths up to even 3 weeks after receiving.  it's a shame that a heat pack was not included. good luck filling the tank as you seek out without any more losses.

[jackers]

Remember that the general live aquaria and divers den are two very different places. The general site ships their fish directly from the distributors. The divers den fish come healthy and quarantined from the showroom facility in Wisconsin. Only divers den get the extra care and attention.

 

The Panama Red Cardinals (trio) came from Divers Den. I got refunded for the loss but they said they wouldn't notify me when any others came available. The next day, a new trio showed up. You would think they would have let me know they had another trio or worked with me on filling my request for three. Instead, I got no help what-so-ever, except for a refund from the one fish. 

[monkiboy]

The Panama Red Cardinals (trio) came from Divers Den. I got refunded for the loss but they said they wouldn't notify me when any others came available. The next day, a new trio showed up. You would think they would have let me know they had another trio or worked with me on filling my request for three. Instead, I got no help what-so-ever, except for a refund from the one fish. 

you may be asking for too much there, jack. of course laughing or snickering at a customer's purchase demise is not acceptable. but imagine satisfying these kind of personal requests for thousands of customers all over the world. you can always register for the sneak peek to see what is going to be released from dd that day. but look here even that list is not 100% accurate until the very moment they post up the dd every night because maybe the fish didn't photograph well, is hiding, needs further treatment, being harassed by the others so they split it up, etc. so there is no way for them to know when they have one, or a trio or a harem available until the moment it actually gets posted on dd and at that point, you can either sign up for the list ahead of time or you can check dd yourself.

Edited October 16, 2013 by monkiboy

[jackers]

you may be asking for too much there, jack. of course laughing or snickering at a customer's purchase demise is not acceptable. but imagine satisfying these kind of personal requests for thousands of customers all over the world. you can always register for the sneak peek to see what is going to be released from dd that day. but look here even that list is not 100% accurate until the very moment they post up the dd every night because maybe the fish didn't photograph well, is hiding, needs further treatment, being harassed by the others so they split it up, etc. so there is no way for them to know when they have one, or a trio or a harem available until the moment it actually gets posted on dd and at that point, you can either sign up for the list ahead of time or you can check dd yourself.

Good point. I just figured they would know what they have or what they have coming up the next day. 

 

It's just hard when you order a matched trio and one doesn't make it. You pay extra for the matching and when they don't make it, you can't just replace that. 

 

[trockafella]

I personally just received an order from LA this morning and it was perfect. I think you will have a hard time finding a place better than LA/DD.. And yes LFS charge more bc theyre taking all the risk and headache. If you order it for 225 and it dies, and they wont take care of you, then what.? At least with LA/DD you can have piece of mind they guarantee there products., Price is often a direct reflection of quality.

[epleeds]

I personally just received an order from LA this morning and it was perfect. I think you will have a hard time finding a place better than LA/DD.. And yes LFS charge more bc theyre taking all the risk and headache. If you order it for 225 and it dies, and they wont take care of you, then what.? At least with LA/DD you can have piece of mind they guarantee there products., Price is often a direct reflection of quality.

 

what did you get.....

[matt]

I've ordered from la/dd a couple times. The dd fish has done great...a starkii damsel. I lost a regular la fish less then 12 hrs from arrival. I've had undersized hermits and an undersized red fromia. I was credited for both the dead fish and the undersized stuff. It wasn't pure joy, but they honored thier policies and I had good customer service.

 

Sorry about the cardinal trio...but its hard to predict what will show up on dd and when. Plus, their business model for dd is to trickle out stock and keep supply below demand so that they can maintain pricing. That's an assumption of mine based on observing, but it seems fair and true to me.

[mr.x-ray]

Jackers, Have you ever been to Corner Critters in Leonardtown? They have ordered for me before. I have also place many many orders with both LA and DD with only one mishap. A bag of snails that I guess one died and killed the rest. Talk about stinky!!! gag.....

[jackers]

Jeremy,

I have been once. They seemed pretty good, I'll have to go back.

 

As an update, all three of my Tracey's died within the first night. I called and they are giving me credit plus another free shipping discount. Can't complain about that, besides the dead fish of course. 

[chucelli]

I personally have had only good experiences with LA&DD.  However, I've learned that I can't wait for the delivery and instead must have them hold the box at the local distribution center for pickup first thing in the morning.  The one time I had it delievered to my door, I did have unreasonable losses.  Those losses can't really be attributed to the lack of livestock quality or poor packaging.  Not many places will offer their live guarantee either.

 

-Robert

Edited October 24, 2013 by chucelli

[jackers]

Ok, I just ordered three new Agile Chromis. They only credited me with two of my three dead damsels ($27 each) but they are giving me another free shipment, so whatever. I am just hoping these guys arrive healthy and happy like the other fish I received from them.

 

Good point about the local pickup location. Unfortunately, down here in Southern Maryland, our local pickup location is in Waldor, almost an hour away.