online experience

[jc]

What is up with these two online vendors. I places an order last friday with marinecenter.com and I immediately received the confirmation e-mail. Well I was expecting a package on tuesday and nothing came. I e-mailed them and asked what the delay was and I have yet to get a response. So I e-mailed marinedepotlive.com and asked if the fish I wanted was in stock. So far I have not received an e-mail from anyone. Is this an isolated incident or is this just how these online guys do business. I have used others in the past such as reeftopia and reefgeek and they were fast and accurate. Reefgeek even sends candy with your order. Piece of advice-do not immediately open candy that has been in a hot truck all day. I just had to vent.

[Darth-Tater]

I have purchased items from Marinedepotlive and they were fast, super nice and beautiful products. Do you use a spam bloclker? Sometimes it blocks emails for no reason (just a thought). Also, if you order live on Friday they might wait until Monday or Tuesday to ship.

DT

my $.02 worth

[brewercm]

Also, did they specify that they only ship live goods on certain days, I know some vendors used to.

[LoneStar]

Also, did they specify that they only ship live goods on certain days, I know some vendors used to.

yup I know some do wait until a certain day of the week.

You also ordered on a Friday, which means usually the order is not looked at until Monday, which usually means it gets shipped out on Tuesday. Thats just the way business works. Even though its overnight shipping, does not mean your order gets processed in no time and out the door asap.

Some places are good at getting a decent turn around. Marinedepotlive I am not too sure about, but I know they are a fairly large operation and that means a little bit slower turn around time....

[jc]

I was expecting the package on tuesday or at least an e-mail. No e-mail block on because I did get their first e-mail.

[Darth-Tater]

Usuall the first e-mail is an automated response. Call them on the phone. This will give you peace of mind.

David

[alton]

I would call Marinecenter and ask for Randy. Marinecenter used to be closed on Friday. Confirmations are normally automated. Always ask for a tracking number. I once ordered a Chrysurus and it sat on the tarmack at Dallas airport for a day and then got lost in the shipping warehouse here in SA for two days. After I showed up at the warehouse and demanded my package they told me it would be delivered on Monday, I told them by Monday it would be dead so they spent an hour until they found it. Surprisingly the fish lived after being in a box for two and half days. Fragile and live animals/Fish marked on the box doesn't mean anything to shipping companies.

[jc]

I've tried calling several times today and no one is answering. I also e-mailed again this morning and still nothing. The good thing is is that they have not charged my card, but now I just want to cancel the order. I got an e-mail from marinedepot the next day that verified they have what I wanted and in several sizes. I think I will try to fax my cancellation to marinedepot.

[Instar]

The Marine Center is on a different time zone. If you call and leave a good call back number in the voice mail, they will get back to you eventually. Occassionally, as technology goes, it doesn't work that well and you may have to leave a couple voice messages for it to record. They are busier than ever since moving to California and they are trying to move quickly from their warehouse in Ft Worth due to a change in ownership or lease or something. Its a panic, so give them a chance, even if it takes a couple voice mails. They are very professional and very complete in the transactions from my experience.

[alton]

Unless they have changed policies, Marine Center does not charge your card until they have proof you have your fish from the shipping company.

[GaryP]

Also remember that just because its on the website doesn't mean they may actually have the item in stock that you orderd. Someone one else may have clicked their mouse 5 seconds before you did. In that event, you are "back ordered" until they get new inventory in.

[alton]

I keep forgetting that Marine Center no longer does the "We do not sell it unless it is eating for two weeks in our systems". Now I guess they just walk next door, pick it out and send it to you? In the old days they only advertised what they had on hand. Somethings I wish wouldn't change in this industry.

[jc]

I still have not received an e-mail or call. It's been 7 days. The least they could do is responed to an e-mail and just say we are back ordered or don't worry we haven't sent it to you yet. For all I know a box with dead fish may be at my local ups office.

[jc]

I just got the confirmation of cancellation today. They say they sent me an e-mail on the 10th, perhaps I didn't get it but I did add them to my address book and my filter log did not list an e-mail from them either. I think I will just ask a local store to order it for me.

[puredrive]

how about liveaquaria.com?

[jc]

I ordered a semilarvatus butterfly, powderblue tang, and a green carpet anemone from them. Everything came in great shape. My anemone went downhill but after reading some stuff i'm sure it was not their fault. I would definitely order from them again.