A little disappointed with Dr. Mac Corals

[mynd]

Hello there,

Did a small group buy the other day and purchased an acan from Dr. Mac. It died a couple days later and they gave us a credit of 40.00. Now I paid 50.00 for a dead coral and now they will replace it but want me to spend another 40.00 on shipping, so in total for a 39.00 acan I will be paying 90.00. Something is wrong there don't you think?

I mean give me a break already.. it cost less to ship 25lbs of live rock then it does to ship one freaking micro acan replacement. What the hell?



made subject more family friendly

 

[MadReefer]

Most online stores are like that. I used to order from Pet Solutions and they were great at giving back the credit but always had to pay a second time for the shipping. If you didn't specify ship all items together they would only ship what was currently in stock and credit you. Yet again paying 2x for shipping.

 

[JohnS_323]

I agree with Mark. That policy is no different than what I've experienced with Live Aquaria, Marine Depot Live, Saltwaterfish.com . . . etc.

 

[MikeNapoli]

Yeah ... I found out with Live Aquaria, they will only refund shipping if everything in the order was lost. If 4 out of 5 items die then they will credit those 4 but shipping isn't credited because the 5th lived.

 

[mott768]

mynd,
Dr mac has special shipping to NJ since it's only a 1 day ship, the last time I ordered from him which was back in Oct. it was $15 but you have to send a email and state you live in NJ. maybe contact him or Beth and see if they will work with you, he seems like a real nice guy and should work with you.

 

[DaveK]

I fail to see any issue with the vendor.

Shipping is out of sight expensive. It's not reasonable to expect them to take a hit on that when only a single item dies.

Most of NJ is within driving distance to the retail store. Yes, it's an all day trip, but it's doable from everywhere except the extreme north part of NJ. So you could make a visit, and use your credit.

If you bought livestock from many LFSs and it died, that's usually your problem. LFSs that have a return/replacement/credit policy for livestock usualy charge higher pricer to vover losses. With them "You pays your money and takes your chances."

Will I can understand that having something die on you after a day or two is unfortunate, I don't think you are being treated unfairly by the vandor. They could have demanded the return of the dead coral, and a water sample and made you wait foor weeks.

 

[Carlo]

I agree with the others who have posted. Being in the trade I'd say Dr. Macs policy is normal to above normal. As DaveK stated some other online retailers make you send the coral back to them along with a water sample. This then costs you even more as you need to send the coral back via overnight or 2nd day delivery.

Typical policies from online vendors will require you to receive the package on the first delivery at temp and take a picture of it dead within hours of arrival. You may have to take pictures of the acclimation routine regardless of how it looks out of the bag.

All in all, Dr. Mac is fair and honest. It's unfortunate for you in this situation but ***profanity removed*** happens" even with the best vendors!

Carlo


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[MikeNapoli]

Shipping is out of sight expensive. It's not reasonable to expect them to take a hit on that when only a single item dies.

Most of NJ is within driving distance to the retail store. Yes, it's an all day trip, but it's doable from everywhere except the extreme north part of NJ. So you could make a visit, and use your credit.

Yeah but Dr. Mac is in Maryland not NJ. Not disagreeing with the rest of the post just saying that Dr. Macs is a little far to drive. Trust me.

Mynd, If I were you I would call Dr. Mac. He's really a nice guy and I'm sure if you spoke with him about your issue he would try and compromise with you.

 

[DaveK]

I'm not sure where exactly you are in NJ. I live in PA just north of the Commodore Barry Bridge. I usually make a few trips a year to Dr. Macs. It's about a 2 1/2 hour trip, one way, from my place. It's a long trip but quite doable, and the store is fantastic for corals.

If your interested, I'll PM you the next time I plan on going down. Your welcome to come along.

 

[AnDom1]

Hi All,

A few obsevations based on this thread's contents....

1...Buying livestock online is risky even from reputable vendors with good track records. Lots of things are at issue from differences over how large a "medium" coral should be to its actual appearance relative to the fabulous digital online photos.
And that's when things go right, ie the coral arrives OK. Then there are the things that go wrong from packaging and shipping on the vendors' end to receiving and acclimation on the buyers' end.

2...Shipping is expensive since overnight delivery to residences is necessary in most cases. As a result, there is a reluctance from both buyers and sellers to want to "eat" the cost in disputed cases, especially when either party and/or the carrier can be responsibile.

3...Even with full credits for the prices of the corals, the additional shipping cost for replacements makes it too expensive
for the buyer to take on and unprofitable for the seller to eat.

4...Driving from NJ to Maryland or anywhere else requiring a "day trip" to cash in a credit voucher is unrealistic particularly when you consider that it was too far to go in the first place resulting in the online order.

5...Dealing with LFS's is usually best since "What You See Is What You Get"; you can discuss any/all issues re the coral itself
eg. care, location etc. as well as store livestock guarantee policies and procedures. Also, NO Shipping costs ;D

Dom

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Seriously, the cost of even driving there and the time you spend wouldnt be worth it. Im sure you would go through a tank of gas and then theres all those hours getting there.

I agree I like the "you see what you get" but sometimes your limited with the selection of corals around here.

 

[pnoyreefer]

Steven Sorry to hear about the orders. People who buys corals online or even to a fellow reefers out of state must face the fact that if corals dies or even one coral DOA, you have to provide another shipping cost to get a replacement. Trust me it happens to me a lot . One example is I ordered 2 polyps Ruby Reds to a felow reefer which cost me 80 + 30 Shipping and to find out that it lasted 2 days in my tank and melted. Contacted the reefer and he sends me 1 polyp but had to pay 25.00 for shipping . Basically I pd 135.00 for 1 polyp of Ruby Reds ..

Some Reefers now have " LIVE ARRRIVAL GUARANTEE" meaning they will replace the corals if it dies with no extra cost to the buyer..

If you wanted a coral try to find it locally first and if no one has them then go buy it online and take the risks. I deal with online vendors and reefers all the time but honestly local is the best way as you will avoid shipping cost and stress....