Ordering On-Line

[Yanks15]

Just a quick question.....when those of you that order fish on-line, do you call the shop and place the order or just fill out an on-line order form? I'm preparing to order some fish and have not received any response to e-mails and phone messages from a couple suppliers. I try not to take any offense because I know companies are busy but I wonder how attentive they can be to my order if they can't simply return an e-mail. And I'm not here to name names because both of these suppliers have very good references so not here to bad mouth. Just wondering how you all go about it.

Thanks
Steve

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I normally give them at least a few working days to reply to e-mails, so far this has never got to a point where I felt the need to try ringing instead, but it did come close with a well known store based in south west UK (but I did not take offence, they probably get bombarded with enquiries).

Glad I did this recently, albeit I was a bit gutted by the response, as I was told that pretty much every African riverine fish I enquired about was gone. Again, I cannot blame them too much for their website falling behind on real stock levels, they are a well known London based store that no doubt have plenty of real life and virtual customers every working day.

Presumeably any online payment would be on hold until they have tried to put the order together, I would be surprsied if people ran into problems getting refunds for fish that they did not receive because they wer already out of stock.

 

[Yanks15]

Unfortunately I am being put off most by the one supplier that does business only by calling or e-mailing To make things more frustrating is the fact that they have the exact stocking that I want.... on-line anyway ...... and no idea if they actually have them in stock. I will give them another day or so to respond but I guess business is pretty good to not worry about my small 20 fish order Maybe the next guy wants my money.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Yanks15]

Note to all that read this thread..... when you have had enough waiting for someone to get back to you, come on here and vent because not 2 hours after I posted the original thread I was contacted by BOTH suppliers one by e-mail and one by phone. Of course it was still a few days before they did respond but it was worth it. Both have very nice fish in stock and now I have to decide which one to use And you would think patience was learned after fishless cycling

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Yanks15,

Who exactly are you trying to buy from?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Hope you get the fish you want Steve

 

[Yanks15]

Hi Yanks15,

Who exactly are you trying to buy from?

I'd rather not say at this point But I will post who I do get them from when I get it all worked out.

Thanks,
Steve

Hope you get the fish you want Steve

Me Too!!!!

 

[Yanks15]

Just a quick question.....when receiving fish from a delivery service, do you folks normally have the delivery person wait to verify a live delivery after you open it? I thought it would help to have a witness in case there are DOA's not that I'm expecting any

Thanks
Steve

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Yanks15

In the US your package will probably be sent via the Post Office, FedX, or UPS. All you usually have to do with these guys is to sign the slip and get them on their way. If there is visable damage or leakage from the box, I think they can then do appropriate reports.

If all is well at the delivery, most sellers would like to receive (by email) a picture of any dead fish within two hours of the delivery. This should be, if at all possible, in the unopened bag it arrived in.

Here's a link that I posted some time ago. It shows what I look for in a well packed delivery. I hope you find it helpful.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/158249-new-corys-arrived-today/page__hl__weitzmani__fromsearch__1

 

[Yanks15]

Hi Yanks15

In the US your package will probably be sent via the Post Office, FedX, or UPS. All you usually have to do with these guys is to sign the slip and get them on their way. If there is visable damage or leakage from the box, I think they can then do appropriate reports.

If all is well at the delivery, most sellers would like to receive (by email) a picture of any dead fish within two hours of the delivery. This should be, if at all possible, in the unopened bag it arrived in.

Here's a link that I posted some time ago. It shows what I look for in a well packed delivery. I hope you find it helpful.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/158249-new-corys-arrived-today/page__hl__weitzmani__fromsearch__1

Thanks for the info. That's a great selection of Cories you got there I noticed that was a few years ago. Do you still have them?

Thanks
Steve

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have been buying fish shipped in since 2001 and shipping fish out since late 2002. I have bought from importers, retailers and breeders. The most important consideration in deciding where to buy or whether to buy from any given seller is getting personal recommendations from other fish keepers you trust and who have experience buying from the seller and/or knows them personally.

There is no point in having the shipper witness you opening the box as they do not care. No shipper guarantees fish. In fact, if, at an earlier delivery, they take the box of your fish out of the truck and place it on the ground behind the truck so they can remove the package they need to deliver and then forget your box and accidentally back over it, they still will not cover your loss.

While proper packing is essential, it still doesn't guarantee nothing can go wrong along the way. The biggest problem is when you ship fish, you are not paying to ship the fish mostly, you are paying to ship the water. And that part leads to the hardest facet of shipping with which one deals. How much water in a bag and many fish in the bag. Ideal is one fish per bag, that works fine for expensive fish, but if you are buy a dozen $3 or $4 fish- that is $36-$48- shipping can easily be more than the cost of the fish. Bag them single and its going to be more like several times the cost of the fish. So they get bagged in bunches. The problem is if one dies along the way.....

The last thing to realize is when there are DOA's, sellers will usually refund the cost of the fish or replace them at the buyers option. Howwever, this does not cover shipping. So you don't get any of the original shipping charge back and you have to pay for the shipping on replacements.

And that circles me back to what I said from the start- buy from folks you know you can trust. Good sellers communicate well and rapidly

 

[Yanks15]

Thanks for that TTA. I feel very confident with the supplier that I bought from. They were very attentive to my questions and responded quickly after initial request. I should be receiving the fish by 3pm today so I hopefully will have some pics up tonight

Thanks
Steve