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Don't buy inverts from Drs. Foster and Smith!


cchardwick

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cchardwick

I just placed and received my very first mail order shipment for marine inverts and I bought them through Drs. Foster and Smith. What a terrible experience. I spent a hundred bucks on three starfish and five small snails. When I received it I only got one starfish and the snails with no e-mail or nothing mentioning the other two starfish that never arrived. And I wanted bright red/orange starfish to be the highlights of my tank and instead I received a muddy brown starfish. I want to return the starfish but it would cost me more in shipping than it's worth. I read the fine print on the website that they can delay shipping for two weeks and send it in a separate shipment and even cancel part of the shipment, which means I paid $55 for this starfish with shipping included. As it stands, I will never buy from these jokers again and I would never recommend them to anyone. Here are two photos, the top one is the one they advertise, the bottom one is the one they sent me. Boooooooooooo

 

:angry:

 

 

 

 

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It's you against the world on this one. Your starfish is a prime example of what they mean when they say that the color may not match the photo. As well as why the Diver's Den section for WYSIWYG is a big hit. Perhaps you ordered things that were not listed as "in stock".

 

I, along with countless others, have ordered from F&S multiple times and am always pleased. The good reputation they have is much deserved. LAst order I made was over $225 so I could get free shipping. $150 of it was a RBTA. Anouther $50 was a GBTA. The Green Bulb tip anemone was not pulling through. I was refunded the money for it with zero hazzle. Those 14-30 day stay alive guarantees are often something that is invaluable, Liveaquaria will stand behind it too.

 

I'm not trying to bash you on this one but perhaps you should have read a little more and researched a little more. Liveaquaria has a customer support that is second to none. While It's always possible for some people to have a bad experience, the customer support will often work with you. They won't do it because you are mad or unsatisfied, they will work with you because you are a customer as well as a person just like them.

 

Have you contacted customer support and explained your problems? Somethings such as coloration being different, as it is listed, is not something that can be fixed. If your having problems with not getting the "in-stock" items you ordered it might help to talk to someone on their end. Remember though, if 3 people order the same thing at the same time and there is only one of them, there is only one to ship. Would you have rather them chopped the animal in pieces and send you one?

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GFO D and F have the best customer service and are one of the best place to get stuff online. Next time dont cry like a ##### and call or e-mail them and ask them what is going on.

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cchardwick

I"ve been scammed way too many times, the last time was the tarantula scam from Nigeria. Not sure why but I guess I'm just a sucker for scams.

 

:mellow:

 

They had starfish like this at the local pet store, tons of them. If I knew I was getting one of those I wouldn't have ordered. In my opinion this is false advertising, like the time I bought Norton Antivirus on E-bay and the sent me a copy of a free open source linux program. Sure they said it wasn't exactly Norton if you read the very confusing and misleading fine print. Sure they work the same, but its apples and oranges. And I got my money back for that one by the way.

 

I signed up for the Divers Den updates and that seems much better, what you see is what you get. But any company that sends me a brown starfish when I order an orange one, forget it. I've been buying all my dry goods from them for 20 years, maybe I should shop somewhere else.

 

I did send them an e-mail, but I'm sure it will be next week before I hear back from them.

 

By the way, all the items were listed as in stock when I placed the order.

 

Not crying, I'm just mad.

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we ordered a pom pom crab that was not from wysiwyg and we were very pleased with the service and with the invert, you should just contact them i seriously dont doubt them doing something to make you happy. I've bought alot of things from fosters and wether dry goods or livestock they ALWAYS do a good job or will make refund you the cost or send a freebie.

 

Thats been my experience, not saying your lying, just saying u should continue to work with CS they should do something thats reasonable for both parties.

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cchardwick

I do know one thing, even if they do make good on it I will never order anything on there that has variations in colors or types. If you ordered a cleaner shrimp it would be hard to get that wrong, but starfish, clownfish, etc. all come in a wide variety of colors and it looks like it's buyer beware.

 

not the same starfish. even with the color difference.

 

Agreed

 

If they sent me three bright red starfish I might get over it in a week or so.

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I do know one thing, even if they do make good on it I will never order anything on there that has variations in colors or types. If you ordered a cleaner shrimp it would be hard to get that wrong, but starfish, clownfish, etc. all come in a wide variety of colors and it looks like it's buyer beware.

 

 

This is the way I feel. Some things, I really care for the looks. Such as porcelain crabs, I will only buy the white ones with red spots. Things like this, I have to get in person or as a convincing WYSIWYG. Same with mini and maxi carpet anemones. You don't order something based on a generic photo when it could come in any combination of colors including brown and tan.

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Euphyllia
not the same starfish. even with the color difference.

 

Yup. They probably sent you the wrong thing.

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cchardwick

This is the item description they have for that starfish:

 

Marble Sea Star (Fromia sp.)

The Marble Sea Star, or Marble Starfish, is one of the more common of the Fromia species, its coloration making it one of the more striking of all the sea stars.

 

I would have to say that the starfish I received is not striking at all.

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Euphyllia
This is the item description they have for that starfish:

 

Marble Sea Star (Fromia sp.)

The Marble Sea Star, or Marble Starfish, is one of the more common of the Fromia species, its coloration making it one of the more striking of all the sea stars.

 

I would have to say that the starfish I received is not striking at all.

 

It's strikingly ugly to me. I would consider that striking.

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cchardwick
It's strikingly ugly to me. I would consider that striking.

 

Agreed, probably the worst $55 starfish you'll ever see.

 

($20 for the starfish, $35 for shipping)

 

And the worst part of it all is that on their website it says they are still in stock.

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It's a valid complaint. Send them a calm and professional email with the photos of the two seastars. I can almost guarantee they will fix any problems you have.

 

Every business is going to goof up once in a while, it's how they handle the screw ups that make them a good business. DR F&S's customer service is amazingly good, give it a try and see.

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Dr.eclipse

i wouldnt say its ugly, but its defiantly not the same star fish not just by the color but the actual pattern. id say they ####ed up big time. just contact them and im sure they will sort it out making you as happy as possible. GL

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cchardwick

I guess I just have a little shell shock from all the scams I've been through. Lets see, it started with the $3,000 camera scam, the Nigerian Tarantua scam, the multitudes of e-bay scams, the 'totalled my truck' insurance scam, etc, etc... Now when I get scammed it brings back old memories I guess.

 

I think next time I'm going to stick with my local fish stores. I can do a lot of driving for thirty five bucks.

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cchardwick

Actually I've been sending e-mails to other online pet shops and asking for photos of their actual starfish, like the ones that are actually in their tanks, not hollywood photoshopped pics. Hopefully I'll get some replies. Anyone know of any other online store that sells starfish?

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cchardwick
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productlist...id=2&cid=85

 

+1 to you got the wrong starfish. You ordered the Red Tile Starfish and received a Marble Starfish. Granted... niche wise, they're completely identical - only aesthetically different.

 

Thanks for the link. I added 110 small red starfish to my cart for a grand total of $2,000 on that site and it went through without a hitch, and I doubt they have that many in stock, so I"m thinking the photo may not be accurate as well. I sent them an e-mail and requested photos, prices, and sizes of their actual starfish. Hopefully I'll get the stars I'm looking for, eventually.

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cchardwick

I actually changed over to McAfee and it works fantastic and doesn't bog my computers down at all.

 

:D

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Personally, I think you should go ahead and purchase the 110 starfish, then try to sell them to DFS for a profit. This way you'll have the pick of the litter and also make a few bucks ;)

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