Visit to Reef Imports & Hatchery

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tklassman

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Hello All!
I am new to the forum but wanted to post about my experience with Reef Imports & Hatchery. I have had my tank set up for 6 months and have only had access to a small fish store in my school's town (with extremely high prices). With this, Reef Imports & Hatchery was quite a fresh breath of air. They have a very large coral selection (even though they said they were running low) and a plethora of different fish. Even though I am new to the hobby, I noticed they have EXTREMELY competitive pricing compared to other local lfs near Elk Grove Village. All of the fish looked incredibly healthy and doing well. What I liked most about this store is their knowledge and willingness to help. I am fairly new and very cautious when dealing with anything in my tank and they provided the assistance and gave recommendations that made me feel comfortable. I really like this store and plan to return here many times. I highly recommend it to anybody because of the great variety, pricing, and knowledge they offer.
Thanks!
Tom Klassman
 
Tom - Welcome to CR. I appreciate your review.

I have also been there and found a real nice selection and a helpful staff. That said, I am somewhat disappointed with two things: a) I am still waiting for follow up to a trigger I had put on the wish list a couple weeks back. I was told some were coming in but have not heard back from them. b) a fellow reefer who had purchased a rather pricey fish go south on him after he placed it into QT contacted the owner to see what could be done to get a replacement... The fish did not eat then died shortly afterwards. The response he got was less than acceptable in my opinion. I think if Reef Imports wants to build a loyal clientele then it needs to understand that standing behind their fish and providing adequate follow up is essential.

All this said, I know that they are really just getting rolling in the retail side of the business. I think their place has great potential. I plan on making a return trip back there one of these days.

Again Welcome to CR!
 
I'll continue to shop there for coral but I really did not appreciate being told 2 fish would be ordered for me to choose from and I never received a call that they came in. Two weeks later they received 5 and it was only because I got a call from Cisco but at least 2 had been through the shop prior.

The same happened regarding my Seachem products. I was told that they would arrive on Tuesday and that was earlier this month. Then I read that they won't be getting any Seachem product in until next year. I wasted gas going up there checking up on them when they should have been teh one to let me know. This is the same reason I got sick of heading up to Aquapros. I don't like being told something I want will be in on one day and then I get there and what I want is not there. No I am not interested in buying something else that is JUST like what I want. I use what I use because I want to use it and don't appreciate folks trying to push som other product on me so my tank can crash.

If you don't have what I want...just tell me the truth or shut it up. These vendors need to get their stuff together and stop trying to run this bait-and-switch BS because I will call you out in public and put you on BLAST.

Just sayin.
 
Welcome to the site. I am going to agree with Dan. I too purchased a rather expensive fish from RI. I actually cleared out all my livestock to add this said fish. The fish did not eat and died within a few days. Leaving me fishless. I contacted them about it, and was told that "it's a shame I have such a negative attitude, and if I want to buy fish with any kind of guarantee to go Foster's and Smith". Talk about rude! They did offer 20% off a replacement, but to me that was not acceptable. That being said, I will go elsewhere. I have no plans of ever returning to this store.
 
I'm sorry you guys had some bad experiences with Reef Imports! Your experiences sound like a completely different store from the store I was in today! I had a great discussion with Tom and he was more than helpful. I purchased a female ocellaris (as my last female ocellaris was a jumper :dong:) and she appears to be very healthy and is eating like a horse! He also told me how they are transitioning from wholesale to retail and are really just getting started on the retail side. While I respect and understand your reasons for being upset with the store, and don't want to step on anyone's toes, I just wanted to post my personal experience and I feel the store is a great resource for amateurs and experts. Thank you all for your opinions and I'm sorry some of you did not receive the same experience I did! Have a good day! =)
 
Sorry to hear that Dan and Aaron. I in the other hand also bought quite a pricey fish and glad to say I am very happy and he is healthy as can be. That's why I say it over and over, ASK to see the fish eat before you take it home. Not trying to blame anyone for not doing maybe something right but hopefully it will serve as a lesson learned for our own goods if it wasn't done. Even like that some fish are just finicky like that. I've bought expert or difficult fish eating and they've still parted with me and I've also bought some and they had stayed with me. I know what fish you guys are talking about and both are considered expert fish. I do understand your points thought that they should've at least tried helping you guys out but it's unfortunate that it came to that. Hopefully this thread will serve as a tool for both the buyers and RI.
 
I may be mistaking, but from everything I've read, the fish I got was not considered to be "expert". It has more to do with their attitude and the lack of working with me on this that will keep me from goin back.
 
Hello all.. Thank you Tom for the kind review.. It was very nice to meet you and I hope everything goes well for your tank move.

I will start by saying we offer no guarantee on livestock and never have. There are way to many variables involved once the livestock leaves our facility to be able to guarantee them. We have been at this business for a very long time and have just about seen it all..
We are a small company and are not able to absorb these costs like Dr foster and smith can. I don't know of very many shops that can.

This is a good subject to discuss and I will gladly answer any and all questions.
 
Ryan. That is good to hear and yes Matt takes very good care of his fish.
But that does not change the fact that we do not offer a guarantee. We go well above and beyond to make sure the fish and corals in our facility are in great shape.
 
Do u guys quarantine fish/inverts.. If so can u guys explain to me ur process.. Do u guys make sure fish are eating b4 selling.. I haven't been to ur store and I'm meaning to visit.. I'm just curious..

Thanks
 
John - thanks for your responses. I think for me I will still come by and shop at your store.... But without some sort of a reasonable consideration for your fish, it is not real likely that I will by much from you. Of course.... as soon as I say this you will have THE fish I want...:fie:

It might be good to display some sort of disclaimer for your customers. When I was there last I did not see any sort of policy....but then again I may have missed it.

I would also say that a many of the stores folks frequent and are very loyal to do offer some consideration particularly to those good clients that are very experienced and QT fish and follow generally accepted acclimation processes. It might be a problem to have a response like you have that you are not a F&S....and offer no guarantee under any circumstances.

My two cents worth.
 
Reef Imports & Hatchery said:
I will start by saying we offer no guarantee on livestock and never have. There are way to many variables involved once the livestock leaves our facility to be able to guarantee them. We have been at this business for a very long time and have just about seen it all..
We are a small company and are not able to absorb these costs like Dr foster and smith can. I don't know of very many shops that can.

This is a good subject to discuss and I will gladly answer any and all questions.
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There are several shops in the Chicago area that do offer that kind of guarantee, and those are going to start reaping the reward as people realize they offer superior customer service. You did not discuss anything you made a somewhat inaccurate statement, and then ignored other issues that were brought up about your customer service just getting fish to customers.

Dave
 
jeppun21 said:
Do u guys quarantine fish/inverts.. If so can u guys explain to me ur process.. Do u guys make sure fish are eating b4 selling.. I haven't been to ur store and I'm meaning to visit.. I'm just curious..

We medicate and always ask questions about our customers systems to try and help make sure the fish is a good fit. We gladly hold fish for our customers as well. As a matter of fact we have 2 pair of crosshatch triggers we are currently holding and have had for the last 2 weeks. I personally have turned sales away because either a fish or coral does not look 100 percent or is acting strange and we always offer the option to let the customer see the fish eat.

If you think about all the different issues involved in what can and sometimes does happen to a fish once it leaves it is scary. You have temperature,stress,acclimation,salinity,ph,tank mates,equipment failure and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. Like I said we have been at this for a long time and have seen just about everything...

Had a customer who kept coming back for 3 weeks claiming his fish he kept buying and yes we kept replacing were disappearing. After talking with his father who was with him on his last visit he just happened to mention his son had purchased a cool fish from another store that is doing great. After multiple questions to his son I found out it Was a Lionfish. So we took a hit for multiple anthias,firefish and cardinals..

Had a customer take home a blue throat trigger male. Who once released into his tank decided to swim face first into a 16 inch blue carpet nem who closed up on it. Had him come back and demand a refund?

Had a lady come in that wanted to buy her grandson some fish before she went to his house for his new aquarium. I asked multiple questions about his aquarium to witch she just kept answering yes... She bought some firefish chromis and a flame angel. She returned a day later with the fish still in the same bags dead. She said she did not understand why the fish were dead. She kept them in the car all day in the box we provided (styro) while she finished her shopping at the mall. It was 95+ degrees that day.

There are many many more story's but I think you get the point. There is no good place to offer a guarantee on some fish but not others. This is a very difficult area to deal with as I hope some of you realize. As I said before we do our very best to make sure we both get in and sell good specimens but once it leaves our place we are no longer responsible for the care of that fish.
I have offered a discount on replacement fish to the couple or customers who have asked.

As far as getting in special orders or asked for fish... We are only able to get in what is offered by our suppliers. I wish it was like going to Walmart and as easy as just pulling it off the shelf. There are many issues with getting in a specific item. If it is common usually not so bad but if it needs to be special ordered it usually will either take a while or might be out of season. Has anyone seen many male blue throat triggers over the last 2 weeks? All of our suppliers seem to have none. I have checked with multiple sources as we are regularly able to get these in. Also the holidays play a huge roll in livestock shortages.

As I said before I will gladly answer any and all questions. I do understand frustration when a fish you spent the time and money to get has died. I have been in this hobby for 26+ years and have had my share of issues along the way. But I always assumed responsibility for any fish,coral or invert purchased the second I left the store I was at. I always had the store owner either show me the fish was eating or had them hold the fish or coral if it was a new arrival.
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I was offered a discount on a replacement. 20% off. The fish I purchased was on sale for $89. The replacement was normal price at $125. So 20% off the normal price of $125 comes to $100. So, Would have paid more for the replacement than the original. The 3 circumstances mentioned are ridiculous and rather offensive if you ask me. The majority of people here know what they are doing for the most part and are not idiots like the examples above. Like previously sated, the stores that will reap the benefits will be the ones who are willing to work with someone when something happens. Considering how much money some of us spend them, I don't think it's too much to ask.
 
Reef Imports & Hatchery said:
As I said before I will gladly answer any and all questions. I do understand frustration when a fish you spent the time and money to get has died. I have been in this hobby for 26+ years and have had my share of issues along the way. But I always assumed responsibility for any fish,coral or invert purchased the second I left the store I was at. I always had the store owner either show me the fish was eating or had them hold the fish or coral if it was a new arrival.
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I take this same view. If i don't take the time to acclimate right, or i have incompatible tank mates, or i didn't qt, or i didn't make sure they were eating before they left the store, it's on me. Sometimes you can do everything right and the fish still dies. Who's fault is that? I don't really think anybody is to blame. You did everything right. It was fine at the store... Just the luck of the draw. The store had no way of telling if the fish would die, they aren't psychic. Now, that's not to say that there aren't shady stores out there. BUT JOHN IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!! I've been buying from John for 6 or 7 years. Haven't had a problem with him. He is a great guy and does everything he can to help.

Now, just like there are shady stores out there, there are infinitely more customers who are shady... Buying fish they know are incompatible, not acclimating, yadda yadda. And they still expect to be catered to...

I will be a customer of John's as long as he is selling. He has always treated me right, and that means everything to me.
 
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