Visit to Reef Imports & Hatchery

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Not trying to defend anyone, but I agree... There's no reason why the LFS is responsible for a death of a fish after you take it home. It just happens... If it's a unhealthy fish, not eating, swimming funny etc, why are you buying it?? Now that I'm dabbing into fish that are finicky and picky eaters, and learned my lesson to ask the store to feed before I purchase. I learned that with my Melagris that I purchased down in lisle. I've done everything (feed everything i could think of, even got live pods) i could for it and the last 2 days or so, it's not looking like it will last much longer. It sucks, but buing new fish is always a gamble IMO.
 
Personally, I don't think anyone should get upset if a fish dies and expect a refund if that is not a store's policy. I've witnessed fish eat at a store, visually inspected them, temp acclimated, drip acclimated for hours, provided a peaceful QT environment, basically did everything possible to ensure sucess and still had fish die. I was offered a 20% discount when my fish died IF I put the fish in a ziplock and froze it. Seeing how it was my first visit to the store, I understood why the owner didn't trust me and asked that the fish be frozen. He didn't know me and had no idea if I was trying to pull a scam on a really expensive fish. I don't blame the shop or the owner because the fish died. Nor do I blame anyone that the 2nd fish I bought had what looked like a very small scratch which developed into an open sore on it's body which got worse in QT until it also died. Sure, there is not a money-back guarantee but at least there might be a 20% discount to replace the fish. ( I flushed my dead fish before realizing I needed to freeze it to get 20% off the next one, so I'm S.O.L.)

Am I happy with the experience, no. Am I upset with RI, no. Does the policy make me want to only buy fish from places with a guarantee? Perhaps, but 20% off another fish is still better than the multitude of other stores that have no guarantee or discount whatsoever.

The last thing I'll say is that I never recieved any acknowledgement regarding my (3) requests for a replacement fish. I realize it can take a while for a specific fish to be available due to various factors outside of the supplier's control but I have no confirmation I'm even on a waiting list. So the ball is in their court as to wheher or not we'll be doing any more business together.
 
The fact that the replacement was going to cost more than the original was a little ridiculous in my opinion. I did not expect a full refund, but charging me more than the original cost is a joke, and the way the situation was handled on their part "it's a shame I have such a negative attitude, and to go shop at F and S" is not how to do business in my opinion.
 
ADOGG80 said:
The fact that the replacement was going to cost more than the original was a little ridiculous in my opinion. I did not expect a full refund, but charging me more than the original cost is a joke, and the way the situation was handled on their part "it's a shame I have such a negative attitude, and to go shop at F and S" is not how to do business in my opinion.
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Yeah your situation is messed up. I'm not sure how they expect to be in business long treating customers who would have spent thousands there like they did to you.
 
I haven't spent thousands there. I sure of hell have at other places though. This was my first time dealing with RI, and my last.
 
My opinion is, you buy a fish that is healthy, eating and acting normal, it's your responsibility once it leaves the store. You take a chance on a fish that is not meeting the above requirements, it's all on the buyer.

I recently bought a mystery wrasse and a beautiful red Xmas wrasse from RI. Both were eating in the store and John actually misquoted the price for the Xmas wrasse, where I got a 50% discount effectively. I offered to put it back, but he honored the price.

The Xmas wrasse mysteriously died after 3 days, but I will not go back to RI for a replacement, for some reason it did not do well in my tank, but the mystery wrasse is great.

I don't get the bashing either. I've had several great LFS not get me a fish I wanted, after multiple requests, but that's the way it is sometimes.
 
I have been to RI many times. Any fish or coral I want, I tell cisqo and he always gives me a call when he gets them in and tells me if the fish is eating or not. He puts the fish on hold for me too until I am able to swing by. If you are looking for a specific fish or coral tell cisqo and he will give you a call. Great guy IMO. He was great at global aquatics too. If you are looking for a fish/coral, just go straight to cisqo and if he doesn't already have your number, give it to him or get his number and he will give you a call when they come in. I have spent a ton of money at global before I realized 90% of the fish I bought from them were dying but with RI, so far none have died.

The only stores by me that give some kind of guarantee on fish are aquarium adventures and Beyond the reef and they are pretty pricey. I would rather spend less then half of that at RI on a fish and if it dies, 20% off next fish is still cheaper then buying the fish from Aquarium adventures once. I always make sure the fish is eating at the store before buying.
 
I would add, that in the "mysterious death" cases that somemtimes occur under 6-7 days, even if the fish was eating, et al, I would expect that the LFS would look out for me if I was a continued customer, etc. It's a cutthroat business and while we also spend our hard earned cash, it's good to know that an LFS has our back when a fish dies and there is no reason for it (not bullied, acclimated correctly, parameters are correct, etc).
 
Blah blah blah. Bashing a new sponsor is not cool in open forum. I read a few post, but it was exhausting. If you wanna "bash" over fish warranties when he stand by a policy then your misinformed. Fish die. No matter the reason unless you can prove fault on their behalf then maybe you should just take your business elsewhere. Don't knock a small business because you don't agree with their policies. I've never been and will eventually. Thanks for hijacking toms OP.
 
Saledo said:
Uhm why? There are plenty of LFS that do communicate, they want our money they need to go out of the way to provide customer service, why should we have to give them multiple chances? I can go with the fish argument of buyer beware as a store policy, my only clarification is that there are more stores in the area then F&S offering a guarantee on fish, saying they are the only ones that do it is misleading.

The communication issue with Walt is just poor service.
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I will give them a chance (my opinion) and so does Walt (he said on first page - continuing go there for coral)..
 
If people don't want to go back, then that means there will be a better selection for those of us loyal customers who will gladly give them our business.
 
maidia said:
I will give them a chance (my opinion) and so does Walt (he said on first page - continuing go there for coral)..
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Yes, my only issue with them has been with the customer service aspect of the business. My time is valuable and I expect them to respect that. As for the livestock, I have yet to buy any fish from there, but I likely will not buy fish from any local wholesalers. Wholesalers are there to get fish in and push them out ASAP. They can afford to have the kind of arrogant attitude they typically do. When you open yourself up to retail customers, that thinking and approach must change. We've seen what word of mouth and sites like Yelp can do to a business in these troubling economic times, and I would hope that these comments do not fall on deaf ears (eyes).

Since they are wholesalers, it's not in their best interest to offer warranties on fish that have been blasted out of the reef, harboring internal or external parasites or suffering from traumatic experiences due to capturing. I'd rather deal with the middlemen like Reefwise who baby their fish and put them in QT to practively treat for internal and external parasites. They have their reputations on the line because they deal with the public and that's their market. Now that same market is who places like Xzotic and Reef Imports is trying to get in their doors but they are treating them like wholesale clients....and that is not how you gain trust and respect, nor is the way they have addressed the majority of people who chimed in on this thread due to their dissatisfaction.

And for the record, I have bought coral, dry-goods and food from there. I left empty-handed on my last visit.
 
You have to be the best judge when you are buying a Live stock. You can't blame some one else, particularly when you were there to see the specie in person & decided to buy it. It is your responsibility to ask if he is eating well, How long have they had it, & do your home work. Not everybody wants to know this & some do.
I have had terrible experience when I started in this hobby. I took the LFS "3 day" guarantee for granted & tried to use it. The LFS owner gave me reasons like "I acclimated too long" for drip acclimation. My Nitrates were too high, but I still was insistent & got a full refund. I now realize what a fool I have been to do this. When a LFS get a specie in, it is not like they get to see what they are getting & they have no guarantee from their suppliers. They are after all in Business to make money. If we as consumers can't accommodate this small risk, it's too bad. You have to realize LFS will only try to minimize the risks you incur not eliminate it.

Regarding Keisha Kornbread: I understand there was a communication lapse, but cut them a slack. They have been working too hard in transitioning from Whole sale to retail. They have foregone their Christmas to accommodate Business & customers. If I were you, I'd have called first before driving to make sure they had it in. You have to keep attention to 1 order, they have to pay attention to plenty more. I'm sure they will get more organized eventually.

Aaron: How long do you think RIH had the fish you got before you bought it? Did you see it eating before you purchased? At least you were able to see the system the fish was in when you purchased. Now you are expecting RIH to compensate you without actually seeing your system? I'd suggest talk to John & Sissy, I'm sure you will be compensated appropriately rather than blaming them.

So How long do you feel is reasonable before taking responsibility for the loss of fish & not blaming LFS.
 
I don't think I would call it hijacking a thread Matt. As the op is entitled to his opinion, so is everyone else. It's up to you, the individual to decide for yourself after reading these posts, whether you want to go there or not.
 
I understand. I didn't say any think about fish. I just want to say give new sponsor a chance to change. This forum need more sponsor so all reefers have a place to play. That's all I mean. If the 3rd chance for me not work out, then I will say bye bye.

And I think Mike (CR owner) and all the Mods here are very nice. If you (not Walt) bashing about Sponsor on the other Forum Site, your post will be delete already. If you don't believe me then go to big Reef Forum Site bashing some of the sponsor you will see the mod will delete your post right away. They did to my friend over there. I have no complaint because their policy.
 
Shaun, have you been reading the posts? I did contact them through email before any of these posts, and the response to me was clearly unacceptable. As I stated above, I did not expect a full refund, but I also didn't expect to pay more than I did originally. Not to mention the rude responses I got in general.
 
"Regarding Keisha Kornbread: I understand there was a communication lapse, but cut them a slack. They have been working too hard in transitioning from Whole sale to retail. They have foregone their Christmas to accommodate Business & customers. If I were you, I'd have called first before driving to make sure they had it in. You have to keep attention to 1 order, they have to pay attention to plenty more. I'm sure they will get more organized eventually."

My $.02 now:

I disagree. I don't cut businesses slack. They are in business to serve their customers. If they can't do that, I would hope their customers would go elsewhere. I don't care if they have one order or one hundred orders; that's what they're supposed to be doing. If a LFS tell me they will have something for me on Monday, it's their fault if it's not there. Don't blame the shipper or someone/thing else. It's their responsibility to call me to let me know that my item did not arrive also.
 
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