A moment to vent

[SJ fishing]

Just wanted to vent abut a recent experience since I figure most here can relate, but mostly so I can feel better lol

I decided to splurge at the end of December and ordered a 80 gallon rimless aquarium from company I shall not name.  They emailed back in 2 days and told me it would take 1-2 months, longer than I expected as its not a custom aquarium but ok.  End of February they emailed and said my aquarium would be in that week and would get shipped.  2 weeks later I hadn’t received any updates so I emailed with no response, another week goes by so I text the number per directions on their website voicing my frustration.  I get a text back stating they emailed me an update earlier that morning, the email came several hours after that text.  An invoice for an additional $200 shipping followed a few days later, now almost the end of March.  Frustrated to get an additional charge I almost cancelled the order but figured I waited this long I would just go ahead and pay it.   The trucking company called me last week to schedule delivery, which I did for last Friday…..below is pictures of the tank in the truck, completely broken.  I sent pictures via text and email to the company I ordered from along with the claim number from the trucking company that day asking for a refund.  It took another email on Tuesday before I got a response on Wednesday, telling me as soon as they process the claim with the trucking company they will issue the refund.  I am not pleased about that as I feel I paid for goods and services almost 4 months ago that I haven’t received through no fault of mine, to me this should be between the company the trucking company.  Not me.  Especially since in my mind that was a terrible way to prep a glass box for shipping across the country

Anyway, thanks for reading my whining lol.  And a message for Cory that I hope he gets to read.  I understand the frustration he expressed about people comments in his Live Stream and I have no doubt how difficult that it is.  I just want him to know that there are many of us that truly appreciate the education, the business integrity to try to provide products that perform as intended, the quick shipping, communication and customer support.  I dont hesitate to order any product from the Co-Op as I believe Cory has spent many hours to find the best product, for the best value that functions easily.  Although I imagine many people that feel this same way are the silent majority it is greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

[Fish Folk]

Oh no! That’s really frustrating. I think you’ve learned who _never to do business with again_.

I firmly agree that the CoOp does excellent business. Of the times I’ve ordered, I have always been extremely satisfied.

Hope you get this sorted out, get all of your money back, and get an aquarium that is perfect for your goals.

Just curious: what was / is your stocking plan?

[lefty o]

i'd be ticked off. 200 for shipping, it should be put in a crate for that kind of money.

[gardenman]

Judging by the amount of soybean seed scattered about the back of the truck and the condition of the soybean seed bags (Pioneer) and tank, I'd guess the trucker was a tad overly enthusiastic in both braking and accelerating. If you've ever moved bags of seed like that you know they don't just slide around all that easily. The bags are pretty tough and hard to break too. It looks like everything in the back of that truck wasn't properly secured and the driver was a tad overly aggressive driving. Either that or the truck got picked up and flung around by a tornado.

The tank company should make it right by you. They shouldn't give you any hassle. A tank shipped using the same packaging and a sane truck driver would likely arrive fine though. I wouldn't necessarily condemn the way they shipped it. That tank and those seeds were just not properly secured and had an irresponsible driver. 

[Odd Duck]

I think you’ve been extremely patient.  I would be absolutely livid.  They need to pay you back immediately.  Dealing with the trucking company is their own problem.  Very unprofessional of them all the way around.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Odd Duck

[SJ fishing]

On 4/15/2022 at 10:42 AM, Fish Folk said:

Oh no! That’s really frustrating. I think you’ve learned who _never to do business with again_.

I firmly agree that the CoOp does excellent business. Of the times I’ve ordered, I have always been extremely satisfied.

Hope you get this sorted out, get all of your money back, and get an aquarium that is perfect for your goals.

Just curious: what was / is your stocking plan?

I’m sure it will get sorted out, just frustrating doing so.  I’m just going to go with the good old Aqueon 75 gallon instead.  I have some smaller rimless tanks, and they are cool but I’ve found I don’t look at them vs a standard tank and feel it’s way better.  Especially not at 10x the cost.  I can put that money to my next rack of stacked 75’s lol

planning on a planted tank, with some house plants growing out of the top.  I have a piece of driftwood I’m going to use to attach the lights to.   Fish wise probably boesmani rainbows, preacox rainbows, school of Cory’s, maybe smudge spot.  Possibly an electric blue acara, and SAE

On 4/15/2022 at 10:47 AM, lefty o said:

i'd be ticked off. 200 for shipping, it should be put in a crate for that kind of money.

That was on top of the $200 I paid at time of purchase!   For that much money I thought they were going to carry it in the house lol.  Turns out that was only to get a lift gate.  I won’t even go on about the delivery being 2 hours past the 4 hour window I got, having to take off work early to be there as long as someone to help me unload it.  The truck getting stuck in my yard, needing my tractor and truck to pull it out, the 3 hours fixing the ruts in the yard 

[Odd Duck]

On 4/15/2022 at 10:38 AM, SJ fishing said:

I’m sure it will get sorted out, just frustrating doing so.  I’m just going to go with the good old Aqueon 75 gallon instead.  I have some smaller rimless tanks, and they are cool but I’ve found I don’t look at them vs a standard tank and feel it’s way better.  Especially not at 10x the cost.  I can put that money to my next rack of stacked 75’s lol

planning on a planted tank, with some house plants growing out of the top.  I have a piece of driftwood I’m going to use to attach the lights to.   Fish wise probably boesmani rainbows, preacox rainbows, school of Cory’s, maybe smudge spot.  Possibly an electric blue acara, and SAE

That was on top of the $200 I paid at time of purchase!   For that much money I thought they were going to carry it in the house lol.  Turns out that was only to get a lift gate.  I won’t even go on about the delivery being 2 hours past the 4 hour window I got, having to take off work early to be there as long as someone to help me unload it.  The truck getting stuck in my yard, needing my tractor and truck to pull it out, the 3 hours fixing the ruts in the yard 

You should discuss with them getting compensation for the damages to your property (yard) and see if that doesn’t speed along the repayment process.

[SJ fishing]

On 4/15/2022 at 11:16 AM, gardenman said:

Judging by the amount of soybean seed scattered about the back of the truck and the condition of the soybean seed bags (Pioneer) and tank, I'd guess the trucker was a tad overly enthusiastic in both braking and accelerating. If you've ever moved bags of seed like that you know they don't just slide around all that easily. The bags are pretty tough and hard to break too. It looks like everything in the back of that truck wasn't properly secured and the driver was a tad overly aggressive driving. Either that or the truck got picked up and flung around by a tornado.

The tank company should make it right by you. They shouldn't give you any hassle. A tank shipped using the same packaging and a sane truck driver would likely arrive fine though. I wouldn't necessarily condemn the way they shipped it. That tank and those seeds were just not properly secured and had an irresponsible driver. 

Yeah the truck was a mess.  True, with care it could be shipped as it was, just not something I would risk if it were me.  I got a smaller rimless from amazon and it packed so well it took me an hour to get it out of the crate lol

[sumplkrum]

That's how they decided to ship the tank? 😳

It looks like that tiny pallet is too small for the tank, and there's no padding at all. There's like zero chance it would have arrived to you unbroken.

And I guess we can tell who this company is by the box. So we'll know exactly who to NOT to buy a tank from.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/15/2022 at 11:56 AM, sumplkrum said:

It looks like that tiny pallet is too small for the tank, and there's no padding at all. There's like zero chance it would have arrived to you unbroken.

Often, that's on the shipper, not the seller. They didn't secure the load and obviously bags of whatever fell as well. Pretty common sense to know glass is fragile.  Not sure why it wasn't secured properly.

 

[Patrick_G]

Wow, that’s a horrible experience. I’d be pissed off too. You should have a refund in hand along with a sincere apology. (for the delays, the lies, the unexpected $200 shipping charge and for the poor packaging) They should also call ADA and figure out what resellers currently have that size tank in stock so you can get a replacement as soon as possible. 
 

[Streetwise]

I bought a second-hand 12 gallon rimless tank from an honest aquarist. I watched the package tracking and saw two non-deliveries, before I got the news.

The seller took care of the claim, and offered a refund, or other things for sale. I took two Apex utilities: a moonlight kit, synchronized to the sky, and ironically, a pair of leak detection kits.

[SJ fishing]

On 4/15/2022 at 8:39 PM, Streetwise said:

I bought a second-hand 12 gallon rimless tank from an honest aquarist. I watched the package tracking and saw two non-deliveries, before I got the news.

The seller took care of the claim, and offered a refund, or other things for sale. I took two Apex utilities: a moonlight kit, synchronized to the sky, and ironically, a pair of leak detection kits.

All of that was same cost as the tank?

[Streetwise]

I should clarify that I got one kit with a pair of detectors. The lunar lights are just a string of singular white leds, which can be controlled by the Apex lunar schedule (or not). They would be more interesting with a marine tank. I already had the Apex.

[anewbie]

I'd file an immediate bbb complaint. It is not your job to wait for the trucking company to refund the company. The company failed to correctly package the product or pick an appropriate delivery service.

Edited April 16, 2022 by anewbie

[gardenman]

A lot of companies aren't awash in cash. They may want to refund the money immediately but just not have the cash on hand. A bounced check from them is worse than no check from them. They may need to get the refund from the trucking firm/insurer before they'll have the cash to repay you. You never know. Even some fairly large appearing companies are often cash poor.

[SJ fishing]

On 4/16/2022 at 8:30 AM, gardenman said:

A lot of companies aren't awash in cash. They may want to refund the money immediately but just not have the cash on hand. A bounced check from them is worse than no check from them. They may need to get the refund from the trucking firm/insurer before they'll have the cash to repay you. You never know. Even some fairly large appearing companies are often cash poor.

Perhaps that’s the case.  So far I haven’t sent scathing emails or ripped in to them.  I’ve been on the other side of that and it’s not fun.  However, whether they have funds or not they can communicate….and they have not been great with that

[gardenman]

Yeah, they should be talking to you. I worked in customer service for a bit and my good boss had one rule. "Never lie to a customer." Her replacement had us lying nonstop to customers and I left the company after three weeks of working under her. By not saying anything, they're not making promises they can't keep. So, there's that. As a customer I'd want to be kept up to date on what's happening. As a business owner I might not want to let the customer/world know we don't have the cash on hand to offer a full refund. 

You can often get a better response from companies these days by hitting them up on Twitter or other forms of social media. If they're a company with young employees, those employees may not be all that interested in email but will go all out to respond on social media. If they have a Twitter account, reaching out to them through that Twitter account may get more results. I recently saw a young woman who had over ten thousand unchecked emails on her phone but was on Twitter almost nonstop. Many younger workers view emails as being old-fashioned and a waste of time. They just ignore them both in business and in their personal life. Let something pop up on social media though, and they're all over it.

 

[Anon]

On 4/16/2022 at 5:30 AM, gardenman said:

A lot of companies aren't awash in cash. They may want to refund the money immediately but just not have the cash on hand.

Came to post this. That's why they need the claim with the trucking company to go through before they can pay you back. It's still unacceptable if you ask me; you should be able to cover the cost of a single tank for a customer. Don't deal in things you can't insure/afford. 

[Jawjagrrl]

Really sorry to see this - I can feel your pain at seeing the truck open up... to this. 

My spouse owns a small furniture manufacturing company - in fact if you ever sit down to eat in a lot of chain places like Longhorn or Waffle House, you've probably sat on our furniture. It ships cross country and overseas (like an Applebees in Abu Dabi believe it or not). Good trucking companies are worth their weight in gold, especially for cross country deliveries that are tough in good times, much less now. He has seen some pretty crazy things over the years, and that was happening to really tough commercial grade booths, not glass. ANy shipment that has to cross the rockies gets special upgraded packaging. 

I just showed him your photos and he was pretty horrified. At the way it was packaged for cross country and the way the truck was loaded (looks to me like a less-than-full freight shipping service). Even with a good driver that went to proper trucking school and training (not the two weeks and you're solo that happens now), the chances of this arriving were slim. For future reference and general FYI (and this is my husband speaking) you can formally refuse shipment in this situation. Sometimes damage can show up later after a crate is open, but this was obvious.

It doesn't change the way the company is handling your issues though. If their current margins are so narrow that they can't cover a refund or reship, they've got bigger problems than you right now (possible), or they just have really poor CSR skills. Depending on how big they are, you might ask to escalate up to a higher level person that has more freedom to work with you.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Jawjagrrl

[Tanked]

On 4/15/2022 at 10:31 AM, SJ fishing said:

 An invoice for an additional $200 shipping followed a few days later, now almost the end of March.  Frustrated to get an additional charge I almost cancelled the order but figured I waited this long I would just go ahead and pay it.  

This is a time that perhaps you should mention the seller's name.  In addition to lousy customer service, the seller has a lot to say as to how the item is shipped and insured. This includes special handling, dock, curb, or inside delivery.  The additional $200. shipping, if not in the original agreement is the most disturbing.  A call to the BBB is in order, but filing a complaint to your state's Attorney General might also be a better idea. 

[Cinnebuns]

I would AT LEAST be filing a BBB report if not more. 

[quikv6]

I know multiple people said a call to the BBB is in order. But before that, is it such a foreign idea to call (yes, call) the place you purchased it from?

Perhaps I am a dinosaur....okay....I know I am, but I truly feel that alot of things can be resolved either face to face or on the phone with a human, rather than through back-and-forth emails where context and inflection are harder to grasp, and can easily be misinterpreted.

Sometimes a genuine "We're sorry, and we're going to make this right by you...." from an honest employee can do WONDERS. If you tried this already, then I fully take back my advice to make an attempt. I am just befuddled that folks would put a company on full blast without even making an attempt to truly hash out a resolution. If they blow you off, then by all means, it's time to escalate the issue. And again, if you already this....my apologies. But I do think it is reasonable to exhaust all basic, common sense options first.

I guess I am just an old soul, yearning for a simpler time.

 

Edit/add-on: I fully realize I am saying this on a forum managed by a truly wonderful company/business that doesn't have a phone number. It is literally my only "gripe", solely from a point of principal, which has been fading rapidly as time marches on. The Co-op is top tier, and, in my experience, operates with a true regard and appreciation for their customers, the hobby, and to some broader level, the planet.

Edited April 16, 2022 by quikv6

[Cinnebuns]

On 4/16/2022 at 4:41 PM, quikv6 said:

I know multiple people said a call to the BBB is in order. But before that, is it such a foreign idea to call (yes, call) the place you purchased it from?

Perhaps I am a dinosaur....okay....I know I am, but I truly feel that alot of things can be resolved either face to face or on the phone with a human, rather than through back-and-forth emails where context and inflection are harder to grasp, and can easily be misinterpreted.

Sometimes a genuine "We're sorry, and we're going to make this right by you...." from an honest employee can do WONDERS. If you tried this already, then I fully take back my advice to make an attempt. I am just befuddled that folks would put a company on full blast without even making an attempt to truly hash out a resolution. If they blow you off, then by all means, it's time to escalate the issue. And again, if you already this....my apologies. But I do think it is reasonable to exhaust all basic, common sense options first.

I guess I am just an old soul, yearning for a simpler time.

 

Edit/add-on: I fully realize I am saying this on a forum managed by a truly wonderful company/business that doesn't have a phone number. It is literally my only "gripe", solely from a point of principal, which has been fading rapidly as time marches on. The Co-op is top tier, and, in my experience, operates with a true regard and appreciation for their customers, the hobby, and to some broader level, the planet.

I wanna clarify that I agree going to the BBB is not a first resort but it seems OP has been reaching out for months and is getting nowhere. The company doesn't seem to care to resolve it if they aren't responding for this long. Not to mention the random "send is $200 more" is pretty shady business practice. That alone makes me give them fewer chances. I think a phone call is a great step and honestly my choice over email but I also don't think contacting the BBB is out of line at this point. 

[quikv6]

I understand, though I truly think a call is in order first, and would be surprised if one hasn't been made, especially is they haven't responded over emails. There's a point where as a customer, it is their obligation (for lack of a better term) to let the company know that email attempts to resolve have not been working, and a resolution needs to be found sooner than later. It's in their own benefit (the customer), in my opinion.

Further more, depending on the business, you may have a greater ability to get someone helpful/higher up the chain over the phone. Who knows...perhaps a manager who knew nothing of the initial issue that stayed in an email chain with one specific first-line customer service employee.

Edited April 16, 2022 by quikv6