Worst buying experience ever

[TeamAquaSD]

Ordered a $600 coral from them, they finally shipped it about 15mos later (replacement bc they killed the first one). The replacement was doa and they ran with my cash since I was honest and said I was hopeful it was starting to open and it fully died after 48hrs.

Hey there. As discussed in our emails the old manager deleted all of his notes/files including his replacement item notes and as soon as you mentioned you were owed a replacement item we got right to trying to source an Australian gold torch for you. During our two hour phone conversation we discussed everything about that Australian gold torch and I personally mentioned that they do not do well in our care or long term in other hobbyist's aquariums for the most part, but we were able to import one to send off to you since store credit or any other item(s) were not acceptable.
Even in our most recent email I mentioned that I would love to work with you on a future torch but we absolutely do not want to order some corals that we know are going to perish either here or on a customer.
Please let us know if you change your mind and we would be more than happy to help out as always.
Best wishes,
-Kaleb

 

[TeamAquaSD]

15 months later???? Nahhhh

Old manager deleted all of his notes when he left. When we were contacted about the replacement we were quick to source a new one and get the issue taken care of.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

I have mixed experiences from them. Usually only buy if it’s a really good deal

Feel free to let us know the past issues. We are always happy to help out with any issues/situations

 

[TeamAquaSD]

Refund or part refund . Or 600 of other goods from them . Shocking when your spending that sort of money with them .

That is always our first offer. Replacements or store credit for the full amount or a replacement of equal or higher value.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

I can relate. I made a purchase in excess of $1.5k. The torch had zero flesh and the octospawns that I received had brown jelly. They resent “replacements” and one of the hammers had BJD. Honestly if these folks took the time to put plastic medicine cups to stabilize the frags from being tossed around, things wouldn’t die or get so sick during shipping….

First off sorry to hear about that torch dying and the replacement not coming in such hot condition. If you reach out I will make sure that things are taken care of but I am not sure how long ago your last order with us as we do have little cups that we use to hold our euphyllia/Fimbriaphyllia frags during shipping and even for some of our higher end frags like chalices and mushrooms

 

[Griev]

For what it's worth, I've made half a dozen orders with aquaSD and they've always been more consistently good than any other vendor I've used. Appreciate them coming to the thread with receipts. Sounds like they tried hard to make it right, which has been my personal experience with them.

 

[Nano_Man]

If a customer buys and parts with his or her hard earned cash and doesn’t feel the condition of the coral is not the same as the description from the seller they should be able to get a full refund as they gave you full payment . Not in goods or credit just give the customer payment back if they have lost trust . It is good you are trying to resolve peoples concerns

 

[TeamAquaSD]

Yep, the initial coral I bought died before they shipped it. The original order date was Jan 24 2022. Their original response was that they don't offer refunds but would give me a credit or ship a replacement when they got another of the same coral. I opted for the same coral since that was what I wanted. Three times I was contacted and told that they had my replacement ready if I purchased another shipping module they would send it. Three times I placed an order with a handful of other items to combine shipping and my replacement was forgotten to be added, sold in store by accident, died etc. I really don't care why, I just didn't recieve it. I finally recieved the doa replacement but bc it shipped poor and wasn't 100% dead (it arrived on the 15th but all flesh wasn't gone untill the 17th) they stated it exceeded their doa policy. Kaleb sent his sincerest apologies that the owner was not willing to do more for me and offered some free frags on my next order. I was waiting for a final decision on the situation and giving them a chance to make it right before saying anything but the original purchase was Jan 2022 and its now April 2023. I was essentially told that they can't deliver what was promised bc they had issues with that coral being a poor shipper so they gave it one try to humor me and that's it. If that was the original issue I should have been refunded the purchase, I understand the only store credit policy if this was a doa but not on a coral that died before they shipped that they are now not shipping anymore since their experience is that it ships poor.. the coral in question was an aussie gold torch btw not something super crazy that can't survive in a home reef.

You did mention it was a little stressed looking on the 15th when the order arrived but that is generally to be expected immediately out of transit. The next day follow up picture the torch was looking like it had some full polyp extension and was doing way better. We have our policies in place for doa's and time frames because there is just so many different things that are going on in home aquariums. Alk/salinity swings, Fish that can harm coral by either eating them or aggressively hosting them, Urchins that can pick your frag up and drop it face first onto a chalice coral, ect.
If items are truly a doa piece we are very quick to get a store credit out.
As I have mentioned a few times I would love to work something out for you in the future but we will not be ordering any more Aussie golds until well past our move to the new location this year.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

So AquaSD owner openly admitted they are selling aussie gold torches knowing they cannot keep them alive in captivity and the buyer probably can't either...ok.

What we said is that we have heard either from local customers or over the forums about people having issues with these specific corals whether it is because people mix them with torches from other parts of australia or with indonesian torches causing them to become ill due to other sorts of bacteria/pathogens that they do not have a natural resistance to or for some other reason.
We have not ordered those corals because they do not do well for us and if there was a customer whom had an issue with one of those torches sent by us in the past they were taken care of.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

Hey, that's really interesting and I didn't realize that. They've been super helpful and good to me about replacements (maybe because I sound very new). They are providing a replacement for something that I didn't realize was DOA with my next order, after having it for a couple of weeks. While I do want to place another order with them down the line so I can get that replacement, it does sound like it is more difficult to raise coral from them.

With that being said, do you recommend any places that you like and offer namely aquacultured coral?

That may explain why it's been so difficult for me to keep most of my coral alive. I had one DOA, my Duncan lasted a while and shrunk up (probably due to my nitrate and phosphate levels) and a zoa covered in algae that just barely opened and then wasted away.

We have a full bin of duncans that we have been slowly chipping away at for the last three - four or so months. When we order anything other than acropora/sps we will order a ton of it and sit on it for a while while we slowly sell it.
Even when we order acropora we will tank the colony for a minimum of a month while we dip it and then put it on the website for sale under our colonies page. After a few weeks if the item was not sold it is cut up and then sold as frags once healed.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

Just to be fair here. I've completely stopped buying any Euphalia. No matter where it comes from it will eventually succumb to BJD at some point. Could be a month or a year but it happens. I feel it's one of those things like aiptasia or vermetid snails that's so prevalent in the hobby that no matter how cautious you are there's no way to avoid it.I'm no expert by any means but I've got 2 large systems full of asd coral and yes some die but so do the ones I buy local. Coral is a gamble no matter where it comes from or who raised it. The way I look at this hobby you can either go to Vegas or buy coral. The odds of success are about the same.

I absolutely agree. I believe that bjd is ever present in most if not all home aquariums. I think it is like a common cold or ick and that human,coral,or fish immune systems determine on when something gets sick and succumbs to an infection. If there is damage to the corals flesh or the human/fish gets stressed then their immune system is lowered then things like bjd, colds/flues, or ick can take hold and not be fought back with the normal immune system response.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

I have tried several times to work with them on repeated issue with hardly any success. If anything, it has costed me more money in shipping modules and other corals I didn't really want just to meet the minimum, so they could send me the replacement coral they promised every time. The last time, only the bag and plug arrived. I'm taking my losses and calling it a day. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Lesson learned.

Hey there. As discussed in email and on the phone there is not a minimum order requirement for replacement items which we have sent a couple times. One time the mushroom was a doa which we then tried again and it was assumed to be floating around the bag since it was just a plug and rock sent which is by no means a normal occurrence. I even picked out a blue discosoma which was the replacement item for the order that had a way better grading/pattern to it.
"As for the mushroom I personally got a blue discosoma with some nice striping on it which I thought was a better grade" A quote from our email after our phone call includes:
"Sorry again about that issue with the new employee whom is doing the invoicing now. I have spoken with him in regards to replacement item orders not needing to meet the $100 minimum to shipout and it should not be an issue again." to which you replied "
"You need to hurry and ship my order, I keep buying and adding things to it! LOL"

Please let me know how when we can help out in the future. Still would love to get that discosoma to you.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

For what it's worth, I've made half a dozen orders with aquaSD and they've always been more consistently good than any other vendor I've used. Appreciate them coming to the thread with receipts. Sounds like they tried hard to make it right, which has been my personal experience with them.

Thank you very much for the kind words. I sincerely try whole heartedly to make sure that our customers are satisfied and any issues are taken care of.

 

[DSEKULA]

Call your credit card company and make a claim. They will almost always side with the cardholder.
and even if they don’t it will put a hold on the money and then the seller is forced to talk to you.

I went through affirm, I'm trying but idk their policy isn't quite as clear. I was on the phone the other day explaining the situation and they seemed ill equipped to deal with the live good industry. Their normal policies are 45days after payment but usually the goods are recieved before not after paying.

 

[DSEKULA]

Hey there. As discussed in our emails the old manager deleted all of his notes/files including his replacement item notes and as soon as you mentioned you were owed a replacement item we got right to trying to source an Australian gold torch for you. During our two hour phone conversation we discussed everything about that Australian gold torch and I personally mentioned that they do not do well in our care or long term in other hobbyist's aquariums for the most part, but we were able to import one to send off to you since store credit or any other item(s) were not acceptable.
Even in our most recent email I mentioned that I would love to work with you on a future torch but we absolutely do not want to order some corals that we know are going to perish either here or on a customer.
Please let us know if you change your mind and we would be more than happy to help out as always.
Best wishes,
-Kaleb

Kaleb,
The issue was that the initial coral died before it was shipped to me. Yes, I either wanted a refund since the goods could not be delivered or the correct coral. I understand that odd things happened with a change of management etc. All I ever wanted was the coral or cash so I could buy it else where. I was always clear on that. At this point soo long after the original order I feel like I have been patient and understanding while asd tried to kind of get their act together on what happened etc. Essentially I was willing to meet half way and be understanding and now that I was finally sent a coral that looked questionable but I thought may pull through asd is unwilling to meet me half way in return for being an understanding customer. Please honestly tell me what part of this transaction would inspire you to spend additional money with asd so that you could work with me on a different torch or toss in some freebes? If you were in my position would you be confident sending me money for another purchase?

Hey there. As discussed in our emails the old manager deleted all of his notes/files including his replacement item notes and as soon as you mentioned you were owed a replacement item we got right to trying to source an Australian gold torch for you. During our two hour phone conversation we discussed everything about that Australian gold torch and I personally mentioned that they do not do well in our care or long term in other hobbyist's aquariums for the most part, but we were able to import one to send off to you since store credit or any other item(s) were not acceptable.
Even in our most recent email I mentioned that I would love to work with you on a future torch but we absolutely do not want to order some corals that we know are going to perish either here or on a customer.
Please let us know if you change your mind and we would be more than happy to help out as always.
Best wishes,
-Kaleb

 

[DSEKULA]

So AquaSD owner openly admitted they are selling aussie gold torches knowing they cannot keep them alive in captivity and the buyer probably can't either...ok.

Well they won't sell them now.

 

[TeamAquaSD]

Kaleb,
The issue was that the initial coral died before it was shipped to me. Yes, I either wanted a refund since the goods could not be delivered or the correct coral. I understand that odd things happened with a change of management etc. All I ever wanted was the coral or cash so I could buy it else where. I was always clear on that. At this point soo long after the original order I feel like I have been patient and understanding while asd tried to kind of get their act together on what happened etc. Essentially I was willing to meet half way and be understanding and now that I was finally sent a coral that looked questionable but I thought may pull through asd is unwilling to meet me half way in return for being an understanding customer. Please honestly tell me what part of this transaction would inspire you to spend additional money with asd so that you could work with me on a different torch or toss in some freebes? If you were in my position would you be confident sending me money for another purchase?

Hey D. I am sorry that we did not offer an immediate refund. We usually try to work out something with the customer for a future order as we can offer an extra item(s) that normally are a little pricy on the retail side as an extra item or drastically reduce the price on an item that is of interest.
We tried to offer a store credit for the torches original cost ($600) instead of what you paid for it after the discount code ($450) and even offered some extras after that.

We specifically waited to be able to receive an aquaculture piece to give it even that much more of a chance than a wild specimen. As you can see in the ship out photo it was looking to be in good health and had a nice flesh band. We do not personally take photos of flesh bands on our euphyllia but after this I think we might.

We warned that we will be able to help out in this weird situation but the mortality rate of the torch is higher than most others. Heck we chatted on the phone for over an hour and a half about cipro treatments and dips and your hypothesis on why torches that are from different locations get each other sick from their regional pathogens, ect.. After you re contacted us early this year we were quick to help out and get you an item asap after we heard about your issue. I am sorry if I am not able to do more but the coral was looking great before ship out, it looked a stressed day of shipment arrival, the next day it looked like there was some very good polyp extension and then 48+ hours it was dead. Unfortunately that is past our doa policy and as mentioned I would still like to help out somehow.

 

[DSEKULA]

Hey D. I am sorry that we did not offer an immediate refund. We usually try to work out something with the customer for a future order as we can offer an extra item(s) that normally are a little pricy on the retail side as an extra item or drastically reduce the price on an item that is of interest.
We tried to offer a store credit for the torches original cost ($600) instead of what you paid for it after the discount code ($450) and even offered some extras after that.

We specifically waited to be able to receive an aquaculture piece to give it even that much more of a chance than a wild specimen. As you can see in the ship out photo it was looking to be in good health and had a nice flesh band. We do not personally take photos of flesh bands on our euphyllia but after this I think we might.

We warned that we will be able to help out in this weird situation but the mortality rate of the torch is higher than most others. Heck we chatted on the phone for over an hour and a half about cipro treatments and dips and your hypothesis on why torches that are from different locations get each other sick from their regional pathogens, ect.. After you re contacted us early this year we were quick to help out and get you an item asap after we heard about your issue. I am sorry if I am not able to do more but the coral was looking great before ship out, it looked a stressed day of shipment arrival, the next day it looked like there was some very good polyp extension and then 48+ hours it was dead. Unfortunately that is past our doa policy and as mentioned I would still like to help out somehow.

Thanks kaleb,
I'm open to any offer that doesn't include me sending asd additional cash at this point. I'm not making additional purchases to get freebes, buying shipping modules, or discounts etc.

 

[DSEKULA]

Thanks kaleb,
I'm open to any offer that doesn't include me sending asd additional cash at this point. I'm not making additional purchases to get freebes, buying shipping modules, or discounts etc.

See, the way I see it asd wants to appear to be working with me but just wants me to spend additional money.