You need to keep the consumer informed.

[Yevoc]

OK so...

July 4 weekend I decided to try some Sea Lettuce. To reach free shipping I add Ocean Magic to the cart. Cool. Order set. Looking forward to getting the shipment on a WFH day, ordered to time that out.

I am charged for the order.

Next day no shipping confirmation. Umm wonder what is going on?

Algae Barn no response...

I have to reach out and open a ticket. "We updated the phytoplankton system and we will ship your order next week"

Week passes, nothing shipped, no response.

So I have to reach out again. Same canned response. "Yeah updates and stuff, you can have 25% off your NEXT order, we hope to ship to you next week"

I am 2 weeks out waiting on something I didn't need and I have to reach to get a update that has over promised and under delivered twice now.

This is poor customer service and outside the norms of the live shipping in this industry. Be better.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Seems like they are not the only one. I wouldn’t buy from them if that’s the case.

 

[Cell]

Seeing way too many of this exact story from this vendor lately...they should be more pro-active with the communication during delays I think.

 

[saltyfins]

I ordered 2 weeks ago. Sent an email, because I was worried it went to the wrong address. Was told that they were "making serious improvements to our systems, these changes have been made so we are able to offer you a better product in the future, but have cause some continued delays in production." says it states that on the website, but it didn't when I ordered. gah. Never again!

 

[bugzy]

Just be patient folks. They make a great product and sometimes it just takes a bit longer.

 

[Gtinnel]

Just be patient folks. They make a great product and sometimes it just takes a bit longer.

IMO taking longer to recieve a product is not a big deal...IF you are properly notified from the company of any delays and they work with you. If I were the OP I would be annoyed about that lack of communication from any company.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

OK so...

July 4 weekend I decided to try some Sea Lettuce. To reach free shipping I add Ocean Magic to the cart. Cool. Order set. Looking forward to getting the shipment on a WFH day, ordered to time that out.

I am charged for the order.

Next day no shipping confirmation. Umm wonder what is going on?

Algae Barn no response...

I have to reach out and open a ticket. "We updated the phytoplankton system and we will ship your order next week"

Week passes, nothing shipped, no response.

So I have to reach out again. Same canned response. "Yeah updates and stuff, you can have 25% off your NEXT order, we hope to ship to you next week"

I am 2 weeks out waiting on something I didn't need and I have to reach to get a update that has over promised and under delivered twice now.

This is poor customer service and outside the norms of the live shipping in this industry. Be better.

Hi there- We do apologize for the delay on phytoplankton as the overhaul has taken longer than originally anticipated! We have been sending out mass emails to update customers on their delayed orders. We do understand that some customer have not seen emails as some email providers so flag emails when they are sent to a ton of people at once. I am going to send you a DM to get your order information as we do want to make sure all of our customers are taken care of especially during this overhaul process.

 

[ReefRy]

And 25% off your NEXT order...

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

Just be patient folks. They make a great product and sometimes it just takes a bit longer.

Not sure what they "make" but anyone can culture their own phyto, macros and pods at home for a fraction of the cost.

Its your money and knowing is half the battle.

 

[James M]

Just be patient folks. They make a great product and sometimes it just takes a bit longer.

They should still inform people lol

 

[Crashjack]

I've had to cancel 2 orders due to not shipping the product. That said, the alternative I tried after my first cancellation, I didn't like as well as Ocean Magik. Not only did I bust one of the packages trying to open it, the product doesn't look as concentrated or at least isn't as green as Ocean Magik (might just be the quantities of the various species affecting coloration). I'm trying something different after this second cancellation.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I've had to cancel 2 orders due to not shipping the product. That said, the alternative I tried after my first cancellation, I didn't like as well as Ocean Magik. Not only did I bust one of the packages trying to open it, the product doesn't look as concentrated or at least isn't as green as Ocean Magik (might just be the quantities of the various species affecting coloration). I'm trying something different after this second cancellation.

Hi there! We have reconstruction our grow out systems and now we are working on our growing methods to improve product quality with has caused some further production delays. I do apologize for the inconvenience of the delays and we are going to send you a DM to look into your most recent order that you said you canceled to see if we can get you taken care of

 

[AlgaeBarn]

They should still inform people lol

We do have a header on our website to inform customers if they are wanting to purchase OceanMagik and we have been sending email updates to those effected with OceanMagik if their order was delayed further.

 

[reeferguy125]

Same excuses since May, they cant even get their stories straight. I will not do business with them again. Phyto is to easy to culture yourself and with minimal effort you can have higher quality and consistant quality phyto without waiting.

 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

My last two orders were quite disappointing. The color was super faint almost clear for phyto.
The customer service is good because they sent me new ones when I reached out but the same quality product.

Now I just order mine from reef nutrition or local hobbyist. We are lucky to have a lot in the DMV area.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Same excuses since May, they cant even get their stories straight. I will not do business with them again. Phyto is to easy to culture yourself and with minimal effort you can have higher quality and consistant quality phyto without waiting.

We sincerely apologize for inconvenience as we have reconstruction our grow out systems and now we are working on our growing methods to improve product quality with has caused some further production delays. As you mentioned in your email "results are not seen immediately from improvements that are made, making delays inevitable from time to time". We are doing our best to inform customers with a header on the website and sending out weekly emails to update those affected from the phytoplankton overhaul.

Again we do apologize for the inconvenience and trouble the phytoplankton revamp has caused you and I hope in the future we can earn your business back as we do care about each and every one of our customers.

 

[tomb18]

I can confirm that on October 1st they have been using the same tactic of charging first and then no shipping. I ordered early september, was charged instantly and promised week after week it was coming. Finally I did a paypal dispute. After 3 days still no refund. Posted a bad review and 10 minutes later had my refund. They won't get my business any more and they will be seeing a lot of negative reviews on many youtube and facebook sites tht they cannot erase.
Grow up AB. Take a management course