Posted by Ryan on April 05, 2001 at 16:20:58:
I called up Aquacon today to make a purchase using the $160 of store credit that I thought that I still had. Apparently, the money owed to me by Aquacon has been dissolved along with the old Aquacon. Yet, if you notice that in their “About Us” section on the website, they apparently are still able to attain the 14 years of service with a “97% success rate over the past tweleve years.” I was unaware that in this day and age, experience can be purchased, but anything owed to a customer is not honored with that purchase. And look, they can’t even spell twelve right. This spelling mistake is obvious representation of how smart Carl, the new owner, is. This is not what I call a fair deal considering that I received no notification or payment to justify the credit owed, nor was Carl willing to extend any help what so ever to right this wrong. The only answer that I received was, “I’m sorry, I don’t have those records…I have no way to validate your credit.” It seems that aquaCON is living up to there name. They have just screwed me, a 17 year old kid, (by the way, today’s even my birthday, what a special kick to the pants) out of $160 of my very own money. I say boycott AquaCON, keep your money away from them, or else they will screw you over too.
I'm hesitant at best to do business with mail order sites for live
goods. But I had been looking for some Anemones that were hard
to find, and Aquacon had them. (Australian Red Waratahs-really
beautiful black and red buggers). In looking at their site, they
advertised them for 29.95 plus shipping. Small box would cover it,
and shipping was 29.95 overnight, with " no hidden charges, no
suprises" Having read that, I didn't feel the need to click further to
have it explained more, and for that I'll take the blame.
29.95=49.95. It's actually 29.95 plus 20.00 for handling,
insurance, and cocktails for the owner.
So I called to place the order. Nice young man made the comment,
" that's gonna be kinda expensive". I asked "How much?" He said
"About 30.00". I said "fine", as it seemed in line with the 29.95
advertised.
I just assumed he thought it was a lot for just two little slimers.
Shipment arrived next day on time no problem. Box seemed VERY
light. Upon opening, there was only about 1-1-1/2 cups of water in
each bag. Seems like there should have been more for the well
being of the critters, but I'm not an expert at shipping these things,
and they seemed ok. Specimens were TINY! Advertised at 2-3",
and these were maybe 1/2". I know-stressed from shipping, but
they never opened any bigger than 1" max. Water parameters not
an issue here-or light. Tank is thriving. They were also advertised to
stay put wherever placed-I had never heard this, and is very
untypical of anemones. Turns out they move about quite nicely.
They have since found homes upside down in dark areas and we
rarely ever see them. I should have researched these better, but
you would think the wholesalers would know these things. Silly me.
So I called customer service to complain (something I rarely ever
do)-not about the size or the fact they had become transients-but
about the 20.00. After first being told by a young lady "thats what
everyone does", I asked for the manager. Got another person who
said "its just better if you call back later cause he's always on the
phone and very busy" Then a small miracle happened-Carl got off
the phone and I got thru-imagine my glee.
I explained the situation and wasn't hoping for any major
concession, just acknowledgment that it was a little deceptive to
advertise "no hidden charges, no suprises" and then add an
additional 20.00 charge.
Didn't get that-just had the blame redirected to me. Carl told me
that this was "Industry standard", and basically, I should have read
the fine print. Please note that I was not after any monetary
concession here-although that would have made me feel some
better about dealing with them had he offered a olive branch of
some kind, but I got nothing. Hung up with him feeling like I had
taken up his time.
I have since had the time to figure out what "Industry standard" is.
I picked 5 sites at random and checked overnight shipping for an
order this size. Distances varied-2 closer, 3 farther. Average price
was about 35.00 total.
And so it is my opinion that Aquacon is just another site out to
make a quick buck and doesn't care whether it customers are
happy or not. Too bad. There are sooooo many other sited out
there. I think I'll stick to the LFS for now. Thanks for opening my
eyes, Carl.
One thing I have learned in many years of retail is that one unhappy
customer tells another, and he tells another, and so on. (Are you
listening Carl?) Just my two cents-hopes this keeps someone from
making a similar mistake.
Jed
(I've since been told that "Aquacon is a con". While I don't agree
with the statement, it is an interesting choice of names. Kinda catch
too. Long live free speech.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay I'm not one to ***** about everything but this time I've had enough.
Before I knew of Aquacon and the practises that have earned them their name
AQUA-CON (refer to other posts in NG), I signed up for their email updates.
This was not a problem at first as I received the odd email. This is about
what I had expected. After 3 or 4 months I thought I had had enough of
their updates and requested to be removed from their email list. Not an
unreasonable request, right? Well here we are 6 months from the original
request for removal and the email is still coming in every 2 weeks. Every
time I send my "buddy" RON an email stating my request for removal. Every
time I get no response.
I want to warn EVERYONE in this NG not to sign up for this "service" of
updates from Aquacon unless you want LOTS of advertising from them. I have
learned my lesson and hope this NG doesn't have to go through it.
HI:
I have ordered three times from Aquacon....all three times one of the fish
I ordered came in DOA. They where more than happy to credit me this
cost....BUT they would not credit me the cost of shipping...so they would
send me the fish again...no questions asked as long as i paid the $40 S&H
again.....so lets face it...if it shows up dead.,..then your stuck eating
the cost of shipping...they won't refund any money to your creditcard.
frank
OMG I live in S FL where Aquacon is, and it is the worst (even when you go
into the store). They have some cool stuff, but the people suck, and they
charge way to much
Corwyn" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> Just my 2c.
>
> Placed an order with them for 4 corals and got one of their free gifts.
>
> They overcharged me $35 on my credit card!
> Out of the 4 items 2 were DOA and the free gift ( a horse shoe crab I found
> 2 days later doa. It buried itself in my sandbed as soon as I released it
> and didn't see it till the crabs were eating it 2 days later.)
>
> I've sent them several e-mails ( I got the order on Friday and they didn't
> return my calls so I started e-mailing them on Sat. ) to which they have
> not responded for a week.
>
>
> Got a love'm.
>
>
Hi group.
I normally place all of my online livestock orders through ffexpress and
have always been very pleased. I've been wanting a powder blue tang
for some time but they don't have any. I called Aquacon and although
they had them I declined to place an order based on how rudely I was
treated by the woman who answered the phone there. Scared me off.
From: Ted Kunich (
[email protected])
Subject: Update on the Aquacon ripoff artists.
View: Complete Thread (2 articles)
Original Format
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.marine.reefs
Date: 2002-01-30 22:19:06 PST
Received a reply from John Rice, seems that they were not content with
ripping off just one of his photos, but three of them...
Here is his email that he sent to them asking them to remove the
offending photos (reprinted with JR's permission):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
My name is John Rice and it has come to my attention that you are using
several photos from my site for your advertising.
They are all found at your site with the following address:
https://www.aquacon.com/specials.html
1) html photo name at your site is "acrosmall.jpg"
From my site:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrice/cora ... yensis.htm
2) html photo name at your site is "montiporsmall.jpg"
From my site:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrice/cora ... mocora.htm
3) html photo name at your site is "trumpetcoral.jpg"
From my site:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrice/cora ... rumpet.htm
I NEVER approve use of my photos for commercial operations. Please
remove these photos from your site.
John Rice
From: Richard Reynolds (
[email protected])Subject: Re: Aquacon.com View: Complete Thread (7 articles) Original Format Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.marine.reefsDate: 2003-06-02 13:59:10 PST i havent and wont deal with aquacon
this company has a bad reputation with many people who have posted such issues "JT" <
[email protected]> wrote in message news:
[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> I bought from them and had a nasty nasty experience. If you want a
> smelly tank, dead fish, etc. etc.. The rock comes to you in a dead or almost
> dead condition.... Buy local live rock or dry rock that can't die. There is
> no way to ship live rock out of water and have everything on it stay alive
> when shipping two day air.... Live rock needs to be in water to stay alive.
> I learned the hard way. It might be possible to overnight live rock, but I
> doubt it shows up with much of it still alive.
>
> JAMES MEGIEL <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:
[email protected]...
> > I delt with Aquacon for a fish & coral purchase. MY opinion is that that
> > they sent me AQUACRAP Saltwater Taffy" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:
[email protected]...
> | I would stay away for Aquacon and even Jeff's Exotics
> | 9 for $99 deal (except if you can walk in to buy). With
> | Aquacon, the coral frags were so small and several
> | were dead on arrival and getting replacements was like
> | pulling teeth. With Jeff's, 9 for $99 deal is great if
> | you can walk in and get that price - having it shipped
> | is another story and one should add $125+ bringing
> | Jeff's Exotic's 9 for $99 to 9 for $225+.
> > Aquacon.com advertises free shipping
>
One of the WORST reputations out there.
> that they advertise "No Foul. No mess. Ready for your tank."
>
They also advertise using other peoples' copyrighted images without
their consent.
I came close to contacting the better business
bureau after dealing with Aquacon.
Yes-I have. Worst customer service I ever experienced. And I have been in
retail for 20 yrs, so I know what I am talking about. These guys are out
to make a quick buck off whoever they can. Please spend your money
elsewhere, as the other posts have recommended.
John
> AquaCon spread word of a (false) immediately impending ban on importing
> corals into the US in 1998 and, coincedentally, ran a month's long sale (at
> inflated prices) of soon to be impossible to get corals From: Tim1996 (
[email protected])Subject: Re: Where to purchase online? View: Complete Thread (2 articles) Original Format Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.marine.miscDate: 2000-12-25 06:05:29 PST Premiumaquatics.com and ffexpress.com are two very good companies that I
have dealt with. I have also dealt with aquacon.com and was taken very
badly. Good luck and I hope your aquarium is a success.
BOB IMPORT <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> ever notice that Aqua-CON never postes the winner of their giveaways??????
Well, yes. But AquaCon has also called me the doubting Tomas to their Jesus
Christ, so obviously they have problems to begin with.
Jim,
I have not had the best impressions with Aquacon either. Their idea
of the "cleaner package" had snails the size of pinheads, and they
have messedup my orders in the past.
I went to Aquacons in Sunrise yesterday, and I was not too
>impressed(to say the least) with the knoledge of their employees. He
>kept trying to tell me that raising the alkalinity would not effect the
>amount of calcium in my tank! I asked him his opinion on a good reef-
>keeping book, and his reply was: "I don't like books, they usually
>confuse people" WHAT???!!!! I thought that was pretty funny. This guy
>really needs to read a few books because he is the one who is confused.
>Anyway, they don't really have much of a selection anyway.
