Very Sick Loaches at LFS and What to do About it??

[greenbaron]

These places have housewives and teenagers that dont know anything about fish!

?
... uh, nevermind ...

It does seem like recently the shall we say quality / dependability of service from the major carriers has slipped. I had an experience with UPS in the last month that has me limiting all future mail orders to absolute necessity only- and in those cases where I absolutely have to mail order something, going to a vendor that offers USPS shipping as an option. I had an order for something rather valuable go missing from UPS, and I could see from the online tracking they supply that there was a destination, arrival, and an OUT FOR DELIVERY scans- physical scans- on the item. Nevertheless, UPS took 8 days to "trace the package" before they would allow a claim on the loss. I don't know how you can scan a package being put on the truck for delivery without the package actually being there. Nor why it should take 8 days to talk to the only 2 folks who'd have anything useful to add to the discussion: the guy loading the truck, and the delivery guy driving it. On the other hand, I have found the postal guys to be most considerate and concerned of packages containing live animals / plants. Once when ordering chicks they called me Sunday morning from the post office telling me they had just received my shipment. Sunday! I have never lost a fish or bird or plant for that matter that came thru the PO. But I'm a little wary now of just what Brown can do for you...

[soul-hugger]

Hello, Greenbaron..,

I would certainly agree that a lot of things have slipped. The old-fashioned way of doing things often seems to be the best. As I cashier who works in a small grocery store, I can say I really don't think you can "scan" an item that isn't there. You have to get the bar code, or chip, or whatever they use, close enough to the machine for it to read it. With a truck full of items, it would be very difficult and time consuming to account for them all. I guess I don't understand the process on a truck, but I do understand scanning. If it was accounted for, it is possible someone decided they wanted your item. I have had that happen before with CD's in the mail, but at least they weren't expensive or living, and were replaced. It is sad we have to have experiences like this that make us wary and untrusting. That must have been so frustrating for you! Eight days is a long time to get answers when you're talking about what's supposed to be a next-day delivery.

Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hope everything works out for you!
soul-hugger

[oilhands]

Eight days is a long time to get answers when you're talking about what's supposed to be a next-day delivery.

Even more so given we are talking about living creatures. It sounds like the folks at his local Post Office know the difference and maybe even care. Shocking.

I've thought about buying stock using the internet, but when I read these horror stories I get the feeling it is worth waiting for the LFS to get what I want.

[soul-hugger]

I think a lot of places will let you special-order. I am going to try doing this in the future. This way you have a guarantee your stock will arrive as part of a larger shipment in an LFS. There may be less problems this way. It's too bad they can't have a completely separate system with living cargo, because there's really not much consolation if something goes wrong.

soul-hugger

[Sly]

the petco on rt 46 in new jersey i go to are very clean and organized with thier fish and also fish come as healthy as can be i guess it depends were you live and who maintains them

[soul-hugger]

Good to hear you have a store you can depend on, Sly...

Yes, it really depends on the individual store more than anything. Here in Canada, we have a lot less selection than you do in the U.S.. That's why I think a lot of people mail-order here! Then again.., our whole population is about the same as New York State alone! Wide open spaces and not a whole lot of places (to choose from, that is!)

Bye for now
soul-hugger