phastroh
Do Not Listen To Me!!!
I have purchased my Tang collection and a few other fish from Live Aquaria. Besides having my awesome Green mandarin die I have had great luck an top customer service from them.
It has been a month since I had my new collection of fish and my at the time current fish put into my new 220Gal.
I decided to purchase the 2 Cardinal Fish I originally wanted but were out of stock. At the same time I made the decision to get myself a sand sifting Goby because I thought it was better than buying more Hermits that I already hate.
So I ordered 2 Cardinals, 1 Sleeper Gold Head Goby, 2 feather dusters, a bad arse Green Doughnut Coral and topping the list is an Aussie Worm Open Brain Coral that is Purple and Green and it about the size of my hand from the Divers Den.
Ok so if anyone has bought fish there they know they come in nicely sealed bags with black inserts to block the fish from light and when you open them it can be difficult if not impossible to see them until the are fully acclimated.
So with other fish on the past I have seen them loose their color when stressed or get dark so when I first saw the Goby it looked plaid. I thought wow it sure lost a lot of color over stress. So I didn't see it for a day and the next day I come to the tank and don't see it but I see sand on a few corals.
I was like WTF is this. Then I see sand on my rocks. I then thought it has to be the Goby. I leave and come back a few hours later and there is the fish just dead center in the tank, swimming in place. I keep and eye on him but his quickly hides. I come back again but this time he seems settled in and stays out and I see him eat the sand and then swim upwards about 3-4 inches while dumping the sand out of his gills.
The main thing I noticed is that this fish looked nothing like Sleeper Gold Head Goby and never colored up. I was looking at it for a while and went on my laptop to compare it with the others and found it. It is a Sleeper Banded Goby.
I immediately called up Live Aquaria to get an explanation and just like they always do, they quickly offered to refund me the cost of the fish. Like I said great customer service can trump saving a few dollars elsewhere.
I made the decision not to get my money back because during the call I came to a few conclusions.
1) I will never catch this fish
2) It is frikin awesome looking in person as the photo on the site does nothing for how this fish looks in the tank, especially against all the colors
3) It is still a sand sifter which I what I was getting it for in the first place
4) I just don't think it is the worst thing to happen.
I will say it again, this Goby is absolutely beautiful and the stock photo reveals nothing of this. It looks like a small whale shark in a way as it is wider than I imagined and is already becoming one of my faves.
The conclusion I came to on the error on Live Aquaria comes down to the name of the fish. One is Sleeper Gold Head and one is Sleeper Banded. TOtally understandable. I do advertising and book making and these things remind me of the simple errors I have made in the past with similar items.
So in the end I am not asking for a refund or a credit, I am happy and I wanted to share the story and show how awesome Live Aquaria is and always has been for me from when I ordered my lights a long time ago, and the dead Mandarin and then this fish and also with this other thing when I ordered a Marble Star Fish and after I ordered it they found out it is out of stock and will ship my next order free with the starfish even if I do not hit the $225 needed to get free shipping because of the fact my order was suspended due to the starfish being out of stock after I placed the order.
Common that is great service in my opinion. They alway try to make it right and always have for me even when it is not their fault.
It has been a month since I had my new collection of fish and my at the time current fish put into my new 220Gal.
I decided to purchase the 2 Cardinal Fish I originally wanted but were out of stock. At the same time I made the decision to get myself a sand sifting Goby because I thought it was better than buying more Hermits that I already hate.
So I ordered 2 Cardinals, 1 Sleeper Gold Head Goby, 2 feather dusters, a bad arse Green Doughnut Coral and topping the list is an Aussie Worm Open Brain Coral that is Purple and Green and it about the size of my hand from the Divers Den.
Ok so if anyone has bought fish there they know they come in nicely sealed bags with black inserts to block the fish from light and when you open them it can be difficult if not impossible to see them until the are fully acclimated.
So with other fish on the past I have seen them loose their color when stressed or get dark so when I first saw the Goby it looked plaid. I thought wow it sure lost a lot of color over stress. So I didn't see it for a day and the next day I come to the tank and don't see it but I see sand on a few corals.
I was like WTF is this. Then I see sand on my rocks. I then thought it has to be the Goby. I leave and come back a few hours later and there is the fish just dead center in the tank, swimming in place. I keep and eye on him but his quickly hides. I come back again but this time he seems settled in and stays out and I see him eat the sand and then swim upwards about 3-4 inches while dumping the sand out of his gills.
The main thing I noticed is that this fish looked nothing like Sleeper Gold Head Goby and never colored up. I was looking at it for a while and went on my laptop to compare it with the others and found it. It is a Sleeper Banded Goby.
I immediately called up Live Aquaria to get an explanation and just like they always do, they quickly offered to refund me the cost of the fish. Like I said great customer service can trump saving a few dollars elsewhere.
I made the decision not to get my money back because during the call I came to a few conclusions.
1) I will never catch this fish
2) It is frikin awesome looking in person as the photo on the site does nothing for how this fish looks in the tank, especially against all the colors
3) It is still a sand sifter which I what I was getting it for in the first place
4) I just don't think it is the worst thing to happen.
I will say it again, this Goby is absolutely beautiful and the stock photo reveals nothing of this. It looks like a small whale shark in a way as it is wider than I imagined and is already becoming one of my faves.
The conclusion I came to on the error on Live Aquaria comes down to the name of the fish. One is Sleeper Gold Head and one is Sleeper Banded. TOtally understandable. I do advertising and book making and these things remind me of the simple errors I have made in the past with similar items.
So in the end I am not asking for a refund or a credit, I am happy and I wanted to share the story and show how awesome Live Aquaria is and always has been for me from when I ordered my lights a long time ago, and the dead Mandarin and then this fish and also with this other thing when I ordered a Marble Star Fish and after I ordered it they found out it is out of stock and will ship my next order free with the starfish even if I do not hit the $225 needed to get free shipping because of the fact my order was suspended due to the starfish being out of stock after I placed the order.
Common that is great service in my opinion. They alway try to make it right and always have for me even when it is not their fault.
