PETSWAREHOUSE - BEWARE

[alpana]

I ordered a simple aquarium stand from petswarehouse. Considering that they only had to deliver it from Long Island to Queens, I would have thought that they would manage at least that correctly.

The cabinet arrived with a big 5" crack at the back. On calling then up, they simply say that UPS is responsible and they would have to inspect the item. Unfortunately schduling could take upto 5 days with UPS and weekends are tough to schedule. Since we all work, inspection is only possible on weekends for us. Repeated calls yielded the 'somebody else' problem' approach. UPS anyway would probably say that the item was packed before they picked it up and petswarehouse is responsible for the crack.

On browsing through previous posts (http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=5090 ) I also called up Ed, but inspite of his reassurance in the previous post, he persists in saying that UPS is at fault and he is waiting for their response - maybe tomorrow.

I should have seen this post earlier. At this point, do I have any redressal against them? What are my options?? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

[pdb]

If you paid by credit card, call your credit card company and let them know what happened. They may credit back your account if you return the stand and don't get a refund from pet warehouse.

[alpana]

pdb,
I can dispute payment, but then do I have to ship back the item at my own expense?!? I was thinking of writing an email to them asking them to schedule a prepaid UPS pickup. This way I also have a documentation of the issue.
What do you think?!?

[India]

I would definitely stop payment, notify them that you have done so, and tell them they can have the item picked up...
You paid them, not UPS...they are responsible to you...UPS is responsible to them, if they want to pursue it with UPS, that's their role, not yours...you haven't done business with UPS...But PetWarehouse is big enough to be a major pain in the neck...the bottom line is, they don't care about keeping your business...try Big Al, when you can.
I hate this stuff!!
India

[alpana]

Who is Big Al?!? What is their url?!?

p.s I wrote to petswarehouse asking them to collect the item from me. No response yet. I will also block the payment (this apparently can only be done when we rcv the monthly statement)..what a PITA!!!

[smartreef]

I ORDERED A "AQUA C RAMORA PRO SKIMMER & PREFILTER FROM PETS WAREHOUSE AND ONLY RECIEVED THE SKIMMER AND NO INVOICE OR PREFILTER.....
TRYING TO CONTACT THEM HAS BEEN A RUN AROUND, I CONTACTED MY CREDIT CARD CO. PUT THE BILLING IN DISPUTE

LOVE THE RAMORA PRO SKIMMER THOUGH ;-)

[India]

They're very slow with their email, and their customer service reps are flunkies...if you call, ask for a supervisor. They all go by their dim understanding of the rules, but be patient, and be prepared to let it run it's course. Just refuse payment when the statement comes annnd don't worry...they will want the item back, and they will eventually pay to pick it up. If you want to hurry it a little, call, ask for a supervisor, write the name down, tell him/her you've stopped payment on a damaged item, and they need to have it picked up. Be firm...you are not responsible for shipping a damaged item.
Big Al has been GREAT for me...he doesn't have the same selection, but I use them whenever I can:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/

Good Luck,
India

[pdb]

Alpana,

Most companies will pay for the shipping on damaged items to be returned for them to evaluate before giving you a refund. I would try this first, and then mail it back myself (using a shipping method where they have to sign for it when they get it back) if they refused to pay for the shipping. You hit it on the head when you said you were going to send an email so that you could have documentation on this issue. Save everything (emails, receipts, invoices, etc.) so that when you dispute payment with the credit card company it makes it much easier.

[Rovert]

Alpana, I disagree with the other posts on some technical points, but do agree that you should stop payment, and let the shipper work it out with UPS. That's your best angle for now.

India is incorrect. You did, in fact, do business with UPS, and if you check your invoice, you'll see you paid for shipping. You had many choices such as picking it up, FedEx, DHL, Emory, a local messenger, or any number of other carriers, but you chose (if you could call it a choice) UPS, so that's what you got. It was your choice to not select another carrier, therefore, you are responsible for submitting a claim.

In any event, there is a process. It's lousy, but it's a process, anyway. The recipient must make a claim for damaged goods, and ususally must alert UPS at the time of delivery. If the item was a DR (Driver Release) and nobody signed for it, then you have more of a leg to stand on. If UPS feels they want to dispute the claim, they'll send an inspector to review. Unfortunately, they work during the week, and have off on the weekends, too. :( So, it might take a while.

What's likely to happen is that either UPS or PetsWarehouse will issue a call tag for the item to be returned, or they'll send an inspector over. Be ready for a wait, though. It will probably take a few weeks to resolve itself.

No matter what, be firm, and don't be pushed around. Let the credit card company go to work for you. That's what they get 19.8% APR and $40 per year fees for!

[India]

I don't remember ever choosing my carrier with PetWarehouse...I have different addresses depending on whether the company is shipping or posting to me, and I'm usually told, "We don't know in advance who it will be." I may have them confused with ThatPetPlace, but to solve it, I always give a compound address and let them work it out. I don't see choices of carrier on the warehouse invoice - I have received all my orders from them via UPS, and never have specified...

If I am wrong from a legal standpoint, I appologize and stand corrected, but I am looking at a Pet Warehouse invoice. It says that in the case of damaged materials, keep all original packing and shipping materials, and notify Pet Warehouse either in writing, or by calling 1-800-443-1160. "We will take all proper steps to make sure your damaged items are replaced as soon as possible"

[alpana]

I was talking about http://www.petswarehouse.com. Their number is 1-800.991.3299.
- The invoice does not specify any disclaimers of any directions to be followed to report damaged goods.
- The shipping carrier is NOT specified. It only says' shipping:
- They even spell 'Forest Hills' (our address) as 'Foarest Hills'.

Pet Warehouse ( http://www.petwarehouse.com or http://www.petwhse.com both pointing to same site) is supposed to be a nice place with lots of positive recommendations.

I wrote them an email yesterday and called Ed on the phone and told him to get the item collected from us. I also asked him to credit my card. In case that is not done I shall block payment when the card statement arrives.

Learning derived for the week: Check out the messageboard BEFORE ordering and save yourself a lot of trouble ;-}

[Rovert]

Hmmmm... I just re-read my message, and realize it sounded a tad abrupt. My apologies to all.

India's point is well taken. I'm not sure legally what happens here. There are a few different ways to look at it, and it gets a little confusing, because although you're not the shipper, you are initiating the transaction.

Anyway, my point is that if you're paying for a service, then I believe that legally, you're creating the 'contract', and unfortunately we all forget to ask the right questions sometimes. For instance, I don't know what would happen if the shipment wasn't insured. I know many times I never bothered to specify a carrier, or ask about insurance myself. One presumes that the merchant will insure the shipment, but what if they don't?

In any event, I'm sure this will all work out right. I'm curious to see what happens. Alpana, will you keep us posted on your progress?

[alpana]

Sure will!! The entire process will take time though. I estimate a month or so...

Meanwhile, I am going to go ahead and buy a cabinet from my LFS tonight (Damn the cost, I really do want the refugium set up this weekned!!!)

[carter1055]

I have used Pet Warehouse for years. There have been a few problems. Such as air pump repair kits not working, Rena air pumps louder than they should be, the failure of a starter culture, and other things. In all cases I contacted by phone a service rep. if the rep showed any indication of not meeting my needs and sense of fair play I requested a supervisor. In every case I recieved exelent service as well as return merchandise lable. Return shipping was prepaid and my account was credited within 6 weeks. When I talked to these people I let them know that in the past I was very impressed with the way they took care of any problems. So far they have steped up to the plate. If the fail me in the future I will give someone else my business.

[alpana]

carter - common error. PetWarehouse (which is good) is often confused with PetsWarehouse (which sucks bigtime!!). I was talking about the latter.

Well, I got bitten by the economic bug yesterday and got laid off. One ramification of that would be that I shall attempt my hand at woodwork and try to use the current stand after providing reinforcements at the broken area. So I leave my effort to bring PetsWarehouse to accept its fault midway (they still havent called me yet or even acknowledged my emails :rolleye1: ) and shall concentrate of more pressing issues like finding alternative employment to sustain my fishes.

Can someone provide any guidance on how best to reinforce a crack? We were thinking of using two slabs of wood on either side but were not sure whether to nail it or super glue it to the stand. Any help would be appreciated.

Sorry I could not bring the issue to any logical conclusion!!

[pdb]

Alpana,

Sorry to hear about your job.

If it were me, I would make no attempt at repairing the stand (5 inch crack, right?). I consider the stand to be very important (if it breaks, then...), and would want to start out with a solid foundation before proceeding.

As we have all found out in this hobby, patience is one of the most important things to have. I would wait and see if anything works out with Pet Warehouse, or even wait until I could afford a new stand before trying to patch up a damaged one. Good luck with everything.

[Iammatt219]

Bob Novack and his son's own and manage the store in my opinion they are all A&*^%es. I would never order from them as they are only interested in the money nad don't care about the animals. If you already placed an order with them and are getting their usual treatment ask for one of the owners and you might get lucky. To further the unfortunate dealings with this place one of Novack's son's is an attorney and gets his jollies by creating problems for customers. If you are asking how I know this it is because I had teh Displeasure of working for them when they first started and had stores in Bohemia and South Huntington.

[VL]

They are now selling stuff on Ebay.

[BrianD]

Iammatt, what possible reason did you have to resurrect these old threads?

[Iammatt219]

was doing vendor search for a good store on long island and didn't realize it was old sorry.