Reefer Madness! ROCKS!!

[Lazyreefer]

I just got my first order from them. I payed $79 with shipping for an ultra Max with a wicked rim was supposed to be 3' but was over 5' has to be worth $150. I also recieved a COLONY of soloman zoo's for $35 with shipping. I think I could frag these out for $200. Not that they would be worth $200 but that seems to be what some sell frags for.
I know this is a new company for them so I hope they keep up the selection, service and prices. If so no one will care about that company that recently was bought out.

Try these guys out!

[Jack G]

I just tried them, and have to say, I was underwelmed.
Apparently, they don't actually have the corals on hand, even the "Monty's hand picked" selections. I ordered a(hand picked) brain from them, and the night of shipping, they informed me that their *supplier* had already sold it. What this means, is that they don't actually have the corals on hand, but order them from their "supplier" in LA, when you place your order (they are in Colorodo).
This is pretty much what Drs. Foster and Smith do.
They appear to be Jobbers.
I was disapointed.
Jack

[gregmoeck]

what a joke. Stick with Dr Mac or Premium aquatics.

[ReeferMadnessUS]

"Apparently, they don't actually have the corals on hand, even the "Monty's hand picked" selections."

Jack,

I called you and I was very apologetic. We are not jobbers and we have every coral in stock. Logically how could I offer 60 to 70 corals on hand if I was a jobber. There is no way. Stuff would disappear so fast that there is no way that I could get photo of it. Another thing is how could I have such nice things on my site if I was a jobber? Yes, I rent space in Pacific Aqua Farms (a beautiful warehouse in the LA area) and we do run our customer service out of Colorado. We have extremely reliable, experienced staff working for us in the warehouse, whom we keep in touch with several times every hour, all day long. If you would like proof ask MrSandman on reefcentral as he has visited us and purchased several corals from me about two weeks ago. He even posted the photo of the Purple Tip Acropora robusta that he purchased from us. To quote MrSandman;

"I saw that colony when i was there just this past Friday. That is one nice HUGE colony! I have one just like it under my Radiums and it is a nice bubblegum colored pink. Should do well under your lights."

This next post is under, "Look at what I bought from ReeferMadness!"

"Awesome piece. Check out what i just got from Reefer Madness today.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mrsandman...c/rm061303.jpg

Its really hard to capture in the photos but this thing has a very rich blue sheen to it. Stunning piece!!!!"

Unfortunately, since we just rent space, we cannot control who else comes into the warehouse. Occasionally, a coral gets stolen out of our tank and we have no way to control this. Please rest assured that we have taken every measure possible to ensure this doesn't continue to happen, but it does every so often. It's a very unfortunate situation for both of us. I cannot sell the coral to you, and I lose the profit on the coral.

I gave you several options for substitutions and even I even offered a discount becuase of the unfortunate occurance. I am sorry that you are disappointed, but I tried to explan the situation as clearly as possible and tried to do everything I could to make you happy. We have gotten amazing feedback from everybody that we have done business with and I thank all of those folks that have supported us and given us a chance. I have been doing this a long time, much longer than most other online sites have existed and I haven't come across a situation like this where I offer a discount for the mishap and I have plenty of other corals on my site and I still get bashed.

Jack, if you had given me a chance I would made it right for you, and still can if you would like to call me back. Mistakes occur and we are not perfect. But I am the owner and I have all the power necessary to make this situation right to prove to you and anybody else who might not be 100% satisfied that we are not jobbers and we run a very tight and efficient business with the best customer service available.

Chris
Owner

[kentrob11]

well, Your never gonna please 100% of people 100% of the time. There are always those who have zero tolerance for mishaps and prove to be generally difficult customers. I for one, as well as quite a few others here have given RM a chance and found them to be great people with a lot of heart put into the hobby/business. Chris spent more than 30 minutes on the phone with me just chatting about corals they got in the past as well as other stuff even after I had already purchased the coral.

BTW- One opinion from one person in the midst of MANY positive experiences is worth calling them a "JOKE"?

[SawCJack00]

Chris and Kristine are very nice people who are running an excellent company. I have ordered many corals from them, and have been very pleased. The only problem I have had was a large M effusa that lost a large portion of it's tisuue due to shipping stress. Chris credited me for the loss, and I used it to purchase yet another lovely Acropora from them. The M effusa is still alive, and the recession has stopped, so hopefully it will grow back to it's original form in time. www.reefermadness.us is one of my favorite online vendors.

[nvillacci]

what a joke. Stick with Dr Mac or Premium aquatics.

Where do you have the experience or situation with this company to come off saying that? Have you ever purchased from them? All I can see is that you are contributing nothing to this thread but an uneducated blurb.

I bought a great piece from Chris and he was happy to help me all week with it(problems with FEDEX, and miscommunication). We are still hoping the coral pulls through, but if it doesnt Im sure Chris will do everything in his power to help.

P.S. I emailed him this morning about my concerns. Does he email me, HAIL NO, he calls me, thats customer service.

Thanks Chris, and I look foward to dealing with you again.

Nick

[Jack G]

>>>I called you and I was very apologetic. <<<
Yes you were.

>>>we have every coral in stock<<<
***That you know of.***
You certainly didn't have the one I ordered. How do you know others aren't missing?

>>> Logically how could I offer 60 to 70 corals on hand if I was a jobber. <<<
Having livestock in a warehouse 1000 miles away is not what most people would call "on hand".

>>>Stuff would disappear so fast that there is no way that I could get photo of it<<<
Instead of stuff disapearing *after* you photograph it?
That's much better!

>>>I gave you several options for substitutions and even I even offered a discount becuase of the unfortunate occurance.<<<
You offered me corals I did not want. Thank you anyway.:-)
One has to pick *specific* corals due to size and shape to fit in the specific spaces.

Did I mention I took a day off of work to recieve this coral?


Jack

[nvillacci]

Is there anythign he can do to help you be happy? There is only so much someone can do to please another person. If you dont want any offers hes made you well, thats your decision. But dont continue making it seem like hes bad at customer service. If youve ever owned a business, crap happens all you can do is try to make it up for the customer. Which it seems obviouse he has.

Either accept his offer or move on.

[Wilafur]

get over it jack. the company tried to make things right for you but yet you:

#1. do not take them up on he offer
#2. complain, complain, complain

i have personally been to pacific aqua farms and have seen their setup. as chris mentioned, they rent out a portion of the warehouse for their mail order business. although chris lives in CO, he has people living in LA, CA that work for him by cherry-picking out the corals that they sell on their site and also to bag and ship the corals to the consumer.

this is how it goes down (from what i saw).........shipments come in from the south pacific to pacific aqua farms. other wholesalers and retailers go in and snatch up the corals. a company like reefermadness will have desingated bins to place their chosen corals into (which they ahve purchased from pacific aqua farms). however, i know that retailers will inadvertently (or advertently) take the coral out of the designated bins so that they can have the prettiest corals to sell to their clients.

i am sure this is what happened in your case jack. reefermadness put their chosen corals in their designated bin and another retailer saw the coral and inadvertantly took the coral.

[Jack G]

If so, I apologize.

>>>#1. do not take them up on he offer<<<
correct-I did not buy corals I did not want. Right now, he has NOTHING else I want-what should I have done?


>>>complain, complain, complain<<<
I shared my experiences. Isn't that what this forum is for? I'm sorry if they do not fit with yours.

>>>i am sure this is what happened in your case jack. reefermadness put their chosen corals in their designated bin and another retailer saw the coral and inadvertantly took the coral.<<<
Perhaps.
I never intended for this to get out of hand.
Jack

[nvillacci]

But Chris has tons of VERY nice corals coming in weekly if not daily. Im sure youll find a nice coral soon.

[Wilafur]

jack, i would just ask chris to extend his offer to you until you find a coral you really like on their website. i am sure he would be more than willing to accomodate your request.

hope you find something you like soon and happy reefing.

[RonN]

i have personally been to pacific aqua farms and have seen their setup. as chris mentioned, they rent out a portion of the warehouse for their mail order business. although chris lives in CO, he has people living in LA, CA that work for him by cherry-picking out the corals that they sell on their site and also to bag and ship the corals to the consumer.

That is funny. Dr Mac says all his corals are cherry picked from the same location and he has all his shipped to him. How many cherry picked corals can there be???

Ron

[Wilafur]

Originally posted by RonN
That is funny. Dr Mac says all his corals are cherry picked from the same location and he has all his shipped to him. How many cherry picked corals can there be???

Ron

what is a cherry in one's eye may not be a cherry in another's eye.

[gregmoeck]

Hey nvillacci ,

Youi said


"Where do you have the experience or situation with this company to come off saying that? Have you ever purchased from them? All I can see is that you are contributing nothing to this thread but an uneducated blurb."


I said what a joke because I think the whole situation is a joke. You offer a piece online, it should be available period. It sounds like you are on defense and the one writing uneducated blurbs. Go back to cleaning your Skilter.

[kentrob11]

speaking of "joke"....I'll bet everything in your life happens exactly as you plan 100% of the time, huh? It was a simple question to find out what fact base what your comment was grounded on.....

[gregmoeck]

I am sure they are a great bunch of people and a great company with access to someone or some place that has great coral.

[Catfishd]

All I can say is keep up the good work Reefermadness. I buy alot of livestock from them. Everything I have purchased was pictured on their site and was exactly the item I recieved. Maybe the site had not been updated when you ordered shrug. Who cares get over it atleast he offered to replace it with something else. Did you get your money back? I am sure you did. So what harm was done. Was he rude to you on the phone? Nope not what I read. Did he explain his customer service was in Colorado and his livestock was in L.A.? Seems to me he did. Shrug one thing I can say here you did not have a bad experience in my opinion. A bad experience is when they ship you the wrong livestock, keep your money, Dont tell you its not in stock and backorder it and hold your money. Ship you dead livestock. Reefermadness is highly regarded as one of the best online vendors on this forum and many more. Hhahaha sorry you feel that way about them. If I was him and saw that I would have asked you if you wanted some cheese to go with that wine of yours . But guess thats why I am not a vendor .

[RARZILLO]

I had a suprising experience with them also. I bought some buna Branch and it came in with heavy amounts of coralline and sponges, tunicates etc. The box came in Weighing more than I purchased for! I plan on buying my corals from them....My friends received some and I'm still jealous.

[Jack G]

>>>Maybe the site had not been updated when you ordered <<<
No, that wasn't the case. reread my post.

>>>Who cares get over <<<
I do, and I did.

>>>So what harm was done<<<
I lost a day's worth of vacation time.
Again, reread my posts. I guess, only nice posts are allowed on the vender expereince board? No negatives allowed?

>>>Reefermadness is highly regarded as one of the best online vendors<<<
Not by everybody, so who cares?

>>>Hhahaha sorry you feel that way about them. <<<
Your maturity speaks volumes. Its nice to know they have such a high quality of customers.

>>>But guess thats why I am not a vendor <<<
Good thing too. You'ld fold in a year.


Jack

[Snailman]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their personal experiences with a Vendor. The personal attacks and back and forth at each other in this thread have taken it wayward. Let's get back on topic of experiences only not attacking each other to prevent the thread from being closed and disappearing.

Snailman

[JB NY]

I don't understand how you lost a vacation day? Chris didn't call you untill the day you were to recieve the coral? If so, I'd be annoyed too. If not, I'd say, never bank on any corals arriving always on time. I can't tell you how many times I tell the boss I'll be late or have to take the day to recieve a coral, only to have the shipper cancel for a variety of reasons. I always tell my work I'm planning on it, but if not, I'll just come in to work and take the day another time.

[RonN]

Thought that Walt Smith didn't do retail so I was told but this appears that he is doing it out of his facilty only through a broker in another state.

[reefcam]

Wow what a thread.

Chris, you head must be spinning by now.

I haven't ordered from Reefer Madness, but have from Flying Fish Express, when Chris was there. But never delt with Chris. From what I have read, it sounds like Chris is doing a great job in running his business. I've been keeping an eye on his site weekly to add new corals to my tank.

Oh, Reefer Madness and Dr. Mac both do buy from Pacific Aqua Farms. And yes they are a majority a distribution site for Walt Smith corals. Look at their company profile and you will see that the director or PAF is Walt Smith himself. This is a just a venue for Walt to sell his stuff to retailers.

If you have read up on ordering from Walt directly, he has a very strict policy that makes it hard for many retailers to match. I don't know if any retailer can buy 70 boxes of live rock on their first order. A bit much for an initial order.

So now retailers can buy corals from Walt without going broke. Thus Pacific Aqua Farm was created to enable Walt to ship to the US market and get retailers to buy from him.

kentrob11, mentioned you can't satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. That's very true. It's call eagle, pride, and emotion. But as vendors, that just do their best and we as hobbyist have the freedom to choose.

I still remember buying corals from the back of a Fish Magazine and I'm sure most of you have been there. The fact you can see the pictures on the internet is almost like being at the store.