Matt L.
Non-member
Thread moved to Vendor Experience per BOD decision.
Back on December 8, 2008, I discovered an online vendor called Aquatic Connection down in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, that goes by the eerily prophetic name of AquaCon.
I felt it would be a good idea to call the guy and see what they are up to, and even though I almost never order online, I decided to place a small order for something I felt was too good to be true.
It turns out, it probably was.
I was told that the item was in stock and sitting right there when I called. This was explicit indicated, as this had been hard to find. My credit card was charged two days later, but when no shipping notification was sent, I contacted the store. I was told that the item had come in not that long ago, and that it was going through quarantine. They want to isolate all incoming livestock for 14 days.
Fair enough. The owner reassured me that my item would ship very soon.
I called to check in after the Holidays when I still had received no word. I was told they were down for the Holidays, and that the weather was too risky, but they would ship as soon as the backlog cleared. I waited one more week without word.
The beginning of the New Year (or right before New Years), I called again, and was given an inconsistent story. Whereas before, the livestock was "right there", now it was "over at the warehouse" and he needed to check on it, whereas before I was told that I was certainly guarenteed this item. I asked to cancel my order if they could not ship it.
When the charge had not been returned, I called again today, informing them that if they don't ship this day (one month since the order was placed), cancel my order. I was told that he "would see if they were in stock". I waited until the end of the day, and filed a dispute for non-receipt of goods with the credit card. The guy on the phone was ambivalent about the whole process and offered no excuse or policy.
Reference to other forum threads removed
I would say at the least the evidence I see is of lazy/negligent business, which IMO, is not necessarily as bad as a scam. I know how RC is, and once someone says something, it gets parroted and parroted by people without first hand experience. People and things develop reputations, and if you search threads, it's often that people say they are a scam, but have never dealt with them. There are positive reviews, but it is often for something in stock.
link to other forum removed
But what led me to believe that my story was not unique, and this was not histrionic primadonna reefers was
Link to other forum removed. Please only post your first hand experienceSo in short, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is, and if someone has not posted about them here, hopefully this will show up in the thread and be enough of a dissuasion.
Thankfully, this is on a good credit card, and the cancellation process has begun. I cannot tell if the scam was negligence or deliberate, but it sure fits the pattern of others' experiences.
Matt
Back on December 8, 2008, I discovered an online vendor called Aquatic Connection down in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, that goes by the eerily prophetic name of AquaCon.
I felt it would be a good idea to call the guy and see what they are up to, and even though I almost never order online, I decided to place a small order for something I felt was too good to be true.
It turns out, it probably was.
I was told that the item was in stock and sitting right there when I called. This was explicit indicated, as this had been hard to find. My credit card was charged two days later, but when no shipping notification was sent, I contacted the store. I was told that the item had come in not that long ago, and that it was going through quarantine. They want to isolate all incoming livestock for 14 days.
Fair enough. The owner reassured me that my item would ship very soon.
I called to check in after the Holidays when I still had received no word. I was told they were down for the Holidays, and that the weather was too risky, but they would ship as soon as the backlog cleared. I waited one more week without word.
The beginning of the New Year (or right before New Years), I called again, and was given an inconsistent story. Whereas before, the livestock was "right there", now it was "over at the warehouse" and he needed to check on it, whereas before I was told that I was certainly guarenteed this item. I asked to cancel my order if they could not ship it.
When the charge had not been returned, I called again today, informing them that if they don't ship this day (one month since the order was placed), cancel my order. I was told that he "would see if they were in stock". I waited until the end of the day, and filed a dispute for non-receipt of goods with the credit card. The guy on the phone was ambivalent about the whole process and offered no excuse or policy.
Reference to other forum threads removed
I would say at the least the evidence I see is of lazy/negligent business, which IMO, is not necessarily as bad as a scam. I know how RC is, and once someone says something, it gets parroted and parroted by people without first hand experience. People and things develop reputations, and if you search threads, it's often that people say they are a scam, but have never dealt with them. There are positive reviews, but it is often for something in stock.
link to other forum removed
But what led me to believe that my story was not unique, and this was not histrionic primadonna reefers was
Link to other forum removed. Please only post your first hand experienceSo in short, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is, and if someone has not posted about them here, hopefully this will show up in the thread and be enough of a dissuasion.
Thankfully, this is on a good credit card, and the cancellation process has begun. I cannot tell if the scam was negligence or deliberate, but it sure fits the pattern of others' experiences.
Matt
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