LiveAquaria Policy and Customer Assistance

[B.rian]

today i received a shipment from LiveAquaria. the customer assistance and relations is the best. apparently LiveAquaria has removed the signature upon receipt of package rule. when i took possession of my boxes from the fedex gentleman, he said that i did not have to sign for them. i emailed liveaquaria during acclimation, and they quickly responded. here is what the said

"Thank you for your email. Previously, we had required a signature for
all Live Aquaria packages. However, the decision was made within the
last year to waive the signature requirement. When assessing the merit
of requiring a signature, we found that the inconvenience of requiring
someone be available to sign for the package (thus making them
unavailable outside the place of delivery potentially the entire day)
outweighed the potential risk of leaving the live goods unattended for a few
hours. Our live goods will generally survive a short time on your
doorstep, and thus losses should be at a minimum. Overall, we have made this change to increase the convenience of your order without sacrificing
our quality and service. Thank you for choosing Drs. Foster & Smith Live
Aquaria for your live aquatic needs. You are a valued customer and we
look forward to hearing from you in the future."

it seems they have taken a very positive step for the aquarium industry. they are focusing on on the transition of the fish from factory to home aquaria. maybe this has become the norm and i just haven't bought anything in awhile. none the less, i am impressed. they packaged this box like a tank. there was a thick styrofoam box inside, lined with hot/cold packs. all fish and corals look amazing and active.

 

[ScottM]

.....However, the decision was made within the
last year to waive the signature requirement.......it seems they have taken a very positive step for the aquarium industry. they are focusing on on the transition of the fish from factory to home aquaria.

MODERATOR: I understand that you're not trying to criticize LA in this thread, but we tried that policy and it didn't work. Please no posting at all in other business's Vendor Experiences threads. Thanks, Nate

sorry for Posting out of turn (sponsor in the vendor forum...etc) but i'd have to strongly disagree with this opinion.
(Please note that this is not to make any statement about fosters smith or make any remark about or to them, but address the blanket statement about the industry)

 

[Andy O]

I guess on the flip side if someone is not there to sign for the package the animal travels with the driver all day in an area of the truck that is not temperature controlled (recieving extreme hot or cold) and then goes back to the local facility until it is put back on the truck for delivery the next day or is held for customer pick up. I think either scenerio would be detrimental to the animal. Assuming that it is only a couple of hours on a doorstep and the package is packed properly I would much rather sit on my doorstep then be sent out for redelivery the next day.

There is really no way to ensure that the customer will be home and the vendor can't be held liable for the fact that the customer did not await their shipment. I do agree though that it makes it a little bit easier for the customer to take advantage of having the box sit b/c they know that LA will leave w/out a signature.

I am by no means an expert on shipping livestock but this just seems to strike me as the possible lesser of two evils.

 

[PenMan]

I am surprised that vendors are able to pass this a positive. This is a cost savings for them. They are saving about $0.90 per carton on the signature requirement. Did their shipping charges go down?

We recently had a Fed Ex delivery and they left the skimmer directly behind the car. We were home and they did not even try to ring the bell. We had a live stock delivery and they did the same. Is it better to leave the items outside and not notify you or to leave them in the truck?

 

[RichConley]

vendor quote removed

I completely disagree. Every time someone sends something to me that requires a signature, it takes me a week plus to get it. UPS/Fedex etc have this nasty knack for showing up at exactly the time I'm in the restroom, or they dont ring the doorbell, or they bang on the front door and you dont hear it, etc. In all those cases, the box sits on the truck for the rest of the day, and then sits in the warehouse all night. (The UPS and Fedex locations near me wont let people pick things up after 5:30 as of about 6 months ago)

 

[stevenp]

I completely disagree. Every time someone sends something to me that requires a signature, it takes me a week plus to get it. UPS/Fedex etc have this nasty knack for showing up at exactly the time I'm in the restroom, or they dont ring the doorbell, or they bang on the front door and you dont hear it, etc. In all those cases, the box sits on the truck for the rest of the day, and then sits in the warehouse all night. (The UPS and Fedex locations near me wont let people pick things up after 5:30 as of about 6 months ago)

Ditto! I hate when shippers require a signature!

Plus, I've only ordered from LA once, and they didn't notify me of a ship date until the day before, even after calling them. They said "there's no way we can tell you when the fish will ship, they are being treated right now". Next thing I know I get an email three days later saying they're sending the fish overnight. Luckily I was able to be home on such short notice to sign for the package. It was frustrating.

Steve

 

[B.rian]

they leave the box on your doorstep if you are not there to sign. examining the packaging that the fish were sent in, i think they would be comfortable on the doorstep until you get home.

steven, that sounds like an usual procedure for notifying you. typically, if your order is received before the cut off time, you fish go out the next day. they have a delivery schedule in the FAQs.

so far most of the fish are eating. i ordered a blue star leopard wrasse and he has already been eating mysis shrimp, which i am totally stoked about. he has ate 2x already. he never even tried to hide. he has been hanging out near the front of the glass watching everything. he never even took a second look at the sand bed for him.

 

[Greg Hiller]

FWIW, I've found that for shipments that require a signature, if you just leave a signed/dated note on your door that you will be back soon, and to leave the package, they will do so.

 

[B.rian]

if you just leave a signed/dated note on your door that you will be back soon, and to leave the package, they will do so.

are you serious?! man, all the time i have wasted waiting on the delivery guy! so many times i come home to see that stupid note saying they will attempt a delivery between 1-4pm tomorrow (actually 1-4pm means 9am-9pm). i have actually had a delivery guy attempt a delivery at 930pm on a friday night!

 

[dz6t]

yes, the note works for Fedex and UPS. Not for USPS so far. They will take the note as prove of signiture.

 

[sw300galma]

I'm on a list of Must sign for everything....

There is many people home at my house 24/7 and they left my IBM laptop somewhere....I ended up finding the box later on in the woods....

Someone got a nice laptop...

As much as it's a PITA, the drivers just leave stuff anywhere....

I'm not very fond of the UPS (Uncaring Parcel Smashers)...

 

[joefitz]

I have mixed feelings...

I agree that not requiring a signature is much more convenient for customers. It also saves the vendor money (for many reason, beyond just the shipping fee).

But I think Scott's point that it bodes poorly for the livestock being shipped is often valid as well.

The question is does the 'signature required' reduce or increase the time livestock spends in the package? I'm not so sure this is an easy question to answer. If you aren't there to sign for the package -- or the delivery company never rings the doorbell (which happens CONSTANTLY to me; I work from home -- I am ALWAYS HOME and yet I'd bet 1 in 5 deliveries actually involve the guy ringing the bell)...or whatever, then the livestock is likely sitting overnight in the warehouse (unless you drive to the warehouse to pick it up). If it is sitting outside your house...it probably wouldn't be sitting out overnight.

I think what it all boils down to is how responsible are both the shipping company and the end-customer. It would be interesting to find out real numbers for whether more livestock lives or dies because of this policy. I'm not sure I'd jump to conclusions either way at this point.

At this point though, I'd have to agree with Scott's take if for no other reason than it seems to 'force' people to be more responsible, even if it is less convenient for them.

 

[dz6t]

The way LiveAquaria packs the boxes is very impressive and the temperature inside will hold even sitting under the sun for 8 hours. I left one box (empty) with the ice packs inside and put it outside the whole day (90 to 100F) to see what happen. At the end of the day, the tempearture inside the box was still cool. Live stocks will more likely die from poluted water (doesn't help if sig required or not) than from extreme temperature out door. So, thumbs up for LA to wave the signiture requirement.

 

[dz6t]

By the way, what make LA great is that they do care about their coral/fish and more important, their customers. They also very fast in respond time.

The other place I have excellent experience is Reeftopia.com.

 

[penguinsix]

I had to sign for the package I got from them today... Also one thing of zoas I got from the divers den had zoa eating nudis on it.

 

[Andy O]

any pix of what the zoa eating nudis look like.

 

[B.rian]

i recieved a rock from the divers den, and they zoanthids opened up the first day, even without me turning the lights on. they seem to be in good health. i did not see any nudis, i will check more closely in a couple of hours when the lights come on.

 

[RichConley]

FWIW, I've found that for shipments that require a signature, if you just leave a signed/dated note on your door that you will be back soon, and to leave the package, they will do so.

Greg, you also live in the suburbs.

At my place in allston, UPS/Fedex/Etc wont leave a package (any package) without someone there to sign for it. They wont even let you sign the little slip and leave it on the door. You have to be there (and they dont ring the doorbell when you are... sometimes they dont even come down my street (its a 1 way))

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Greg, you also live in the suburbs.<

True, the area where I live is not in a high crime zone. Still, if you had a place where a box could be placed that was out of sight, and you let the guy know on the note where to put the box, it still might work. I'd imagine you might be able to have a neighbor sign as well, you just need to think ahead.

Keep in mind on all this. For the highest degree of success you are ALWAY best off to get stuff out of shipping bags ASAP. While I have used the 'note trick' before, I only use it if I'm going to be gone for a short period of time, or I'm afraid I might not hear the door bell (happens, believe me). Anyone who is expecting livestock should be ready to deal with it very soon after it arrives, otherwise, just don't order it for that day. You can always pay the extra $10 and have it delivered on a Saturday.

Sometimes if I've ordered unusual and rare critters (that I cannot get locally) that I think are particularly sensitive, I will have them hold the box at the airport's FedEx location. This also means that you can usually pick up the box earlier than if you were to have it delivered. You also don't have to worry about damage to the critters bouncing around in the back of the truck for hours and hours.

 

[stevenp]

You can always pay the extra $10 and have it delivered on a Saturday.

I think I tried to get LA deliver on Saturday and they would not do it under any circumstances.

Steve