Update on my Aqua Cave order:

They sent me a second email 3 days after I placed the order, which is fine since I placed the order last Friday. Second email came on the Monday. In other words, I got the second email the next business day.

The email stated that the shipping charge would be $17 USD (for a $43.90 USD order) via USPS, and asked me if I agreed to this.

I then got a third email, same day, which is a copy of the invoice. No taxes showed on the invoice. Just product cost and shipping. The email body also had text, part of which indicated that "Tracking information will be emailed to you as soon as it is available.". I have received no tracking information thus far.

I logged into my account on their website today to access the tracking feature. There was no tracking info regarding my order. Something else I noticed while logged in is my order has gone from $43.90 to $48.85. I'll have to ask them about that :confused:.

It's been only one week, but I do have concerns.

Cheers,

Thanks for the update.....keep me posted

Hmm...that doesn't sound as good as my experience. Hopefully this turns out for you as I was planning to buy from them again but if my experience was a fluke I'll re-think it.

Update on my AquaCave order....
I received it today.
I never did get a reply on my query about the $48.85 vs $43.90.
I went back on the site today and discovered the difference is $4.95 shipping. But I was charged the original quote of $17 for shipping. :question:.

So, to summarize...
Product cost $43.90 + $17 shipping = $60.90USD.
I was charged $76.83CDN on my credit card. (Today's conversion rate puts $60.90USD at $77.01, so close enough).

COD charge by Canada Post was $2.66GST + $3.73PST + $5 handling fee = $11.39.
Total cost to me, for two items totally $43.90US, was $76.83 + $11.39 = $88.22CDN.

Postage on the package $2.14USD.

Having said all that, I'm a little perturbed about the $17USD shipping charge. What a cash grab that is.

On the other hand, I placed this order late Friday Jan 9th, so in reality AquaCave would not have seen my order until Monday Jan 12th. That means they got my order to me in 9 business days. They are in Illinois.
Seeing as I get Christmas cards from my brother, sent from New Jersey, in mid January, this is pretty good.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied. I wish I could say excellent, but that damn shipping charge prevents me from doing so.

Cheers,

Most companies charge enough to cover the postage the packaging and labor in their shipping, but sometimes shipping is a bit high.

So....what was it that you ordered?

And how much would it have cost if you ordered it from J+L?

I would be contacting them on the double shipping cost...I think they made a mistake and would be open to correcting it. Just my 2 cents though.

Two CO2 line check valves. J&L doesn't have them. Or OA...or mops...or PG...or Big Al's....or.... I tried to keep it in Canada, but couldn't find what I was looking for. Headed south. It was my first purchase from the States, online, so I was wary.

They never charged me the $4.95. I don't know where that came from. Must have been just an admin error on the website. It was just the one $17 charge, but still....17 bucks for shipping two little check valves? Yes, they contacted me to see if I agreed to it, but that was before I saw the postage on the package. $2.14US. And handling? Sheesh. I never could understand why companies charge for handling. What?,....do they have to bring an extra guy in to take two little check valves off the shelf and package them up?

Cheers :smile:,

I have purchased from these guys lots of times. Never had a problem. Sometimes their prices are just too good to pass up. They have always shipped UPS to me and i was never much more than JL. However you may have to pay extra customs fees for importing of goods, depending on how much you are spending.

I also had a few questions and found their customer service very good.

Martin

Marine Depot or Aqua Cave?

After the success of this "first time for me" US order, I decided to venture further and placed a few other non aquarium related orders (video game strategy guides). Ordered one from EB Games...$14.99US shipping. The other two were off ebay. $26.89US shipping for one and $30.89US shipping for the other. I suppose many folks are already aware, and I am just slow to learn,...it appears high shipping costs from the US to Canada are the norm. Funny thing with the two ebay purchases is each of those guides cost me only a buck and two bits. It's the 30x shipping costs that make it regular cost and then some.

Cheers,