Funny, I've never had an issue with CapitalOne when I needed help; every single time they have come though for me.

I would really have pressed the issue harder with them mate; and I totally agree PayPal is just as much of a scam, I truly despise PayPal and refuse to use them after I got screwed for a $1400 DSLR Canon camera I purchased though ebay...

Mine last week was probably the best yet too. Got me addicted to Acan.

I really envy that, here there's one shop and well lets say less than impressive to say the least. I have purchased 99 percent of fish and corals from out of town dealers and shops and building a relationship with them is the most important advise I could give to anyone that is in the same boat as me... Luckily Burc is one that I can trust. I have had him ship me colonies sight un-seen and rarely have been disappointed.

same here for the most part i find its opposite theres usually lots of conversaton and back and forth untill the order is shipped....most vendors will help you all they can to get your repeat business.....which is everything in this business.....just ask burc, hence the "free frag" lol :P

Yup he's definitely not perfect, but I have no complaints, he has screwed up orders for me in the past as well and forgot to ship things, but always makes good by sending more then originally ordered IME.
Like said its always a risk ordering online, but that's the method many of us choose, seems like my frags get bigger each time I order, can't help but feel this is from my repeat business and being polite never hurt.

I did order a few zoanthids from them that I thought were wrong but turned out they were the right thing after a few months as they took their rightfull colors.

I bought a eye or rae which was brown on receipt and remained brown until I put it in my 75 gallons under Phoenix MH lamp then they turned out really blue. Give the zoanthids time and the right light to see what they will become.

I often received the wrong things from fragalot anb often corals were brown.

this is one exemple that I did not order and received. I had ordered a blue digitata, received this wierdo piece of I don't know what...but at the end it turned out pretty cute, so I kept it and now it's got a spot of choice in my setup...here is when I received it:

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y.../fragalot1.jpg

Ugly isn't? :)

here is what it evolved into...much better and today it's quite beautiful, this is a few months ago:

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y...03_1846s-1.jpg

Just to say that some corals may look ugly but have the potential to become very beautiful if given the chance and the right conditions.

Here is another one...received it brown like that from fragalot. It was labeled "multicolor millepora" but was rather brown.

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y.../fragalot2.jpg

Now after a few months under the Pheonix...and it's getting more and more of that powder aqua blue color.

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/y.../103_1814s.jpg

So sometime we got to give those corals a little time to shine, but it is a very hight risk not to receive what you order when you order from Fragalot, as they like to replace pieces without even asking you if you want them.

my orders from the last Vancouver Group buy turned out pretty good.

I got a bunch of mini maxi anemones today and I agree with don.ald, they are really nice, and since no one here gets any in.. Im very happy we had a place we could get them from. if my tank wasnt full i wouldnt hesitate to order more.
I also saw a plate coral that came in today, and it was the brightest green I have even seen, and looked very happy in the bag. It glowed without lights!

I think if you do a small group order or a one on one order it works out much better. I think I exchanged 50 emails and a bunch of pictures with him over the last 2 weeks, so nothing was left to chance. I was happy and we each were given a free coral.

just remember when you buy his 10$ frags you are basically getting a fresh cut frag that in a lot of cases is from a newly collected, newly shipped colony.. Talk about a stressed frag. I think that's why he can do $10 frags.. No tank time involved in growing them out, as basically they arrive, are chopped, and shipped. This I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming.

All in all I'm happy with my last three reorders.

I have said the same thing before and this makes the success rate much higher. These 10-15 people group orders are ridiculous both for the person organizing and for Burc. Serious if you had three people do a group order and never made free shipping it would still only cost $15.00 per person for freight, no one in this hobby should even blink an eye at that!!

Makes sense and you are correct there, 15$ is chump change in this hobby...

And you guys are all right I shouldn't say "most vendors". I think I'm just cursed. And also probably worried because I just dropped $300 and don't want it to be put towards hassle and frustration...

I do feel a lot better after reading daniella3D's post she's absolutely right you have to give these animals a chance, theyre put through A LOT and with time and patience they'll make the $ worth it! Yours looked nothing like the original photos. Probably why people freak out when initially getting these orders.

I'll have to take some before and after pics when my order comes in too.