Ordering experience with Sea U Marine: Online
 

First off. to be fair, I am going to post SUM's DOA policy.

I made my first order with SUM on March 1st consisting of three peppermint shrimp, several snails, 1 McCoskies Wrasse, 1 Carpenters Wrasse, 1 Tangora Goby.

This package arrived in a large 2foot by 1.5 foot styrofoam box, with only 4 heat packs in it.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...03-03-2011.jpg
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...03-03-2011.jpg

I emailed Ken immediately and with pictures as per the return policy. He emailed back stating the box was colder than normal because they put only 4 heatpacks instead of six in because the shrimp prefer cooler temps when shipping.

I was concerned at that time for reordering in the winter for the DOA wrasses so I decided to wait until the weather was warmer before trying again.

On May 5th, I placed a reorder for the DOA wrasses and Ken came back to me within 24hours stating the carpenters wrasse was not in good enough shape to ship and wanted to know if I wanted anything else. I cancelled that order and said I would wait for his next shipment to come in.


On May 16th, I received an order processing email from SUM stating that they want to ship the wrasses on Tuesday and want to know if I will be home Wednesday. I was a little suprised at this as I was expecting an email to let me know the new stock arrived and to find out what shape the fish were in first, as I had also been checking the website for updates in the stock and the Carpenters wrasse has been "out of stock" since the beginning of the month.

So I emailed him back.

To which I got the reply that these ones were from the new back of a week ago.

So I received the new order today, and it was a smaller box with four heat pads on the inside, so no issues there.

The bags were double baggied, but had floating plastic in the water with the fish in addition to a little bit of activated carbon wrapped in some sort of blue netting like the stuff used for wedding favors.

Immediately, I noticed the Carpenters wrasse is dead, and the McCoskers is listless, breathing hard and beginning to discolor.
I take pictures and email Ken immediately.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...05-18-2011.jpg
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...05-18-2011.jpg

Delivery taken at 10:10am email to Ken by 10:35am.

I let him know how disappointed I am with this shipment, after spending another nearly $74 on shipping for more dead wrasses.
I am very frustrated at this point.. and it showed in the email as I was short and snippy. I just feel really bad for these fish.

Ken then emails me back stating wrasses are difficult to ship.

This was new information to me as the numerous people I had spoken to about the shipping of their wrasses found them no more difficult than other fish. You just need to acclimate them in quaranteen for a while, and once adapted and confirmed no diseases introduced to your tank.

Additionally, the website does not state that these fish are difficult to ship.. had I seen that information posted on his website, I would not have attempted to purchase them from him in the first place in March, but I had always heard good things about SUM and their livestock.

So after a few hours this afternoon, watching the other wrasse it lost the rest of it's color and died too stressed out and really thin.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...05-18-2011.jpg
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...05-18-2011.jpg
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...05-18-2011.jpg

I immediately sent pictures to Ken and let him know, also told him the above and suggested he mention it on his site about the shipping of wrasses.

It sucks all around.. Ken is giving me a store credit for the wrasses now, but unfortunately, with the cost of shipping being what it is, I won't be making another order.
I would rather spend that amount of money and take the train to Kingston or Ottawa where I can see the fish in person, especially since a reorder based on the new prices on the site today would cost me $99+taxes and frankly I don't want to spend that sort of money on dead fish again as I would have gotten more enjoyment at burning my hard earned dollars over my bbq than killing fish in shipment.

I only ever give a place twice to get things right when it comes to ordering live stock online, be it fish or corals.. and if that doesn't work out my review is placed for others to see just as an fyi.

I would have to say that Ken's communication has been good through all this, but I just cannot risk having another fish die on it's way to me. So I have a new rule..... no fish order through the mail. Only in person.

This isn't to bash Ken or SUM, but is up as an fyi and learning experience, and perhaps to save a few more fish from dying needlessly, just spend the money and pick them up directly from him and bring them home the same day.

Damn that sucks!! Sorry for your losses. I ordered my Seahorses through Ken and never had a single problem! And they arrived in great shape and that was in the Winter. Shipping and fish is always a gamble. I've had good luck and bad luck with both fresh and saltwater.

I just received my seahorse order today and everything is just fine.

The credit policy kinda sucks.....

I usually hear good things about SUM though.

I too hear great things about SUM, never bin there though, On another note I would never order anything live to be delivered across country, Just imagine the stress caused, sorry but too bad

Considering almost everything you put in your tank comes from across the world, a cross country trip is (relatively) no big deal.

BTW SUM is a great store, but like any other store sometimes their fish are a bit iffy. Not a knock on them since it's not like they make them, but fish can be fragile creatures shipping or not.

A few of the wrasses I've bought there vanished without a trace just but another is doing very well. Much the same as other stores.

OP seems to have quite negative experiences with many online stores, maybe it's easier to shop locally. I know that there are two guys around Kingston area that sells stuff regularly, Jim from Forte Phantom is one of them.

Good luck.

As for Ken - I absolutely support him & he's one of the better ones in GTA but I shop locally.

rather sad that the fish makes it 1/2 way around the world only to die going across the province.

Yeah I deal with Jim in Gananoque all the time.. but because I don't drive, I can't get to him as often as I would like to, plus he only brings in selective stock when he wants.. I was looking for some one else for wrasses as I have been asking Jim for six months about bringing me in flasher wrasses. His corals are great though and all the fish and most of the corals in my tank come from Jim.

Also, I don't have a lot of bad experiences with online stores... only one really which was fragalot which was the first, but Ken at SUM at least has great communication which puts him a notch above negative... but still am not happy and I feel people need to know to be aware of the "Difficulty" of shipping wrasses.

A lot of the fish that are shipped directly to stores around the world are DOA as well. It's an unfortunate side to this hobby that is difficult to overcome.:sad: