Plants are dying...

[fergieturk]

Okay so I haven't exactly got them yet. I ordered them 2 weeks ago and had the FishVet.com hold them until Wednesday to ship (I was graduating and had too much to do, and the plants would distract me). Anyway they shipped Wednesday via UPS. They were scheduled to be delivered today and the UPS guy said it was not the correct street (the address was right and he has been here before, duh!). He messed up. So my poor plants are sitting at the distribution center and I can't get them out until Tuesday (UPS here doesn't do weekends and Monday is a holiday). I called the FishVet and he said we'll have a go at 'em (UPS).
Has anyone had this happen to them? Were you reimbursed? I ordered like $40 worth of plants, it's a shame they will probably go to waste.

 

[Guest]

That stinks, sorry to hear that.

However, don't write them off yet, the plants may survive. One of my shipments got delayed for a few dfays (can't remeber why now) and most of the plants lived.

mail order plants usually look pretty bad when you get them anyway, regardless of delay. plant them anyway, give them 2-3 weeks, see what happens. Almost all of mine bounced back strong, when i basically thought the were dead veggies.

The fishvet guy is pretty cool, maybe he'll reship some/all of them.

 

[Biggen]

Hey Furgieturk,

We do online orders for our retail store and use UPS as our methods of shipment. I can tell you that UPS customer service is great and will gladly reimburse the shipper if a shipment is damaged, lost, etc...

If your plants do come in totally dead, call up the fishvet and tell them they are totally destroyed. In turn the fishvet will file a claim with UPS and most likely ship you out another shipment ASAP. UPS will then settle the claim with the shipper. UPS takes the receiver totally out of the loop and handles everything with the shipper...

When we ship stuff we occasionally have problems like people not getting their package, broken items, etc... We simply send out another package to the customer and UPS handles all reimbursement to us. Pretty easy...

 

[Chrismac]

How does that work? Do you have to open the box when the UPS guy shows up to prove the point?

I never bought item that were shipped to me. I'm just curious?

Chris.

 

[Biggen]

Do you have to open the box when the UPS guy shows up to prove the point?

No not at all. You simply have the claim it with the business you bought it from and then the shipper takes it from there. The shipper may want you to return the broken items to them or they may not. If we send out items and they are claimed broken, we ALWAYS send out a call tag to the customer in order to get the items returned. We then send out another shipment (often the same day the customer notifies us). When we receive the broken shipment back we then notify UPS of what happened and they take it from there...

Now it is possible that the customer may not return the broken items to us. Perhaps they really weren't broken and the customer wanted a second shipment free. However, we have never had this happen. I figure even if it happens a few times a year (which, remember, we have never had this problem) that on-line sales is still worth it. Every time I get an on-line order I simply think we would not have received that money if we didn't take on-line orders. It's nice to see that supplemental income.

 

[Beginer]

Hi,
It's better to buy fish/plant at LFS unless they don't have the kinds you want. Even at the big LFS as BigAls they don't have many varieties, especially plant. (Sigh)

 

[Guest]

Hi,
It's better to buy fish/plant at LFS unless they don't have the kinds you want. Even at the big LFS as BigAls they don't have many varieties, especially plant. (Sigh)

Well, yes and no. sure you can see what you are getting at the lfs, but you can get some really good deals on from aq plant suppliers on the net. just do a google search for aquarium plants, you'll get a TON of hits. sometimes they don't look their best when they arrive, but most if not all, bounce back really quickly.

 

[fergieturk]

Yeah, it's a total bummer. I was so excited yesterday - like a 5 year-old on Christmas, but Santa never came. Simple pleasures.
The Fishvet guy did seem pretty cool. I'll pick up the plants on Tuesday and let you guys know how they look after 6 days in a box. Good thing I payed extra for the installated box.
The reason I bought them online was that the LFSs around here don't have the greatest selection and I thought the price was good online. Plus it was a package deal with a ton of varieties, I would never be able to put it all together at my LFS.
For fish, yes, I usually buy from the LFS. That way I can gauge the health and fish from the LFS seem more use to people (i.e. they don't hide as much).
Oh well, what a bummer. I had everything all ready to go yesterday. I hate waiting.

 

[Chrismac]

Cool, good bit of understanding on us who don't use UPS or fedex etc.

Chris.

 

[fergieturk]

An update:
I did receive the plants today - the UPS man went running. Man, that bag stunk! Bad! Some of the plants started to rot, but some did survive!
They all look pretty bad, but I'm giving it a good try.
Here's what made it - 6 days in plastic bags in total darkness:
Anubias barteri
Eleocharis vivpara
Glossostigma Elatinoides
Amazon Sword (what a trooper - it looked the best)
A few Cryptocorynes - although they might be in the way out - most of the leaves are mushy.
About 3/4 of the shipment was ruined. The fishvet told me to email a list of plants that were destroyed and he's shipping new ones to me.

I just planted them. I am going to leave my lights on all night so the plants can actually see the "sun".

 

[Guest]

A few Cryptocorynes - although they might be in the way out - most of the leaves are mushy.

These may well have a better chance than you think, my mail order crypts lost most of their leaves, but in a few weeks grew new ones.

Anyway, sorry bout the mess, glad Fishvet will take care of you. (Did you talk to the British guy? Dr. something? He was cool to me when we spoke.)

 

[fergieturk]

Well, the plants are in and don't seem to be getting any worse - Yippee! I can't wait until the ruined plants are replaced, and I can get everything into my tank. The planted tank looks super cool (not to sound like a dork, but hey).

 

[Guest]

The planted tank looks super cool (not to sound like a dork, but hey).

We are all "fish dorks" here! I freely admit it, and am proud of it!!

Wit till they all are in and growing, then you'll be really psyched.

 

[fergieturk]

Here's another update:
Fishvet said he has to eat the cost of the plants b/c UPS won't reimburse him. Which I think sucks b/c UPS goofed up (I saw the delivery guy fly by my house on the day of the expected delivery). The fishvet seems like a good guy and the catalog he sends with the order is awesome (lots of pictures).
P.S. He's shipping Fedex this time.

 

[Biggen]

I didn't think about it until now, but I believe most of the major carriers won't insure perishable or live items...

It sucks...

 

[d9hp]

Hey, biggen, how is your tank doing?

 

[Biggen]

My 29 gallon tank is nearing its 4th week of cycling. I am still showing ammonia though. We got back from Orlando yesterday and when I did an ammonia check, the ammonia level was around 5ppm. I went ahead and changed about 30% of the water (had never done a change until now). That seemed to bring it down a little. I am just curious as to why I am seeing ammonia at this stage. I am using Jungle Labs ACE as the dechlorinator when I did my water change and when I first added water when I started the tank. ACE also removes ammonia, however I don't know if it converts it to ammonium or not....

In my 40 gallon, I still haven't received my plants yet. I am supposed to get them tomorrow. After I get it planted tomorrow, I will go ahead and add some starter fish.