Apisto Dave Review.

[bs6749]

I have heard some bad things said about "Apisto Dave" as he is known on www.aquabid.com and I was leary about purchasing my apistos that I intended on breeding from him as I wanted to avoid any screwup that another user said was inevitable. So, upon purchasing the apistos from him, I emailed him not once, not twice, but THREE times, to make SURE that he understood that I wanted 2 pairs (2M, 2F) each of his triple reds, the trifasciata, and his viejita CF II. He seemed like he understood what I wanted, I even mentioned that I would have to pay more for shipping since he said 5 pairs is what he can fit in a normal sized box. He sent me the correct invoice (at least the amount of pairs was correct...I was overcharged $5 per pair on the trifasciata but that may have made up for the extra in shipping).

So, I receive my shipment today, and he shorted me one pair of veijita!!! I was/ am so pissed. I was charged $16 per pair and ($32 total) so now it looks like I will be out thh $32 plus whatever I may have paid extra in shipping. I have no use for the lone pair of viejita's as I will need the extra pair to try and breed them. I will keep this updated on how he addresses the situation.

[evercl92]

I'm curious to hear how it turns out. I've paid for several pairs of A. Cacatuoides triple reds, and some others. They should be shipped out this coming monday. Hopefully things work out for you.

[bs6749]

I sent Dave an email. He responded within 15-20 minutes. He said that since it was his fault he's sending me the missing pair free of charge on Monday!

I also forgot to mention in my initial post that he sent me an extra viejita CF II.

Looks like I can only say good things about Dave! He will make things right if there is a messup.

[gheitman]

I've purchased some apistos from him on AquaBid in the past. Not only did the order arrive correct with all fish alive and well he even threw in a pair of Apistogramma panduro for free. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him in the future.

[rich311k]

All my apistos have come from Dave. I have had no problems. The only reason I have not bought more is I do not have any room for them.

[bs6749]

Originally Posted by rich311k

All my apistos have come from Dave. I have had no problems. The only reason I have not bought more is I do not have any room for them.

That sounds like a sorry excuse to me . Don't you have room for a 10?!?!?! I actually just built 2 stands (not pretty but functional) out of 2x4's, some 1/2 plywood, and styrofoam that will each hold 2 10's just for my apistos. Three different species, each in a separate tank with the 4th going to be used to house my 30 RCS that are arriving tomorrow. I LOVE aquabid LOL. I only spent $22 on the 30 shrimp with shipping!!! I couldn't be happier : )

Oh, and I decided that I'd get one more female each of the triplle red, and the viejita CF II from Dave so the shipping wouldn't be wasted on just the pair he forgot to send me. Does 2M:3F seem like an okay ratio? I may have to take out a male worst case scenario and house him in my 55 gallon tank.

Another thing...I'm in an apartment... one 55 plus four 10's = major MTS. Was thinking about upgrading the 55 to a 75 but nah LOL.

[gheitman]

I also live in an apartment. I may not have room for any more tanks unless I move or get rid of some furniture

[evercl92]

dunno if anyone is still watching this, but:

Got my order in yesterday. I ordered 2 pair A. baenschi, 2 pair A. Cacatuoides Triple reds, 2 extra female A.C. triple reds. The females, I was told, were $14 each - the pairs are $16. So I told Dave I would pay the extra $4 to get 2 more full pairs. I was told to not worry about the $4, and they'd be thrown in free.

What I received:
3 pair AC triple reds
7 A. baenschi
1 unknown apisto

2 were DOA, 1 baenschi, 1 AC TR (female)

I sent the pic of the DOA, asked of his policy (since I only paid for priority shipping). He says that if I pay for shipping, he'll replace them. I don't quite understand, he didn't include part of the order, and wants me to pay full shipping cost?

[bs6749]

On Monday Dave was supposed to send me the pair of viejita CF 2 that he forgot to send with my initial order. I was also supposed to be sent an extra triple red female, and an extra viejita CF 2 female ($15 total for the two extra females) in the shipment that should have gone out this Monday.

I contacted Dave to see if they had been shipped out and he said that his computer was down (second time he has used this excuse on me) and that he didn't have my address but I should expect my order to be shipped this Monday or next....it's not that I don't believe that he is telling the truth, it's just that he is supposed to be running a business and clearly he has much room for improvement. I have no doubt that he will make it right and he's not going to try to screw me over but this seems ridiculous for spending over $100 on fish from him.

evercl92 - that stinks about your DOA's but most sellers on aquabid will only refund you the price of the fish and not any of the shipping. I would also point out to him, if you haven't already, that he didn't include what you ordered. He said to me that if it is HIS mistake, HE pays for shipping, which is how it SHOULD work. If you ask me, the $20 you paid for shipping should cover shipping charges TWICE as it's only $9 to ship USPS Priority (The flat-rate box is about $8.65 or so). I can't say that I blame you for being upset...I am as well. I am hesitant to do business with him in the future to be quite honest.

Also my apistos, after one week of having them, are FINALLY becoming less skittish. They still hide from me quite often. Each day I see more and more activity out of the fish which is a good sign to me.

[evercl92]

Oh, yes, I emailed him, and pointed out that he forgot to send part of the order. I told him that I didn't find it acceptable for me to pay full shipping, when it was his mistake. I also told him that I understood that shipping can cost money, but I paid $20 for shipping. The USPS sticker had a cost of $13.75. I can understand packing material, heat pack, etc. But I didn't even get a heat pack (it was in the mid 40's yesterday). That's BS. Had more died, I would have went off.

I told him I wanted a more reasonable answer, $20 for shipping (especially for 3 fish) wasn't acceptable. I really believe that he'll correct the situation, but as you mentioned,

Originally Posted by bs6749

it's just that he is supposed to be running a business and clearly he has much room for improvement. I have no doubt that he will make it right and he's not going to try to screw me over but this seems ridiculous for spending over $100 on fish from him.

My order total was $120. For that much $$, am I wrong to expect things go right? For a heat pack to be included on a trip from Oregon to Ohio?

[evercl92]

I understand that I only paid for Priority (and thus the DOA policy changes), and not expedited. But does that mean I don't get a heat pack?

[bs6749]

Yeah, that really stinks. It seems to me like he treats customers differently for different reasons. Look on his feedback on aquabid...seems like quite a few people got "extras" with their order. I DID get an extra fish but I think it was because they were all so small and maybe he didn't expect one of them to make it.

I am worried about my shipment coming soon as well. I am in Michigan and it's been just as cold here, if not a little cooler than where you are. I'd expect to see a heat pack or two in the box!

I really don't know why he treats customers differently but it seems obvious to me that he DOES treat them in different ways. We ordered about the same amount and get treated differently? Makes no sense...I hope it works out for you.

[evercl92]

Here's the response I received:

I pay shipping for my screwup

WTH does this mean? This is a bunch of crap, I'll not order from him again, whether he fixes the issue or not.

My response:
Does that mean you are stating that you only pay shipping when it's your screwup and 1. tough crap for me or 2. you're going to take care of the issue or 3. something else?

I didn't think communication was this difficult.

[bs6749]

I don't think he is trying to be difficult. I received several emails when talking to him that I had to email back on because I wasn't clear as to his response. He also told me the he pays for his screw ups...I think it is a GOOD thing in your case. I mean, I think HE is going to pay for it...that's what it sounds like to me.

[evercl92]

Yeh, that's what the next email pretty much states.

I just find it poor communication when I have to send 2-3 emails to get a question answered.

[bs6749]

I agree about the poor communication thing 100%. That is EXACTLY the reason for me sending him several emails explaining EXACTLY what I wanted but STILL the order came wrong...

We aren't the first ones to experience "communication difficulties" with Dave. I actually heard from someone else that he was pretty bad when it comes to communicating and this scared me away from him initially. I thought I'd give him a try and he DID screw up, but he is making it right for me at least, even if I have to wait a couple MORE weeks to get what I ordered in the first place.

My bottom line opinion of him: Nice guy, poor communication that costs him repeat business. If he were able to communicate more clearly, he'd have a better business in my opinion. This experience for me isn't going to scare me away from him, I just know what to expect now and will have to order well in advance if I plan to have something on a specific day or time.

[evercl92]

He says he's replacing them, and picking up shipping.

You summed it up well...

Originally Posted by bs6749

That is EXACTLY the reason for me sending him several emails explaining EXACTLY what I wanted but STILL the order came wrong...

My bottom line opinion of him: Nice guy, poor communication that costs him repeat business. If he were able to communicate more clearly, he'd have a better business in my opinion.

[bs6749]

Well, it's been nearly a month since I made my initial purchase and STILL haven't received all of my fish. I received a box today (Friday......the day after Thanksgiving) which should have included the fish from my original order that he forgot to send. Well, all of the fish were there...ALL DEAD!!! I am really upset with Dave. You'd think after doing literally hundreds of transactions that he'd figure out that a heat pack MAY need to be included if the temps are going to be cold where the fish are being sent. NOPE! That might cost a buck and he can't do that even after someone spends well over a hundred bucks on fish. I just don't know what his problem is....instead of getting it right, he decides to "take chances" with a sale. Instead of taking the time to read and complete my order CORRECTLY the first time, he sends out an incomplete order, meaning he had to pay another $10-15 in shipping to get it right and send me the rest of my order. Then he cheaps out and doesn't send me a heat pack with the fish that might cost him $1-2 and now, for the second time, he may have to spend another $10-15 to get my order right. He will now be out $20-30 in order to correct what he should have gotten right the first time. After all, I DID do everything in my power short of holding his hand and placing all of the fish in the box the first time to make sure that the order was right. I emailed him SEVERAL times on EXACTLY what I wanted. He took a chance with a sale and it cost him $10-15 in shipping to correct it the first time. He also took a chance in not sending a heat pack (after another member on here in a similar region had DOA's in temps that were warmer because a heat pack wasn't included) but he doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. As far as I am concerned Dave has lost a customer as I will not buy from him again. This has proven to be an "ordeal" and it's NOTHING like what buying fish should be like. I would advise any of you that are wary about purchasing from Dave to stay away from him.....at least until the summer months unless you like sending emails trying to get your order right or get your money back.

[evercl92]

Quite interesting. Here's my update:

He should have sent my replacement fish last monday. I emailed him weds, asked what was up. No answer for 3 days. Then I get, 'I was out of town, resume shipping monday', as in the monday before Thanksgiving. Sounds dumb to me, but if they get here weds, I don't care.

Weds comes around. No fish. Now I'm worried. I emailed him, and he found it odd that they weren't there yet. That's 2 extra days in the mail, if they get here friday. Today, I get the mail. No fish. Now I'm really not pleased. IF they arrive tomorrow (assuming they were even sent), I can't imagine they'd be alive.

This shouldn't be this difficult. There's not a chance in hell that I'll order from him again. I even emailed him and said that it's hard for me to recommend him to my friends with such poor communication. His reply: "I'm sure you know a lot of people". Maybe I took it out of context, but this sure seemed like a slam against me. The fish are nice, the prices are decent, but it's a toss up if it's not just better to pay more at a LFS than deal with all this crap.

[bs6749]

I am assuming you emailed him the week before Thanksgiving, as did I about when my fish would be shipped. He told me too that he was going to be out of town and that he'd ship them on the Monday before Thanksgiving, at least that's what I got from him when I was notified from the USPS that they had received shipping info on my package.

I emailed him today when I found out about the package, basically told him that I thought it was weird that he didn't include a heat pack or two, and after all of my email he says this in reply "Do you talk like you write?????" Word for word, that's what he said. I am so angry with him right now. I'd better get my money back...that's the ONLY way he is getting a neutral review on aquabid. I even thought about putting up an "auction" on there to warn people about Dave. I might even make a website about his less than mediocre serrvice, that's how angry I am. He doesn't deserve business and when he comes off with that kind of attitude such as the one he showed to both you and me it will just make people see what he is all about. Let me know if you would be interested in providing other people with your story about the experiences with Dave that you have had. This is downright RIDICULOUS.