bigalsonline.com

[RodneyCK]

LOL, Bearfan, hang in there. Stick to the original patience plan, you can make it.

[Bearfan]

All of the order, except the light fixture, arrived on Friday, November 28th. 399 hours later the order arrives (much more than the 24 hours + 5 days = 144 hours that's advertised. But the price is right I suppose.

Of course, I still don't have my light fixture.

ok, boo on Big Als, it is sad when you have to base your future purchases on someone elses misfortunes...

Sorry to here about your trouble with Big Als...I will not be making my purchases with them...

[Bearfan]

Their prices are the best by far, and supposedly their in a software transition phase. I still only recommend them to the truly patient, or gluttons for punishment. I must be the latter.

Their prices are the best by far, and supposedly their in a software transition phase.

Regardless of price, any online or land based business should always plan out and execute changes with extensive testing before comprimising what they are there for in the first place, which is providing a service and product to the customer with speed and quality service... So, with that said, many companies close their doors because of bad planning and loss of customers...This to me is a shame... because just like I said I prolly will not do business with them in the future, a lot of others are prolly saying the same thing and looking elsewhere for their bargains..

[Bearfan]

Update:

Got the fixture on 12/11. 30 Days later. One actinic bulb is broken. They are supposedly shipping me a label to send back the old one and they will send me a new one. It's been 6 days and no label, then I have to send it back, then they have to process it, then send me a new one. I hope to have it by February.

The thermometer also arrived on 12/11. The light worked on it, but the LCD screen didn't. They are supposedly shipping me a new one (since I raised hell and told them to give me my F***in money back and I would send them back the broken thing. Oh, so nobody think's I'm just a hot head, the non-english speaking ignorant rock they had on the phone was being a real evil troll). I also hope by February.

If you order from here, please go to http://www.homedepot.com and order yourself a hammer so you can beat yourself into a coma while waiting. It's less painful.

BiG Al's is Bad imho. I placed an order with them. After speaking with customer service asking about my order, they stated I never ordered from them. I said maybe it didnt go through the system. I'll send you an email and you can write me back tomorrow. They wrote me back stating I never placed an order. I said thanks and just to be sure cancel my order/s so there is no confusion. One day 3 weeks later UPS RIngs and runs. IM Like no. that's the big als package i needed to refuse!. lo and behold a company who I never ordered from charged my credit card and sent me goods 3 weeks late. No excuse. any internet junkie knows that any software or server transtition will not lead to any of these problems if done properly. its just an excuse. I Called them they asked for the "supposed E-mails I sent them" they though I was an online scammer or something" . Anyawy that was friday and they never got back to me. Thank God I used AMEX Platinum. Im getting a ups delivery today. So I guess its tim to give my UPS guy the big als package i never signed for. and call up amex to refuse the charge!.

Dela

Dela

[Bearfan]

I need to get the owners email and send him a link to this thread.

not sure about the owner but one of the reps told me his manager was "Dan@bigalsonline.com". I am waiting for a response from him ( the rep told me to fwd info to him).

dela

[Bearfan]

Just spoke with them. Label for light bulb...never sent, no record, no nothing. Thermometer just sent, UPS just got it last night late. Soooooo dissapointed.

I just sent dan@bigalsonline.com a link to this thread and a note. I hope he takes it seriously and strives to improve that system.

[Galerius]

I'm glad I read this post before making my Christmas purchase. I had planned on using BigAl's, as I would have saved nearly $45 on a nearly $250 order. After reading this thread, I decided to purchase from Drs. Foster & Smith. Yes, I spent a little more, but I've *never* had a bad experience with the Drs. (even when they were Pet Warehouse). I've also used www.thatpetplace.com with complete satisfaction as well.

[Bearfan]

I don't like to company bash, but this was more of an example of the pain I am going through. I think it's a good idea if we all post our experiences as they happen so we can support good companies.

[robotcholi]

hey guys, here is my take on BigAls with my very first order(a month or so ago) so far:

-Price is super excellence.
-Shipment is slow but wasn't too bad (10-11 days to CA for me).
-Didn't get any email confirmation after my order so i was in the dark for awhile until i called (they said it was because of system upgrade).
-Customer service was fine with me. I got a broken decoration rock, called them and got a replacement without any fuss. The rock was worth about 5 bux so...
-One item from the order was mysteriously got took out

I was planning to make another purchase for pond equipments real soon but after reading these posts I'm starting to have second thought but i'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until i get screw LOL. Hope that help guys.

[Bearfan]

It's now been 10 days and still no label to return my actinic bulb so i can get a replacement. On Thursday I did get the replacement Thermometer, which took them three days to send out and UPS 4 days. All they did was take 1 thermometer, put it in a box, slap a label on it, and set it out with the rest of the UPS stuff. That took 3 days.

[Minze]

I feel a bit lucky then. I placed an order for a digital thermometer, new heater, food, Nitrate test kit and a few other smaller items. I received my order about 6 or 7 working days after I placed it. Everything was in good order and I was pleased. The only thing I did not like about them was that I did not receive any confirmation of the order shipping, etc as I am used to from other companies that I order from online.

[robotcholi]

Originally Posted by Minze

The only thing I did not like about them was that I did not receive any confirmation of the order shipping, etc as I am used to from other companies that I order from online.

Heh, that's so true with me too.

[Bearfan]

Didn't receive the confirmation, and they couldn't provide a tracking number until 48 hours after it shipped.

[xander]

I ordered a bunch of stuff On Dec 24th. I figured that they wouldn't get shipped right away because of the holidays. I asked for a tracking number when they shipped it. Well the tracking shows only that the billing info was sent. No pick up scan or arrival scan. This was on the 29th. UPS did pickups on the 29th,30th, and the 2nd. Still no pickup or arrival scan. I can under stand it not getting scanned for pickup or even arrival. But no scans at all? I work for UPS and realize how often they scan the same package just for the tracking purposes. It gets scanned when it first gets sorted after being unloaded. Then they scan it as they load it into an outgoing truck. It may be scanned a few more times depending on how many hubs it goes through. So either they have yet to ship it or we (UPS) lost it before it got anywhere. Either way bigals needs to ship me my stuff. They have been fairly responsive to my e-mails. I get responses within a few days anyway.

[Bearfan]

I am still waiting on my replacement actinic bulb that was broken. I am tired of complaining to/about them.

[cmor1701d]

I guess I've been lucky with a few orders I've placed with BigAls. Sounds like they are having some problems right now. ThatPetPlace/ThatFishPlace will price match if they can verify the price on the Internet. They also offer free shipping on larger orders.
They don't carry everything but I've always had good experiences with them and that's going back about 10 years.