# A recent large order at AZ-Gardens ...just the facts



## Gomer

As I type, I have a box of fish and shrimp from a local group buy from AZ gardens.

There was a sizable shipping weight estimate error (estimated at 4-8lbs) and was actually 13. ..which works out to 2x the shipping on overnight priority. This isn't too big of a deal as it is hard to estimate how much water will be needed.

Ordered:
6 rudolf red nose shrimp
6 tiger shrimp
7 corydorus habrosus
4 Nannostomus beckfordi
50 Microrasbora erythromicron

Recieved
6 rudolf red nose shrimp
6 tiger shrimp
*4 corydorus habrosus
3 corydorus pygmaeus*
4 Nannostomus beckfordi
*50 Rasbora dorsiocellata*

I'll update here with just the facts as this problem gets resolved.


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## litesky

man.........haha That's totally whack.


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## Raul-7

I've heard countless times that they always mess up orders and their customer service is lousy, it seems they haven't changed. (Don't sue me! :roll


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## JanS

Unfortunately I've heard that about them too. 
Were the fish and shrimp healthy at least?
I've ordered plants from them before and they were beautiful, but it took forever to get them.


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## TomE

Gomer,

Quick question, I was going to order shrimp from them. (yes, just the fact please). How were they packed and did they survive the shipment? I live in Jersey and now it's in the teens at night.

thanks


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## Gomer

The fish/shrimp were double bagged in what seemed like either 1 or 1.5mil bags. They were then wrapped in news paper. They were then put into a box lined with 5/8-3/4" foam. THere was a heat pack in there.

Out of the order, the DOA count was 3 rasboras, 2 tiger shrimp and 1 rudolf shrimp.


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## pineapple

If you're going to order shrimp on the East Coast, why not try one of the Aquabid sellers such as maxiefish in Florida. I have two orders of Cardina japonica which arrived with no DOA and with extras. There is also someone in NYC NY 10025 that sells Cherry Reds. I bought from him and the deal was good (but it was an expensive meal for my fish because they ate about 80% of them within 30 minutes - but the remainder bred so fast in another tank that they made up for the shortfall quickly!).

Andrew Cribb


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## Gomer

Just an update, AZ Gardens has replied as a good business should with a possible solution to the problem. The solution looks promising, but I'll have to discuss it with others (since it is a group buy). I'll post the final outcome as others I'm sure are curious.

If things follow on track, then this will have a happy ending.


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## Aaron

We've had lots of problems with Rasboras and such too, we order B. brigittae, we get uropthalmoides, we order uropthalmoides, we get maculata, we order maculata we get dorsiocellatta... the list goes on. Some gatesii and kubotai were to come in just this week, though I do not dare to expect anything. I think over 50% of the time, we'd get the wrong fish. I am not sure why it is but this is just all to common an occurence with fish coming out of SE Asia right now (last couple years) especially rasboras.
It is my experience (Working in an LFS and importing for myself and my local club) that when purchasing fish off a list, one can expect the unexpected. While employed at a Pet store, I could honestly say that there would be at least one bag of fish per week that came in mislabelled or filled with contaminants. We received fish from Florida and SE Asia and the problem was uniform across the board. It was my understanding at the time that it was the norm and we would often not even look at the invoice and go ahead and ID everything ourselves. Doesn't make it right, but I have come to believe that that is the way it is. 
This not only happens with the huge world-wide companies like Dolphin, (probably where AZG get their fish from) but smaller and specialized companies as well. I have seen and heard of mislabelled fish from reputable companies that are at the forefront of the business, and owned by "famous people in the know". (Won't mention any names :wink: ) so it can and will happen. 
Most of the time, the fish will be pretty close, in the case of your Cories and Rasboras, sometimes you open the box and all you can do is scratch your head... I recently ordered some Lamonticthys filamentosa (a rare 3-4''whiptail cat and when they arrived, I was greeted with 10'' long monsters! They turned out to be Pterosturisoma microps, a fish that can hardly be mistaken for Lamonticthys. When informed of the miscue, the company stated that that is what they came in as. ( the universal answer / excuse to such an inquiry.) This from a highly reputable and recognized company that deals with wild caught cories and loricariides located in So Cal. You'd think they would at least have a reference book or something.
So what's the solution? I don't know, buy your fish from aquabid!?! your LFS!?! All I can say is try to get as much info as you can, even a picture of the fish in the holding tank if possible. the bottom line is take any list with a grain of salt regardless who it's from, all too often they are just passing on names and info whether if its correct or not.


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## pineapple

That's a great post Aaron.

Not only is the disatisfaction rate with oneline sellers of live plants or fish fairly high, I can also say dealing with similar sellers on hardware items is also tedious. I am working up a post (not naming any names) on this topic.

Andrew


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## Gomer

Another bit of bad news is that the tiger shrimp turned out to be malayan shrimp LOL.


The GOOD NEWS s is, is that AZ stepped up and will ship at their expense all the replacements.

Luckily, all of us with the rasboras on order already had Rasbora dorsiocellata in other tanks.

I'll re-post to see if they send the right stuff the second time LOL


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## Cavan Allen

You had to ship the dorsiocellata back? Or did you get to keep all the mistake stuff?


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## ididit

Last week I received about $200 in plants from them. The plants are doing well. The only problem I have with AZ Garden is the time frame with shipping and the shipping costs. The invoice enclosed is for plants only. The shipping fee is billed seperately. I have yet to find out shipping. I called and was told "around $20.00." I guess it is my fault for not knowing??

They only ship once a week from what I was told. On Thursday. They pull all plants on Sunday and Monday. So if you order on Thursday it will not go out until the following Thursday. 

But to surmize the plant are nice..........


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## Gomer

Cavan Allen said:


> You had to ship the dorsiocellata back? Or did you get to keep all the mistake stuff?


We were able to keep everything.


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## fishfry

Update on my portion of the order...

1 of 4 pencilfish has died ($1.29)
4 of 6 red-nosed shrimp have died ($3 each!)
5 of 6 rasboras have died (98 cents)

For a grand total of $18.15 down the toilet...literally LOL 



nothing that they can send me or do will ever cause me to order from them again

Prior to my order from them I have not had a fish/shrimp death in my tank for at least 6 months, maybe longer.


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## Gomer

All of my corys are fine, but I think I lost about 7 or so rasboras. Ditto on me the never ordering again


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## TomE

Sorry to hear about the unfortunate order. I have a question to ask. What was the weather of the night before and of the shipment date? I know around here It's been 20's or less. This is for personal reasons ... I'm planning to order an overnight package on Weds. The night is supposed to be in the 40's.


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## fishfry

the weather was quite nice, warm and sunny here in california :lol:


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## JanS

fishfry said:


> the weather was quite nice, warm and sunny here in california :lol:


Sure, rub it in.... :lol: We're up to a whopping -9°F after a low of -25°....

The 40's shouldn't be too cold providing they pack them well and that you're home to receive the package when it gets there so it doesn't have to sit in the elements.


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## turbomkt

JanS said:


> Sure, rub it in.... :lol: We're up to a whopping -9°F after a low of -25°....


We're not rubbing it in. It's a fact of life that it is 85°F in my back yard right now. I went to college where it gets cold (UC Irvine was #2 on my list) and chose to live back where there were four seasons...Spring, Summer, End of summer, and beginning of spring.

But back to the topic...nights are not nearly as friendly. We can see a 40° or 50° swing between lows and highs for a given day.


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## fishfry

two more pencilfish died!! woohooo...now I have 1 $20 pencilfish and 2 $10 red-nosed shrimps :lol: if it wasn't part of a group order I would send them a very friendly letter


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## Gomer

Write up that letter and keep it on the burner....wait till we get our "replacements" and fire away!!!.

I hate lessons learned the hard way :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


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## Roy Deki

That,s really too bad...I've had good luck with them on fish and plant orders. Although I only live about two hours away. Was there alot of fish waste in the bag? My LFS had a problem with that in the past.


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## Gomer

Down to 7 rasboras from 30 :roll: 

..mind you my other rasboras of the same species in that tank are perfectly fine (can ID with size).


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## fishfry

Oh that really sucks Gomer...seems like we all have about 25% survival rate, that is not counting the number of fish that die at the company before they even get shipped. [smilie=c:


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## JanS

*Q*

Uh oh Gomer, you better keep an eye on your other fish if you didn't Q these new ones - especially given their survival rate.

Sorry to hear about your losses. That's really lousy. 

Edit: You'd think I'd learn to use the spell check....


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## Gomer

All my other fish are fine. The rasboras I think were just too young when they were shipped. The others...not sure.


will keep an eye out though.


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## Texex94

Did you ever get the new replacement shipment and what and how were they received? I'm thinking of doing a fish order, but am a little reluctant!

Bailin Shaw
DFW Aquatic Plant Club
New England Aquatic Plant Society


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## Gomer

I am currently waiting for a refund to hit my credit card (what we ultimately decided on). While I can't say that the order went to my liking etc etc, they do seem to fix their mistakes.

I'll post went the refund hits my account.


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## Gomer

While it has been a little drawn out, I'd like to report that AZ Gardens did follow through with a complete refund.


Recieving a multitude of wrong species is IMO very sloppy on their end.
Having massive cassualties (ex: of the 30 rasboras I had, only 1 ended up surviving) on the initial shipment and other fish in various tanks by other people on the order could be a coincidence...although highly unprobable.

But the fact does remain that AZ (Communitations were with Pete) did take the steps to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion...and I thought you all should know.


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## whitepine

I placed a large plant which included some bulbs. The plants where not in the best shape and over half of the bulbs where bad. The order also got split and I was charged twice for shipping. I would NOT do business with them again.


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## Jason Baliban

I have dealt with AZ gardens 2 times. I will never use them again. I would never recommend them. The plants I got were in good shape, but nothing that would make them better then any other place. I had to have multiple conversations with pete.....he always made me feel like i was a jerk.
jB


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