# Drs Foster&Smith



## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

They packaged very well, and the delivery was right on time. Some good choice of plants and fish.


----------



## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Live Aquaria is actually their "live" department. 

I have bought from Drsfostersmith multiple times and their shipping cost is great as well as their packaging! I have bought 7 20lb bags of eco cichlid substrate along with filters and and two gallons of amquel and novaaqua and the shipping came out to like $30


----------



## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

I love their shipping rates. I bought a stand for the 12 gal. Nano Cube and they only charged their normal shipping rate. I paid about $10 shipping for something nobody else would ship for less than $20-25.


----------



## Spidergrrrl (Oct 11, 2006)

I've also had great experiences with Drs Foster & Smith. Everything is packaged well (never had anything broken, and I've ordered heaters/light bulbs/bottles with liquids, etc). Their shipping is insane - I just put in an order for $450 and total shipping came out to $17.99. :shock:


----------



## PHalas (Dec 5, 2005)

Have made a couple of purchases from them. The first inc a PC bulb, after a couple of WKs it quit..no problem they just said they would send me another shipped free. I told them I needed to order a couple of canister filters & 2L of excel, they said " Shipping for that stuff is also free" can't beat that !

Package arrives, opens it up Excel has leaked out of the container & bag it was in all over the other stuff. Did not mess up anything else in the package, but I lost about a third of the excel.

So I call them up & explained the situation, & settled for the price of a replacement in store credit. That was after they had offered to send me another 2L of excel for free !!!..Now that's customer service handled the way it should be!!!!!!


----------



## howie (Jan 5, 2007)

I had to return some items to Big Al's and Dr Foster and Smith today that I bought about 3 months ago. To both retailers, I wanted to return some big ticket items, pretty much evenly between the two. Big Al said NO refunds straight out as it has past 30 days. I asked them to make an exception as I've spent ALOT OF MONEY to setup 3 large tanks (Ehiems, lighting fixtures, etc) with them. They still said no.
With Dr Foster and Smith, I also spent alot of money there too (Ehiems, lighting fixtures, etc). The only difference is Dr Foster and Smith will refund your item if you are not happy with it anytime. You don't even have to call for a RMA number like every retailer. Just send it back.

Big Al's has just lost a good customer today. 

Dr. Foster and Smith has just become my first place to go when I want to spend my money.


----------



## gheitman (Aug 18, 2007)

I've bought stuff from Drs. Foster & Smith many times over the last few years. They have a good selection with great prices. They've supplied me with everthing from a canister filter to heaters, from food to medications and everything else in between. Orders are always shipped promptly and are well packaged. I've never had an order with a mistake. They are my number one source for aquarium equipment.


----------



## ngb2322 (Apr 9, 2008)

Ordered $200 of various products and hardware and everything arrived on time and intact. A very positive experience.


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

They are one of the main places I shop for aquatic supplies, as well as stuff for our dogs, parrots, wild birds and sometimes horses.

Nothing but good service all the way around. 

I toured their warehouse last summer and it's nothing but well maintained, efficient and impressive. 

Here's a page with some of the photos I took in the warehouse

Also, if you go back and start at the first page of the album there are a bunch of photos of their aquaculture facility and some of their retail store.


----------



## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I've purchased aquarium, dog, and cat supplies from them many times and have only had a problem once - they shipped an incorrect item. When I called them up the rep was extremely helpful and even though I said it wasn't urgent, or even really important, I had the correct item in 2 days and they gave me a discount on my next purchase. Way to go with the customer service!

I also like that they no longer use styrofoam packing materials and have switched to biodegradable packing peanuts instead. I can either reuse them, give them away for someone else to use, or chuck them into my compost pile and water them a bit so they start breaking down.


----------



## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

I bought 31 fish from LiveAquaria. They came in today in about the condition I expected, very satisfatory (shipped fish almost never arrive perfect). One fish was in bad shape and died shortly after introduction to the tank.

I called to report the loss. They didn't even ask any questions. You lost a fish, you get credit, how do you want it? On your debit card or on your account?

That's incredible support.


----------



## gasteriaphile (Nov 25, 2008)

I have had a similar experience with them regarding a question I had about female _Dario dario_. They don't say on the description of this species whether or not they have both sexes. So I wrote to them about it and got a reply within 12 hours! They said they didn't know the answer to my question but would get back to me. Less than 12 hours later they did! Here's the response:
_Dear Frank,

Thank you for contacting Drs. Foster and Smith's LiveAquaria with your questions on the Scarlet Gem Badis. Our Vendor does send males, however if you were to order multiple of this species the vendor would try to send some females as well. When placing your order for this beautiful specimen we would recommend putting a message in the "Notes for this order box" to have females sent as well. If we can be of any additional assistance, please feel free to contact our Technical Support Department at 1-800-381-7179 or via email at [email protected] and we will be happy to answer any question(s) you may have.

Sincerely,

Technical Support
Drs. Foster & Smith
mal_

Now that's old-fashioned service!  Almost none of the previous reviews of Drs. Foster and Smith said anything about ordering fish. Just talked about supplies and equipment. And I have just this week, in fact, placed my first order with them for same. *Question: anyone had experience in ordering live fish from them? (other than the report in the post just previous?).*
Thanks, Breck


----------



## Akaizhar (Jul 5, 2008)

I love them, got my ehiem, substrates, and many many other items from there. Only place i get my Coralifes too.


----------



## bibbels (Nov 30, 2008)

I've spent lots of $ with them over the last couple years setting up a few tanks and have no regrets. Their customer service is probably the best I've ever received from any company.

The most noteworthy occurence is when a 24 gallon Aquapod arrived not broken but with a couple of deep scratches on the inside of the glass. A quick phone call and they said they would send another out and mail me return shipping supplies. The replacement tank arrived in 3 days.

When I need supplies I look to them first to see if they carry it before looking anywhere else. Haven't ordered anything living from them yet so I can't comment on that.


----------



## Fields of Blue (Sep 25, 2008)

I've ordered both aquarium supplies and live specimens from Dr foster & smith and my experiences have been decent. I ordered a tetra mini heater for my first tank (Very small tank) and it came to my house with a tiny hairline crack in it. After putting it into my aquarium and noticing that there were tiny bubbles coming off it, I took it out and noticed water collecting in the bottom of the heater. I was very lucky my betta didn't get zapped!

I understand that they're just the middle men for these products, so I sent them an email and requested a new heater. I didn't want the tetra heater again because I was weary of their quality, my weariness has been reaffirmed with another 2 of these same heaters malfunctioning somehow, so I requested an aluminum probe type thermometer and offered to pay the difference between the two. They sent me an email back saying that a new tatra heater would be on its way to my house soon. I can't say that I wasn't disappointed with them sending me a replacement product of the very same product which already didn't meet my expectations.

I ordered some fish from them as well including a firefish, reef chromis, otocinclus catfish, 3 zebra danios, glass shrimp and some live brine shrimp. My zebra danios came in a bag of cloudy water belly up and the brine shrimp was completely unusable for feeding my fish because a great majority of them were dead and had a rancid odor which seemed to repel the fish. They reimbursed me with store credit for both items, but I found that it disappeared a few months later from my account when I didn't order anything from them in that time and I couldn't re-order this small amount of specimens because of the order minimum. Everything else was fine and dandy, but I can't really say I was impressed.

When I want great service from a petshop, I go down to the pagoda pet shop down the street from me. The store is run by an old married asian couple who also own a restaurant by the same name. They're both very knowledgeable and helpful. I even got a powder blue gourami for my 10 gallon NPT once, but he turned out far too aggressive! I took him back to the shop and simply wanted the owner to take the fish back since I couldn't care for him. The shopkeeper was nice enough to take care of the fish for me and exchange some platys for my fish. They also have a very surprising selection for such a small shop including discus, piranha, flowerhorns and some very very colorful guppies.


----------



## andrewg (Jul 27, 2008)

I've ordered a glass diffuser, which arrived broken. Sent it back the next day after talking with a sales rep and the new one arrived in pieces. Sent that one back the next day and the newest one, the one I can't live without, arrived in top condition. All this took place in less than 10 days.

The same thing happened with my Ehiem canister. Arrived broken, next day sent back, two days later, perfect. They do sound skeptical on the phone, almost to the point you wonder if you were actually the one that broke the piece of equipment but never actually question your motives.

All together a great company. And I've ordered fish/shrimp/plants there, all arrived in more than satisfactory condition. Superb.


----------



## brynnhilde (May 13, 2006)

I have ordered many things from here and NEVER been disappointed. Even ordered from Liveaquaria. Only issue there, is their supplier did not know the difference between ghost shrimp and Amano shrimp. Got all my credits and free shipping on second order. I said can I order more fish? They said sure  I got 30 sparkling gouramis and better than the store ever had. Nothing like a chorus of croaking gouramis. Customer service and prices A+. Top of my ordering list.


----------



## MagpieTear (Jan 25, 2009)

Nice to know, I prefer to buy local whenever possible, but sometimes can't wait for something to be special ordered. All I've ever gotten from there was gift certificates for friends who live out of town, but I may start using them for some of my dry goods.


----------



## andyh (Jan 30, 2009)

Add me to the list of satisfied customers. I ordered a "CO2 Pro" system that had a bad regulator. They swapped it out before they even had the bad one back. Several months later I found the bad one at the back of the storage closet (I forgot to ship it back) - eeek!!! Were they angry? No!!!


----------



## Tobias (Apr 8, 2007)

Both times I have ordered from them I have had problems but they are right on top of fixing the issues. First order was a bunch of Seachem fertz and one bottle got busted and leaked they sent me another no questions.

Today was a little more upsetting but they are making it right. I ordered the Azoo CO2 controller with solenoid (Just under 3 months and I am already tired of DIY lol). I was excited today to see that it had arrived. I picked up the package and it was the right size for a controller but I automatically thought it was really light. I opened up the package dumped out the packing peanuts and found a Hagen Elite 4 way air controller. So I was a little upset.  I called and talked to Rachael (Thank you Rachael if you read this). I did not take it out on her but I think she could tell by my voice I was upset because she kept saying over and over that she was going to help me and not to worry.

She showed that they had shipped me some sort of float valve but did see that I had paid for the regulator. The really weird thing is when I tried to help her find the part I was sent the Hagen Elite 4 way air valve was not even on their site? They had one from another manufacturer but not a Hagen. Anyways another regulator is on the way.

I have to admit this last issue was a little off putting but they are sending me another one which is all I can ask for I guess under the circumstances. I will still end up shopping with them again.

This is what I got instead of the reg.


----------



## Tobias (Apr 8, 2007)

Update. I have the regulator now and they said not to bother with sending back the 4 way air controller. I have had a bit of bad luck with my two orders but in the end they made everything right so I will order from them again. 

Hopefully my curse wears off. It continued last night when I found out that my first tank is no good and would not hold a co2 charge. Not a huge deal because it was a cheap 24 oz tank from Walmart so I bought one of the 20 oz tanks from the sporting goods store. I did not have the fittings tightened enough last night so I lost some co2 between the smart parts adapter and the reg  but lesson learned I tightened it a lot better this morning.


----------



## brynnhilde (May 13, 2006)

I have ordered sparkling gouramis from their liveaquaria.com and very pleased with service. Only downside was about 4 of the 15 I had to cull for serious problems, but the price was still excellent. The angels were great color and excellent shape. I order most my stuff from there because they are just too easy to work with and always fix any problems that may occur. You cannot beat their frozen food prices either!!!


----------



## ~KK~ (Apr 6, 2009)

The only problem with DrF&S was my last purchase of a 25watt Visitherm Stealth heater. They sent me a 100watt regular visitherm instead, but i returned it and they sent me the wrong one AGAIN! in the end they ended up sending me the right heater and let me keep the other at no charge. Other than that little incident I have had very good luck with them!


----------



## clearleaf (Oct 4, 2008)

Another +1 for Drfostersandsmith. Order was processed within 24hrs, package arrived on time, and well packaged (3foot bulbs packed in a 4foot box, plenty of peanuts and bubblewrap, could have played football with the box and I'm sure the contents would have been sound).


----------



## The Rockster (Jun 20, 2007)

I spent thousands of dollars there. They have an excellent return policy, and customer service. Now I usually only purchase their items on sale. I always compare their prices to Big Al's and Marine depot.


----------



## smackpixi (Oct 15, 2008)

Good shipping rates and policies. Also good people. Have made three orders from them and no problems. They send me an inordinate amount of catalogs now though...could save money if they didn't. Prices seem to be a couple bucks higher than other places (aquariumguys.com is another i've used a bit) but often evens out when you calc shipping. Watch for their deals, had a screaming deal on Hydor pumps earlier this year. 

As others have said, great customer service. Trustworthy.


----------



## The Rockster (Jun 20, 2007)

smackpixi said:


> Good shipping rates and policies. Also good people. Have made three orders from them and no problems. They send me an inordinate amount of catalogs now though...could save money if they didn't. Prices seem to be a couple bucks higher than other places (aquariumguys.com is another i've used a bit) but often evens out when you calc shipping. Watch for their deals, had a screaming deal on Hydor pumps earlier this year.
> 
> As others have said, great customer service. Trustworthy.


You can "opt out", of them sending you catalogs, by phone or email.................I did.


----------



## Ben7 (Jun 10, 2003)

Good experience with liveaquaria. They have some good deals. Well shipped too.


----------



## KShoes (Oct 6, 2009)

Just bought 4 seachem products and a powerhead from them. It arrived in 3 days from WI to NY. They even had Fedex leave it at my door (rang my doorbell at 7:30 in the morning!) Haven't dealt with their customer service yet but will put it in if that time comes.


----------



## Vadimshevchuk (Jul 5, 2009)

Sounds like a good customer service. what worrys me is that there is alot of mistakes or products being broken. When i order online i will go the first since everyone has good experience.


----------



## wi_blue (Apr 5, 2005)

Vadimshevchuk said:


> Sounds like a good customer service. what worrys me is that there is alot of mistakes or products being broken. When i order online i will go the first since everyone has good experience.


I would worry bought these guys. Never had a problem with them. Though I have not ordered live goods from them, the company I work for has order lots of salt water fish and corals with out problems.


----------



## HVS (Dec 20, 2009)

DO NOT CLICK THE LINK ON PG.ONE BY JANS!!

As a courtesy I would like to let everyone know that yesterday I was reading this thread for the first time. Curious I clicked the link provided by JanS on the first page, next to the last post, of pictures he took at Drs Foster and Smith facility and my anti-virus caught and stopped a drive by attempt of Exploit.pdf. The site hosting the pictures is also hosting a virus. I will be informing the pic hosting site as well as a professional courtesy.


----------



## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Thanks HVS,

The link was removed. If anyone wants to see the photos post below and we'll figure out a way to hopefully get them back.


----------



## ree123 (Jan 10, 2010)

After reading this entire thread I am so impressed to hear of so many other satisfied customers like myself. I have been doing business with Dr. Foster and Smith since they first purchased the company many years ago, and did business with the company before they bought it also. I have done business with other mail order companies as well, but none compare to the service and politeness that is offered by such a company. I have never had a problem they did not resolve and ther have been few problems in all this many years. Their prices are fair, service superb, wheather buying live fish, plants,dry goods, dry foods, or frozen foods. I agree with most of you, they are a great company to support. I know I will continue to be a customer for years to come.


----------



## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

+1 on F&S, I placed a decent sized order ~$350 a while back, it came perfectly, even the call I made before I placed the order to discuss some items was handled well. Just placed another order last night for a new regulator and heater, and while living in Alaska I don't qualify for their spiffy shipping prices, its still comparable to most other stores out there.


----------



## paleopaque (Jun 23, 2009)

I've also had several positive experiences with them. They are quick to ship and their shipping rates are reasonable. One time I ordered a large bottle of Excel and they called to notify me that the bottle had broken while in transit and that they were shipping me out a new one. Great customer service imho.


----------



## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

I've been buying from their Aquatics and Live Aquaria sections for a long time now. They always answer the phone when I call no matter what time of the day it is and they always have quick answers to my questions. They have messed up a few of my orders but have been very happy to refund me or fix my problem in some way. One time they sent me a plant bulb that stopped working after a few weeks and they sent a new bulb free of charge. No shipping charge either. Overall this is the best pet store on the internet. I recommend it to everyone. They have such a huge selection and awesome customer service. Plus, awesome shipping!


----------



## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

Definitely my 1st choice for aquarium goods online. They have the best customer services, easy return and exchange. totally recommended.


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

this sight is going to be offering free shipping on orders over $50 for all of 2011 !
while this is a great marketing idea, it means they may be building some shipping
costs into their product pricing, so regulars there may want to shop around a bit


----------



## Gumbie (Apr 18, 2011)

I’ve been a customer for many years. Never a bad experience. “In Stock” means just that. Their customer service people are well trained and seem to enjoy their work. Last week I called with a question about their Eheim Classic filters. The representative was very patient with me and located the information I needed. I bought the Eheim, plus a lot more. I did shop around before calling them, their prices were pretty comparable to other sites. Perhaps my total bill could have been $280 instead of $290. I want these people to stay in business, so I don’t mind paying a little more. I also buy a lot of things from my LFS instead of Petco/Petsmart for the same reason.


----------



## pbh (Dec 9, 2010)

I've ordered many, many times from them with good service. That includes customer service when there was a problem.


I ordered SAE from Live Aquaria. I asked if they were true SAE and was told they were. They turned out to be false SAE, not the name they listed on the web site (Crossocheilus siamensis).

Packing slip listed them as Epalzeorhynchus kalopterus. They were Epalzeorhynchus sp.


----------

