Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  04/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered numerous fish, snails, shrimps, food, etc totaling over $400. One of the maroon clown fish came and it was bright orange not at all maroon. The orange clown fish are $26 compared to the maroon ones that are $90 each. I reached out and was told they come in all sorts of shades. Then 2 days later 3 out of the 4 fish we ordered were dead. Yellow Watchman Goby $25 dragonet $33, a maroon clown $90 and 3 peppermint shrimp $15 were all dead. All water perimeters are within normal limits. All of my other fish, snails, shrimp, corals, mushrooms and anemones are healthy and thriving but the fish and shrimp sent by them are dead. I've tried to reach out to them and provided pictures but I've gotten no response.

  Business response

  04/09/2024

   Custom SB-*****s first communication to us was 3/27 @ 10:10 PM after receiving her order 3/27 @ 10:05 AM. We only have a DOA Policy which does require customers to submit their photos within 3 hrs. of receiving their package. When we were contacted 12 hours from delivery time ******* reported pleased to report that I think everything is acclimated and doing very well, except for the pistol shrimp. Then reported at 3:27 on 4/27 The pistol shrimp is moving around now and seems to be holding his own. So really her concern was all about the coloring of Maroon Lighting Clown (captive breed) which has different patterns and change colors are they mature. I had also started communications with our Supplier a well know industry leader confirm. Sending one of ******* pictures from her tank along with a few others and was confirmed they are Maroon Lighting Clowns. However, this confirmation was received after we received this BBB Complaint #********, so we have not been in contact with her since the complaint was filed. I am aware she has claimed 3 fish died however again there was no contact within the first 3 hrs. of delivery so who knows how long the package sat out in the elements before she arrived home to take care of her LIVE Fish delivery.

  Customer response

  05/13/2024

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Nothing was dead on arrival so I didn't follow that policy. I followed the advice you have listed on your sight for "My livestock is alive, but does not look good, what do I do?" which is a different policy, I've screenshot the policies and attached it.  "Please take pictures, and then acclimate the livestock as you normally would to your quarantine system. Take photos and send us an email letting us know, we will then check up in a couple days." There were no time parameters noted which is why I delayed the initial response, i was attempting to give Salty Bottom the benefit of the doubt and follow their recommendations. So I did just that. The livestock was not left in the elements for hours as was suggested by Salty Bottom. We arrived at home approximately 15 minutes after they were delivered. After taking numerous pictures  I began the tedious process of acclimating numerous live members to 2 different quarantine tanks. Yes, I am upset that you advertised maroon storm clouds and then sent something different, but that isn't the only reason. I spent over $400 for fish that were dead before the 3rd night, not even 72 hours.  They were all dying off even when the water parameters were ideal. I'm also upset that I recieved 1 sentence answers or a screenshot from Google.  As previously stated I would like the cost difference between the 2 types of clown fish, as well as the cost for all the fish that died, 1 maroon in storm cloud, dragonet, yellow goby, 3 pistol shrimps in that short time. Let it be noted, I reached out on numerous occasions before filing with BBB, as you'll see with the various emails attached. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  05/21/2024

  BBB,
  I have attached a highlighted copy of the DOA Policy referring any other (NON DOA) issues to you the DOA option to contact us. Again everything arrived alive and the complaint was about the clowns which were the right kind and verified by a well know vender.
  
  Sincerely,
  Debbie

• Initial Complaint

  01/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company stole $355.95 from me on January 7 They pretended like they were waiting for a storm to pass before shipping the order. A week later, "DEBBIE" emailed saying my order was cancelled. They did not refund me. They still have my $355.95 This company must be shut down. I am reporting them everywhere.

  Business response

  01/31/2024

  Hello,
  
  This complaint is from the same guy that complained to you about us back in May. Complaint #******** in that complaint **** ordered Live Fish and Corals, and after they shipped, he contacted UPS and rerouted the package then waited 11 days to notify is of any issue. 
  
  For this complaint we have already refunded his charges when we canceled the order, you can see that in the attached photo titled SBRC-11854.png where it says refundOrderAmt and 355.95. I also verified this in our Transaction report, that can be seen in Account Refunded SBRC-11854.png. I also called the credit card processor that we use to be 100% sure that this was in fact refunded and they let me know it was taken care of on 1/25/2024 and should have hit his bank on 1/26/2024.
  
  If ****************** or ********* whomever he chooses to be today has any further problems we suggest he contact their bank as we do not want his money or his business and any and all future orders will be canceled as this customer is abusive and rude see photo Email SBRC-11854.png. **** is such a stand-up guy he has his own Wiki page: **************************************************;
  
  Thank you,
  
  ***

  Customer response

  02/02/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  they have not refunded me they are lying.

  see attached. A debit but no credit.

  If they would rather have a dispute for their merchant account so be it

  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business response

  02/11/2024

  As previously stated, please contact your bank as this order has been refunded on our end, if you have not received the refund I suggest asking for a chargeback.

  Customer response

  02/13/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  My bank stated:

  Merchant Refund Inquiry:
  At this time, we have not received an attempted merchant credit for the $355.95 transaction that took place with the merchant Salty Bottom Reef on January 7, 2024.
  
  Rest assured that we make incoming refunds immediately available to our customers as soon as we receive them; there isn't any hold time. If you are not seeing the refund on your account within the time frame the merchant provided, please reach out to them for more information about their posting time frames.
   
  If you have additional questions, please feel free to respond to this email communication or by chat support in the Varo app. You may also submit the following web form to ensure that you are routed to the appropriate servicing channel www.varomoney.com/support.
  Thanks,
  The Varo Team

   

   

  Please REFUND MY CARD IMMEDIATELY. This merchant is playing games.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  01/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 09/24/2022 I purchased a product on this business's website. I contacted the company to get an exact picture of the product as they only had a couple pictures on their website listing. I purchased a "Banded Cat Shark", but the picture of the product was actually a Marbled Catshark which is what I was looking for. After I contacted them and got pictures of what they actually had in stock was a Grey Bamboo Shark, which looks nothing like the picture of the product on their website. I then had to cancel the order as I did not want a Grey Bamboo shark. They charged me a 5% cancellation fee for cancelling the order, but it was their own negligence and misinformation that caused me to cancel the order as the picture and name did not match on their website. I would like to be refunded this fee as I am not at fault for the cancellation. In the first picture you can see the picture that was listed on their website which is a dark all black shark that looks very much like a juvenile Marbled Catshark, it has no stripes at all. On the second picture you can the shark they actually had in stock that is a lighter tan color with stripes. These fish are not the same in the least and are very very different. It is not common for sharks to have a broad name when they are sold such as "Banded Catshark" but the picture will differentiate which species you are getting. They had the complete wrong image on their website for this listing.

  Business response

  01/23/2023

  Hello BBB and fine people of the internet who will read this complaint. I want to be 100% clear, Mr. G is complaining about a $10, 5% restocking fee he that incurred from a transaction that happened over 3 months ago and since then we have not heard a word from him until today, when he decides to submit a formal complaint with the BBB while emailing us screenshots of him completing the process.
  
  I will start by letting you know on the top of every page on our website there is a link that explains "What to Expect" when ordering from us, on this page, it clearly states that all canceled orders will incur a 5% fee. I have attached a screenshot of this page, the link is ***************************************************, and as stated before it can be found atop every single page on our website. We want it to be as visible as possible. Our policies are not unlike other businesses in our industry, however they are unlike Amazon or other big box retailers and we want the customer to be aware of this.
  
  This customer contacted us on 9/14/22 and asked if we were able to get a Marbled Catshark, on the 9/21/22 after attempting to locate the shark Mr. G requested we replied letting him know only Banded Cat Sharks were available, He then asked if we could special order one, to which we replied that “they are not available”. On the very next day 9/24/22, He then purchased a Banded Cat Shark from our website. After the purchase he started demanding that we send him photos, we sent him photos of the Banded Cat Shark that was available, again this is the item Mr. G actually purchased from us (I have attached the order form showing that Mr. G ordered a Banded Cat Shark), however, he then requested to cancel his order. We did just that and promptly refunded him his purchase price, minus the 5% fee as is our publicly stated policy.
  
  We can and do in some/most cases waive this fee for reasonable customers, however in this specific case we saw no reason to waive the fee as the customer was told THE DAY BEFORE purchasing that shark he had hoped that he purchased when he purchased a Banded Cat Shark was not available. The fee should have been no surprise as we try to make our policies as transparent as possible. As you can see in the attached email threads we answered Mr. G's questions and did all we could to assist him. 

  Customer response

  01/24/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The term "Banded Cat Shark" is used for a variety of shark species in this hobby. The company failed to state that they had a picture of a Marbled Catshark on their website page listing that I attached in the initial complaint. The company was falsely advertising the shark as a rarer shark which is illegal. They had a completely different photo in their listing compared to what they actually had in stock. They are completely at fault for the cancellation of this order and should refund 100% of the order total. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩