Let's Hear About Your Aqua SD Experience

[PJs_Bucket_List]

Some of you have likely already figured out that if a "newbie" mistake can be made, I've made it. Or I'm heading in that direction and I'll get there eventually. That said, I obviously don't think I can offer any useful advice to the truly novice reefer, unless it's to say, "See what I did there? Yeah, don't do that!" Which is the very point of this post. You see, last fall I won a few coral auctions on another site that lead me to Aqua SD. Oh, such pretty colors! And the prices...what a deal! I just have to laugh now at my naive eagerness and ignorant excitement. Embarrassing to think that I'm the only one who's fallen for their tactics. Please tell me I'm not! It's been a whole saga, spanning months and multiple orders, trying to resolve what started as one issue. At this point, I can't write it off as an honest mistake or accidental oversight. What they're doing is absolutely deliberate and dishonest, and I'm just going to have to accept the loss and give up the hope that they will have some integrity and make it right. The misleading, ridiculously edited photos are only the beginning. Bait and switch tactics are common practice, as well as sending almost dead coral that survives just long enough to negate a refund. That's if they send everything you order, and when you ask for the missing items "we'll be happy to ship it with your next order"...but there's a $100 minimum requirement for them to ship at all. Anyone else dealt with this company and care to share their experiences? I've read accounts elsewhere from other unfortunate people who have had similar issues with them. So to anyone reading this, BUYER BEWARE! Aqua SD has some questionable, dishonest and underhanded business practices.

 

[Atalien2005]

I haven’t purchased anything from AquaSD personally but I was just reading this today.

 

[hzheng33]

my feedback on AquaSD can be found here.

Post in thread 'My Electric Tiger Torch'

Oct 18, 2024

that's some gimmicky photo trick from the vendor...based on the over saturation i want to say it's ASD. if that's the case, most of the time you will not get the corals under your lighting to their overly exposed/saturated pictures.

• hzheng33

• 

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

my feedback on AquaSD can be found here.

Post in thread 'My Electric Tiger Torch'

Oct 18, 2024

that's some gimmicky photo trick from the vendor...based on the over saturation i want to say it's ASD. if that's the case, most of the time you will not get the corals under your lighting to their overly exposed/saturated pictures.

• hzheng33

• 

It's absolutely outrageous now. More than just over-saturating or tweaking the filters. You can see the clear lines where they use an outline selection tool (I don't know the exact terminology) and then color it with unrealistic colors. For example, I've seen the exact same mushroom in multiple places, but colored in, renamed (usually something dumb), and at a higher price point. Nearly every photo is labeled with fine print "Almost wysiwyg", so they get away with the false advertising. If you call them on it they give you some bull about different lighting or the coral is stressed from shipping. Yes, my initial problem was with a torch, as well, but I'm tired of going in circles with them. Specific notes on the orders, countless emails with screenshots, phone calls to confirm... you name it, I've tried it. Gave them chance after chance to get it right, and there's still some "mistake", something they left out, or a nearly DOA, so it has to be a replacement instead of a refund. It's just a sneaky, sketchy way to get suckers like me to keep ordering, trying to get what I already paid for! Sorry for the rant

 

[chaples55]

I've ordered from them a couple times and it actually went well. I got what I expected (I knew going into it that the photos were enhanced, but AquaSD are far from the only ones doing that). Most of the corals actually did look pretty close to the photos under my lighting. Each order included a freebie coral.

I had one DOA in one of the orders. They were out of stock of that coral when I reached out for a replacement, but they let me pick a replacement of equal value and sent it without any hassle.

 

[matticus1181]

I've ordered from them twice, though I only get Torches. Both times were good. Well packed, items were as expected, etc, and corals have been doing well. I agree that all sites over saturate photos, and always take them under crazy blue lights that you will not likely be running your tank at.

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

I appreciate all of the responses and sharing your experiences. I'm genuinely glad that your transactions were pleasant and easy. I only wish I could say the same. I truly can't understand how they've managed to mess something up with every order I've placed since the beginning of the year. And to be completely honest, I'm not an experienced reefer and don't know enough to be difficult or picky lol. I just want what I ordered and paid for when I order it the first time, without all the fuss, scripted baloney to excuse their mistakes, and having to place another order and pay for shipping AGAIN. I certainly wouldn't recommend them at this point.

 

[Hunna]

Now that I’ve been into photography for a bit, and doing post on my photos, almost EVERY online retailer or social media vendor is playing with the colors. Almost everything you see online is super saturated or has the colors tweaked a bit. It’s honestly kind of depressing seeing how many people do it, and how many newer hobbyists fall for it. People try and sell basic zoas or mushrooms that are “common” for outrageous prices, because they claim it’s “their” morph or whatever.

 

[hiimsean]

I ordered once from them and the only issue I had was with of course UPS but ASD was helpful and easy to deal with them fixing it.

 

[Rainblood]

A couple of my experiences below.
I mean I get it...perishable goods + high volume + scheduling = logistical nightmare
customer service tries to fix things but overall - not my cup of tea

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquasd-bad-experience.991158/

Post in thread 'Chapter 2: 50g Lowboy LPS'

May 1, 2023

LOL - trying to give them the benefit of the doubt on the issue. I don't think they became such a big player in the coral industry doing shady things like this, especially over a few hundred dollars. Just not worth the hit to their reputation.

But, I will take your word for it on the brightness, if it is, that's nice!

Sooo…I’ll say one last thing about ASD and then drop it because I’m just being a petty little bitch at this point

Last year I bought an acan colony for $25 and they called me to say it was a typo and was supposed to be $250 not $25 and they did not honor it...

• Rainblood

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

I know I sound paranoid, but at this point I'm beginning to think they are playing a twisted joke at my literal expense. No, the pictures aren't of the same coral. How can they "accidentally" pack all dying or diseased frags for the same order? I just don't get it. How can anyone do this and claim to have a conscience?

 

[siege]

I mean I get it...perishable goods + high volume + scheduling = logistical nightmare

Logistics is the seller's problem, not the buyer's. If they wanna be - and stay - in business, that's on them to sort out, including sorting out the shipping companies they use.

Western civilization has known the importance of logistics at least since Hannibal of Carthage's escapades across the Alps, and rather more recently, Napoleon's well-documented jaunts around Europe. Heck, Sun Tzu had it figured ("An army marches on its stomach,") when he wrote The Art of War around the time of Rome's founding as a republic ~2500 years ago, some 300 years before Hannibal. The U.S. military's logistics capabilities is the sole reason we're able to fight 3 different wars simultaneously without even causing a hiccup in our economy.

If they can't handle the volume on orders of corals, they either need to hire more people (including those with relevant logistics experience as well as coral care), scale back the amount of business they will accept and/or increase the shipping window... or find a different line of business to be in.

If I'm paying for a live, healthy animal, that's what I expect to receive, period. If you have to increase your prices, fine, do it. I'd rather pay more and get what I paid for - or have the option to take my business elsewhere if I find it too pricey - than deal with a shell game.

At this point it would take some pretty serious guarantees from a seller for me to consider an online purchase. I can't think of anything I want SO bad that I'm willing to deal with the potential headache, time, and money lost that I wouldn't just as soon ask my LFS - which is a solid hour drive each way - to order it... or just wait for it to show up for sale/auction/trade here.

I mean, heck, it's a lot easier for me to drive to the LFS at my own convenience, on a weekend, and pick up an animal I can visually verify appears healthy, where it only spends an hour or so in a bag and can have a nice, gentle transition into QT...

... rather than waking up at o'dark-thirty on Tuesday morning to get to the shipping distribution center and wait around hoping they can find my package, only to rush home and stress about rushing it into QT while being sure to document the entire receipt process, while I've still got work to do for the day... all for it to live just long enough due to my attempts at emergency care to not qualify for refund/replacement.

Like, at this point I question whether even free corals from a contest or the like is worth it.

 

[Hunna]

I haven’t ordered coral online before, so take this for what you will. It seems that the social media vendors are putting a lot more care into their packaging than the big online retailers. I’m seeing people with either 3D printed frag holders for euphyllia, or at the very least styrofoam rings with a hold cut out to hold the frag plug. At least something is being done to keep the euphyllia from being damaged too much during normal shipping. The care a lot of them put into the packaging and shipping is pretty impressive.

On the other hand, all I’ve seen lately across multiple social media platforms is multiple people having similar complains about the big online retailers that once were reliable. Again, this isn’t my personal experience, but I spend enough time on the various social media platforms sharing the pictures/videos I take. And it’s all I’ve seen whether on Facebook, Reef2Reef, IG, and TikTok.

There are a handful of vendors I would order from online if I had the money, and they all are “mom and pop” vendors that run a social media account of some type. As much as I hate how important social media is, it is and if you say otherwise you are sadly mistaken. So those people that have built their businesses solely through social media over the past few years (and I’ve seen quite a few), don’t want to risk their reputation to be blemished by bad social media posts tagging them/their products.

Again, just my 2 cents from someone that hasn’t personally ordered, but has a ton of downtime during the workday, and sees this stuff posted all over the internet daily.

 

[Hunna]

This is a perfect example of what I meant earlier, where people over saturate things. That’s not what that coral will look like under normal lighting, even with heavy blues.

 

[Courtmich]

This has happened to me before.I was refunded money from the business.

 

[siege]

I haven’t ordered coral online before, so take this for what you will. It seems that the social media vendors are putting a lot more care into their packaging than the big online retailers. I’m seeing people with either 3D printed frag holders for euphyllia, or at the very least styrofoam rings with a hold cut out to hold the frag plug. At least something is being done to keep the euphyllia from being damaged too much during normal shipping. The care a lot of them put into the packaging and shipping is pretty impressive.

On the other hand, all I’ve seen lately across multiple social media platforms is multiple people having similar complains about the big online retailers that once were reliable. Again, this isn’t my personal experience, but I spend enough time on the various social media platforms sharing the pictures/videos I take. And it’s all I’ve seen whether on Facebook, Reef2Reef, IG, and TikTok.

There are a handful of vendors I would order from online if I had the money, and they all are “mom and pop” vendors that run a social media account of some type. As much as I hate how important social media is, it is and if you say otherwise you are sadly mistaken. So those people that have built their businesses solely through social media over the past few years (and I’ve seen quite a few), don’t want to risk their reputation to be blemished by bad social media posts tagging them/their products.

Again, just my 2 cents from someone that hasn’t personally ordered, but has a ton of downtime during the workday, and sees this stuff posted all over the internet daily.

At this point, while I would be willing to put some trust, say, into the more local-ish vendors that attended our last swap meet, for example, even if THEY do everything right, I still have to worry about the shipper.

Fair point though about the largely social-media based sellers tho.