This is truly a "rant" thread. I honestly hate to share this, but at this point I need to vent a little and warn fellow ARCers. I pride myself on being fair with others, including businesses, and I always try and put myself in the other parties shoes. I try to get nice coral, fish, and drygoods for fair price while also making the LFS happy and making them money.
In the past 6-7 months I've spent thousands on coral with Rit. I've bought chalices, SPS, LPS, fish, god knows what else. Each time I went to see him, I told him my budget and we grabbed coral until I was maxed out. He always threw in a freebie, and that was nice. I lost a few coral along the way, and he was nice enough to replace the cheap coral (Monti, Zoa, etc). This arrangement was great until a month or so ago.
I bought three high end chalices (Bombay Peacock, Mellow Yellow, Riddler) and Red Hornets for quite a sum of money. I picked them up in person. The Hornets were NOT open, but he told me they were earlier in the day and that he'd stand by them. I got it all home and the Hornets melted by the next day and the Mellow Yellow melted just as fast. Upon examination, it didn't even seem to have a full eye.
I got in touch with Rit and explained. I told him that I DID NOT expect replacements, and that I'd rather keep him as a vendor and friend than put pressure on him to replace them. He said it wouldn't be a problem.
Well, a few weeks go by and he won't even respond to PMs. Finally, i get fed up and send him a harsh PM about the treatment and he responds within 10 mintues. He says that I "lose lots of coral," and that I "lose lots of chalice." I reply that this is a complete lie, as the MY was the only chalice I've ever lost of his. He won't back down and keeps telling me I "lost multiple chalices." I tell him that I WILL NOT tolerate lies, that I couldn't careless about the coral, but he needs to be honest. He eventually drops it and tells me he will send the hornets and chalice last monday and get me a tracking number.
I never hear from him again.
Nevermind the fact I've lost a Melanarus Wrasse and a Helfrichi firefish pair I bought from him at Atlanta Aquarium roughly a month ago. I know better than to bother complaining about that.
Honestly, it's not about the $300. It's about being fair and honest with your customers. Rit has some of the nicest coral in the south, and it sucks to have to break that relationship over this, but it is what it is.
I just wanted to share this story with everyone. I have all the PMs saved. If Rit wants to make things right he can, but I'm sure he'll continue to ignore the situation.
In the past 6-7 months I've spent thousands on coral with Rit. I've bought chalices, SPS, LPS, fish, god knows what else. Each time I went to see him, I told him my budget and we grabbed coral until I was maxed out. He always threw in a freebie, and that was nice. I lost a few coral along the way, and he was nice enough to replace the cheap coral (Monti, Zoa, etc). This arrangement was great until a month or so ago.
I bought three high end chalices (Bombay Peacock, Mellow Yellow, Riddler) and Red Hornets for quite a sum of money. I picked them up in person. The Hornets were NOT open, but he told me they were earlier in the day and that he'd stand by them. I got it all home and the Hornets melted by the next day and the Mellow Yellow melted just as fast. Upon examination, it didn't even seem to have a full eye.
I got in touch with Rit and explained. I told him that I DID NOT expect replacements, and that I'd rather keep him as a vendor and friend than put pressure on him to replace them. He said it wouldn't be a problem.
Well, a few weeks go by and he won't even respond to PMs. Finally, i get fed up and send him a harsh PM about the treatment and he responds within 10 mintues. He says that I "lose lots of coral," and that I "lose lots of chalice." I reply that this is a complete lie, as the MY was the only chalice I've ever lost of his. He won't back down and keeps telling me I "lost multiple chalices." I tell him that I WILL NOT tolerate lies, that I couldn't careless about the coral, but he needs to be honest. He eventually drops it and tells me he will send the hornets and chalice last monday and get me a tracking number.
I never hear from him again.
Nevermind the fact I've lost a Melanarus Wrasse and a Helfrichi firefish pair I bought from him at Atlanta Aquarium roughly a month ago. I know better than to bother complaining about that.
Honestly, it's not about the $300. It's about being fair and honest with your customers. Rit has some of the nicest coral in the south, and it sucks to have to break that relationship over this, but it is what it is.
I just wanted to share this story with everyone. I have all the PMs saved. If Rit wants to make things right he can, but I'm sure he'll continue to ignore the situation.
