My horrible experience with Aquaspot

[kkau1]

I would like to share my experience with everyone about my recent order with Aquaspot. I had placed a large order with Aquaspot and never recieved it. I even payed for express shipping. When I e-mailed Aquaspot about the status of my order Ben said that the order had been delivered the week before, which makes no sense since i never received the package.

Here's a time line of events and my interactions with aquaspot.

The order was shipped on time with a tracking number on 6/9/08

Tracking number says signed for and deliverd on 6/11/08
- When i saw this I ran home as quickly as I could to get my plants, but of course, no package. It doesn't help that the tracking on the package does not list the destination. The only info it says is San Francisco. Also, the recipient name listed is not me, nor anyone in the duplex that I live in. I didn't think too much about it at the time, since i had placed 2 separate orders with Aquaspot, and the first of the two orders had gotten here the day before. I assumed that the second package would be soon to follow. I was mistaken.

Inquired about status of order on 6/17/08
- I e-mailed Aquaspot about my plant order. I must have caught been while he was on the computer because I had a response instantly. 4-5 e-mails exchanged. Here is what he replied.

- As mentioned, it's already delivered and yes, it was shipped Express.
- You can check with your local post office and verify with them the address that this order was sent to. There is nothing we can do here as the package was already sent out.
- I can definitely see your situation. However, this really isn't within our control.
You can just give them the tracking number and ask them to check since the package definitely has to come from them.

- 6/18 The next morning I went to the post office with my tracking number. The post office told me that they had no record of this tracking number and that there were not any packages waiting for me there. I e-mailed Aquaspot again with this information and here is Ben's response
-I have already asked my post office to do a traceback and it will take around 2 working days for them to get back to me.
I will definitely work out something for your loss once they get back and it's irrecoverable.

- 6/23/08 I e-mailed again asking if there was any new information and for a resolution to this problem. The response i got was "I will let you know as soon as they get back to me."

- 7/2/08 I e-mailed yet again asking if there was any new information and for there to be a resolution to this problem again. The response I got was "Singpost is still checking for us what's going on. All checks so far have shown that it's been delivered. In fact, they are insisting that someone on your end must have signed for the package in your absence. I'm still pressing them for updates but it's not easy. As mentioned, I will update you as soon as information becomes available."

- Since then I've e-mailed Aquaspot just about every day about more information and to get this problem resolved. It has now been over a month since my plants were "delivered" and Aquaspot has stopped replying to my e-mails. The last 3 I've sent since then have had no response.


I can understand that sometimes things get lost in the mail or mis-delivered. I am all right with that. But for a company to take absolutely no steps to fix the situation is unacceptable. I wasn't asking for a new order to be shipped completely on them for free. In fact I never once asked for anything. All i asked was that this problem be resolved. I would have had no problem paying the shipping on a replacement order, or even paying for the order again at a dealer price. But as you can see right from the beginning I was told "There is nothing we can do here as the package was already sent out."

I've ordered from Aquaspot before and things have allways come. Even when I received melted plants, I understood that it wasn't Aquaspot's fault especially since I hadn't payed for express shipping.

So this is my situation. I spent over $130 on a group plant order and get nothing. Aquaspot has been completely uncooperative in fixing this problem. I can honestly say that the first 4-5 e-mails I was polite in my interactions with Aquaspot. And when I did get more aggressive towards them (never any cussing, just expressing my disappointment in the way they are handling this, as well as my plans of contesting the charge on my credit card and sharing my experience on all the forums I frequent as well as my local plant club NACU which I am part of the presidency.)

All of the above information is factual and objective. Now I'll start my rant.

How can a company do this? How can they do business like this? How is it right for a customer to pay for a product but not receive it? How can a business act this way and refuse to offer a solution or compromise? I've heard of people getting dead plants, but that can be understandable given that the plants are coming from overseas, but to not get anything at all?

I can guarantee one thing, no one in NACU will ever place an order with Aquaspot. We're a local plant club of 38 strong and growing. With an experience such as this no one will want to try their luck knowing that they could be literally throwing their money away.

If Aquaspot were to contact me with a fix to this issue I'll take it and edit this post, but it's to the point were they've stopped responding to my e-mails. I know I was agitated the last few e-mails with them about this since over 3 weeks have passed without a resolution, but the most I've said was that I demand a resolution to this problem by the end of the week (2 weeks ago now).

I feel that it's a real pitty that Aquaspot has turned out this way. My past dealings with them were allright. I even felt that maybe I had caught Ben at a bad time when i first e-mailed. But after almost 1 whole month since I first brought this to their attention with no resolution I can say that Aquaspot is not worth it. Today I will be calling my credit card company to contest the charges. I will also be sharing my experience with Aquaspot with all that will listen.

[Jur4ik]

i always try if possible to pay after the stuff is delivered - or in germany we have the possibility to pay the bill at the post office when i pick up my package.

there must be a way to get your money back, if not they must show you your signature that you recieved the package or tell you who recieved it.

good luck

[cesar0916]

Hope to hear some update soon...Hopefully good news... Cheers!

[kkau1]

Things were resolved in the end thanks to paypal~ I disputed the payment through paypal and they ruled in my favor. Aquaspot had offered me a "deal" after i had posted my experience on the forums i visit. Their "deal" was no charge on handling and free standard shipping (basically they would resend my $120 order that i had already paid in full for an additional $90). I'm just glad that paypal was able to get my money back. It's really sad though, Aquaspot could've just been more friendly and made me a real deal to compensate for my missing order, such as dealer price on my order etc.. but instead not only did they not get any of my money, they lost an order of plants as well as a customer.

[chillaquaplants]

That sucks to hear. I had an experience with them back when I first got my 75 gal tank. Nothing as bad as yours, but some plants did not make the trip to Fl.