An Open Letter To Reef Cleaners

[Iron E]

The following is a copy of an email I sent to Reef Cleaners detailing my problems with their service and livestock. I thought you all may be interested in seeing the progress of events.

Tom



OK, I've got a few problems i wish to bring to your attention. First, I ordered the Cheato and Mangroves because I wanted them. Not a refund for your failure to deliver. Second, you shipped these creatures Priority mail when you stated they would be shipped Express mail. Not only did they arrive late, I wasted a whole day waiting for them to arrive. Third, every Dwarf Cerith and zig-zag Periwinkle you sent, is dead. Along with my two Peppermint shrimp and two of my Hermit Crabs. All of the Nassarius Snails survived. Fourth, The first time I ordered from you I ordered 30 lbs of base rock. I recieved a package that, including 2 lbs of cardboard, only weighed 27 lbs. Fifth, I was informed that a second shipment which I did no order was on it's way with live animals in it. I sent you an email but receiving no response and being concerned for the animals welfare, I spent 2 days waiting for a package that was never sent.

I am posting this as an open letter on the Talking Reef forum so that, 1) your response will be scrutinized by the general community and 2) others will be aware of your business practices and customer service.

The ball is in your court.

Tom

[V]

we sooo have to work on your letter writting skills bud, cause im meant to be from the sticks, not you!

im assuming then you had some issues.
what do most companies do when you recieve dead livestock?

[Iron E]

we sooo have to work on your letter writting skills bud, cause im meant to be from the sticks, not you!

im assuming then you had some issues.
what do most companies do when you recieve dead livestock?

Dude!

You wound me to the core!

I always considered myself to be an most eloquent composer!

(Honestly, I'm not in my best form when I'm a little PO'd!)

You know I always speak vey highly of you!

"Sticks" is a state of mind. Carefully cultivated it can be of immeasurable value!

I've never had this issue before. Don't know what to expect.

Tom

[V]

haha, loving you loses its impact when you dont use bullet point..lol

[Iron E]

haha, loving you loses its impact when you dont use bullet point..lol

Fickle aren't we?

[V]

yeah, about drinking beer, blond women, & the colour of your zz top shirt



arrrr, dont sweat it bud, im only having a poke!
Being p^ssed off sometimes & letting them have it, its, its, like a god given right........ just like free porn for me or spandex for you

[Iron E]

arrrr, dont sweat it bud, im only having a poke!
Being p^ssed off sometimes & letting them have it, its, its, like a god given right........ just like free porn for me or spandex for you

Poke away bro. Just be careful where you aim!

What is that? some kinda Aussie kitty-kat? (and, dude, WHAT are you DOING to that poor creature?)

Tom

[Iron E]

Here's an update with my response to their response...


--- On Wed, 6/10/09, John Maloney / Reef Cleaners <reefcleaners@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: John Maloney / Reef Cleaners <reefcleaners@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Order Status Change: Your Order 2769
> To: "tom pava" <tjpava@yahoo.com>
> Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 10:48 AM
> what do you want me to do?
>
>

John,

In the future i would appreciate Items I order being shipped as ordered. Meaning, you send me what I order or, notify me of a lack of items in stock and give me the option to ship order or not.

If you say you are going to ship something Express mail, don't send it Priority mail.

If you send items via Express mail and send your customers the tracking number, they can track that shipment online and know when to be home. USPS does not offer detailed tracking info on any shipment other than Express.

For now, what I would like is for you to send me the 5 Mangrove 2 Cheato I ordered. A refund for the dead zig-zags and Dwarf Ceriths would be appreciated.

If you can do this, I will be satisfied and willing to continue doing business with you should I have need of your products in the future.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, Tom

[V]

ok so the name maloney just powered the light bulb above my head. No wonder reef cleaners sounded familur - one of our site sponsers , lol, ozzie & cant take me anywhere.!

im not adding any fuel cause rob will shoot me for peeing in the company pool, however as part of the 'scrutinized panel' i'm going to have a silent giggle at the dirrect swift one line responce

[Iron E]

i'm going to have a silent giggle at the dirrect swift one line responce

Not what ya'd call a particularly verbose individual.

[rroselavy]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Iron E. I thought Reefcleaners required Express shipping to CA because of fatalities. Sounds like a mix up.

I ordered from John before Reefcleaners.org became a TR sponsor.

I emailed John once or twice during the ordering/shipping process with questions and received prompt answers. He offered acclimation advice and told me to follow up with him after receipt to see how things were going. No complaints there.

I ordered 30 or so Dwarf Ceriths snails (out of curiousity) and was sent over 100 surviving specimens. They are tiny snails, so they may have bagged a handful instead of counting.

I also ordered Dwarf Nassarius and Dwarf Planaxis with 100% survival rate. I haven't seen the Planaxis since they went into the QT, but the D. Nass'es did just fine.

Instead of ordering the Macro combo kit, I ordered 5-6 Macros a la carte. The portions were OK (not generous), particularly with the Ulva. The $4.99 Ulva Macro was advertised to be the size of a golfball (or tennis ball? - cannot remember). What I received was small and matted down like a postage stamp and it was falling apart. I laughed when I first saw the size. I see now that they are selling 1 pound of Ulva for $15, so perhaps I caught them "off season". By contrast, the Ulva I purchased from IPSF as part of their "pod breeding kit" was much more sturdy and was a true handful.

Lastly, the "Emerald Crab" I ordered arrived bright red in color, similar species but not exactly the same. John offered to refund if it was a problem. No worries. He arrived in good shape and doubled in size while in QT - eating some of the Macro I ordered like a pig! He is now in my DT and doing very well (not bothering anyone when I'm looking).

Overall, I think Johns selections and service are very good. The web site is also well organized with some great info, and John has done a great job of visiting the main forums online and offering advice where it is sought. He created a great Nuisance Algae Thread on NR that I was just breezing through last night.

Would I order from them again? Yes.

[CarmieJo]

I too have had excellent service and good livestock from ReefCleaners.

[V]

you see john, word around the campfire is your service isn't bad, we just have to work on you adding the word "bud" to your one liners as an icebreaker for the odd mishap

[johnmaloney]

Thanks for the support guys.

hi there iron e. refunds were given for the rock, the box doesn't weigh 2 pounds it weighs 10 ounces, not sure what happened, but we refunded it no questions asked after you first informed us.

We did make a mistake in the shipping, I apologize for that and sent you a refund. We reshipped the mangroves and chaeto and refunded them, sorry they haven't arrived yet. I am not sure what else we can do, sorry you aren't happy, but there is nothing further I can do. I tried to work this out, what do you want? (Edit - things get lost in writing - I mean I can't think of anything else, what else can we do for you?)

I think the peppermint shrimp thing is a mixup, couldn't find it in your orders. I don't think there is any hermits either, I have an order only for empty shells.

[Iron E]

Thanks for the support guys.

hi there iron e. refunds were given for the rock, the box doesn't weigh 2 pounds it weighs 10 ounces, not sure what happened, but we refunded it no questions asked after you first informed us.

We did make a mistake in the shipping, I apologize for that and sent you a refund. We reshipped the mangroves and chaeto and refunded them, sorry they haven't arrived yet. I am not sure what else we can do, sorry you aren't happy, but there is nothing further I can do. I tried to work this out, what do you want? (Edit - things get lost in writing - I mean I can't think of anything else, what else can we do for you?)

I think the peppermint shrimp thing is a mixup, couldn't find it in your orders. I don't think there is any hermits either, I have an order only for empty shells.

Hi John,

As I stated, if certain conditions were met, I would be satisfied. As of now, (assuming the Chaeto and Mangroves arrive as expected) those have been met.

I must say I am surprised to see you coming out of your shell. (so to speak) Communicating your thoughts, admitting your errors and proposing avenues of resolution. I believe this misunderstanding could have been resolved in a much more expedient and dignified manner if you had been this forthcoming in your emails to me.

I realize that you are probably a very busy person and it is hard to take the time to deal with each customers issues on a more personal level. As an online seller myself, I've got to say, this kind of communication is vital. When a customer is left to wonder, "What's going on? Does this guy even know, or care about my situation? Have I been duped by yet another, fly-by-night, online shyster?" This is not conducive to a positive, long term association.

You obviously have a loyal following in the members of this forum and I, having the utmost respect for their judgement, shall consider this an unfortunate, isolated incident. For my part the matter is closed.

I look forward to a positive association in the future.

Tom

[lReef lKeeper]

ill give John time to reply then one of the mods or myself will close this thread. thanks for keeping it civil.

[johnmaloney]

ok cool. everything we discussed in the emails before the post was made has been done so we are all set then. sorry you thought I was a fly by night shyster, we had over 29 email conversations! Take care!

[lReef lKeeper]

thread closed ... thanks for working things out in a civil manner. PM me or a Mod if this needs to be reopened for any reason.

i know who i will be using when the time comes to order my CUC ...