"This place is absolutely terrible. We ordered 400 dollars worth of live fish from them for half of them to arrive dead or sick. The other half were either something they chose to give us instead of what we ordered or were missing entirely. We tried to contact them numerous times via phone, email, paypal, text, etc. We even completed their loss form for the dead fish. Never heard a word. Eventually we filed a dispute through paypal. Even through he dispute, they never attempted to contact us and continuously drug their feet through the process. However, we were awarded our refund through paypal in the end as they couldn't argue with our evidence (always write everything down folks).
I will never give them business again and I should have reviewed the company before purchasing to begin with. Lesson learned. "
"When I moved from Chicago to rural Oregon, I found there were no LFS’s within a two hour drive. So I pretty much had to buy fish and plants online when I set up my aquariums once again. I had heard of Arizona Gardens for many years, long before I would need to place an order for plants or fish online. They have a very professional appearing website and have been in business for 33 years. They seemed like a safe bet. Stupidly, I didn’t bother to check their reviews online.
Big mistake!
Like most of the other reviewers here, I discovered they refuse to communicate, ship slowly, send the wrong items, and items arrive dead. They are quick to process your credit card charge though!
I ordered six different kinds of plants. Three of those I received were not what I ordered, even though the bags said they were. (I’ve kept aquariums for 75 years; I do know the difference.) Two were bags full of mush. One included fewer plants than I was charged for. All my attempts to contact them have been futile.
Somewhere on their website they say they treat their customers like family. That must be some dysfunctional family!
Stay away. As others have said, they are nothing but scam artists."
"Well, I spent well over $200. None of the fish i received were the fish I ordered. I ordered 2 dwarf flag acaras and received 2 apistogrammas. I ordered 1 bolivian ram and received a german blue ram. Multiple live plants I ordered were never shipped. They dont respond to emails and Ive attempted to call but their voicemail box is full. I will never order from them again. Also, all my shrimp were dead on arrival. I spent the extra $$ for speedy delivery. Order was shipped on a Wednesday and I did not receive till Monday. Poor fish!!! I hope they send me replacement shrimp and the live plants i ordered. "
"Paid $217 for 3 fish. The shipping itself was over $70. It was supposed to be 2 day shipping. I’ve been trying to contact the seller for the past 5 days. No response. I’m currently disputing to get a refund. BUYER BEWARE!!!! SCAM."
"This was the worst place to order anything from, nobody answers the phone or email if you want to cancel an order, pretty sure they don’t take care of their fish, never ever order from this place. "
"I ordered fish from Arizona Aquatic Gardens. I had a question and went back in to get their phone number and call them. The site came up saying that they were scammers trying to get my information. I freaked out as you can imagine. Then I found their number another way and called them. He was rude, told me I was crazy and that their site was just down. I asked him how he would feel if he made a $200 order and the places site said that. The man is nuts. I told him that I wanted to cancel the order. Now I have to contest it on my credit card. The I later find out how terrible they are. I should have looked at the reviews first. I was just trying to order some fish for my grandson. Don't use these guys!!!!"
"Absolutely horrible ordered fish and paid with the expectation that the fish would ship on Wednesday as the website states on Monday I received an email to send them another $10 for a heatpack which I promptly paid for. On Wednesday evening I sent an email asking if the fish had shipped no response by Saturday still no fish so I opened a case with paypal still waiting to hear from them and it been over a week now DO NOT buy from these people theyre full of ****"
"Ordered aquatic plants, inverts, and fish. Didn't read reviews beforehand - my mistake. Plants were healthy - that bar is pretty low. Inverts arrived alive but lost about 20% within the first week. 50% of the fish arrived dead. 2 were in an advanced state of decomposition and may very well have been dead *when they were bagged*. Awesome. The remaining fish failed to survive the next 4 hours - outside of the DOA window.
Everything went as it should have on my end - the box arrived within its expected delivery window, the heat pack was lukewarm, outdoor temps were above 55°F, I got the box indoors within 20min of delivery, and what survived shipping was drip-acclimated to my quarantine tank with the bags in a temp-controlled bath.
Can only assume that they knowingly sell sick and/or starved fish and just don't care at all if they survive the journey. So long as bodies arrive in bags, in any condition, their job is done.
Submitted a DOA notice with clear photographs within 1 hour of arrival and 3 weeks later have received no response. From other reviews it seems like there's no way to get a reply short of pursuing legal action.
Should've just waited for AquaticArts to have some stock back in. Will not be ordering from AZ Aquatic Gardens again."
"Used PayPal for buyer protection. I bought four plants, they shipped one. Paid $70 for that one plant. Messaged them repeatedly with no response from them. So I filed a claim with PayPal. Because Pete gave them a stupid tracking number they sided with him. I paid $70 dollars for one plant. He could've shipped me an empty box and paypal would've sided with him with their new laws they put into place as of Sept. 2019. I contacted him again staying this was horrible customer service and he took advantage of PayPal's guidelines and he knew what was done! that I'd like my product I ordered or a refund.. he blocked me.. never order from this company, they never even answer their phone! Fradulant scam artist... I hope their business fails..
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"Don't waste your time. He won't reply to requests. 1st shipment no show. Sent to wrong address. Tried to inform many times in many different ways. So those animals are dead. Still has not responded, but sent another shipment to correct address. I will be very surprised if shipment is not DOA. I will update. This guy should be shut down."
"What the other reviewers say is harsh and I don't doubt a word. **** service, zero customer service, I'm off to spread the word. If even one person doesn't get ripped off by these scam artists, it'll be worth my time.
still waiting for my fish. i should have known something was off when they call phoenix rasbora and chili rasbora the same fish. the reality is, if they have the fish they advertise or not, you won't know until the due date for shipping the fish has passed.
i'm contacting my credit card company. "
"Buyer Beware!! I ordered fish from them and paid 50 dollars extra for overnight shipping to ensure they would arrive safely. I ordered 6 in total (4 German Black Rams and 2 long finned blue Rams). They sent 1 Black Ram that was very dead on arrival and both the blue Rams were the wrong fish. The other 3 black rams were missing from the order. They also went ahead and sent via postal service so instead of the fish being sent express/overnight it took them 5 days to arrive. Now the seller has vanished. I’ve tried to reach them dozens of times via phone or email and nothing. It’s my worst online fish experience EVER!! Please do not buy from this company!!"
"Do not order from them. Order was 13 days late after paying $40 for 2 day shipping. All animals were dead when received. They do NOT respond to emails, facebook, or calls. When trying to get a refund nothing happens. I found a 5 star company and everything went smooth. I suggest ordering from Aquatic Arts.
If you have any questions about my review or your are the owner of the company feel free to contact me back. I stand behind my review 100% and wish I could leave 0 stars.
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"I'm kicking myself for failing to read reviews before buying from Arizona Aquatic. They pass themselves off as a family company. Communication is non-existent. After writing 2 emails, calling three phone numbers, (1-no answer, 1-voicemail full) I was finally able to get a text message from someone (no name).
My fish order was 80% dead when it arrived. Yes I hated losing money, but mostly my heart broke to see all these living beings dead. I shared this in my text message to the rep. The response was, don't be distressed. They are only fish.
I care more about their fish than they do!
This is the number one worst online purchase experience I have EVER had. I'm nearly 60 and buy everything online."
"Bad customer service, fish and shrimp arrived most were dead most died shortly after still waiting for the credit that is supposed to be on my account DO NOT BY LIVING THING FROM THIS COMPANY!"