a few ?'s about ordering from bigals...

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

my first question is how much does the next day shipping cost?? and how often do they mess up orders? i only odered once (2 AC 500's) and they accidently sent me 2 reverse flow kits and one of the housings for the filter was cracked... well we called them and told them and they sent a new filter housing and told us to keep the reverse flow kits... have any of you guys got anything extra before?? and one more question, do you think they would give me a discount of any kind since my b-day is tomorrow? i didnt think so :p

[Hebdizzle]

check the shipping prices on the website.

[slipknottin]

How does everyone manage to get free stuff from these online stores? Ive ordered over $1,000 worth of stuff from big als and never got anything for free. :mad:

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

1k $ worth of stuff??? what all have you ordered???

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

they dont just give out free stuff, its just that they accidently sent it to me and said to keep it when i told them...

[NGerdes]

I've always had good experience with Big Al's. I just submitted an order online today actually, and within 10 minutes of hitting the final button on the computer, I had a sales rep calling my house to confirm the order and verify the additional shipping cost for the onyx sand I purchased. But there pretty good. I like 'em.

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

i just had my mom order some stuff for me (im only 16 actually 17 tomorrow) and i was going to buy some flourite, but he said it would cost 25$ extra to ship it or something so i just decided to wait.... but i got some plant food, root tabs, brine shrimp eggs and b s food. and the cost was like 20$ but i have to wait 6-8 business days.... that sucks...

[NJ Devils Fan]

The first time I ordered, it was 2 Emperor 400s, 2 tronic 200 watt heaters, and 7 bags of onyx sand. We ordered everything on a sunday, and on monday evening, a rep called to confirm the extra shipping cost of the sand which was about $40-$50 extra. I got everything on that thursday. I just ordered some root tabs and a hagan bubble counter for my DiY CO2 last tuesday evening, and I got it yesterday(friday). So, the two experiences I had with them were great.

[somefinnfishy]

I've ordered tree times each like a 100 dollar orders of lots of small stuff all tree times they didnt ship the stuff I realy needed now.So I either had to wait 8 more days and pay $5 shipping for the $10 worth of stuff they dident have in stock.So down to the lfs to pay full price again:(.
BTW extra shipping on the bag of frourite to MN was $9 last week

[NJ Devils Fan]

Happy Birthday K_S_W_I_S_S

[Heady]

somefinnfishy, if you tell them you are reordering something that was not shipped with your last order, they will waive the shipping fees. You just have to ask! This policy is listed on their website. "YOU MAY INDICATE ON YOUR NEXT ORDER THAT YOU ARE REORDERING AN OUT-OF-STOCK ITEM. BIG AL’S WILL ADJUST YOU SHIPPING CHARGES TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR INCONVENIENCE."

http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/company_info.cgi?inUID=1047049892.1047049892

I have used BigAl's twice now, for a total of $600. Both times, I found items cheaper somewhere else online, and put the link in the comments section with a request for their price guarantee, and they beat the other people's price by 5%! Saved me more than the cost of shipping the order! :D

One thing I got from them, the display box was all crunched, but the filter was fine.

One time, I placed an order at 6:30am pacific on a Wednesday, and they didn't give me the double points for ordering on Wednesday. So, I called them and asked for my points, and they gave them to me.

Their customer service over the phone is great! Although they don't send the tracking info with the confirmation e-mail, you can easily get it just by calling them.

All in all, I have had good experiences with them, and have bought over a thousand dollars worth of stuff for $600 including shipping. Plus they don't charge sales tax where I live. Good deal!! :)

[NJ Devils Fan]

Where do you find out your VIP points?

[jiggerpolebill]

ive ordered only twice, but both orders came correct and quickly. i was wondering about the VIP points myself.

[valerie]

the VIP points are listed on your bill. If i remember correctly it also tells you before you order the next time(atleast it did when i ordered).

The crappy thing is you need 500points just to get 10$ off.

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

thanks nj devils fan

[NJ Devils Fan]

I see it now, I have a whopping 240.

[Heady]

1020 :D

I *ALWAYS* order on double points day.

[Elmo]

I've got enough VIP points to get myself a couple Chain Swords and some more Ghost Shrimp tommorow. :cool:

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

you can buy plants and live animals from big als???

[NJ Devils Fan]

He means the actual store in Canada, not the website. I wish there was a big al's by me, but of course, there isn't anf great fish place.

[superstein61]

Originally posted by somefinnfishy
I've ordered tree times each like a 100 dollar orders of lots of small stuff all tree times they didnt ship the stuff I realy needed now.So I either had to wait 8 more days and pay $5 shipping for the $10 worth of stuff they dident have in stock.So down to the lfs to pay full price again:(.
BTW extra shipping on the bag of frourite to MN was $9 last week

thats my experience as well - I have never received a COMPLETE order from BigAls - and they don't backorder and ship for free. Invariably, the things that do not arrive are those I needed most. Thats why I prefer buying what I need from:

www.drsfostersmith.com

They are much better than BigAls from a customer service standpoint IMO and the prices are always comparable (in some cases slightly better, in others slightly worse)

[Heady]

BigAl's policy is to adjust the shipping charges if you are reordering something you didn't get with the first order. All you have to do is ask!

Direct from the policies portion of their website:
"YOU MAY INDICATE ON YOUR NEXT ORDER THAT YOU ARE REORDERING AN OUT-OF-STOCK ITEM. BIG AL’S WILL ADJUST YOU SHIPPING CHARGES TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR INCONVENIENCE."

http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/company_info.cgi?inUID=1049743184.1049743184

[NGerdes]

I ordered a good amount of miscellaneous stuff just saturday. An emporer 280, plant gro co2 system, 2 bags of onyx sand, assorted fertilizers, a heater, and a few test kits. (Setting up my 29 gal planted.) I sent an order and rembered that I forgot some stuff. So I ordered again. Sent them an email asking if I could combine the two orders to save some shipping. Emailed me back like and hour later saying that they would. I had like 12 items totalling around $150. All in stock. Got a confirmation email today saying they were all shipped this morning. I still like 'em. My only thing is like someone said is that you have to request a tracking number....

[avoxo]

I have ordered from PetsMart, Big Al and Pet Solutions. PetsMart the prices are too high and the messed up on the order. I have ordered about $350 from Big Al's with no problems and about $250 from Petsolutions. Petsolutions twice sent me a broken ceramic mountain and both times I called and got a new one. Besides that they were also great.

Avoxo

[somefinnfishy]

Originally posted by Heady
somefinnfishy, if you tell them you are reordering something that was not shipped with your last order, they will waive the shipping fees. You just have to ask! This policy is listed on their website. "YOU MAY INDICATE ON YOUR NEXT ORDER THAT YOU ARE REORDERING AN OUT-OF-STOCK ITEM. BIG AL’S WILL ADJUST YOU SHIPPING CHARGES TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR INCONVENIENCE."

http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/company_info.cgi?inUID=1047049892.1047049892

:)

Good to know:D Thank you

[NJ Devils Fan]

Ahh, all this talk about ordering from Big Al's, I want to order some more stuff soon just for the hell of it. What I don't get is why do they use like old boxes? Like one's used for other things. My most recent order came in a box that said "Jergins Body Soap". They should have their own custom Big Al's boxes.

[karfixer]

I've bought quite a bit of stuff from BigAl's and had a couple of orders that were incomplete due to being out of stock/backordered.

[superstein61]

Originally posted by Heady
BigAl's policy is to adjust the shipping charges if you are reordering something you didn't get with the first order. All you have to do is ask!



that policy, while better than what they did 6 months ago (IE SAY TOO BAD) still sucks. They are putting the onus on you to reorder. That is terrible customer service !!!!!

Not only that, its amazing to me a company their size is always out of stock on something. Good companies should have better inventory management techniques.

On my last and final time ever ordering frrom BigAls, I tried to take advantage of this so-called "adjustment" of their shipping charges for items out of stock. A week later - the item I really needed was still out of stock. A week later, again still out of stock. 3 weeks later, it was finally in stock - so they finally sent what I wanted BUT DID NOT adjust the shipping charges. I called and they said since I didn't order anything else they didn't reduce the shipping charges. I argued that is not what their policy supposedly says and after a while, they relented and refunded my shipping. But I had to fight to get it !!!

Give me a company like www.drsfostersmith.com that will automatically backorder and ship the items I order for free anytime.

Plain and simple - Big Al's non-backorder policy is anti-customer friendly>

Make the switch to a company that cares !!!