Just curious if anyone has ever ordered from them. I did and got less than good results. Called them to make an order and didn't get a callback for 1.5 weeks. Finally, spoke to Leroy and got order placed. Box arrived via USPS (shipping charge was $75?!?!!?) Half my CUC were empty shells. Coral frag pack was basically the same 3 corals mounted onto 8 plugs. If I bought this locally, the stuff would be half the price.
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GARF
- Thread starter calaxa
- Start date
Edwardw771
NJRC Member
I haven't heard good things about them. Never ordered my self.
sorry to hear that calaxa. I posted a warning about them a while back here, but it wasn't based on personal experience so I didn't think it right to post in retailer experiences.
Here's to hoping the good people of Idaho get themselves a better online vendor than GARF! (I'm shocked you were even able to buy anything - the navigation on that website is just absurdly horrid). Speaking of which don't get me started with Premium Aquatics. You'd think they could spend a little $ on a web designer to help their site out. Sheesh.
Here's to hoping the good people of Idaho get themselves a better online vendor than GARF! (I'm shocked you were even able to buy anything - the navigation on that website is just absurdly horrid). Speaking of which don't get me started with Premium Aquatics. You'd think they could spend a little $ on a web designer to help their site out. Sheesh.
Hawkeye said:
A lottle off topic, but I absolutely agree with you Hawkeye, My wife took a look at Premium aquatics site and asked me why our club would buy/trust a vendor that has such a poor outdated site.
Tazmaniancowboy
Well I was actually trying to place an order for their special that week which was 12 corals for $100 and would include a blue capnella and at least 2 yumas/rics. Of course you could not place an order for anything except inverts online so I called it in. What I got was:
2 Kenya Trees (common, not the blue one)
2 Xenia (common)
2 zoos (common colors)
2 star polyps (this was probably the best of the bunch)
Most of them poorly mounted and half of them broke off the frag disks. NO yuma/rics. No blue capnella.
I ordered the 100 gallon CUC so basically 100 hermits, 50 snails. I got 60 hermits, 30 snails and a whole lot of empty shells. The packaging was poor (dripping wet). The shipping fee was outageous. Ordered 3 mithrax crabs, got 2. No response to calls or emails.
I actually searched and saw some good reviews from garf. And reading thru your old post, I compeltely agree. Stay far away. Definitely marketing company disguised as a "research foundation." They are the total opposite of my experience with other online vendors.
I should show you the dvd they gave me. Probably the highlight of the order.
And on the topic of PA....their site needs a lot of work. It's not easy to navigate and some pictures would help. The "spartan" look only works for craigslist.
2 Kenya Trees (common, not the blue one)
2 Xenia (common)
2 zoos (common colors)
2 star polyps (this was probably the best of the bunch)
Most of them poorly mounted and half of them broke off the frag disks. NO yuma/rics. No blue capnella.
I ordered the 100 gallon CUC so basically 100 hermits, 50 snails. I got 60 hermits, 30 snails and a whole lot of empty shells. The packaging was poor (dripping wet). The shipping fee was outageous. Ordered 3 mithrax crabs, got 2. No response to calls or emails.
I actually searched and saw some good reviews from garf. And reading thru your old post, I compeltely agree. Stay far away. Definitely marketing company disguised as a "research foundation." They are the total opposite of my experience with other online vendors.
I should show you the dvd they gave me. Probably the highlight of the order.
And on the topic of PA....their site needs a lot of work. It's not easy to navigate and some pictures would help. The "spartan" look only works for craigslist.
Yes I wanted the blue capnella and I was curious as to this supposed cyano eating hermit. They barely even wanted the hair algae.
Also I never bought corals online and didn't check vendors here. In case you didn't know, I started this hobby in late May 2008 and was actually away on business from June - Sept. So my actual reefing experience is pretty low.
Also I never bought corals online and didn't check vendors here. In case you didn't know, I started this hobby in late May 2008 and was actually away on business from June - Sept. So my actual reefing experience is pretty low.
calaxa said:Yes I wanted the blue capnella and I was curious as to this supposed cyano eating hermit. They barely even wanted the hair algae.
Also I never bought corals online and didn't check vendors here. In case you didn't know, I started this hobby in late May 2008 and was actually away on business from June - Sept. So my actual reefing experience is pretty low.
If you want something that eats cyano, get some turbo snails.
I know this topic is old, but I still felt compelled to add to it.
From personal experience this is a place to stay away from.
I had a very similar experience as the OP, although my order was limited to CUC.
I spoke with Leroy, and we came to an agreement on the size of my CUC (translation - I told him the package I wanted despite his efforts to up sell me.).
I asked the shipping charges, and I was told it would be less than $20. He reported the larger package costs $20 to ship, and this would be less.
I was watching my credit card, and I noticed a hold put on my account for a significantly larger amount then I ordered.
I attempted multiple emails and calls attempting to cancel the order, but I could not reach them. (I still have the emails saved)
They then shipped the order after my attempts at contacting them, and then sent me an email stating the shipping charges were what they were.
That would be fine if they had not quoted a price previously.
My mistake was not investigating them more.
In my semi-defense, some of the most highly regarded reef books I had been reading make reference to/provide pictures from/give contact details for GARF.
Additionally there is a major saltwater products manufacturer that uses a GARF picture for some of their products.
In short, they are great at marketing themselves, but not good with their customers.
From personal experience this is a place to stay away from.
I had a very similar experience as the OP, although my order was limited to CUC.
I spoke with Leroy, and we came to an agreement on the size of my CUC (translation - I told him the package I wanted despite his efforts to up sell me.).
I asked the shipping charges, and I was told it would be less than $20. He reported the larger package costs $20 to ship, and this would be less.
I was watching my credit card, and I noticed a hold put on my account for a significantly larger amount then I ordered.
I attempted multiple emails and calls attempting to cancel the order, but I could not reach them. (I still have the emails saved)
They then shipped the order after my attempts at contacting them, and then sent me an email stating the shipping charges were what they were.
That would be fine if they had not quoted a price previously.
My mistake was not investigating them more.
In my semi-defense, some of the most highly regarded reef books I had been reading make reference to/provide pictures from/give contact details for GARF.
Additionally there is a major saltwater products manufacturer that uses a GARF picture for some of their products.
In short, they are great at marketing themselves, but not good with their customers.
i had a great experience with garf. i ordered 6 lbs of grunge and 20 cerith snails and thats what i got ( along with about ten empty shells). the guy leroy DOES try to sell ya up but you just have to be firm, thats all... my shipping was 12.00 and it was 2 day shipping. not to defend them but i heard when i was doing my research before my order that when leroys wife stopped doing all the orders because she was terminally ill that he was messin alot of orders up, but everywhere i looked he made right with the customers.. did you ever get the corals thast he was supposed to include....i would have called and called till i did.. i guess sometimes people just get the short end of the stick and that stinks
yeah i dont blame ya.... and the BBB, i really dont care for them, cause if your a member, your protected.