"I've made a total of two online purchases from Big Al's. The first worked great, I received all items ordered and within a very timely manner. The second experience was the complete opposite. It took almost a month to receive my second order. I ordered 7 good sized items totaling around $80 and ended up receiving this huge box jam packed full of brown packing paper which only contained 2 of the 7 items ordered. Those two items cost a little under $20 so at this point I'm out around $60. I figured there had to be a mistake because this was too big of an error to miss. However the packing slip shows all 7 items and doesn't give any info on whether any items were out of stock or on backorder. It shows that all 7 items should be in the box.
I have contacted Big Al's multiple times since and have yet to receive any sort of response back. I can't understand how everything went so well with my first order and then things ended up doing a complete 180 on the second order.
Because of this I won't be doing further business with this company and urge anyone else to shop at your own risk.
***UPDATE***
So a day after leaving this negative review I received an email from Big Al's with the subject, Credit Memo, which contained a copy of my order. Didn't give much more information than that but a few days after receiving said email I noticed a credit in my bank account for the full price of my entire order. I am pleased that they decided to refund me my complete order but am still wondering why it took over two months to finally acknowledge my issue. It seems it only happened because of the negative review I left. I am satisfied but hope that they can figure out what the issues are they are having in their shipping department. And to reevaluate their customer service contact information and representatives so that issues like this doesn't happen in the future, and if an issue does arise it's taken care of in a timely manner."
"They cancelled my order because I shipped stuff to an address that wasn't my billing address for my card. The payment went through perfectly fine but they just neglected to email or call me about it. After 2 weeks I emailed them and they pretty much told me tough luck because they think it's fraud. Advised them I would write a bad review and they didn't care so here we are. Just stay away. They are a horrible company"
"The fish tank/stand I purchased burst spontaneously after a few years and they refused to help. I was in touch with them for 6 months trying to get it resolved. In the end they told me they don't work with that supplier anymore. I get it, you earned your profit margin and then because you don't have stores in this area, you don't feel like you need to help your customers anymore. "
"I recently went to purchase a fish tank and stand from Big Al's. They did not have the tank and stand I wanted in stalk and did not want to sell me the floor model at a discount despite chips all along the bottom. The employee said "you can fix that with a magic marker. Your paying full price for it" it was so rude but I liked the tank so I ordered one and paid for it in full. 2 weeks after the tank was suppose to be delivered, with no phone call from them I went to the store to pick it up assuming that they forgot to call me and was told that the tank I paid for in full was "sold to someone else because they were at the store and wanted it." When I said to the employee Luke (who sold me the tanks in the first place) "so just to be clear, where is the tank I paid for IN FULL?" He responded with "I don't know, in someone else's living room." He was very rude to the point that another employee put his hand in his arm and said "wow. Calm down" this was the absolute worst service I have ever received in a store. I spoke to the store manager who told me that the store has sub par staff right now who are teenagers who have no respect for her" this store in the last 6 months has terrible reviews for sickly dying fish and poor customer service. Big Al's may have been a great store once but is no more..find another fish store if you want quality fish and better customer service."
"Is what the tall dark haired male employee of Big Al's final words were to me April 2016 as I, politely but with concern, stated that looking at small show tanks that needed cleaning especially the one's that had fish in them, does not show favourable to the customers coming into the store. I told hime the one Beta in the one small tank has extreme fin rot. Poor fishy. I observed one other small tank, well you could barely see the fish through the filth. The gentlemen stated that algae build up does not hurt the fish. Hmmm really, funny as of past that is always the one questions I am asked from Big Al staff when I've had a problem with my tank. He also stated that he is under staffed and swamped and not able to clean every tank. I said, "well then don't put fish in them" and reduce your work load. I told him all I was looking for was a patronizing, yes thanks for your concern we will get those cleaned up ASAP statement and I would have been on my merry way. He repeated his same woe-is-me words in the attempt to have me feel sorry for him, but that didn't work, because now I have even more compassion for the ill regard fish treatment that I had nothing left for his lame excuses and lack of empathy for the fish. He said "if you don't like how we conduct our business you can shop elsewhere". Pretty sad and lack of empathy response and an extreme over reaction to our simple but warranted concern, considering he is working there with the fish and should know better and definitely care more. I wish I had of thought of taking a pic. Well, they've lost my business. Those poor fish."
"One star is too many. Terrible online company. Still waiting for my refund RA 790734"
"I have ordered twice before with Big Al's and found them to be a good company with excellent prices. This particular order placed on 11/4/15 changed my opinion. There was a delivery issue with UPS and after 3 calls to them, UPS admitted their error and stated they would credit the account with Big Al's. I spoke to customer service at Big Al's 7 times to correct the situation as well as emailed them 3 times. Each time they made a promise that they did not keep. Long story short, over a month later they still had not resent my order and I finally asked for a refund yesterday, 12/11/15.
Save yourself time and trouble as the few dollars saved isn't worth it."
"When I started shopping at bigalspets, I was excited to find a site with good prices and quality items. I am saddened to learn that this was too good to be true. This company does not stand behind their products and the customer service is the worst I have encountered.
I bought a rather large tank decoration for my aquarium. Almost immediately after putting in the paint began to chip away. I have owned aquariums for 15 years and never before had this happen. When I contacted the customer service department, they insisted that it was my fault and that they could only add a couple VIP points to my account. She stated that it was not toxic to my fish so it was no big deal. After insisting for a replacement, the representative said that she would send one, but only if I broke the decoration into pieces and sent them a picture of the decoration broken. She also warned that the new one would possibly come broken and, if so, they would not replace again. My replacement was delivered last night. The box was in perfect condition, no signs of mishandling, a lot of foam wrapping, yet the decoration was miraculously broken. How did she know that this was going to happen? I spent over $400 in the past month on this site. This is how you show your appreciation for your loyal customers, by sending out damaged items? When I sent pictures of the box and broken decoration, the response I received was sorry, that happens sometimes. Please call me if you would like to place another order with us, I'll help get it together for you. No thank you! If I am going to spend more of my money, it will be with a company that values its customers and stands behind their products."
"Ordered a jar of Kent R/O Marine powder. Jar arrived completely opened and spilled into the box. I sent an email with a picture of the spilled contents to customer service. I was told by the CS supervisor that "the contents were still perfectly usable". I was offered a refund which was never issued. I will not recommend this online store to anyone."
"I ordered two items for my dog based on the measurements on Big Al's Website. Both items were much smaller and would not fit on my pet. When I called about replacing them with a larger size I was told not to return them because it would cost me more to mail it back than what I paid for them. (NOT TRUE - I paid $10.00 and shipping would be approximately $2.00). The representative said if I wanted a larger size I could purchase them in the larger size!!!!! Will never buy from Big Al's again. Seriously - who does business like this!! Don't waste your time or money with this company."
"I purchased two compact fluorescent bulbs from Big Al's. They do not list the length of the bulb, so I looked at the Q & A that they have under this bulb on their website. Someone asked customer service the length of the bulb. Big Al's customer service department replied 34 inches.
So, I order this needing two 34 inch bulbs. Well they came after a week and they where 24 inches long. I called Big Als' and they said they the wattage detriments the length. The person I talked to read the Q & A that I read and said it was wrong. Then after a few minutes he saw that the question was about a 96 watt bulb not a 64 watt bulb and agreed it was confusing. He said I could return it, but had to pay to return it. I talked to another person and should them the wrong information on their website, but again I had to pay shipping to return it.
I will never buy anything from this company. They know the info on the website is incorrect."
"The shipping is slower and slower every time, my shipments used to take a few days to arrive, now it takes a few days ONLY to process the order and then more days for delivery. They have good prices but the return services are poor. If they sell something that does not work, you have to pay for the return stamps. I wanted to return a cheap item, I was expecting them to tell me they will refund it without having to return it and waste more money in the stamps. They should not send stuff that does not work or items of poor quality, they should test the items from their suppliers and make sure they are quality items before placing orders. It was a squeeze vacuum gravel cleaner. I will not order any other equipment from them. If you use the item and it does not work, you cannot return it either. Very disappointing because I have been a customer for long time and expected a better customer service. This is the first thing I wanted to return after buying from them for years and never returning anything. Keep the $7.99 and lose the customer."
"Great store. Their customer service reps are always helpful, down-to-earth and know their stuff. I love when a company gets the one-human-being-talking-to-another thing right. Great people.
The selection, products, and prices are great, and while shipping can sometimes be a bit slow (though not unreasonable), they always take the care to pack their goods expertly.
They are also honest about backorder times, any delays, and get in touch about any problems, which I really appreciate.
Lifelong customer here."
"I purchased aquarium bulbs recently (have actually had many purchases in past). Turns out my ballast was bad but they no longer sell fixtures that support the bulbs I just bought from them. Had I known, I would not have purchased the bulbs. To return, I have to pay shipping (x2 what I paid to get here) and I have called three time to speak with a "return specialist".
Customer service has been horrible. I will never spend a penny more on Big Als. Had they paid my return shipping on a product they mislead me into buying (I did call first), I would not be writing this.
"
"Poor customer service and slow shipping means that i won't be ordering from this supplier again soon..."