RedDragon Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 Hi All, I thought I'd start this thread because in my recent batch of imports I encountered a few problems with the bettas that I bought, and I was just contacted for advice my someone else who has just had some problems as well....I'll leave out all the names of the people and auction sites involved. I'll cover my situation and the advice that I gave the other person, but I would really like to hear if anyone else has ever had any problems, and if so, how you went about getting a resolution. Also, if anyone disagrees with the advice that I gave, and has a better alternative approach, can you pls post. Before I get into the issues, I must make it clear that all the Thai breeders that I've dealt with have been excellent, and if an issue has arisen with the bettas that I purchase, several of them have gone above and beyond my expectations in getting a resolution for me. I find that if your friendly and understanding of the issues with them, they will all (all the ones that I've dealt with) go out of their way to help you. I also made a point of emailing each breeder when I received the fish to thank them and to let them know that the fish that I'd purchased had arrived and where in excellent condition. The issues that I encountered: Betta damaged before shipment to Australia One of the males (Dark Green HM - the the breeder informed me he was actually a OHM after the auction) that I purchased bit his tail off while waiting at the Thai tran-shippers place, and the breeder didn't have time to replace the betta before the shipment left. The breeder notified me of the problem and offered to either replace the betta or refund my money. Now, I opped to get a replacement betta, but I specified to the breeder that I was after a Dark Green HM or OHM for breeding purposes to start a new Dark Green line in Australian and I requested a photo of the replacement first for my conformation. I just received the photos for confirmation, and the new male is from a HM x DT line, so he will be carrying the genes for DT as well. Actually, I think the breeder is also sending me a female free of charge as well. So, my advice in this situation is if you opped for a replacement betta, specify to the breeder exactly what your after and why, and ask for a photo of the replacement for your confirmation before accepting the replacement, otherwise ask for a refund. Female died during QT I bought 2 females from the same breeder. One of the females died the day after arriving in Australia while in QT. Now, I wasn't expecting anything due to the fact that all the auction adverts specify a DOA policy, but the female died after arrival - and just put the episode down to the hazards of importing bettas to Australia. I sent the breeder a thank you email for the 1st female and mentioned that the 2nd had died the day after arrival while in QT. The breeder has kindly offered to send a replacement female in the next shipment. My advice is to always send the breeder a thank you email and let them know in what type of condition the fish arrived. In my personal opinion, the DOA policy only covers the arrival of the fish in to Australia, and the Thai breeder isn't be responsible if the fish dies during QT (my understanding of the DOA policy could be wrong here - so if anyone knows different, can you please correct me), and don't expect the breeder to replace the fish.....although it's a pleasent surprise when they do offer a replacement. Betta doesn't look like the auction photo I did have one male turn up that didn't look like his auction photo, although technically he did match the auction decription. Now, this male isn't instrumently to my breeding program (he's one of the first bettas that I bid on before I actually thought about my breeding plan), so this doesn't affect me greatly. He is still a nice fish, I will eventually breed with him. I've put this down as a hazard of importing bettas to Australia. Most of the fish up for auction are only 3 - 3.5 months old, and as I understand things, a betta's form and colour are not fully developed at this stage and won't be until their at least 5 - 6 months old, so when you buy a betta at 3 - 3.5 months old, you run the risk of the betta changing over the next couple of months. Advice on this one is tuff, I personally am not going to worry about this fish. He's not critical to my breeding program and he's still a decent fish - also relatively speaking, he was one of the cheapest fish that I imported. I'm just going to mark this one down as a learning experience. For anyone else, if you fell strongly that the fish that you received is not what you paid for, contact the breeder and explain the problem, and see what type of resolution you can get with them first. If the situation is not resolved to your satisfaction, post a negative comment on the auction site about the sale.......a last resort is the auction site's dispute resolution facility. In my personal opinion, this is one of the risks of purchasing bettas (that need to be imported) from the auction sites, and is really a 'Buyer Beware' situation. Ok...that covers the issues that I encountered.....now on to the situation of someone else that asked me for advice...... The situation: The buyer bought a Steel BF HM from an Thai breeder via an auction site. The male was in bad condition before being shipped to Australia, and the breeder offered to replace the fish with another that was of the same type and quality, and the buyer accepted the offer with out getting a photo of the replacement. Now the buyer was specifically after the BF pattern with this fish as part of their breeding program. What the buyer received as a replacement was a Green HM (no BF patterning). Also, the buyer bought another fish from this same breeder that arrived with bad quality tail, bent rays and bad scale pattern. My advice to the buyer (if anyone has alternative advice or disagrees with the advice I've given pls post) If something happens to the fish that you've purchased and your offered a replacement - always get a photo of the replacement before accepting. Otherwise, get your money back! Seeing that this situation has already gone past this stage, the only adive I have is to contact the breeder and explain the problem - specifying that fish received is not the same quality or type of the orginial and that it is required for breeding purposes. Try to get a resolution with the breeder directly first, if this situation is not resolved to your satisfaction, post a negative comment about the sale on the auction site, and as a last resort use the auction sites Dispute Resolution facility. The same advice can be applied to the bad quality fish. Please, if anyone has any constructive comments and advice for the issues encountered importing bettas, can you post here. I've only done 1 lot of imports (although there was a lot in that 1 import batch and many different breeders) and I'm sure that are other people here who have had more experience that I have, so I'm not really feeling qualified to be giving advices to everyone on how to resolve issues with importing bettas. Cheers Fiona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 I don't have anything to add to your advice. But I have to say that I've never bought an Aquabid male and had him imported etc and brought straight to me from QT without having something go wrong with them. Same goes for females I intentionally bought seperately or as equal breeders. Both males, from different breeders, arrived with badly damaged finnage, one even had a serious infection while in QT. Those 2 males were extremely important to my breeding plans, and both are now ill with something unfixable which they originally arrived with. For one of them, I put it down to the perils of buying from overseas - fish will chew their tails; shipment is stressful, it can cause permanent damage (and not just in finnage). The other, who also came with a high quality HMF, entered the country in extremely poor condition, and was apparently on death's door in QT but recovered and was sent to me. The pair then developed columnaris (the female actually arrived o my doorstep with it), or something extremely similar. Untreatable. Mood: Unhappy, even now. I don't want to put anyone off from buying from overseas. Maybe I've ust had bad luck. Because I just don't have money to throw away on fish that are unbreedable, I can't afford to buy from auction sites. I prefer buying from Australian breeders, and that's what I'll be doing. Sorry for the ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 I think the only problem I've ever had was tail-biting in transit, obvioulsy nobody's fault and I didn't mind since I was planning to spawn them anyway - and I have imported more than 20 bettas (probably more than 30, I'm not sure). So it's not a common experience to have fish arrive ill or damaged. Just to give an "other side of the coin" experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedDragon Posted October 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 Well to give a bit of perspective...I did get 25 bettas from Thai breeders....22 were in excellent condition and extactly like their photos on the auctions, or photos that the breeders had sent me of sibling females. One didn't match his photo, but was technically as stated in the description, 1 didn't get shipped and is being replaced, and 1 died after arrival in QT and is being replaced in the next shipment. And I only paid for 23 bettas, 2 of them ended up being freebies from a couple of the breeders - I got an extra male when I bought a pair, and when I bought the CT male the breeder gave me a free sibling female. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 When you import livestock you have to expect a few hiccups. Transporting fish is undoubtedly stressful for them and when fish get stressed there is always a chance that they will get sick. How many times have we had a heater go out for a few hours only to have the fish come down with ich? Imagine what being bagged up and flown internationally must be like! My advice would be to ask questions before you buy and if you are unsatisfied with any of the answers don't. IMO importing and even shipping anything comes with a risk. I've been buying fish and shipping them around the place for quite a while. Other fish included, not just bettas, and 99% of the time it goes off without a hitch - and thats taking into account the anal quarantine and inspection laws coming into (and going out of) WA. In response to specific things, this is my personal take on them. Sure, I've had fish that have arrived not looking like the original photo, but when you stop to consider they were bettas and marbles at that (or carried the marble gene) its not unsurprising. Tail chewing - *shrugs* it happens. Mostly with HM or OHM but occasionally in others. Its a sign of stress - a bit like pulling your hair out . We are subjecting these fish to stressful conditions, so whenever I buy a HM or OHM if it arrives without a chewed tail I look on it as a bonus because I fully expect it to happen. Sickness - again, it boils down to stress. Would I stop buying imported fish or fish from other states (as it basically equates to the same thing for me)? Not a chance! I simply can't get the fish I want here & I have no intention of letting that stop me ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 I should just add, I think Fiona's tips are really helpful; I was really just posting to say that IME Stefan's experience is not the norm, and I didn't want people to be put off by thinking that importing is a catastrophe waiting to happen every time. Stefan just had a run of extremely bad luck! ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 I think it's great that you guys post all your experiences - good, bad and ugly. I'm not sure if I'll ever get up the nerve/cash to import fish, but if I do this is all great advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 I should just add, I think Fiona's tips are really helpful; I was really just posting to say that IME Stefan's experience is not the norm, and I didn't want people to be put off by thinking that importing is a catastrophe waiting to happen every time. Stefan just had a run of extremely bad luck! Yes, thanks for adding that Lisa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishchick Posted October 6, 2006 Report Share Posted October 6, 2006 A useful thread! I think you will find the better known, long-standing breeders are the best to deal with. When using Aquabid, check out the feed back and the length of time the seller has been posting. For the record, there is no importing/quarantine fee charged for fish that are DOA or DIQ. Also, I usually don't charge for free fish - provided I know they are free, and the numbers aren't excessive! Cheers, J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Thanks Jodi - good to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren MacFish Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 I've read on some exporters terms and conditions that DOA applies door to door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hi I'm new. I hope I'm allowed to post a question here. You talk of importing fish. What would I have to do to ensure the arrival of my fish? I bought a few packets of fish food I thought wasn't available here from ebay USA last year and AQIS seized and destroyed it. Do you need a special licence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 The simplest way is to go through a licenced importer (like someone Lea above) as you need to have many things in place before you can import your own fish. Unless you are importing many on a regular basis, the cost of setup is likely to be prohibitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Cool thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother bear Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 g.day troopers i've just placed my first order from aqua bid 3 different sellers and 7 fish but that's me bull at a gate i'll let you know how it goes, it will be a couple weeks yet BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara_01 Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 i've imported a few bettas before and havn't had any trouble til now, someone hasn't recieved my fish and the seller is adamant they sent it to her, any ideas? i havn't acted on it too much yet as i want to find the best wy to go bout it first. i would assume that somewhere along the line poor fishy has been lost :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitstyles Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 Did you bid them on aquabid? Did you check the feedbacks for the seller? Or you can contact: Preecha Ammara in Singapore (ammara555@hotmail.com) She is the exporter between the thai seller and someone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi28 Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 i think preecha is transhipper in thailand and eugene is the transhipper in singapore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara_01 Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 the seller didn't have an negative or even neutral feedback, it was all positive, so you think i should contact preecha and see if that brings ny new info on the whereabouts? this purchase ws doomed from the start i think, i missed the first male like him tht i was gonn buy, this guy ws my second choice then i got an email from the seller a few days later saying he'd been messed up in an accident nd they offered me a similar one, i fairly well decided by this point i HAD TO have one that colour, you know how it is lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitstyles Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 Just try get refund or contact preecha.... and yes preecha is from thailand, got them mixed up.. Thx for point it out fifi :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara_01 Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 yea i think i will, they have another fish i like, might see if they will give me that one as a replacement coz it's the same price. otherwise more paypal funds would come in handy there's plenty of other good sellers with good fish that would like to live with me i'm sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishchick Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 who are you? have you spoken to me about this? I'm only aware of one missing fish and it's for someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara_01 Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 lol, yea i've mentioned it but my ausaqua username and hotmail and aquabid are 2 VERY different things, i think i'll send u an email and explain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 I know everyone likes to do everything from the comfort of their computers these days, but honestly, I really believe that nothing beats a real person-to-person conversation, especially when you're trying to resolve issues. Forum posts, PMs, email, MSN, none of these are as good a communication tool as the telephone IMHO. I strongly suggest that you phone Jodi to discuss the problem. It will save a lot of misunderstanding I think. It's a lot faster as well. Jodi's number has already been posted elsewhere but just in case you're having trouble locating it the number is 0419 709 410. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara_01 Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 lol it's just confusing coz on here i'm sara but on aquabid im kristianvanek (boyfriend) coz i don't have an quabid acc, so i use his email 4 it aswell and i never thought to point it out earlier i'm still waiting to hear back from preech and the seller at the moment, seller has been awfully quiet bout it, it's not me i feel bd for- i hate the thought of the poor fish dieing in some box somewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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