Drs Foster&Smith - US Store Reviews

Paul Higashikawa · 09-09-2007, 08:16 PM

They packaged very well, and the delivery was right on time. Some good choice of plants and fish.

eklikewhoa · 09-10-2007, 07:36 AM

Live Aquaria is actually their "live" department.

I have bought from Drsfostersmith multiple times and their shipping cost is great as well as their packaging! I have bought 7 20lb bags of eco cichlid substrate along with filters and and two gallons of amquel and novaaqua and the shipping came out to like $30

mikenas102 · 09-11-2007, 05:20 AM

I love their shipping rates. I bought a stand for the 12 gal. Nano Cube and they only charged their normal shipping rate. I paid about $10 shipping for something nobody else would ship for less than $20-25.

Spidergrrrl · 09-11-2007, 09:12 AM

I've also had great experiences with Drs Foster & Smith. Everything is packaged well (never had anything broken, and I've ordered heaters/light bulbs/bottles with liquids, etc). Their shipping is insane - I just put in an order for $450 and total shipping came out to $17.99.

PHalas · 09-20-2007, 05:02 PM

Have made a couple of purchases from them. The first inc a PC bulb, after a couple of WKs it quit..no problem they just said they would send me another shipped free. I told them I needed to order a couple of canister filters & 2L of excel, they said " Shipping for that stuff is also free" can't beat that !

Package arrives, opens it up Excel has leaked out of the container & bag it was in all over the other stuff. Did not mess up anything else in the package, but I lost about a third of the excel.

So I call them up & explained the situation, & settled for the price of a replacement in store credit. That was after they had offered to send me another 2L of excel for free !!!..Now that's customer service handled the way it should be!!!!!!

howie · 09-24-2007, 04:36 PM

I had to return some items to Big Al's and Dr Foster and Smith today that I bought about 3 months ago. To both retailers, I wanted to return some big ticket items, pretty much evenly between the two. Big Al said NO refunds straight out as it has past 30 days. I asked them to make an exception as I've spent ALOT OF MONEY to setup 3 large tanks (Ehiems, lighting fixtures, etc) with them. They still said no.
With Dr Foster and Smith, I also spent alot of money there too (Ehiems, lighting fixtures, etc). The only difference is Dr Foster and Smith will refund your item if you are not happy with it anytime. You don't even have to call for a RMA number like every retailer. Just send it back.

Big Al's has just lost a good customer today.

Dr. Foster and Smith has just become my first place to go when I want to spend my money.

gheitman · 11-10-2007, 05:58 AM

I've bought stuff from Drs. Foster & Smith many times over the last few years. They have a good selection with great prices. They've supplied me with everthing from a canister filter to heaters, from food to medications and everything else in between. Orders are always shipped promptly and are well packaged. I've never had an order with a mistake. They are my number one source for aquarium equipment.

ngb2322 · 04-23-2008, 12:38 AM

Ordered $200 of various products and hardware and everything arrived on time and intact. A very positive experience.

JanS · 04-24-2008, 11:06 AM

They are one of the main places I shop for aquatic supplies, as well as stuff for our dogs, parrots, wild birds and sometimes horses.

Nothing but good service all the way around.

I toured their warehouse last summer and it's nothing but well maintained, efficient and impressive.

Here's a page with some of the photos I took in the warehouse

Also, if you go back and start at the first page of the album there are a bunch of photos of their aquaculture facility and some of their retail store.

cs_gardener · 04-24-2008, 11:22 AM

I've purchased aquarium, dog, and cat supplies from them many times and have only had a problem once - they shipped an incorrect item. When I called them up the rep was extremely helpful and even though I said it wasn't urgent, or even really important, I had the correct item in 2 days and they gave me a discount on my next purchase. Way to go with the customer service!

I also like that they no longer use styrofoam packing materials and have switched to biodegradable packing peanuts instead. I can either reuse them, give them away for someone else to use, or chuck them into my compost pile and water them a bit so they start breaking down.