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Discussion starter · #21 ·
You indicate that you sent an email the day you received your order. Did you include a photo?
All claims are to be submitted with photos within 24 hours of receipt of the shipment.
I e-mailed them at 6:31 PM local time the day I received the shipment and included scans of both the customs declaration and the notice of destruction. Those are the documents that I included with my original post.
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
Any resolution on this yet?
No, I still have not yet received any communication from AquaSpot and Paypal says the claim is still being reviewed.
 
Oh, and phytosanitary certificates cost upwards of $30, usually around $35-45, so if any overseas vendor isn't passing it along to you, then you know they probably didn't get one issued.

And yes, overseas plant companies commonly will write "Toys" or "Gift", etc, on their boxes to avoid APHIS inspections. Sometimes they get caught, sometimes they don't.

Most likely, PayPal will rule in your favor, especially with the Notice of Destruction. Also, it would probably help your case if you added to your claim that ASW did NOT deliver a phytosanitary certificate which their site alleges they do for every shipment. It'll help PayPal decide that you did not receive what you paid for and hopefully rule in your favor.
 
Discussion starter · #24 · (Edited)
Trying to get help from PayPal was worthless. After filing a dispute with them they denied any responsibility and let the charge stand. Their e-mail started off by saying "Our Buyer Complaint Policy applies to items paid through PayPal but never received..." but it is their position that since I received an empty box their policy doesn't apply in this case. When I pointed out that I had not received any of the plants I had ordered, that AquaSpot had misidentified the contents as glassware on the customs declaration and no phytosanitary certificate was included so the order could not legally enter the country they said "they had no information that the declared glassware didn't contain any plants". They said that I should try and work with AquaSpot (that's like squeezing blood from a stone) or go with a third-party mediator.
 
That ruling is incredible!!! I had a complaint with merchandise received not as described - which is your case (no certificate, shipped as glassware) and they ruled quickly and in my favor.

I'm so sorry. Makes you wonder what good paypal is. All this bad publicity will make AquaSpot loose more business than your order. Maybe they can't ship anymore due to customs so that's why they don't care about this. Who know?

The best bet is to look for plants locally. I just don't take the risk anymore with large sums of $$. $5 shipping here and there takes a while to add up to international shipping + certificate, not to mention the headaches!
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
Actually I've been buying plants and shrimp from a number of different members here. Every transaction has gone smoothly and the quality has been outstanding. This web site is my number one source of plants right now. I also intend to try a domestic reseller with a good reputation such as Aqua Botanic. I'm fortunate that my LFS gets good shipments of plants in once a month. I've gotten some very good species that way too.
 
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