Thursday, September 24, 2026

A Sweet Surprise & Fish Keeping Update

I am determined to establish a natural aquarium environment as taught by Father Fish, henceforth abbreviated as FF. Once there are plants and aquatic life established, adding microfauna and some decaying plant matter helps complete the natural cycle. He teaches how to harvest from a local water source. My two attempts failed, and while I can identify my major mistakes, I purchased two bags from FF’s online store.

My box arrived days past the carrier’s initial estimate during extremely hot weather. Among three plastic bags, the smallest clearly began as a chilling ice pack turned to very warm water. The other two contained rather stinky, lifeless looking black sludge.

I considered filing a complaint with the giant nationwide service provider but all the hoops they wanted me to jump through dissuaded me. Instead I reached out to the FF family for advice.

The 86 year old patriarch himself reached out, advising me to put the mixture into jars and look for signs of life. He added that the tiny animals are quite resilient.

From most companies, any such well wishes would have concluded their response. Not these folk, who run things far different. Without further ado they replaced my full order at zero (!) charge. I would have been happy to receive one unit and pay for shipping.

Have you enjoyed (or suffered) any extreme customer service experience(s)? In the event of a positive response, do you do everything you can to promote them?

PS This afternoon I presented FF’s pamphlet to the owner of Pawesome Pet Supplies. When an employee flipped through, she looked at her boss and exclaimed, “This is totally you!”
I passed this tiny strip mall probably near a thousand
times before noticing the cool shop...

PPS You know I’ll be a repeat customer to both Pawesome and FF.

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10 comments:

  1. Hello Darla, how amazing and wonderful for you!!! Yes, thankfully on a few occasions I have received exceptional customer service where they went above and beyond the "norm", let's say! And not only did I compliment the company or store that did this, I definitely recommended them to everyone I know!
    Thank you so much for sharing this, dear friend.

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  2. It sucks when a shipment gets delayed like that. Glad they were around to help you out when you needed them.

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  3. , it used to be customer service was something a company took pride in.

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  4. I can't remember really outstanding service but not can I remember any really bad service. When I write reviews for Trip Advisor, I keep in mind the price I paid, which a lot of people seem not to do but complain where they are staying is not 5 star. I've written over 20 years two very critical reviews, one about a restaurant (so that was bad service) and one about accommodation. Good luck with the project and may all your fry thrive.

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  5. It's always a pleasure to experience great customer service. Good luck with your aquarium. You'll get there!

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  6. Hope you have life in your sludge!
    Several small businesses have had stellar customer service, and I will chat them up to anyone.
    And that does not include Premier Pet, where we adopted Manny and Chili Bruce from, and where I continue to have lovely conversations with the owners. Lovely folks!

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  7. WOW, that is impressive customer service, I'm always happy to hear those kind of stories, bravo FF!!!

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  8. da tabbies o trout towneSeptember 27, 2026 at 4:04 PM

    good customer service is a thing of the past, glad you received some from FF….TWO WEEKS ago, a service ticket was issued for my car…STILL UNRESOLVED, and I will shut up here and now, or be on this post with the LONGEST comment you ever have received

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  9. Glad they replaced your order. Any sign of life in the sludge? XO

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  10. I always try to give a shout out to good service.. leave them a review online.

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