Policies

For details on our Guarantee Policy, please click here: 

https://reefbeauties.com/pages/livestock-guarantee

Refunds

Once an order has been shipped, we cannot issue refunds. 

Cancellation Policy

Please be sure you are READY and ABLE to receive your livestock before placing an order. This includes making sure your tank parameters are in good shape and your tank is fully cycled and ready for some new inhabitants.

If you need to cancel your order before it ships due to a personal circumstance (e.g. we have the livestock available and ready to ship, but you suddenly had to cancel for a personal reason), we will issue a FULL refund, minus the 4% transaction fee that we do not get back from Paypal/CC companies when we issue refunds, and a $45 cancellation and restocking fee.

We will give you 3 hours' grace period after placing your order to cancel without the restocking fee; after that, you will be subject to the FULL cancellation fee.

If you notify us within the 3 hour grace period of the order cancellation, we will issue a full refund, minus the 4% transaction fee, or credit for the full value of the order.

Personal reasons include, but are not limited to cases such as:

• You suddenly have to go out of town
• You have a family emergency
• You can no longer be home to receive the order
• You realized the item you ordered will not be compatible with your tank
• Your grandson placed the order without your authorization

This policy also applies if you have specific needs such as minimum size or coloration, you order before asking if these needs can be fulfilled, and decide to cancel in the case that they cannot. We are more than happy to check our current inventory to see if your specific request can be fulfilled, but please email us before ordering to make sure that it can be done.

If you are canceling an order because you placed an order early, requesting a later shipping date, and the items you ordered were unavailable, we will issue a FULL refund, minus the 4% transaction fee, as our policy on holding items is clearly listed on several pages of our website. We explicitly ask that if requesting a later ship date, that you do not order until then, as our inventory may change and we cannot hold your items for more than one business day before shipping.

We will NOT charge you any cancellation fee if the order is canceled due to reasons on our end, including:

• We do not have an item that you ordered
• We are unable to ship due to weather or UPS issues, and you are unable to receive on a later date.

We understand this policy might seem harsh, but this is by far the most lenient cancellation policy among other online fish stores. Other online stores explicitly state that they will NOT allow order cancellations or changes at all. 

Stocking and shipping live animals involves time-sensitive and time-intensive processes, and other challenges that make cancellation and restocking more complicated than it would be to do so for inanimate objects like t-shirts. 

In many cases, we may lose an opportunity at an entire order, just because we set aside some items for you that we could no longer offer to other customers looking to purchase the same thing.

We hope that you can understand and be mindful of this policy before placing your order with us! You can always send us an email before ordering if you have any questions or need help with making arrangements for receiving your livestock. 

Delivery

For the health of the fish, we require someone to be present to receive and inspect the package. Please stay tuned to your email for tracking updates from UPS, and note the expected arrival time to ensure someone is available to receive. You will void your 15-day guarantee if no one is present to receive the package and it spends time outside and exposed to the elements.

Weather

You are responsible for making sure that the weather in your area is not too extreme to reliably ship to. If the weather is above 90F or below 18F before 12 PM, we will not be able to guarantee that the internal temperature inside the box will be able to stay optimal for the fish. Of course, we always check the weather for each order we ship out and will pack accordingly with heat or ice packs, but at those extreme temperatures the heat/ice may not be adequate. As such, it is up to you to take the risk and ship despite these extreme conditions, so if you do choose to ship we will unfortunately not be able to guarantee the items in your order. 

In such cases, shipping to a UPS Access Point might reduce the amount of time spent exposed to the elements in the back of the UPS truck and increase chances of survival for the fish! While we will still be unable to guarantee the items in your order even if we ship to a UPS Access Point in extreme weather, doing this will significantly improve chances of survival with shipping.

Shipping Addresses

You are responsible for making sure that the address entered as the shipping address is the correct address that you would like your order shipped to. A common error is to click the button for the billing and shipping addresses to be the same.

Your order confirmation email will also show the shipping address that the package will be shipped to. If you notice that this address is incorrect, or change your mind as to where you'd like it to be delivered, please let us know before 12:30 PM PST on the day your order is scheduled to ship and we will gladly make the change for you. Note that emailing us is the only way to modify your address after you have placed your order. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to modify the address after that time.

If your order has already shipped and you realized it was going to the wrong address, please reach out directly to UPS via your tracking number to coordinate the correct address, as we cannot coordinate this on our end once the package is on its way. Please note that if the order is delayed in transit because of a last-minute address change, we can no longer guarantee the items in your shipment.

Lost or Stolen Packages

It is important that you ensure that someone is home to receive the package, even if it was delayed. If you cannot ensure that someone will be home to receive the package, please re-route the package to be held at a local UPS Customer Center or Access Point for you to pick up. That will ensure the package isn't sitting outside exposed to the elements, and that it does not get lost or stolen.

We will handle lost packages on a case-by-case basis. Rest assured, we will investigate to the fullest extent of our ability, and consider all information provided by UPS and by the receiver.

Please let us know immediately if UPS notifies that your package was delivered, and you cannot find your package. This would significantly help you achieve a resolution in your favor, as it shows that someone was home to receive the package at the time of delivery, and that UPS likely mis-delivered the package.

If not, we accept camera footage from yourself or your neighbor, showing that UPS was not present at the time they said that they delivered the package.

We cannot be held responsible if your package was stolen.

Delays

We understand delays can be frustrating, but they are out of our control and may happen from time to time. Rest assured, if anything does not make it we will get you credit for it. However, there is a good chance that some, if not all of your items will survive the delay, so please be available to receive your package in the case of a delay. Be sure to take the water temperature on arrival and take any photos of anything that does not make it and we will get you taken care of!

Delay Insurance

Unfortunately, carriers (including UPS) are no longer issuing refunds for delays in transit caused by weather or mechanical issues. Shipping delays are rare, and we do pack with delays in mind; especially when the weather is not extremely cold, most of the time everything makes it alive and well despite a full day delay.

However, in some unfortunate cases, something you ordered may not make it due to a shipping delay. These shipping delays are outside of our control, and of course, yours as well, but they may happen in rare cases.

We still want you to be covered in these cases, so we are offering Delay Insurance at a cost of $10, which can be selected when checking out.

Delay Insurance will cover any items lost due to shipping delays, for the full 15 days after the delayed delivery. In addition, delay insurance will allow for a full refund of lost items if requested, in lieu of store credit, if your package is delayed in transit...this way, you are not obligated to place a new order with your store credit, because of something that was lost for reasons outside of your control.

Please note, an item lost as a result of a UPS shipping delay due to weather or mechanical issue, where delay insurance is purchased, is the only instance where a refund can be issued once an order has been shipped.

Our guarantee policy does not cover items lost due to shipping delays caused by weather or mechanical issues, so if you do not select the option for delay insurance and a delay occurs, unfortunately any items lost as a result of the delay will not be covered by the guarantee.

Holding Policy and Shipment Date

In order for a fish to be saved, it must be ordered and paid for. Due to limited space and a high volume of orders, we cannot hold fish for more than one business day after the order is placed.

We understand that certain fish might not be available when you are ready to receive, so if you are concerned about this please send us an email and we will try to work something out.

Modifying Existing Orders

We can definitely modify existing orders, as long as you let us know before 12:30 PM PST on the day your order ships.

If you would like to add or replace anything in your original order, please send us an email and we will make the change for you and either charge or refund you the difference. Unfortunately there is no way to make these changes on your own through the website, so we need to make the adjustments for you.

If you place another order with an existing order pending shipping, those items will be added to your existing order and ship together in one box.

Shipping Refunds

We do not issue refunds or credit for shipping/packaging fees as these costs are fixed with a 3rd party (UPS)

Unable to Communicate

If we cannot reach you within two consecutive business days, we will assume that you still want your order, and reserve the right to proceed with shipping the order on your behalf. If you are not home to receive it and communicate any DOA items, your guarantee may be voided.

Availability of Items

Please refer to the approximate inventory quantities listed on the product page for each item. As we are dealing with live animals, all items are subject to availability; while we may have an item in stock, it may not be healthy or meet our standards for shipment. If an item is "Plentiful," then you have a high chance of the item being fulfilled; if an item is "Limited," then quantities are low and there is a chance that it may not be available. Feel free to use the "Order Notes/Special Instructions" box before checkout to add some substitutions that you would be okay with. If the majority of your order is unavailable, and you do not provide substitutions, we will automatically cancel and refund your order.

Photos, Species Coloration, and Sizing

There is a significant amount of variation between marine fish and invertebrate species, as well as between shipments that we receive from week to week. While photos on the website are accurate, we cannot guarantee your item will be identical to the image on the website due to variation within species.

Likewise, with the nature of our inventory consisting of wild animals, the size guides on each fish are an APPROXIMATION, and may vary to a degree from week to week. While most tanks can tolerate a range of sizes, we do understand that some tanks have unique requirements, such as minimum or maximum sizes of certain species. 

If you have any min/max size requirements, please email us before placing your order, and we will be glad to verify the sizing of species in our existing inventory to make sure they would be a good fit for your tank. Otherwise, we will assume your tank can handle a reasonable enough range of size from what is listed.

If you have any specific requests and have an order placed, feel free to send us an email and we will try our best to accommodate you.

Packaging Fee

We charge a $9.98 packaging fee for each shipment. This includes a high-quality insulated, multi-layer box, and heating/cooling pads as necessary to ship your fish to your door safely and securely.

Sales Tax

We only collect California sales tax for orders shipping within California.

Fraudulent Orders and Blocked Customers

We reserve the right to block and refuse shipment to any customer for any reason.

If you continue to attempt to order from us after being blocked, we will refund your order, minus the 4% credit card and transaction fee. On the second attempt, we will issue a full refund, minus the 3% transaction fee and a $40 fee.

Pricing and Typographical Errors

In the event that a product is listed at an incorrect price due to a typo or error in pricing information from our suppliers, our store reserves the right to refuse or cancel orders placed for a product listed at the incorrect price. Our store reserves the right to refuse or cancel orders whether or not your order has been confirmed and your credit card has been charged. If you have already been charged, we will issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the incorrect price.

Returns

As we are selling live animals, we cannot accept returns of livestock for any reason. However, we do guarantee the live arrival and survival of your livestock for up to fifteen days upon delivery of your order.

Privacy

Our platform is encrypted and secure to protect your personal information. When you purchase from our website, you must provide information such as your name, email, credit card, address, and phone number. We solely use this information to personalize your shopping experience, keep you informed of new items and promotions, and ship your orders. We will not sell your information to any third party.

Copyright and Trademark Notice

Unless otherwise specified, all materials appearing on this website, including text, site design, logos, graphics, icons, and images, as well as the selection, assembly, and arrangement thereof, are the sole property of Reef Beauties. You may use content on this site only for the purpose of shopping on this site and for no other purpose. No materials from this site may be copied, reproduced, modified, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Any unauthorized use of materials on this website may violate copyright, trademark, and other applicable laws and could result in criminal or civil penalties.