Living Art

[LIVINGART]

Thanks a lot for the feedback Jen!
Really sounds like things are doing well.

I can work a really sweet deal on that green moray if you want.........he really needs a big/new home. Due to his friendly nature I have named him poltergeist.

Paul
Living Art Aquarium

[PinkLady]

Friendly nature my butt, he'd remove a finger in the blink of an eye. LOL! He was practically jumping out of the water to get the chunks of food they threw in there! Too funny you mention that, I just sent you a PM about him saying that if I can find a big enough tank for my eel tank, I would SO take him. Only thing is he may try to eat the other eels that I want unless I can find some show-size ones. I've found two 180's and one 210 so far, so it may be possible. I did mention that perhaps he would make an honorable ending for my PITA blue velvet damsel.

[gustomatic]

Hi,

I made a similar post on another thread, but I thought it should be here.

I want to share my positive experiences with LA.

I have had numerous great experiences with the shop. I will just use first names, Paul, Steve and Pat have always been extremely helpful. They take time to answer questions and find out about your tank to make sure that what you want to buy is compatable. Their prices are in the right ballpark, and everything I have purchased has thrived in my tank.

They take better care of their tanks than other shops I have been to.

I have been to other LFS's but I have purchased all of my fish from Living Art, and am extremely happy.

Paul is always trying to find unique items as well. I appreciate that.

Jeff

[BIKERRN]

I have been one to bash Living Art on customer service but I also am one who tells it like it is. I had great service the other day from "Steve" at LA. I vowed not to go back again but I did and the service was great! I'll have no problem going back again and again if this service I received is the "norm".

Just thought I would post as I had bashed them before and wanted all to know the good service I got. What fair is fair.

Thanks, LA

[bradhass87]

I stopped by on friday at about 7:45 and they had a few people in there. Three guys seemed to be working. I wasn't greeted...ever...but I am very patient. I had to ask the cashier to grab a shrimp for me. He did but never asked a single question. Just grab and pay, I must look like I know what I'm doing .I can understand why people would get angry, but then you also have to realize how many people are in the store and how much help they have. I wouldn't say they have the best customer service but I won't say they have the worst either.

(My cleaner shrimp is doing well btw)

[meisen]

I have been one to bash Living Art on customer service but I also am one who tells it like it is. I had great service the other day from "Steve" at LA. I vowed not to go back again but I did and the service was great! I'll have no problem going back again and again if this service I received is the "norm".

Just thought I would post as I had bashed them before and wanted all to know the good service I got. What fair is fair.

Thanks, LA

Nice, glad you had a turnaround experience and were willing to share. Having worked both sides of the LFS counter a lot, I can say that unfortunately bad days happen to everyone, especially in a fairly high stress/low pay environment such as retail. While its certainly fair to post bad experiences (I think they do help stores get better when there is a systemic problem) it should also perhaps be considered with a grain of salt. One experience one day with one employee isn't always a complete picture of what a store is about. I also think the really bad experiences tend to get someone angry enough to post whereas the positive ones don't always get the mention. Just trying to put it in perspective anyway for those reading the thread without having been to Living Art for themselves.

I personally have never had a bad experience in Living Art and usually wind up in too long of a conversation with the staff (sorry, taking time away from others ).

[PinkLady]

Just wanted to post an update since I've been MIA for a bit -- the fish I purchased over the past few months from LA are all still thriving (save for the orchid dottyback, but that was my mistake, not theirs), and I recently picked up 2 royal grammas now that I got my bigger upgrade tank. They settled in nicely and I'm very happy with how big, fat, and active they are. Pat was also a big help in getting together what I needed to turn my HOB filters into mini-fuges and also picking out the right phosphate removal media for my canister, all of which has made a significant difference in the problems I was having. I've gone in on slow days, and I'm usually greeted instantly...and I've also gone in on very busy days in which case the 2-3 people working are usually very overwhelmed doing water tests for people, giving advice, explaining information about corals/fish, getting thing out of tanks for customers, etc. I'm patient and keep myself busy checking out the tanks until one of them has a free moment, and then I always have their undivided attention from that point until the end of my transaction. Just a matter of waiting my turn. Living Art is still hands down my favorite place to shop for my aquaria needs.

[LIVINGART]

Really great hearing feedback (positive or negative). This gives us a basis for improvement/change.
We are constantly striving for excellence in service and quality. Our motto is "Superior Fish Superior Service" and that has been the Living Art Aquarium goal from the beginning.

Living Art Aquarium also believes that you get what you pay for. We are not trying to be a bargain basement store. We are here to provide the Madison area with an above average aquarium experience while keeping our pricing competitive.

We look foreword to helping you continue to build your dream aquarium.

Thanks for keeping Living Art alive (almost 5 years)!

Paul and the Crew at Living Art Aquarium

[PinkLady]

Hey Paul -- Wanted to say thanks for the awesome deal on the purple lobster. I seriously think that was just uncanny that I literally almost bought one online the night before then decided to hang onto my money and see what came into the store lately, and low and behold there was a gorgeous purple lobster hiding in the corner! How I missed this guy the past 2 weeks, I have no idea. Maybe just because he was in the tank with the blue lighting and it made him hard to see -- but BOY is he a beautiful creature, his purple is so vivid and bright and so is the orange on the edges and underbelly. The one thing that made me hold off on buying one for so long was the worry that it wouldn't look as great as it does in the picture online. These have been on my wish list since I first got into saltwater 8 months ago and this one was SO worth the wait, he's BETTER than the ones in the pics at Blue Zoo/Live Aquaria. He acclimated just fine and has been munching on bits of food he catches and roams the tank when the nighttime lights are on. Funny enough, he picked the corner that my maroon clowns called home and promptly booted them out, taking it over as his own. I wondered if he would hide all the time but thus far he's been out in the open and very bold, which is awesome since he's a really cool thing to watch. Big thanks!

Oh, and I think I may have gotten lucky and ended up with a male/female pair of the royal grammas I picked up not too long ago. There is a lot of room in the cube tank and yet instead of establishing separate territories, they share the same small rock cave and spend almost every waking moment side by side or doing things as a pair. They seem very bonded and glued to each other, so that turned out well! Glad I got two of them!