Exotic Aquatic, Inc. — Attraction in Oakland Park

With all due respect, Mr Josh, as you proved during our first conversation and continue to prove, you do not care to listen to your customers. Nothing was ever requested or demanded of you or your employee. Did your employee tell you my introductory sentence was a question regarding the fact of I didn't even know if there was anything you could do about the fact? Or maybe you chose not to hear that part, (as I remember you stating in our conversation that you heard everything because you are the owner and you have phones). A simple adult conversation was all I called for and was never given the respect of such. Actually never expected to have anything other than. The treatment was a complete surprise.... and still does, as you continue to insult... "people like you"...I have never posted an online review. Yet you feel the need after what should have been a simple conversation to attack my "character" and my "intelligence", none of which I see how it relates to the issue of a dead frog... You call me now "rude and demanding". Never did I demand a resolution, I just posed a question. Your employee's response to my questions was " I don't even know if the frog is dead". You cannot treat people that have spent money on your shop, had trust in you, this way. Never did I raise my voice, use condescending language or tone, as the total opposite of you. I was courteous during the entire conversation, kept calm, asked for permission to speak instead of speaking over you as you were doing to me. Listening to recorded conversations with customer may be helpful for you. You continue to seem to think I was and am upset about not getting what I wanted, which I never even stated a request. This is happening because you continue to stay on your high horse instead of listening. It's not about the frog, it's not about the $40, it's about your complete lack of professionalism, courtesy, empathy, caring, and integrity. Any responsible person in the pet industry would care to ask questions related to husbandry and symptoms, in case there is anything that has to be addressed regarding the rest of the animals that had been in contact with the concerned. ZERO interest on your part. Shocking behavior coming from a pet store owner. A behavior future possible purchasers should be extremely concerned about, should I say. Had I been treated with any of these, I would have, as I did and still do, accepted your policies (even though nothing was ever noted at time of purchase regarding the fact of there being no insurance, or for the need of a body to be presented in case of death for you to believe your customer about an unexpected death when they purchase what is believed to be a healthy pet). You, sir, can certainly not please everyone. I hope you can learn that you should at a minimum at least surely try. Had you at least listened with concern instead of picking up the phone (may I say on a high horse yourself) you would have retained a customer. Have a good night. This conversation is not worth any more of my time. I am sure you will have another rude, snarky reply (as I expect of people like you), and that will prove my point to any possible...

First let me say that I have been going to this store about twice a week for more than the past 6 months. Hopefully this offsets my last 5 star review after seeing what this store is really about. If you catch Rob, the owner, you might get some good advice. Recently there are more and more new people working here. My wife came in to buy a bulb-tip anemone... this is a $50.00 purchase! She asked him to pick a healthy anemone. Ted picked one that was bleached white (which means it's expelled all of its zooxanthellae - no longer photosynthetic). He said, "Yeah I don't think it's what you are looking for (like if he didn't know what it was) but claimed it was really healthy. What's more important to the survival of the anemone is that it's foot is in tact. This one's foot, Ted had ripped open while prying it off the base. It arrived in it's original bag with guts coming out of its foot! Loads of guts everywhere... Ted wouldn't take it back and to make matters worse, he mocked my wife right there in the store! I have spent hundreds of dollars in this place for this?!? What jerks! Don't waste your time. There are plenty of stores that only hire good people. This one hires idiots with attitudes. I thought paying a little more at this store was ok because I was supporting locals. I will certainly not waste another dime at this place! In addition, I have heard dozens of people coming back to complain about dead purchases... complaints going directly to Rob, the owner and being completely ignored. I understand that some people may not be taking proper care of these animals but at least check their water conditions and see if it's their fault or not! This is not a good business. Don't support it or you...

A few months ago my girlfriend and I wanted to start a saltwater tank. We went to local pets stores to look at saltwater tanks. The knowledge of the staff at these stores was sub-par and we didn't find any of them very helpful. Then one day we drove by Exotic Aquatic, stopped in, and after working with the owner and staff, I must say, it was a night and day difference. As we walked in, we both were blown away by the main display tank! Rob, who is the owner of the store, came up to us and asked us if he could help us or answer any questions. We told him we wanted to start a saltwater tank. He took the time to go over what it takes to start a tank, different tank set ups, and gave us an estimate of what it would cost us. He also said that we could get a custom tank built. We decided to get a custom tank and stand...and they both came out great! They were very fast, professional, and courteous during our tank set up. Rob gave us his email and we wrote him very often, asking him questions about sumps, tubing, protein skimmers, etc. He was very patient during the whole process!

My girlfriend and I could not be happier with how our tank came out and with the hard work of Rob and his staff! Rob and his staff were very knowledgeable and easy to work with. I believe the price and and selection at Exotic Aquatic was very good. By far, it is the best aquarium store in town! I highly recommend Exotic Aquatic for your aquarium...