Refund policy
Refunds and returns
For refunds, returns or any problem with your order, please reach out to our team at hello@thecoralboutique.com. We answer emails Monday through Friday during business hours, Eastern Time. We look at every request case by case and cannot promise a refund. Depending on the situation, we may offer a refund, store credit or a replacement.
Two commitments do not change case by case: our Live Arrival Guarantee on livestock, and returns of unopened dry goods within 90 days of purchase. Both have their own conditions below. If livestock arrives in bad shape, start a claim right away using the steps below, because a claim has to reach us within two hours of the delivery time the carrier records.
This policy is subject to our Terms of Service, and we may update it from time to time.
Live Arrival Guarantee
Every order is packed for transit and inspected the morning it ships. Shipping livestock still carries real risk, so this guarantee covers you when something arrives in bad shape.
Filing a claim
- Before you open anything, photograph the animal inside the sealed shipping bag. This is the step that matters most. We cannot verify a claim without it.
- Photograph the inside of the box with the packing still in place.
- Email both photos and your order number to hello@thecoralboutique.com within two hours of the delivery time recorded by the carrier.
Shoot under natural or white light. Blue and actinic lighting hides the detail we need in order to review a claim fairly.
How we resolve it
Our team reviews every claim and gets you an answer within one business day. Approved claims are issued as store credit, which does not expire and applies to anything we sell. If you would rather have the same piece replaced on our next ship day, say so in your email and we will do that when the piece is available.
Store credit covers the price of the animal, not shipping. The original shipping charge isn't credited, and a replacement, or any order you pay for with store credit, ships at our standard rate unless it qualifies for free shipping.
What the guarantee does not cover
- Claims filed more than two hours after the carrier's delivery timestamp
- Claims with no photo of the animal in the sealed bag
- Packages left unattended after delivery. Someone needs to be there to receive it. A box sitting in the sun is the most common way an order is lost and it is the one part of the trip we cannot control.
- Packages delayed because the checkout address was wrong or incomplete, because delivery was refused, or because the carrier could not reach the door
- Orders where the shipping method was changed, downgraded, rerouted, or held at a facility at your request after the order shipped
- Losses after acclimation, including tank parameters, lighting, flow, pests already in your system, or aggression from existing tankmates
- Weather related loss on a shipment you asked us to send after we recommended a hold
Shipping Protection
Shipping protection is optional and can be added from the cart on orders with livestock. It is $15 for orders up to $1,000 and $22 for orders over $1,000. It does not apply to local pickup or to dry goods.
It covers a box that is lost in transit, a box that arrives damaged, and livestock that arrives dead or in bad shape because of a carrier delay.
Filing a protection claim
- If your order arrives dead, damaged or late: before you open anything, photograph the animal inside the sealed bag and the inside of the box, and send both with your order number through our File a Claim page within two hours of the delivery time recorded by the carrier, the same as a Live Arrival Guarantee claim.
- If your box is lost in transit: file through our File a Claim page within five days of your scheduled delivery day.
Approved protection claims are issued as store credit or as a replacement on our next ship day, when the piece is available. Our team reviews every claim and gets you an answer within one business day.
Expert Only species
Some fish are marked Expert Only on their product page. These are among the most sensitive animals in the hobby. They are prone to ich and other stress related illness after shipping, and they are only suited to experienced reef keepers. Before you can add one to your cart, you are asked to confirm that you have read and agree to these terms, and that agreement is saved with your order.
We quarantine and observe every Expert Only fish before it ships, and we are happy to send photos or video of your fish before it goes out.
If an Expert Only fish arrives dead, the Live Arrival Guarantee above applies as written.
A claim that an Expert Only fish arrived sick, including with ich, follows the same rule: photograph the fish inside the sealed, unopened shipping bag and email that photo with your order number to hello@thecoralboutique.com within two hours of the delivery time recorded by the carrier. Without that photo we cannot verify the claim, and no refund, credit or replacement can be issued.
Illness that shows up after the bag is opened, during acclimation, or once the fish is in your system is not covered. Outside of the cases above, all Expert Only sales are final.
Also worth knowing
All livestock sales are final. Please do not ship anything back to us. Returned animals cannot be accepted or credited.
Dry Goods & Aquarium Supplies
- Returns accepted within 90 days of purchase, provided items are unused, unopened, and in original manufacturer packaging
- Opened items are not eligible for return
- No restocking fee