It really is. Years ago I ordered an 18x24 Exoterra from Ebay. Had to return and reorder it three times because it kept arriving broken - and I mean SMASHED. The last time, I saw the delivery guy flipping it end over end down the hallway while it made crunching noises.
This so makes sense. I think Exoterra and ZooMed must have shipping attrition built into their business model. This is why I always buy this sort of thing from a local fish store. They commonly will receive their shipments from a middle-man company that stocks a bunch of different products (usually hard goods). They usually have their own trucks and drivers that know how to handle big tanks without breaking them. The middle men must be getting their tanks shipped by the pallet which must be safer for the tanks. The same situation might be in effect for Petco, too. Anyway, single orders of big tanks off of Amazon is likely to result in the kind of experience you had.
