Aquarium Designs going under???

[woodywoo]

Ok. Here is what I know about AD. I worked for Tein for almost a year and most of you have met me one time or another. Tein doesn't understand Business and how one should function. Every Year he takes a trip to LA to hand pick out fish and coral. I went with him on he's 2005 trip. And on that trip he spent about 150,000 or so. I would say half went in the show tanks that he won't sale out of. He is hobbist and acts like one. If he gets something that is SUPER GREAT don't count on buying it. I actually taught him how to keep some of the really hard to keep fish alive (EI Achillis Tang, Regal Angel.....). He doesn't care about he customers all he cares about is Money. If he says he ordered and Sold A butt load of LR in 24 hours, THATS A LIE. That man will screw over his momma for a dollar. And customer service is a joke. Thank God i moved to NC last year. I pray for ya'll, good luck.

 

[omega981]

lol
lol
lol

 

[Philip Root]

Price dose not matter, customers that shop at these stores don't know other places to buy goods. Most people would never think about ordering fish or corals online. Hobbiest like your self make up 1% or 2% of sales. Besides that, most of these stores have to sell the products for these prices to cover over head. Very few people who have fish stores make much from the store.

That being said, You must have coustomer service and stock.

How can you sell something you don't have?

Aquarium Design is no longer, It is Aquarium Desing Plus. The reason for the name change is because Tein "sold" it to Shawn.

Shawn and his wife now run the store, they seem like nice people that like what they are doing. However, they don't understand how to run a store, and they have it tuff becasue they "bought" a store that had been ran in to the ground.

 

[hammolw]

Yep!
It's a sad state of affairs over there.

 

[The0wn4g3]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14780010#post14780010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stingray007
[removed]

Hey man, I worked there for almost 2 years. I was there with Philip, before Sean was even in the picture. And I don't think anyone here is blaming AD for anything but poor customer service (which is undeniable), I know I'm not. If Sean wants to run the store like that, it's his option. I'm just calling it like I see it. There is no doubt that AD has has been reduced from what is was in the past.

 

[futureeyedoc]

-Hmm, I'm one of those folks that visits probably at least weekly....
-I rarely if ever ask him any questions aside from do you have this fish or when will you be getting in this coral, etc....

-Sunday was the first time in probably 6-8 visits that there was anything in the tanks. Even then it was slim pickings....
Most of the coral frag tanks were still completely empty....


None of us on here were "ripping" on AD as far as I can tell, but rather stating facts of our experiences there lately....
- trust me, in the proly 50 time I've been there between it's current location and when it was in Patton Creek , I could say plenty of "negative" comments if I wanted to but choose to just educate others on the facts....

 

[wpecoul]

I haven't been to the store since it has been under new ownership and management. I would definitely say that there's nowhere for Sean to go but up.

Unfortunately, perception is reality, though, so I hope he actually is doing as well selling to those who don't frequent this website as he has got a major mountain to climb in attempting to overcome people's negative experiences with Tien and the 'old' AD. Having bare tanks and minimal or inattentive staff surely will not help in that effort. I don't think shouting and name-calling is going to help him, either.

LFS's definitely have built-in disadvantages versus mail-order houses, but personal service and WYSIWYG shopping are huge advantages. In these days and in this economy, no business owner can afford to miss one or the other, let alone both. Check out the number of LFS closings in a major city like Atlanta if you doubt this. I hope the store is open the next time I make it to Birmingham, because I'd hate to lose another one.

 

[freddy4130]

I have been prowling the interwebs for a long time. I have been on my fair share of internets forums. I have trolled the hell out of some and I have been a good natured, contributor of others. THIS stingray has confused me. Let me explain. Below is directly pasted from an email I received from him just minutes ago.

This is a message from stingray007 at Reef Central Online Community ( http://reefcentral.com/forums/index.php ). The Reef Central Online Community owners cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of the email.

To email stingray007, you can use this online form:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/member.php?action=mailform&userid=216816

OR, by email:
mailto:seanacreasey@hotmail.com

This is the message:

well why dont U stay out of there store! Your a jerk with with NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO money 2 spend! And I do, so dont take up my time with Sean and his wife.


So, either this is a troll who is terribly confused about how to actually troll (I hope this is the case). OR. This is actually Sean and he is much dumber than I picked up after having spoken to him at length. Whoever it is, allow me to correct your mistakes.

1. If it is Sean, you left you real email on your troll account. Stupid move bro.
2. If this is a regular troll, then you used a fake Sean email address and defended Sean on the forum?? Not sure what's up with that thought process.

Anyway. If this is Sean, I lost whatever respect I had for you. If not, carry on with this pathetic excuse for a troll job. As you were men.

 

[wpecoul]

Freddy -

No matter why you did it, posting the contents of a PM in an open message is much more likely to get you banned than the PM's sender. Pretty sure it's explicit in the site's TOS.

 

[futureeyedoc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14780656#post14780656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stingray007
[removed]

FYI, "frag tank" is a relative term to mean any tank at a LFS that someone keeps the coral for sale in ...
and yes, the tank with the zoas in it closest to the back room is basically all frags....


Yes, I am in school working my tail off day and night to become a doctor - paying $$$$$$$$$$ to this state for my education... rather than spending it at AD
So go ahead and call me broke and stupid and whatever else you want... but in this case that's an innappropriate and low blow considering my situation....
I'll think I'll report you to the mods for this
Thank you


There are many of us on here from many different backrounds, income levels, etc... What makes out AL area clubs so great is that all of that doesn't matter..... everyone is there to enjoy the hobby regardless of who they are and what they make....
You might see the most well off person in the world helping out a fellow reef keeper with some frags or advice one day - and then someone who's struggling to stay on their feet turn around and do the same thing the next day...

 

[futureeyedoc]

Well, I won't post my personal e-mail from stingray007 for fear of being blocked...

But the jist of it was an inappropriate e-mail full of swears that called me stupid for making a specific purchase at AD - one where Sean was the only person in the store that day......

So I'm like 90% sure....Stingray007 is Sean from AD

FYI

 

[RUGDOG]

Thanks guys. I was wondering if I was the only one that got this persons flaming PM. I hope if there is anyone that gets tossed it is not a regular. When I got the PM I considered forwarding it to a mod and decided against it. I commented to my wife that this new person with one post would probably say moved on instead of registered member very soon.

 

[mercuryxs]

Well I guess someone needs to inform Sean that a loyal customer like yourself is on a forum telling people to stay out of the store.

 

[bertoni]

[flamealert]

 

[stingray007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14781042#post14781042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mercuryxs
I was in there after ther shipment this week and it was still bare. Yes they have some large pieces that are a beautiful brown and the reason they have been sitting there for over a year.

Oh did they get a shippment 2-day

 

[mercuryxs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14781234#post14781234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stingray007
Oh did they get a shippment 2-day

So sad. It wil be ok. No one wants one less LFS just take the criticism and move along.

 

[wpecoul]

That might have set a record.

 

[freddy4130]

I guess I made a mistake. Whatever. That's just a silly troll job, and if there is anything I cannot respect it's a bad troll job. If and when I see a good troll, I'll be the first to feed the hungry beast out of respect for the artform. As a current member if the International Brotherhood of Internet Trolls, I would only say that this guy is not the smartest troll under the bridge.

Again. If it IS Sean, then trolling an Internet site is a bad move for business sake. Unless the troll is performed in a fun and humorous manor in which said troll is not anonymous. It is for this reason alone I don't think this is sean. Like I said, I spent time with him and I don't think he would do this.

If it IS NOT Sean, then it's just really bad. No tact. No confederate. No guile. Just a bad troll all around. Not to mention messaging everyone. Wow. It gets too hard to follow if you try and troll the thread openly and try to troll everyone on the thread via pm. Study up rookie, and come back next year. Maybe try out the reborn baby doll forum for practice.

 

[wpecoul]

That might have set a record.

 

[Philip Root]

That is Sean email address. Would he had to of confirmed that email before they allowed him to post?

I also got a pm that was hateful. I am pretty sure it was Sean because, he just found out about this thread Sunday from a friend of mine.

I still think he and his wife are good people, just not so good at running the store or public relations.