Beyond the Reef Don't do it!!!

squibley2

squibley2

New member
I bought a conch from Beyond the Reef which was supposed to be a fighting conch and then later discovered that what they sold me was not a fighting conch and as of yet have not been able to even ID it. I called them and explained that they had sold me the wrong thing and expressed that I wanted to bring it back to them and exchange it for other various cleanup crew. I was told tuff **** and that they would not take it back for anything but if I wanted to donate the conch back to them for free they would take it. Needless to say this just goes to show the attitude of the store towards people who they do business with. It was marked wrong and sold under the guise of something that it wasn't and the response from them is not my problem.

I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMEND THAT YOU NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THEM!!!!
 
Thats not the point, it's the attitude of the store. A good businessmen would have readily taken it back especially if the customer was going to exchange it. Now for the low cost of probably 10 dollars, the store has bought themselves bad publicity.
 
My LFS (Coral Reef) will take back anything I've bought, including fish I've had for years & give me a credit. That's too bad... Where is it?
 
Damn Kevin, that's messed up. I never really have a problem with them, yet I hardly ever buy stuff from them. Just cause what happen to you, I won't go. There prices are high anyways. They need to check themselves. The only people their making money off is the newbies. BEYOND THE REEF, you just lost a customer and I'm telling all my friends about it too!!
 
I went in once looking to buy a neon goby. I asked two salespeople that were standing together if they had any neon gobies, they looked at each other and then one said "Those are fresh water fish arent they?" I couldn't believe what I heard, these are suppose to be experienced and knowledgeable people and they didn't know the difference between a neon goby and a neon tetra!!!
 
"Beyond Belief" should be the name. I rate it the most disappointing store in Chicagoland. The right people could make it a good store. Count me among the people that will NEVER enter the store again.
 
I wonder if there are two stores by that name.

I've found Beyond the Reef to be a great place. Their pricing on livestock may be a little high but on tanks and stands they beat everybody else. I've found them to be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable. More importantly, if they don't know something, they find out for you. I can't see any of the guys, I know over there, treating a customer that way.

I can't believe the sales guys didn't know about neon gobies. Are you sure they worked there?

As for the fighting conch thing, I've seen the same critter called different things at different stores. They call it what their suppliers call it. That's all the lfs. If you had a doubt and asked, I'm sure they would have looked it up for you right there. Are you sure it's not a fighting conch? What kid of conch is it?

If this is the worst thing that happend to you at a fish store, your lucky.

Moe, if you've never had a problem with them I'm surprised that because one guy had one bad experience about a $6 conch, you would write them off.

I, for one, will continue to patronize Beyond the Reef as I think they are a good store with good employees.
 
Pat, I buy nothing but dry goods there. I did buy a wrasse one time and it died on me the next day. This was like a year ago, when I first started out my tank. Reason it died because my nitrate was a bit high. I couldn't even get a full refund or a full exchange. They could at least wait till I got my nitrate problem down and give me another fish for an exchange in time, but no, they gave me ONLY 20% off on my next livestock purchase. What kind of crap is that? I know a LFS I go to wouldn't do that to me. I'm not writing them off just cause Kevin had a bad experience with them. I was always disapointed in that store everytime I step in seeing the high prices on corals. It seems like they have the same corals all the time. I'm a reef guy, not fish. Pat, if you were to go visit the LFS I recommended for you last month, you would see a difference. But hey, you mentioned they always treat you well and you have good experience there, then that's great. Hopefully they'll keep that up. I'm just going to stay away from there for a while. Maybe one day I'll consider visiting again.
 
I am probably stepping on toes here and I mean no offense ... I just enjoy lively debate.

Aquatic Guru: In your post you say that you bought a fish from them. Put it in your tank and, because the ecosystem you created was poisonous to the fish, it died. In my opinion, it was generous of them to offer you a discount on a later purchase. Think about it this way ... If you went to nordsroms and bought a cashmere sweater, took it home, and put it in your washing machine and dryer and it came out ruined there is no way in the world they would replace it.
 
the stores in schamburg.. there terrible. WAY overpriced!!!! I asked them if i could get any store credit for a large rock covered in 2 different colors of star polyps and a bunch of cool zoo's and without even seeing it yet they said the most they would give was another piece of live rock. what a joke.
 
I agree.. Beyond the reef sucks.. I got a yellow tang from them which had HLLE.. I brought it home, and my cousin who was over at the time saw it and said take it back its got HLLE, It didnt even leave the bag, I purchased it just 25 minutes before, and they said no they would not return it. I stood in the store w/ the fish in the bag for 45 mins to an hour causing a huge scene, the manager wasnt there, he was home sick. I made them call him, he said no, I said im not leaving until I get a refund, I eventually got store credit.. I hate that place. The chubby kid w/ the facial hair was the one that sold it to me.

I like coral paradise, Jim is one of the nicest LFS owners I've came across IMO..
 
coral reef is in Harwood Heights (i think thats what the neighborhood is called) its near Harlem and Lawrence. Its about 5 blocks off of the Harlem and Lawrence intersection, ON lawrence. I LOVE that place... cheapest corals, and i always get a handful of tiny frags for like $5 (xenia, zoas, mushrooms, even a leather!) that eventually grow like crazy! Thats hands down my favorite place.. nice people, and great prices. :)
 
poor customer service has made me never want to return
to certain businesses as well
however certain businesses have my sympathy regarding
staffing issues
today at my work "the new girl" bagged up like two dozen
small FW fish for a customer's brand new FIVE gallon
she WAS trained so i dont know what the deal was
but if i hadnt have interceeded i doubt thier experience
would have been the best
probly lots-a dead fish
pet/fish store jobs dont always pay the best
with a service issue i'd always go to THE manager
if they treated me poorly theyd loose my business

i was struck by how vague your situation sounded
how long did you have the conch until "later"
are you a regular customer?
do you have proof of purchase?
i guess it dosent really matter if they sell you the wrong stuff i wouldn't go there again
it just reminds me of weird calls i get from customers
i had no idea how crazy people are
maybe its just Wisconsin
 
Beyond the Reef was once my favorite store. I still have several corals I bought there years ago. I agree it has lost a lot in the service area. I think that what happened was once Jeff bought out his partner and started a family, he hired a manager to take care of things. The manager does not seem to have the same knowledge and zeal as Jeff and his wife do. The past few times I have gone in there the service and knowledge was bad. Real bad. With out going into all of it I contacted Jeff to let him know and the response to make it right was minimal. I work retail. I probaly took over $100 in markdowns today to take care of small issues,. A $6 snail vs a good customer. How many of us have gone to a store based off of reading a thread about great service? For $6 this thread could have been ...what a great store...they took care of me. It really is too bad the store has done this route. Jef is a really nice guy. Luckly for us we have plenty to chose from out here.
 
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