Cracked For Life...!!! Help

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9567841#post9567841 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
pyrrhus

I think your looking down your nose at a lot of folks... many who may be a lot more informed than you "think" you are.

The bottom line is that the manufacturer attacked a customer in a public forum.

They could have as easily posted a KIND reply and said that they would work with the upset client in private to work out the issues.

They could have noted the construction methods, quality control, number of satisified customers, number of warranty claims and any other KIND information that would help show that they have a good product and good business practices.

Instead they attacked a customer with a LOT of straw arguements and basically showed that their warranty is all hype used to sell products, not to help customers who need it.

I don't care why the tank cracked, I would never consider doing business what a company that acted like that in public. Their defense was to discredit an upset customer, NOT ASSURE THE PUBLIC THAT THEIR PRODUCT AND WARRANTY ARE TOP NOTCH!

You could have not said it better Bean, I got the same feeling that he is talking down on us with his 7 years and all.

Atvdave, the sad part is I really do have shoes older than that :(
 
cracked tank

cracked tank

ok now let me get this right ...the crack's are on the bottom of the tank ..am i right....an if so what did camp do more all the sand an spray it with windex......even if it's not on the bottom ...sounds like shotie work to me .the ..an i think the company should make this right ..camp DON'T LET THIS DIE KEEP FIGHTING ...some people just can't stand behind there work ...new tank or not they should repair the tank atleast...oh let me thow in the disclamer...just my two cent's ...hope it all works out
 
where exactly on the tank are the fractures? do they line up with stress points?

when did you notice the cracks? was it full of water, then all of a sudden one day you noticed them out of nowhere? or was it sitting in a garage for an extended period of time by itself, then when you looked at it they were there? did they show up one at a time, or all at the same time?

just to be 100% impartial (which i'm not seeing much of here), it seems like it could get cracks without dings if it was transported with a blanket wrapped around it or something and banged around some. and it might take some time/load/temp changes/humidity changes for those bangs to turn from invisible micro-stresses to visible fractures.

i've never dealt with or made acrylic tanks before (though i've made plenty of small acrylic skimmers and stuffs), so just i'm kinda curious. how do you assemble a tank incorrectly that it causes fractures like this? are you guys saying it's workmanship or materials?

i do agree that '100% warranty' means 100%. but he did buy it used.



I got the same feeling that he is talking down on us with his 7 years and all.
All that I am stating here is that from my 7 years in this industry with experience with literally hundreds of acrylic tanks from many many manufacturers

well, 7 years working day in and day out with 100s of tanks is pretty significant. hobby experience and career experience are quite different. how many acrylic tanks have you dealt with? any of them have issues?
 
" I got the same feeling that he is talking down on us with his 7 years and all."

I will stand by what i said. It doesn't matter if he has 100 years of experience. I didn't like his attitude, plain and simple.

On another note the only acrylic tanks i have dealt with have been relatively small compared to this one. And I have never had issues with them.

As far as it being used, does it matter? Isn't 100% mean 100%? Unless the warranty clearly states that it is not transferable then there shouldn't be a problem, should there?
 
I didn't like his attitude, plain and simple.

so you automatically disagree with him just because you don't like him?

As far as it being used, does it matter? Isn't 100% mean 100%?
most warranties that i've looked into are not transferrable. if i had one of their tanks and took a chainsaw to it, should they replace it? since it's used, who knows what the previous owners did to it. they might have been especially rough with it while breaking it down. the original poster did not give very many details, which makes me skeptical.
 
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what would you like to know. what is rough to you..?? throwing rocks around or hitting the tank with the rocks.??
i have answered al lthe questions people have asked. If there is something you would like to add feel free.

and defintely if extreme measures such as chaing sawing you tank would be unheard of. this is/was a running tank. I have seen people swim in a 240gallon and also seen people stand on a acyrlic 240.
once i get the tank back i will post more pics and complete tank shot
 
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what would you like to know. what is rough to you..??

i specifically asked what i would like to know. if you already covered this then feel free to make fun of me:

where exactly on the tank are the fractures? do they line up with stress points?

when did you notice the cracks? was it full of water, then all of a sudden one day you noticed them out of nowhere? or was it sitting in a garage for an extended period of time by itself, then when you looked at it they were there? did they show up one at a time, or all at the same time?
 
On another note the only acrylic tanks i have dealt with have been relatively small compared to this one. And I have never had issues with them.
so then if he only had 1 month of dealing of dealing with sales and service of large acrylic tanks, he'd have more experience than you do? then why so quick to discount his 7 years? how can you even begin to assume that the fractures couldn't possibly be the owner's fault and should be covered by the manufacturer 'no-questions-asked'?
 
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If anyone can supply some suggestions on how this could have been a manufacturing defect I would be more than happy to listen.

I just cannot come up with a scenario in my mind where this type of damage is a manufacturing defect. Especially 3 years after the tank was built, 2 owners, and having been filled with water twice (not certain on that, but seems to be the case) I would imagine if it were a manufacturing defect it would have occurred long ago, or there would at least been some sort of evidence prior to the current damage.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570902#post9570902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by manderx
so you automatically disagree with him just because you don't like him?

I have nothing against him, it's his attitude i don't like.


And to answer your question, I disagreed with him because I don't believe Windex did that to the tank
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570902#post9570902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by manderx



most warranties that i've looked into are not transferrable. if i had one of their tanks and took a chainsaw to it, should they replace it? since it's used, who knows what the previous owners did to it. they might have been especially rough with it while breaking it down. the original poster did not give very many details, which makes me skeptical.

Well luckily we're not talking about most warranties, we're talking about this one, when a warrany is non transferable it says it.

As far as your chainsaw comment. :lol:
Should we add "chainsaw" to the list of probable causes, right after Windex?


And just because you're skeptical doesn't mean you should assume. You know what happens when you do that ;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9571048#post9571048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by manderx
so then if he only had 1 month of dealing of dealing with sales and service of large acrylic tanks, he'd have more experience than you do? then why so quick to discount his 7 years? how can you even begin to assume that the fractures couldn't possibly be the owner's fault and should be covered by the manufacturer 'no-questions-asked'?

I never assumed anything, that seems to be your line of expertise. And when did i discredit his 7 years? I said he talked down on people because of his "7 years", you're welcome to scroll up and read it again.

Also where did I say it should be "no questions asked" because it seems like you're quoting me, but i don't remember saying that. And if you go back to the first page and read you will notice that there were a lot of questions asked.
 
Only thing I'd like to add is that a lot of people are hung up on what he might have done to the tank to cause it, but the way I read the warranty is it's 100%. Granted if he took a saw to it etc all bets are off, but otherwise I don't see the problem here other than them not at least fixing the tank. I can see them not not covering the same problem twice if they suspect, and can substantiate, abuse but that isn't the case here.

The premise that it hasn't leaked so it's not covered is ridiculous, if that's their stance and they recommend continuing to use the tank wouldn't that also make them liable for any damage the eventual failure will cause?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9572371#post9572371 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyrrhus
If anyone can supply some suggestions on how this could have been a manufacturing defect I would be more than happy to listen.

....

Defects in acrylic panes such as bubbles and impurities could cause stress fractures to occur which could grow over time. Also, I have found panes with schlierin lines in the plastic suggesting the presence of impurities. This during MY 7 years working in and managing an LFS through high school and college. Of course, that was back in the late 80's, so quality control may be better now. That doesn't mean perfect, however.
 
I'm currently in the market for a 240g tank and now that I've read this, I will not buy a tank from "Clear for Life". I will stick to glass, but again not made from "CFL".
 
I will also post this info on my local Reefers forms (www.sdreefers.com and several others) to inform others of this matter.

In the business world, items are judged by a certain time-line for their “Life Span". I have been an accountant now for over 15 years and even the IRS rates the life span of depreciated assets, but even a computer, printer, or a water heater is rated for a longer life span then 3years which takes more daily wear and tare then a tank would. A tank should last at least 8 to 10 years if it is not left sitting in storage dry IMO (if left dry in storage, a glass tanks silicon will dry out). My current tank is over 9 years old now with no problems at all. Clear for Life is responsible for all materials they put into their products. It is not a consumer’s responsibility to peruse their vendors of these matters. If they wish to recover damages pertaining to the materials used on their products, then it is their problem to do so, and not ours.

I would bet you if you took it to court (small clams’ court, depending on the amount of damages clamed), they would not even show up which is an automatic “win by default”. It would cost Clear for Life more money to take it to court then it would to just replace the tank. There is at least a 150% markup on the cost to them that you have or others will pay in the store for their products. I also bet they have already lost the cost of just replacing it in sales by now, little alone their reputation. Besides, by replacing this tank it would be a total tax write-off for them as a loss which would end up costing them nothing in the bottom line.

Maybe you should put your tank in a “water save” place like your back yard and fill it up with water, just to wait for it to “fully crack” and actually leak water out. I would think, in order to crack a tank in several places (inside or outside) you would have to apply pressure in a specific point â€"œ a corner or so at well over a 100+ pounds of pressure in order for a ½” think acrylic to affect the structural integrity of it. And that is when it is empty without internal pressure forcing against you.

And by the way, a person who manages or even owns a LFS for seven years or even longer doesn’t need much of an education to do so â€"œ little alone assuming to make an assumption as if he was a structural engineer or a bio-chemist as far as the Windex goes.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9570902#post9570902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by manderx
so you automatically disagree with him just because you don't like him?


most warranties that i've looked into are not transferrable. if i had one of their tanks and took a chainsaw to it, should they replace it? since it's used, who knows what the previous owners did to it. they might have been especially rough with it while breaking it down. the original poster did not give very many details, which makes me skeptical.

Your in left field here man... so much so, that a response of any kind (other than pointing out how silly your arguement has become) is pointless.

Maybe the OP put a "phone book" over it and played good cop bad cop with it? Good grief.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9572371#post9572371 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pyrrhus
If anyone can supply some suggestions on how this could have been a manufacturing defect I would be more than happy to listen.

I just cannot come up with a scenario in my mind where this type of damage is a manufacturing defect. Especially 3 years after the tank was built, 2 owners, and having been filled with water twice (not certain on that, but seems to be the case) I would imagine if it were a manufacturing defect it would have occurred long ago, or there would at least been some sort of evidence prior to the current damage.

I certainly do not think it is a manufacturing defect. I would bet on a materials or process problem. That is NOT the point (though many of you keep trying to make it the piont).

I have a problem with the manufacturer and their actions and public response. I have a problem with the websites sales pitch and warranty wording and its use as a sales tool by a company who has no intention of standing behind it. Spirit and intent here are conveyed one way and acted upon the other. FINE PRINT is the problem.

There are PLENTY of companies that DO NOT act this way. Oceans Motions and IceCap to name 2 right off the top of my head.

Manderx... You do not have to sell a product to be well versed in the way it works, fails, or interacts with our world. On the same token, I know many LFS owners and employees that are clueless after 20 years of shovling nonsense to customers. Just because a guy sells acrylic tanks does not mean how knows a darn thing about them. Does your car salesman know how a 4 stroke engine works? He sells 15 of them a month and has likely done so for 20 years. Does how know how and why paint or clearcoat fail...

EVEN THE MANUFACTURER illustrated their ignorance in claiming that a true materials problem would not span more than one side, because more than one sheet was used. Good grief!

You may want to step back here and look at the big picture instead of getting caught up in what exactly happened to the tank or who has worked with acrylic longer.
 
Just like I thought. CFL was just trying to find a quick cheep way out, but now it is hitting them in the face and has ended up costing them more then it's worth in the first place.
 
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