Extremely Dissapointed in Marine Depot

[5thtonbench]

Hello All,
One of my friends is getting into saltwater. He was too far to use the supplier I used to use, but having read many good things about marine depot, I was planning on using them for several of my needs for the new tank I am setting up. If I was confident enough to use them, why not recommend them? However, I will have serious reservations from this point on:

For his tank, he was to need an overflow and a good pump to use in his sump system. They sold him a cpr50 and mag3. Let me tell you, this setup is FAR from adequate for his tank, and the pump wont even come close to keeping up with the overflow. I told him immediately to return it for a bigger setup. He cant even use that pump for an SCWD.

Well, to make it short, they told him he was going to get hit with a 20% restocking fee, and then would have to go through ordering all over again and shipping again. Since he had rush shipping, he is looking at a 80+ dollar loss for something that wasnt even his fault.

Marine Depot say specifically on their site, call for more information and our staff will help you pick out what you need. He called and literally said tell me what I need and I'll pick it up. He was very frank about his setup and desires. Pumps are 5-10 dollars difference, he would have had no problem paying a few extra dollars. Now this whole process blows his budget. He has to sit on these parts he doesnt even need, and wait a while till he has the money to do this right, again.

To top it all off, he was just a few dollars away from free ground shipping, and the offer was conveniently failed to be mentioned to him. Now he is seriously wondering if they recommended cheaper items to him to keep him under the free shipping minimum.

He feels betrayed and frankly, I will start looking elsewhere for my needs. I would much rather give my hard earned 2500 dollars of business to someone who treats their customers right than just he who has the cheapest price. Its not comforting to know that their basic philosophy is: we will help you, steer you wrong, help you after you realize it, then charge you for our own mistake. Thanks but no thanks.

-5th

 

[MarineDepot]

Hi,

We do our best to make recommendations to our customers. However, our recommendations can only be based the information that is provided to us. What size is your friend's tank?

If your friend had mentioned to us that he had intended to use a SCWD, we probably would have recommended him a larger pump. However, if he did not let us know that he wanted to use the SCWD, then there is no way for us to know to recommend a over-sized pump for the overflow box. Without knowing that he wanted to use the SCWD, recommending a larger pump would actually have been a very bad idea as it can over-power the overflow box, flood your tank, run the sump dry and burn out the pump.

I checked on your friends order and it looks like the total, without shipping charges, was about $120: which is still $30 short of our free shipping promotion. Even with the next larger-sized pump and a larger overflow box, it would still have been less than $150. I also show that the order was shipped via 2nd Day Service, so shipping would have been charged either way. We definitely would not recommend customers smaller/cheaper products just to try to charge them shipping. If the order is close to $150, we usually recommend to the customers to add to their order so they would qualify for the free shipping promotion.

In regards to the restocking fee, the 20% is what is listed on our website and invoices. However, it is very rarely charged. For the return of unused merchandise, we usualy do our best to work with our customers and typically charge only 5%-10% for restocking fee.

I think there may have been some mis-understand between your friend and the customer rep. that took the order. Please have your friend give us a call so we can straighten thing out and see what we can do to help.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call directly.

Sincerely,
Joseph
Marine Depot
714-385-0080 ext. 53

 

[MiddletonMark]

Why didn't your friend do his research first?

Not to criticize MD, but they're not going to tell him what to get - he should have an idea and have researched that before.

Also, what size is his tank? Basic research into the sump-pump could tell him what his overflow can handle. Personally my 1" overflow tube easily handles the 600 gph [with head height] that I put through my 58 gallon tank. I'm sure a Mag3 is a small pump for a return, but you gotta do your research first, and that would also say that a SCWD cuts 25-30% of the flow so a larger pump is recommended. I got a Mag7 for my SCWD on my 40g tank, almost wondering if that's enough. The overflow [if a hang-on] should say how many gallons/hour it can handle ... and he should research the pump [plus factor plumbing/head-height] to figure what he needs.

And 2nd Day shipping ... that would never be free. Why the rush shipping? Why not wait a few more days? Would have saved serious cash.

I dunno, I understand your frustration, but in this hobby YOU need to research and know what to get before going shopping. Online information is out there on all of these - RC is there to ask people's advice which is freely given ... any retailer or LFS should not be the one to recommend what you need - they don't know your tank.

I don't really mean to defend MD [though when I knew what I wanted and ordered it from them, they had good prices and shipped within 48 hours] ... but it sounds as if research wasn't done prior to buying. For corals/fish you should always research ahead ... and given the amount most people spend on their tanks - you should research equipment too.

I don't mean to sound critical, but never trust anyone selling you stuff. In aquaria, in life ... it always pays to research ahead of time. The 20% restocking fee, over $150 free shipping ... all easily found on their website if you look and read.

 

[ReefHippys]

I agree, This can be a very precise hobby (lifestyle) your freind needs to do his own research Then he will know what he needs before he makes the call

 

[5thtonbench]

I dont deny he was in the wrong for not performing his own research, and I am sure there was som miscommunication, but it was dissapointing in the predicament he wound up in. He's a nice guy on a tight budget, and a saltwater tank was going to be his therapy for some really hard times he has been going through. This got off to a bad start.

The reason he ordered rush is because he didnt realize there was free offers and figured he would take some time off to get started early. Had no idea he was so far from the deal anyways, but thanks for clearing that up at least for my end.

I will pass this information on him from you Joseph, and hopefully he will be contacting you shortly thereafter.

-5th

 

[MiddletonMark]

It is sad to see him end in this predicament, agreed.

He could probably sell the Mag3 online at RC for 20% off and not have to pay shipping. Pumps seem to go quick here [having been looking for one].

And I hate to say, rushing anything in the startup of a reef tank is totally understandable but not a good idea.

I'm happy you will be getting it resolved, and getting some `personal' interaction from MD. Good luck.

 

[Ninjatango]

Personally it seems VERY unlikely that MD would rather tell you to order CHEAPER stuff, just so you get charged for shipping....than to instead have you buy more expensive PRODUCT. They wanna sell the stuff on their shelves, not sell shipping fees.

That said, I also have had MD talk me towards smaller less expensive gear before. This actually made me MORE admiring of them. Based on the idea that they were trying to steer me towarda a good, workable but frugal setup. As opposed to trying to push anything & everything they could sell on me, nudging me toward more expensive stuff just to maximize immediate profits.

Sure they could have likely sold me more stuff right then. Instead they sold me less...but got me to order from them 2 more times so far IOW, they at least try to give the best advice instead of the usual LFS tactic of SELL SELL SELL at all costs. Even when I said things like "I expected to spend X dollars" or "money is not the issue". The sales guys clearly don't work on commission. I consider this a good thing.