Aqualund
New member
Hello,
My name is ********* I own and operate a small coral farm here in Wisconsin (link). It's not big, but it's a "practice run" until I open a store in the coming year or so. This coral farm is completely automated and has specific parameters which have been maintained with obsessive diligence since it started two years ago. Since the beginning, with testing, I have ensured that no particular parameter has strayed out of control at any given time. I have done this by using Red Sea Pro Test Kits and have been very happy with the results. This summer I ordered new replacement reagents for all my red sea test kits and was astonished to see that my calcium was exceeding its desired value by 100ppm or more. This was entirely possible as I had a hunch that my previous reagents had been compromised. Since that day, I had completely turned off my calcium dosing in the hopes that it would quickly come into normal limits. It never did. After weeks of no calcium dosing, my measured value still remained well over 500ppm.
Obviously, as you know, this was not a valid reading.
Looking at it in hindsight, I should have gotten a second test kit. Then again, I literally had no reason to doubt Your product. The cost of this error has been great. Several difficult to care for and rare SPS corals which I had housed for years had predictably died over this time period. Once I read of the recall, I quickly used a hannah checker and found my calcium to be around 200-250ppm, well below required values, and an obvious explanation for the imbalance that I had been struggling with for weeks.
I was fine with all this. It's part of the hobby. I submitted your easy to use online form for the replacement reagent, and expected delivery no time soon. Surprisingly I received it like a week later! Cool!
But now here is where you messed up. You sent it as "postage due." You charged ME postage for an error on YOUR part? The postage was literally $1.15. You could not cover the charge, as a responsible company should?
You have lost a faithful customer, and as I continue this hobby, whether as just a hobby, or through entrepreneurship, I will vocally express my concerns about the reliability of your product, and the quality of your customer service to everyone who asks.
As a company, you should take responsibility for your mistakes, and to this end, your customers should never incur any additional hardship or expense beyond the original point of sale as a consequence of using your product. ever.
It's just $1.15, but I hope you find it to be the most expensive $1.15 you never spent.
Did anyone else have this issue, and what are your thoughts on it?