N3gative Cr33p
Blackhawks Fanatic
Yeah, I would like to think so...
My Experience with ReefWise... not good
- Thread starter ali1
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Yeah, I would like to think so...
skunkmere
New member
Wow thats crazy.
bigworm616
New member
Brian does always seem like his dog was just hit by a car and mike is annoying. However, in the Naperville area there are no other decent LFS. Ive found their livestock selection to be very good. The kids they have working there are always ready to help and are not nearly as pushy as the mike. Granted I live in Naperville and anything is better than aquarium adventure.
badsmitty
New member
I think Brian & Mike are great guys, I've been to stores where you stand around 4 ever waiting on someone to give you some service & have walked out due to that, I guess there's never a middle of the road where EVERYONE will be happy, but I've always have been treated well there & will continue to shop there, they have a great coral selection & I know Brian has spent a lot of $$$ upgrading his fish area
Spartanman22
New member
I have never had a bad experience there. I do agree that there prices can run high on certain things but they also have some good deals on plenty others. I just picked up a rock with like 30-35 heads of RPE for $21. Not a bad deal if you ask me. I also got a cleaner for $14. I've been out for a while till recently but when I had my last tank it seemed cleaners were more than the fire red shrimp for a while. I always ask Brian and Mike about certain coral and am never met with a "do you want to buy it response". No stores perfect and each has its own pitfalls, but in my opinion the pros outweigh the cons at reef wise.
rekcahdab
New member
I hate cell phones and Chicago traffic and the line at cost co on Super Bowl Sunday. I hate cold weather I hate being followed in a store because of the color of my skin. Lets see what else I can complain about on my soap box on the Internet. Back to topic I hate reef wise. I'll go by there next week though just to see if he's got anything new.
Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante
Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante
jlnielsen13
New member
I am really surprised with all the dissapointment with reefwise. Some are unhappy because you don't get enough attention and others are unhappy because you get to much attention (hovering). Sounds like a couple of girlfriends I've had going through that time of the month!
Seriously though, I think Brian has a great store and Mike is just trying to do his job. As you can see from this forum its impossible to make everyone happy and the amount of attention each customer wants is impossible to gauge. Some people want to be hovered upon and others want to be left alone while they browse.
Another issue with people's opinions of LFS's is that people are looking for different things in this hobby. A lot of people are into the frags right now and he may not have the exact frag they are looking for at the moment. Others want large colonies, some want softies or lps or sps. It's hard for a store to fit everyone's needs but I would argue that reefwise does the best job of any store in the area at having a nice variety!
Brian does need to get a lock down on his prices as they do change and seem whishy washy at times but he does have good explanations as his price changes depending on what he gets the item for.
It would be great if we could pick and choose the best qualities of every store in the chicagoland area and make a "super LFS" but thats not possible. I would argue that reefwise is the best LFS in this area still and I will choose to do 90+ percent of my business there!
JIM
Seriously though, I think Brian has a great store and Mike is just trying to do his job. As you can see from this forum its impossible to make everyone happy and the amount of attention each customer wants is impossible to gauge. Some people want to be hovered upon and others want to be left alone while they browse.
Another issue with people's opinions of LFS's is that people are looking for different things in this hobby. A lot of people are into the frags right now and he may not have the exact frag they are looking for at the moment. Others want large colonies, some want softies or lps or sps. It's hard for a store to fit everyone's needs but I would argue that reefwise does the best job of any store in the area at having a nice variety!
Brian does need to get a lock down on his prices as they do change and seem whishy washy at times but he does have good explanations as his price changes depending on what he gets the item for.
It would be great if we could pick and choose the best qualities of every store in the chicagoland area and make a "super LFS" but thats not possible. I would argue that reefwise is the best LFS in this area still and I will choose to do 90+ percent of my business there!
JIM
Just sharing my experience and seeing how it compares to others. Apparantly, many feel the same way.
For the people that think its ok to be constantly hovered by Mike, please continue to go there. When i walk into any LFS, I want 15-20 minutes by myself to browse and look around for new selections.
Its not even just the hovering that bothered me, its him telling me that he fed the naso three times before i walked in. I WAS there 11:05am, they opened at 11am on Sunday. Even I know if you feed a naso 9 times, it will eat the 10th time. If it was a copperband, thats a different story.
For the people that think its ok to be constantly hovered by Mike, please continue to go there. When i walk into any LFS, I want 15-20 minutes by myself to browse and look around for new selections.
Its not even just the hovering that bothered me, its him telling me that he fed the naso three times before i walked in. I WAS there 11:05am, they opened at 11am on Sunday. Even I know if you feed a naso 9 times, it will eat the 10th time. If it was a copperband, thats a different story.
rekcahdab
New member
Well Im back in the hobby after a 6 year exit..and falling for the troll bait... If you really wanted that fish which according to your words was about 60% off...something tells me you have been to enough shops to have them put sold on it and come back in a week or 2 QT b4 taking home. But your right its the stores fault that you dont know how to buy a fish properly. Coming back in Reefwise seems to be the closest thing to Rods in the western suburbs ..if he's out there with a different name someone please pm me lol.. back to the topic... Nice corals, clean tanks, owner doesnt need a book to inteligently discuss the hobby.-pretty good start, lack of ich, red bugs, flukes even better....filters and such made from parts at hardwares stores... Yep exactly the kinda shop to not support..... I have only been there 3 times, and have maybe spent $100-150 on corals and food. Its definately a store thats run by someone with a passion for the hobby Other LFS in the area what they are OK to sketchy- take a trip to the Ikea parking lot if you wanna see a huge fancy store full of cyano and worse in bolingbrook. North aurora and lombard have nice places but way less selection. So if you're in the western burbs and like coral, not alot of options besides heading to south or north suburbs. Its nice to have a real lfs in the area minutes from 2 major highways.. I do agree it not perfect, but Im guessing most folks within a short driving distance would end up going quite a bit farther on the map to find a store thats half as nice or with such a large selection, if they were to exit.
BumpyJohnson
Member
For coral he has one if the best selections I've seen. It's simple if you don't like the prices or the fish doesn't seem right dont buy it. Nobody put a gun to your head and told you to open your wallet. As far as pushy salesman go that's a easy one say no I'm just looking. Anyway it could be worse what if we only had petco. Lol
:smurf:
BigBarnacles
New member
I couldn't agree more Kev. We are consumers. Reefwise is a business. If you like it there, great. If you don't like it there, great. Regardless, those that don't like it there have just as much of a right to voice displeasure and bad experiences (without being an a**) as those that have had great experiences there.
Edit: I agree with the "don't take it personal" aspect. Just for clarification.
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Caragol
Caragol
I disagree. This is a major issue, I believe if we keep this thread going long enough, we'll all find a resolution which we can then present to local LFSs.
I'll start:
Section 13.2.4b Hovering
The Purchaser shall advise immediately of any and expected limits to interaction during the first 20 minutes of arrival. The Purchaser is entitled, in case of failure of the Vendor to keep the interaction agreed upon by the Purchaser and the Vendor – provided a fixed date purchase has not been agreed upon, after setting an extention of the interaction period of a maximum of 45 minutes – to rescind the agreement as a whole or in part; the aforementioned irrespective of any and all claims by the Purchaser.
skunkmere
New member
i dont see why we are asking for moderator intervention. Thats why this forum has shrunk so much in the past year. we are all adults and do not need to be censored. Nothing has be said that is not useful to me or other patrones of RW. I never been there but i cannot say i will never go there, even if Mike hovers. This is a nice thread about someone's experience with RW. Look at Living sea they get a ton of bad reviews but everyone still goes there and no one asks for threads to be locked because someone had a bad experience.
N3gative Cr33p
Blackhawks Fanatic
I agree with this 150%. :hammer:
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