I placed an order for replacement part for the intake on pump for my supermarin 250. This was on May 23rd through aquarium specialty.
I still don't have the part and my system has been running skimmerless ever since.
Aquarium specialty has contacted:furious: royal exclusive about the status but don't appear to be getting anywhere.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Beyond frustrated at this point and will never consider this brand again given the unbelievable delay in getting this part.
i got the bottom of this... You ordered a nozzle (part number 286) that was for an discontinued Red Dragon skimmer pump. You ordered it through a reseller who doesn't stock these parts. The part you ordered was included in a much larger order from that reseller that was placed with Royal Exclusiv Germany (Not RE USA). Because this item was consolidated to a large order from that customer, the order was officially entered into Royal Exclusiv's system in early July and that complete order was paid for around that time. This order from the reseller includes multiple skimmers, pumps and other items including your nozzle. As such, this isn't as simple as getting just a nozzle.. That is a several dollar part of a several thousand dollar order. Those orders once packed are then shipped to the resellers freight forwarded who also consolidates orders before shipping them to the US to keep the shipping costs down.
Resellers prepay for orders originating from Germany. When that order was placed or entered into the system, Royal was packing up for their move to a new larger facility so the complete order was not able to be fulfilled. There were items on that shipment that were backordered and needed to be produced in addition to the fact that much of the inventory in Germany was packed or in the process of being backed. Since the production line was shutting down and skimmer bodies in this case needed to be produced to complete that order, the nozzle wasn't and couldn't be shipped because reseller orders ship complete. Not partial.
That said, Royal Exclusiv USA and Royal Exclusiv Germany operate completely separate from each other even though RE USA is owned by RE Germany. In this case, the reseller placed this order directly to Germany and because it was part of a big order and the time frame that the large order was placed, your item didn't ship which is NO fault of Royal Exclusiv's. Shipping orders from customers complete is an agreement between Royal Exclusiv and the reseller and is done to keep shipping costs and logistic costs down. The resellers were made aware well in advance of the move to a new factory as well as production lines shutting down and being moved. They were made aware of the fact that shipments were also being halted in July because of the move and because the production line was shut down as a result of the move, skimmers (included on this customer's order) couldn't be produced. Because this was part of a much larger shipment and because we ship PO's compete, your nozzle didn't ship.
The sad part is that had you ordered your part from Royal Exclusiv directly, you would have had it a long time ago as it would have been included in one of our Ft. Myers shipments from Germany. Hell, we may even have been able to dig the part up from a spare pump or something. Heck, even had you communicated with us some time back, there may have been something we could have done. Instead, it's now September and this is the first we are hearing of it and on the forum no less.
So there are the facts. I had thought about deleting this thread but instead, I think I will leave for all to see so the facts are out there. We have nothing to hide and we pride ourselves for providing great service but in this case, the circumstances aren't as black and white as they may have appeared.
For ANYBODY needing spare parts in North America, please contact Royal Exclusiv USA directly! We stock a wide range of parts and if we don't have it here in the US, we can set you up to order directly from Germany or can at the very least have it included with one of the many shipments we get from Germany. There is no reason for situations like this to arise but please be aware that if our resellers are ordering these non stock parts, they will be consolidated to a much larger order and those orders don't ship until they are complete!
By the way, I sent you a PM yesterday after reading your post and never hear back..
