Sea Of Marvel

[highland135]

I took the family shopping in Coralville yesterday and thought it would be a good excuse to stop in and see SOM new store. Got there about 11:30 AM and finally found the store. It is basically right behind the HandiMart on exit 4. Take a right turn around the Handimart and you are on Kansas. Go about 100 ft to a stop sign and take another right onto Madison. It is in a residential area but you can see the store which is blue and looks like a ranch style house.

Anyway nobody was around and the place was closed. I stopped into the old store and saw a sign that said he had moved. I called the phone number left on the door about every hour and never got an answer or any kind of message. No hours posted on either store either. We stopped again on our way out of town about 6:30 PM and still closed. It looks like a nice place from what I could see from the window, but I gotta say I am not going to be in a hurry to make a 3 hr round trip back when it seems to be hit or miss if he's even open. This was pretty much like the only other time I was able to make the trip with JWessels to the old store. Sign said he opened at noon but it was 2:30-3 PM before he showed up and we never could get him on the phone.

I can't imagine how much money and how many potential customers he is loosing because he doesn't seem to have any reliable hours. Pretty frustrating if you are from out of town!

 

[phishcrazee]

Aww, that's too bad and you're right, not very good business. I'd be annoyed if it were closed, and I only live half an hour from them..........

 

[sgarrett1108]

If I remember right he is closed on Tuesdays.

 

[glaspie69]

Fish Focus in Waterloo use to be the same way, she never really followed the hours she set. I waited almost an hour one day and then just went elsewhere. It gets old waiting around for someone to take your money

 

[phishcrazee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9479155#post9479155 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sgarrett1108
If I remember right he is closed on Tuesdays.

Well, if he is, then shouldn't it be posted?! Just bad business.........

 

[leeweber85]

He's a very busy guy and needs to hire more help.

 

[thugmebaby]

IT IS POSTED that he is closed Tuesdays. Not to mention that his calendars etc state that hes closed Tuesdays.

HTH

 

[Atticus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9480199#post9480199 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thugmebaby
IT IS POSTED that he is closed Tuesdays. Not to mention that his calendars etc state that hes closed Tuesdays.

HTH

Agreed. He is closed Tuesdays to allow for trips to Chicago to pick up livestock. Hand picked livestock... You will not find this anywhere else in IOWA.

I am not a fan of bashing a guy or his store when he has been good to the club and the hobby. Lately I have never stopped by there and not seen someone there during their posted hours. You comment on how a store owner can lose business by not immeadiatly posting hours, but in reality uninformed posts on a website like this would be more damaging to an otherwise great retail store.

I cannot comment on the current status of hours posting at the new store, but they were always in the window at the old location. I understand how much it sucks to be disappointed, but please be flexible, he just moved in...

 

[phishcrazee]

We are very lucky to have such a nice store here in Iowa, BUT, this is not the first time I've heard this complaint, and I myself have driven by several times (because I'm a local and just want to stop in) when the store is supposed to be open, and it wasn't..........there needs to be some accountability, if it states the store will be open at noon, then it isn't right to open at 2:30........ barring a family emergency or something. Granted, I'm sure it's very difficult to have 2 store fronts and move thousands of gallons of saltwater fish and corals to a new location, but then state WHEN you will be open for business.

 

[sgarrett1108]

I don't think a ton of people have a huge prob with the way he does things or at least if there were he wouldn't be able to open a million dollar store!! Hung is an awesome person to do business with and everytime I go during normal hours he is there if not there is always a sign posted telling when he will return, usually never more than an hour. During Transitions into new places somethings always gets over looked. ie posting hours. Who knows the stickers could be ordered as we speak!

 

[waverz]

Yeah give the guy a break, hes moving a hole store for cripes sake....

 

[cabenn]

Shrug,

I think a phone call would be just as easy especially knowing that he is moving between stores.

SoM has been nothing but great to me. I called him on a Tuesday once when he is supposedly closed and he loaned me a 75gallon fish tank when I had a crack in mine. I got to him just before he was leaving the store and he was more then happy to wait for me.

Where else could I have done that?

 

[phishcrazee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9483357#post9483357 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sgarrett1108
I don't think a ton of people have a huge prob with the way he does things or at least if there were he wouldn't be able to open a million dollar store!! Hung is an awesome person to do business with and everytime I go during normal hours he is there if not there is always a sign posted telling when he will return, usually never more than an hour. During Transitions into new places somethings always gets over looked. ie posting hours. Who knows the stickers could be ordered as we speak!

No doubt he is a nice guy, but it has happened often enough...........

 

[Covey]

Think about the last time any of you moved 100G of SW... now scale that up 20 or 30X.

He might be a tad busy for a while.

 

[rc1214b]

This isn't a new problem, I've gone down there just to see a will return sign on his door. In his defense though, it's like that at many other self-run fish stores, and some are very high quality. It's safer to just call and see if there open if your going to have a drive ahead of you.

 

[mwood]

I'll gladly trade you SOM for either store in DSM. He truly has good lookin' stuff now and then. He's also a very nice guy. At least he is local to you and not a long drive away. I haven't had the problem of him being closed, but I've always called ahead.

 

[christa]

He is a nice guy, it's just too bad the kids he has there when he is away don't know anything. When he had his old store I would drive there on a day he was supposed to be opened and he wasn't. It is frustrating when you have your mind set on something to buy and you can't, but oh well, c'est la vie! He is very busy I am sure. On Tuesdays he also does tank maintenance at the hospital.

 

[Laura D]

I always just call him up quick if I need to be certain he is open and also if I want to make sure he is actually there and not the kids.

His kids are very nice and let me catch my own fish though if I ask, they seem very easy going about stuff.