The Worst Customer Experience Ever - Marineland

[cleverbs]

I have posted my experience with Marineland in the following link. Please if you are thinking about buying an aquarium from them read this first. My goal is not to tell you not to buy their product my goal is to let you know what my experience was and how this should not be how a company does business.

I wanted to wait to post the full story until my tank had arrived. Please know everything in the post is true and not exaggerated in any way.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23719023#post23719023

No I would not recommend to a friend.

 

[rwb500]

yeah, i'm not gonna read all that. also i think one thread is enough.

 

[Coelli]

I read all of it! What a mess, I'd be really ****ed off too. That's not how you should run a business. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

I've heard of other horror stories of companies trying to wiggle their way out of warentees and rebates that are similar. Seems they think you'll just give up after enough hassle and they woun't have to give away a "free" tank. I have a friend who got a large spa, which included something like a $3,000 rebate, but reading the fine print, it had to be sent to them 12 months after the purchase, with alot of supporting information and they only gave a 1 week window for it to be turned in or it was void. For that kind of money, everything was put in a folder and calenders mrked to send out the rebate next day air to ensure it got there on time. Long story short, there was 6 months of back and forth battling before the rebate was received. It's a shame that some companies do this sort of thing to their customers. I don't know how they can throw away what would have otherwise been a loyal customer for high priced goods in order to save money on a tank. Shame...

 

[gone fishin]

I remember when you first posted on this months ago. I will say marineland was right on one aspect. I really believe you got your tank due to your persistence. A lot of folks would have just got frustrated by the run around and told them to forget about it. Run around is more than likely the preferred way of handling issues.

 

[cleverbs]

yeah, i'm not gonna read all that. also i think one thread is enough.

Well I posted this one because I know I have never looked in the venderfeedback and wanted people to see it. I am just sharing my experience.

I remember when you first posted on this months ago. I will say marineland was right on one aspect. I really believe you got your tank due to your persistence. A lot of folks would have just got frustrated by the run around and told them to forget about it. Run around is more than likely the preferred way of handling issues.

I agree, I am not a person who will back down. I will say if I would of called them up and they said sorry you drilled the tank the warrenty is void I probably would of said fair enough. However they clearly knew it and agreed to replace it and I would not allow them to back out of what they already commited to.

I however do not feel as though I was ever in the wrong on this.

 

[oblio]

Welcome to the "new age" of customer service, don't kid yourself, this behavior is so prevalent across so many different landscapes/companies it has to be basically orchestrated. For every tank they would warranty if they honored the commitment, they now honor maybe 5%, and that's ONLY because someone is more of a PITA then they want to deal with. It looks good when they look at the balance sheet, not so good when the company is asking themselves "why are sales down?"
This is why it is SO SO important to actually try to reward companies that have good customer service by using them.
I'm happy this ended up working out for you, your persistence paid off sir!

 

[shred5]

Yep I am out about a grand because of them..
My 93 gallon cube came with bubbles in the seam.
I had the tank drilled by by LFS but drilling a tank voids warranty.
Does not matter Even if they would have sent me another tank it would have had the same problem.

Seems to be happening to allot of their tanks including the 93 gallon cubes.
They should recall them and offer people a refund.
What baffled me is they know about the issue and are still selling them with the same problem.. One person on another forum has sent 3 back through his lfs and all came back with he same problem, Amazing.

I just also saw another Marineland tank blow out a seam another forum where one blew out the side.

 

[j tavares]

I believe Marineland is actually made by Perfecto, years ago I had a 135 that had a capillary leak along the front right side constantly down the Glass, When I tried talking to ythe owner who was at That FISH Place in PA he could have cared less and Made NO EFFORT to replace the tank under warrenty. Since then and going on twelve years ALL MY Tanks are Made by AQUEON Never and issue . To date four tanks all made well.

 

[cleverbs]

Welcome to the "new age" of customer service, don't kid yourself, this behavior is so prevalent across so many different landscapes/companies it has to be basically orchestrated. For every tank they would warranty if they honored the commitment, they now honor maybe 5%, and that's ONLY because someone is more of a PITA then they want to deal with. It looks good when they look at the balance sheet, not so good when the company is asking themselves "why are sales down?"
This is why it is SO SO important to actually try to reward companies that have good customer service by using them.
I'm happy this ended up working out for you, your persistence paid off sir!

In my eyes it never hurts to keep pushing. the wrost thing they can do is say no. They never did. Every time I pushed back they would tell me what I wanted to hear and then try to take it back later. However with me...thats not going to work. If you agree to do something as a company and I have it in writing I am going to fight it.

Also if they would of handled this in the way they should of there wouldnt be a post out there that has been up for a few hours and already has over 200 views. I told them multiple times this was costing everyone more money and time then it should have. Lets just imagain that out of those people who read this 1 single person decided they arnt going to buy a marineland tank and buy something else. If that happens it would be quite possible they already lost money on this. And that just goes to show how important it is for companies to always give the best possible service.

 

[whosurcaddie]

Marineland is not the same company they used to be. They have switch a lot of there equipment to cheaper manufacturers which leads to bad quality control. They used to make some of the most reliable products in the hobby now its all pretty much crap.

 

[wagohn]

Reminds me of my Marineland experience.

I had a Maxi-Jet 1200 submerged in my tank as a powerhead. One day, my wife asked me why loose wires were in my tank. I looked and sure enough, there was the power cord to the 1200 COMPLETELY detached from the powerhead. So basically, I had a 120v live cable fully-submerged in my SALTWATER tank. Imagine if my wife had not noticed the wire and myself or my child put our hand in the tank?

I attempted to contact Marineland twice via their online complaint submission form, as of today, one year later - zero feedback from them.