Bulk Reef Supply sells used/opened items as new. Check your orders!

[Poriferabob]

I'm not usually one to put a company on blast, but when I think of the thousands of dollars that I have spent with BRS over the years, I feel it necessary to share my most recent experience. I purchased 2 "brand new" Klir DI 4 Roller mats from Bulk Reef Supply. They sent me one new unit and one unit that was used/opened even though I paid full price for both. To keep focused on the point, I'm going to spare you all the glaringly obvious examples of how I know one of my units was used; however, I will say this, if you purchase two of the exact same product, at the exact same time, then go to open them and noticed that they are packed differently and one has components that are partially assembled while the other doesn't, etc. etc., you're going to start to wonder. At face value, the used unit appears to be okay, but you never know what the last person did with an item. I have worked several retail jobs in my life and I've seen some of the things people will bring back where they have broken or swapped out components.

Where things go south for me is when I decided to contact their chat support (which I'm including below) to make them aware of the situation. Instead of being met with professionalism and concern, I received judgment, assumptions, and self-acknowledged "shortness" from the rep.
While my comments suggest my frustrations, I believe I remained respectful and while I did not walk on eggshells with my comments, I never insulted the rep. So why is it okay for BRS reps to be treating customers with "shortness" when I'm trying to make you aware of a problem BRS allowed to happen and created?

When all was said and done, I got 10% off of an item that should have been 40% off for being an open box, an extra five bucks for some earlier misinformation from another individual, and treated with "shortness".

Maybe the next BRS investigates should be on improving customer service or ethical business practices.

Chat started on 16 Jun 2021, 09:18 PM (GMT+0)​
(09:18:23)	*** Customer joined the chat ***
(09:18:23)	Customer: So I just want to point something out about my most recent order. One of the two Klir filters that I ordered was very obviously opened and returned. When I have two identical units and can see that one was partially put together, the styrofoam is broken and some components in a bag some not, while all are in a bag in the other one. I find it pretty shady on BRS to sell this as a new unit when it is clearly an "open box" item. I know I personally have been told "no" in the past that you do not accept returns on open items, yet you have no problem selling them as brand new and factory sealed. Shame on BRS.
(09:19:05)	Customer Service: We're sorry to keep you waiting and are looking forward to chatting with you! Thank you for your patience, we'll be with you as soon as possible. (-:
(09:21:45)	Customer: Further more, I specifically asked if I would need any additional components to use the master/slave option with two units and I was told I would not. It seems like there is actually a y splitter cable that may be required to achieve this. Can you please confirm one way or another?
(09:25:42)	*** Rep joined the chat ***
(09:25:47)	Rep: Hi There, how are you?
(09:26:54)	Customer: Hey Rep. Honestly, Im pretty upset with the situation explained above. I've spent thousands of dollars with BRS and this makes me upset
(09:28:31)	Rep: We do take items back as open box, but can only do so within 30 days of purchase. If the item is used or exposed to water we are unable to take this back. Was the box on the "open box" one sealed upon delivery? There are cases where packaging is sent in poor condition to us and we don't open items upon receipt, or the item got placed in the wrong location upon return
(09:30:35)	Rep: Do you have photos of the "open box" item from when you received and opened it?
(09:30:54)	Customer: Do you also partially assemble them when this happens as well? At face value, it did appear unopened. However, as I stated, the fact that I purchased two units at the same time gave me a very clear picture that one had been already opened.
(09:32:00)	Rep: With open box no assembly is done at all. If we receive an open box unused item we verify parts/accessories are there
(09:32:05)	Customer: I did not take photos. While I thought it seemed weird, I did not actually realize what I was looking at until I opened box 2 (unopened box) this afternoon.
(09:32:13)	Rep: I'm doing some digging on the master/slave here for you
(09:36:01)	Customer: So just to clarify the policy, opened box item that touches water 100% non -returnable. Open box item that does not touch water returnable "minus a small 10% restocking fee"? However that item is then re-sold to unknowing customers at full retail with no mention that it was returned? This is the policy?
(09:37:27)	Rep: That is not the policy, it gets sold in our open box section of the website at up to a 40% discount
(09:37:43)	Customer: Clearly not the case here.
(09:38:01)	Customer: My item was not sold to me at a 40% discount
(09:38:35)	Customer: It as in fact on sale. But not because it was an open box item. It was sold "on sale" as a new item.
(09:38:52)	Customer: *was in fact...
(09:40:31)	Rep: If it was sealed like the other you had it was not an open box, and came to us from Coral Vue that way
(09:41:31)	Customer: What do you mean "sealed". It is a cardboard box. It was closed. But there is now way to define it as "sealed."
(09:41:48)	Rep: Tape from the manufacturer
(09:42:02)	Customer: Not on either unit.
(09:42:12)	Rep What I can do for you today is provide a 10% discount to store credit
(09:42:52)	Customer: These boxes utilize a simple flap. They are not like a Neptune product which is shrink wrapped.
(09:44:07)	Customer: Alright. At this point, its already together and installed. As stated, I just wanted to point this out along with the misinformation. I appreciate the credit.
(09:45:28)	Rep: There isn't misinformation, open box has it's own shelf. If it got sorted that is an honest mistake and it shouldn't have been placed there. If something like this happens in the future, please do photograph packaging so we can document it for follow up with our warehouse manager
(09:45:46)	Customer: Will do.
(09:45:47)	Rep: I do apologize this arrived in this condition
(09:46:21)	Rep: I did try to find the master/slave information and can't seem to pull anything up even on the CoralVue website on any cables being needed
(09:46:57)	Customer: https://www.coralvue.com/klir-controller-y-cable
(09:47:52)	Customer: Just so you guys have it. I know this doesn't fall completely on BRS. Coralvue should make this information more known
(09:48:35)	Rep: Thank you for that link, the CV website is poorly designed as Klir didn't come up without searching
(09:49:00)	Rep: This is something I'm going to see if we can carry as well since we don't have them on hand
(09:49:31)	Customer: 10-4. I just ordered one from them but that might help future customers.
(09:49:55)	Rep: I appreciate that, I have added $5 in credit as well since another rep told you otherwise
(09:50:18)	Rep: This should help offset the cost of that piece and some of that shipping
(09:50:59)	Customer: Awesome. Thank you. I apologize if I came off as rude. Clearly I was frustrated. But you have been helpful. Thank you
(09:52:15)	Rep: I understand why you were frustrated. I do apologize for any shortness, I do like to help as much as I can as well as clarify how things work assuming no mistakes happen in the process
(09:54:04)	Customer: Understandable. I don't believe the unit in question was ever used or touched water. Just simply opened box. All good though. As you said probably just one that snuck through. Thank you again for your help today Rep. Have a great afternoon buddy!
(09:54:31)	*** customer has rated the chat Good ***
(09:54:32)	*** customer has commented: Helpful ***
(09:54:32)	*** customer left the chat ***

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Apologies for not seeing this sooner. Anything on our site, unless clearly marked as an open box item, should be delivered in brand new, never opened condition. I'm not exactly sure what happened here, but we have our team looking into this situation.

It seems as though there was some confusion in the chat, so we apologize for not getting straight to the issue at hand and resolving it sooner. Our customer service team lead attempted to give you a call, but was unable to reach you. He sent over an email just a few minutes ago if you have a moment.

I've also sent this transcript over to our customer service team manager to use as a training opportunity for our team.