Cracked Reefer Peninsula 650- Red Sea not Honoring Warranty

[tautog83]

Yea shipping with the bulkheads is dumb as they did it with the 750 too luckily I had mine on pallets to.keep it propped up . The movers probably did it to.be honest , it's only natural to.think something so heavy could be laid flush to whatever you're setting it on .

 

[Backreefing]

I feel sorry for your let down - following your post

 

[ShadowR55]

Wow, that is total bs on their part. I would speak to someone in management. My 650 came and after about 2 weeks I had it built and on the stand. That’s when I noticed a scratch on the front glass inside the aquarium. Called my LFS and he said not to call Red Sea and that he will take care of it with them. Sure enough, I had a new tank the following week abd he brought some guys to help swap the tanks. I would push your LFS to take care of the issue. Heck, they can just order another one and swap serial numbers if they really have to because obviously Red Sea isn’t doing the right thing.

 

[ca1ore]

I would go back to Red Sea on this and try to speak to somebody of greater authority. I assume the tank is 12 mm glass - which is incredibly tough stuff. If the movers had done enough to crack the glass there, there would almost certainly be other blunt force physical damage to the tank edge - I would actually suggest it's an almost a physical impossibility that it was shipping/moving damage without such attendant damage. The holes in the overflow look to be far closer to the edge of the glass then I would think wise. My bet would be that the glass cracked during the grinding process and nobody noticed; although I would imagine that the panels are ground before assembly, so you would think somebody would notice. But, stuff slips through even the best QC.

Their response to the warranty seems off though. Is the stand you are using a Red Sea stand? Assuming it is, the warranty surely covers any and all manufacturing defects - so apparently they are suggesting that you somehow damaged it? Even with an unlevel stand, the tank is not going to crack while empty; yes if full on a badly installed stand, but not empty. Plus a stress crack will run across the main part of the panel, not the tiny piece of glass between the bulkhead hole and side of the tank. Not sure how one would even damage a tank in that way - again without any additional blunt force damage to the edges of the tank.

 

[dantimdad]

Completely agree with @ca1ore there is not way you did this.

I also agree that even a novice would not ship a tank with bulkheads installed. You can look at it and think "That's gonna break"

 

[mikedb]

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for your support and comments though this bummer of a weekend. Fortunately, I have some good news! Red Sea has decided to reverse its previous decision, and will be replacing the tank at no charge. It sounds like my LFS was on the phone with their VP this morning and managed to change his mind. A big thanks to Keith at Marinescape Aquarium (Ottawa, Ontario)- an awesome store and owner.

While I can't say I was happy with the process, I am glad that we reached the right result. I do realize the difficult position that Red Sea was in, and that the costs of replacing this tank will likely outweigh any profit they would have earned on the sale. One of the frustrating parts of doing business, but an inevitable one when dealing with bulky, fragile items.

I'll look forward to putting my photos towards their original destination soon- a build thread!

-Mike

 

[mikedb]

oops- double post.

 

[dantimdad]

I must be good luck! I posted and you got a new tank! LOL!


Glad it worked out.

 

[McPikie]

Great result for you.

 

[Captain Quint]

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for your support and comments though this bummer of a weekend. Fortunately, I have some good news! Red Sea has decided to reverse its previous decision, and will be replacing the tank at no charge. It sounds like my LFS was on the phone with their VP this morning and managed to change his mind. A big thanks to Keith at Marinescape Aquarium (Ottawa, Ontario)- an awesome store and owner.

While I can't say I was happy with the process, I am glad that we reached the right result. I do realize the difficult position that Red Sea was in, and that the costs of replacing this tank will likely outweigh any profit they would have earned on the sale. One of the frustrating parts of doing business, but an inevitable one when dealing with bulky, fragile items.

I'll look forward to putting my photos towards their original destination soon- a build thread!

-Mike

Mike, I've been following and I am happy to read of the replacement.

 

[ca1ore]

I do realize the difficult position that Red Sea was in.

I think, in their defense, there are a lot of stupid people that do stupid things. But if you (or your LFS) make a cogent argument that this was neither stupidity nor neglect, they'll do the right thing …. as in this case. Looks like a really nice tank; GL with the build.

 

[Silver14SS]

Glad there was a favorable resolution!

I think, in their defense, there are a lot of stupid people that do stupid things. But if you (or your LFS) make a cogent argument that this was neither stupidity nor neglect, they'll do the right thing …. as in this case. Looks like a really nice tank; GL with the build.

Hopefully the peanut gallery forgives Red Sea as well, we sure can be quick to grab the pitchforks and boycott;Wacky

 

[ca1ore]

grab the pitchforks and boycott;Wacky

This is a reef board, I believe the appropriate 'weapon' for civil unrest is a trident!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

OP, glad you got it fixed!

I bought a used 525XL. I remember trying to get it in the back of the truck with those bulkheads -- pretty scary to do with two skinny dudes. We built a little slide out of 2x4's so the tank could be supported. I wanted to remove the bulkhead but it looked pretty intimidating -- not just a simple unscrew and rescrew kind of thing. This isn't the first example of poor customer service I've seen on here and other places from Red Sea though. Kinda crazy. I don't think I'll be purchasing another tank from them if I upgrade -- although they do look great.

By the way, my used 525XL has numerous chips in the sump that the previous owner said happened during shipping. He said something about not wanting to deal with Red Sea to get it replaced. Yikes.

To close out my rant, I want to say that the PVC parts and fittings are COMPLETELY SUBPAR for a tank that costs as much as these do! People spend 2-7k on these tanks how on earth do they cheap out so badly on the PVC? A leaking aquarium, whether it's from the bulkheads due to cheap parts, or elsewhere, is awful PR for an aquarium company! Seems crazy they cheap out so hard on those parts.

But for real the rest of the tank is beautiful and well designed and I'm so happy I have it. The stand is very high quality and very sturdy (if your'e screwing stuff into the support beams pre drill first! that wood is tough).

They make great products but their customer service is a bit of a turnoff.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Red Sea is the Apple of reef aquariums

 

[kevin.st]

Great news that I was hoping to hear!

 

[ca1ore]

duplicate

 

[ca1ore]

Red Sea is the Apple of reef aquariums

Ah, so overpriced, buggy and pretentious …….

 

[Blackice615]

Glad to hear they resolved it. Planning to upgrade to a 750 myself and this concerned me

 

[jpas]

Great to hear it worked out for you. Its hard to tell if it was shipping damage, poor packaging or something that was shipped damaged from RS.

Most aquarium manufacturers that ship their products state clearly that it is up to the buyer to inspect the tank completely before signing for it. When my 425 gallon monster arrived in a huge crate I spent over an hour unpacking and inspecting every square inch it before I would sign for it. The truck driver was ticked, but after spending $4k on a tank, I wasn't just going to sign it and hope it was okay.