I'd posted this thread

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=212284

When I got my tank. In that thread I'd noted that his tank was great. The tank is great, craftsmanship is superb, and price was great as well. I'd posted the thread because I figured I'd get a response from him on the flakiness but nope. Today another friend of mine was complaining about how John was el flako numero uno so I figured it's about time to let people know.

My tank was supposed to arrive at my door 6 WEEKS before it eventually did. I emailed several times, the last response that I'd received was two weeks before the tank arrived saying that he'd shipped on that monday. I asked for the tracking, no reply. Asked again a week later, no reply. Finally, fed up I sent an email saying that if he couldn't prove that he'd shipped before he received that email by sending me a tracking number to immediately cancel it because I was in no way, shape or form interested anymore. Three days later I file a paypal claim, and on that day it arrived, he'd coincidentally sent it after I'd told him not to.

Emailed about an explanation, no reply, and gave him many weeks to reply before posting this thread. To put it simply, if you want a great tank at a great price, email John at Advance Acrylics. If you want a great tank at an ok price and want customer service, reliability, someone that won't blatantly lie to your face on shipping dates and at least a modicum of respect then go with someone, anyone, else.

Yow

I miss SCC - SoCal Creations.

lol. this same type of thing happened to me before about 3 months ago.

I ordered a 40 breeder, sump, frag tank and was 2 months late. I called him and realized its me and hung up.....i called him back.....no answer.....this went on for about 2 weeks until he finally answered my emails. And the only reason he replied to me in the emails was because I posted on every forum trying to find him. Luckily my bank was cool and gave me the money and didnt have any trouble. This isn't the only time either, after posting on scnrs.com, i was informed another reefer had trouble getting his money back. We all know emergencies come up but there is no reason to screen or not reply to emails

However, I still recommend him because I did order from him before and his work is great. The friend that ordered from him is getting her tank in today/tomorrow.

Me too! Those guys would give me an ETA and would usually be done 2-3 days beforehand.

fastandsneaky, not surprised, that's about par for the course with him. This isn't the first time that it's happened to me with John either, should've learned the first go around...

idk, my friend emailed him and she is got her tank within a week and what not. I guess I will have to wait to see it. but its odd how he "isn't" able to reply to you, but reply to her.

EDIT: but yea i posted on like 4 forums before I got a response. i did what i had to do.

it seems to be hit or miss with john. Some people get their tanks in a week, others wait months. His work is real nice though. Have you noticed any krazing? Thats another big complaint I've heard about his tanks

What is Krazing?

I just grabbed a Frag Tank from him, although I changed the dimensions a bit, so it's a custom tank ... I assume it would take a bit longer to receive because of my request. My buddy and co-worker just got a Pico tank from him, the quality looks fantastic, though it did take a couple weeks for him to ship it out.

EDIT - Adding additional info below:

I ordered a tank from Advance Acrylics on Nov 10th - the tank was listed as 16" x 20" x 8" high. I had Advance Acrylics modify those dimensions and create a custom frag tank for me that is 24" x 12" x 8" ...

They built the custom tank, and shipped it out last week. From California to Michigan via UPS Ground, it arrived today, November 25th in great condition.

Start to finish, just over two weeks from concept to having it in my hands. I have no problem with that time line, and can highly recommend Advance Acrylics.

Here are pics of the custom frag tank. Notice the rounded corners, I'm no acrylic expert, but that looks nice to my eye.

i think crazing or krazing or whatever is the weakening of the acrylic in someway. however i havent seen any defects in his work.

glad you got your tank. I was expecting this to end poorly.

hi5

Never heard of krazing, what's that?

Had he said "your tank will be there in 6 weeks" that would've been fine, but getting flaked around for 6+ weeks is ridiculous when I was lied to about when it would be here, lied to about when it did ship, ignored when I told to cancel it, and doubly ignored when I asked wtf?

It seems that most of his customers get the royal flaking, and the rest get their tanks when their supposed to. When I was waiting for another tank from him he'd avoid my phone calls, and once 5 minutes after I called him and left the 300th message in 2 months he calls his friend. Who was standing right in front of me in my shop. Who had just gotten done telling me that he could do me a favor and tell John to call me since John picks up his phone calls Come to think of it, I must have been drinking or something to have trusted him again...



Nah, I go through enormous lengths to not leave bad feedback on anyone, which is why I'd initially left good feedback figuring he'd respond to me within a few weeks. Guess not...

I've recently worked with John - he can be frustrating when it comes to shipping and sharing information about tracking and dates - but my tank and sump came from him quickly enough, and the quality seems to be really nice.

honestly, though, my friends or I have no excuse. We went the cheaper way. To get what we got from him would cost much more even with the shipping. But the lying and deception gets old, but thats what you get for dealing over online I guess rather than at the LFS. The only person I blame now is me but lesson learned.

I just ordered a custom tank and sump from him a little less than a week ago. He says he's shipping it out tomorrow. I hope i get my tank faster than some of you have. Here are some pics he sent me of my tank and sump...

Tank

Sump

+1

Its good that you all are at least getting your tanks. Lets remember just this time last year a member DID take preorders including $$$ and run. I know alot of folks got the royal thumb treatment in that one. But as a fellow acrylic builder it does take alot of time. I dont know John nor have I spoke to him. But 6 weeks to me is a long time to get out orders. But he may just have that much work that he is that far out dated for production.

Crazing is when a seam turns cloudy or the acrylic starts to get small fractures in it. This is due to not using cast acrylic. The seams are from excess humidity in the construction area or the wrong cement being used. The seams that do this are ok and safe. The cracking acrylic is NOT safe.

oh it's with a c? I always thought it was with a K. But yeah the small cracks that show up in the acrylic.

Nope, haven't had any issues with that, his craftsmanship has always been inversely proportionate to his customer service

It's a problem thats shown up a bit later in some tanks but I agree. John's craftsmanship is exceptional. Im waiting on an aio from him right now because I think his work is so good

I have talked with john 2 times and we had a very long conversations with him, his work is great and hes a real cool guy. Its odd for him to be doing this all together since his personality is very friendly. Best of luck to those who are still waiting on any tanks.

So far my experience is the same. Ordered a tank yesterday, got it for 2/3 of the asking price, he's building it custom for me because I requested different dimensions, and he has been very responsive via e-mail.

Time will tell, but so far, I'm very impressed.

you ordered yesterday and got a response? I've been waiting a week after I sent him dims. I think he just gets so much work that emails get burried

I went back and forth with him yesterday, 3 times. Sent him another today, got a response almost immediately.

I didnt want to hassle him but I guess I should. The guy gets a lot of work...a lot of work. So I guess if you keep corresponding to him, and your email gets on top of his inbox, it's better for your cause.

I also read miguel's thread on reefcentral. It's getting to be a bit aggressive for my taste. Hit or miss with John though. I'd still recommend him in any case due to great price and good worksmanship but he can be a bit of a flake.

with all the work that he gets you would think he would have perfected this by now. For example getting back to reefers emails.

Not to drag this off topic (too far) but has anyone used Corpse here on N-R? I was thinking about Advance Acrylic but Eff that, I don't have that kind of patience in my old age :|

I don't make tanks

K-Bye

lol nice

In all seriousness, when did reefcentral turn into an insane asylum? I feel like I'm in the twilight zone over there that I posted a bad experience and 90% of the posts are people astounded and jumping on me that I'd have the balls to post a factual bad experience on a poor sweet thing of a one man small business owner that would never lie to or flake over the majority of the people I know who've had the misfortune to purchase tanks from him.

I have seen the 'crazing' in 3/4 of johns tanks that are over 1.5 yrs old and that have had halides over them. when he 1st started I asked him if he was using the 'treated acrylic' that would resist halide use, his reply was 'LOL, whats that?'.....wonder if I still have the PM's regarding this....

Wow, I wonder if he's fixed that one over the years, or offered compensation on the ones that ended up defective...

whats treated acrylic?

I can understand where this guy is coming from.

I used to be in the service industry (working for myself) and I'll tell you, it gets old fast. Calling multiple times per day will probably get you what you want, but don't expect cheery responses every time.

It sounds as though he is just unorganized. If I were in his shoes, I would just charge a "priority" fee for those who need their work done and shipped within say, 10 days. And then issue a reasonable expected ship date on other orders with a note to only contact him if there are changes to the work order (and then fulfill them according to schedule of course).

Overall though, I would say this thread isn't too harsh on his reputation. If I find myself looking for a good deal on an acrylic tank someday I'll certainly look him up since quality work at a good value is more important to me than timeliness.

I just talked to him about crazing and he said he found the problem and put a seal over the acrylic so it won't happen. He is a pretty nice guy and you gotta cut him some slack, but i understand how you guys think he is unorganized.

Can someone please give me advance acrylics email or phone number. The website is not loading correctly. thanks

Ok, this one's about to go the way of rc so I'm going to correct you guys before you start heading down that road, and apologize for my lack of patience with these kinds of replies since it was wasted on rc already.

ajmckay, I used to be self-employed, and never, ever lied to any customer, especially regarding their order having shipped when it hadn't. Because then they'd be waiting for their order like a tool, and I'd be a giant douche whose word wasn't worth a thing. If you want to defend him in this thread feel free to start on that point and how you would do that to your customers, because what you posted has jack to do with anything going on in this thread. Feel free to point out why he's got a huge reputation for being flaky and how ok that is because he runs his own business and is a nice guy.

Johnnydee, what part of my post didn't you read, aside from all of it? This is not about being unorganized or being a nice guy, it's not about craftsmanship, it's about LYING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS, avoiding them when there's ANY issues, and having piss poor customer service. That's all it's about. Being a nice guy and unorganized while running your own business don't give you license to do a single thing that John did.

Again, I'm sorry for my tone, but having the rc bs carry over into this thread is just plain not going to happen.

Quoted for emphasis.

unfortunately, for the majority of customers, tanks are a one time thing and few people repeat or go a long while before reordering. It's kind of a one shot deal for both parties.



I agree. Theres a duplicate thread on rc and there are far more positive experiences than unfavorable ones. I would still recommend Advance Acrylics but Miguel brings up a valid point about Advance's customer service.

I think a reasonable seller (one who takes money up front at that) who has a history of being a flake and KNOWS it (if he didn't know it, why dodge email and phone calls?) would have the sense to say "no", or at the very least not ask for payment until he has started to manufacture.

In any event, thanks for this thread. It made me search out other options and I found cdelicath's stuff.

I agree

Sorry but I have to call BS on this statement of sealing acrylic. If he would just use cell cast acrylic the problem would be solved. It cost a bit more in the long run, but customers who are looking into acrylic products know that its expensive. Whats $15 more per average tank?

sure...

This argument is getting kind of crazy. To me, it seems like a year or two ago, maybe Advance Acrylics was just learning the ropes of building Acrylic tanks ... but now, it seems like the only valid complaint people have is about the turn around time of a new tank, which is likely related to this gentleman's workload.

To whoever claims that he is using IMPORTED acrylic, or acrylic that is of lesser quality, look at this:

eBay Item #190337331356

He sells sheets of Domest Cast Acrylic in his eBay Store!

Wouldn't you think he uses the same acrylic to build his tanks that he sells as raw sheets? C'mon now.

I can say this. May be so about being inundated with work. Thats good for him. So would honesty. Okay so he sells cell cast. Still cant prove that he is using it. The ONLY thing that causes acrylic to craze is it being extruded. Oh and you can not seal acrylic to stop it from doing so. I have asked fellow acrylic artisans as well as my supplier. Even if one was to use the newer poly coated extruded the seams and cut edges are still exposed.

Selling and using is a good question. So ask those who have cracking tanks if they are bigger than 24" in any size. Then your point of using what he is selling could be nulled out. I know that I purchase all acrylic in 4' x 8' or 5' x 10' sheets. B/C I am sure that he is either drop shipping those sheets or just ordering the most common size.

Hopefully I am wrong. Have been many times in the past and sure to be in the future.

why do people even like acrylic? i can see its use for uses inside the tank, for racks and what not...but why not just use sturdier less scratch prone, can keep a wider variety of inhabitants glass? i get that it is lighter, but how many people carry their tanks around with them? lift it once and your done with it, so why the trouble to spend extra on acrylic?

I couldnt have said it any better.
I agree with you 100% John.

Acrylic is clear unlike normal glass tanks that have that greenish tint. Unless you have that sexy low iron glass which is almost as clear as acrylic.

maybe my eyes aren't that great, but i have never seen any difference

same. heck, my new tank is 1/2" thick, and even empty I couldn't detect but the faintest hint of green.

now, if my new tank were acrylic, it would have so many scratches I would be wishing it were green.

that new tank is sweet...i want that color stand...heading over to see updates...better have water in it by now.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have these bionic eyes. Stupid military and their secret experiments.....oops