I still have an unresolved issue with erickrm of MadTanks and I feel the need to share my experience with the member of NR so that hey have hopefully avoid a similar situation with him.

Eric agreed to build tanks for an unoffical contest started by a NR member. I decided to join the contest and also made contact with Eric to see if he would be able to build a custom sump for me along with the contest tank. Eric agreed and spent a lot of time with me working out the details and once we decided on what the final project would look like, Eric quoted me 175.00 for the sump and informed me what once it was complete he would let me know the exact cost for shipping expenses.

Eric and I discussed him ordering the material at the same time as he was going to order the material for the contest tanks he was building, so I paid him for the cost of the sump as we discussed on July 29th, which was 3 days after I sent him 76.00 for the cost of the contest tank.

At one point Eric had asked me if I wanted him to send the Sump along with the contest tank. I let him know that whatever was easier for him was fine with me. He decided not to ship them together (I would assume due to the volume of the contest tanks) but this indicated to me that the sump would be completed shortly.

Eric had some delays with the contest tanks due to the number he ended up having to make but mine was shipped on September 11. I followed up with him on September 18th about status of the sump via NR PM, his response was:
"Hey brotha, just wanted to let you know im hoping to be done withy our sump tonight or late tomorrow night. So should ship during the week. Did we work out the shipping yet?"

The following Monday, September 21st .I PM'd Eric again asking for the shipping costs and got this response:
"As much as i tried to finish it up this weekend my wify wanted me to spend time with the fam atleast one day, and well i id not get to do crap yesterday.... tonight i want to cut up all the baffles and start welding them in so hopefully i will have it complete tonight and then just allow it to dry up for a few days."

I emailed Eric on September 26th expecting the sump to be finished and he asked for clarification on the design we finalized. At this point I was really thrown because I didn't understand how the week prior it was almost finished and now he needed clarification on the design. Anyway, after all that was hashed out I had to email Eric again requesting the status since I had not heard anything from him yet again. I emailed him on Oct 14th, 17th and 20th. A fellow reefer informed me that Eric had posted active on ReefCentral between the dates I emailed him, So it's obvious I was being ignored.

I filed a dispute with PayPal and emailed Eric informing him of the dispute (as suggested by PayPal) and I finally got a response from him on Oct 27th stating that he had a surgery (which he had discussed he had planned in prior emails) and that the sump had been completed and was supposed to have been shipped by his Wife but he failed to give her the correct address which I don't understand considering I only have 1 address. His email stated "I will send you a refund since a dispute was put in, i guess i should have checked my email ealier than i did" and "I will have the refund ready for you by next week."

Here it is November 14th. I emailed Eric on November 10th about status and I have yet to hear back from him. Sadly I don't have a lot of confidence that Eric will follow through on his word since he never has throughout this process. Also, I'm juked from the PayPal dispute aspect since it has been over 45 days.

Bottom line...He took 175.00 that I bust my a$$ to make and not followed through on his end of the bargain...Eric has stated the acrylic fabrications he does are a hobby however in any type of role where you are providing a service, the customer is still that. A CUSTOMER.

I strong advise against doing business on any level with Eric of MadTanks due to his lack of follow through and his inability to stand behind his written word.

He is active on reef central. His screen name is madtanks
link

Well that just plain ol' sux.

It happens all the time with people doing products like this.They take on more then they can put out and sooner or later someone gets screwed.


hope it all works out for both sides

Just wanted to give what I guess will be a final update on this. Erick replied to me a few weeks back that he was still working on getting the funds together to return to me. Following that email I have still not received a reimbursement for the 175.00 sent to him for the sump, nor have I gotten any further contact from him. I also never received any offer from him to send the sump, which leads me to believe it was never actually finished when he said it was. I attempted to duplicate this thread on Reef Central since I understand he is mostly active there after the shenanigans with the AIO contest tanks that occurred here, but I am not a member. Hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone else.

If by some wild chance he actually follows through on what he said he would do I will update this thread.

I had the same exact run around with him. He was always very polite in emails and apologized for the delays. He mentioned that he was going to finish before he went on deployment and guess what he never finished it( who knows if he even started it). He goes off on a 6 month deployment and im stuck with no tank and down over $100 on a tank I never received. Tried to dispute paypal but it was over 45 days. Tried to contact on pm's and email but no response. He comes back from cruise and tells me he will refund me once he can save up... Over 7 months after he says he will ship it i get the refund. At least he refunded me... What a nightmare that was.

I believe another member on here said his work was low budget, had alot of bubbles