tried to order a custom tank..all I got was grief!

[FLcracker94]

is that BBB page for GC? I thought you said the owner was tod, or ted or somethin? It says someone else.

[smcnally]

is that BBB page for GC? I thought you said the owner was tod, or ted or somethin? It says someone else.

The owner is Tom...But on paper it is his wife, Beth. I would assume they did that because the federal government gives tax breaks to female owned businesses.

[nynex]

Glasscages has responded to my complaint made to the Nashville office of the

better business bureau. They are claiming that this Post has severly Hurt their

Business and that Im just out to get them..LOL

 

Here is the response from owner Beth Fiala. For the most part this is all a

complete Lie.

 

Sirs:

 

He called us multiple time asking us to make his tank, which is an unusual small

tank of his own design. We declined this job at least 2 times. We told him this is

not the kind of tank we normally make, and it wasn't a very workable design. He

kept calling back and "begging" us to make it. We finally agreed to do so.

We shipped him the tank on UPS on 7/18/07. It arrived at his place on 7/20/07.

(dates provided by UPS) shipment # *****************

It wasn't until 7/25 that he unwrapped the tank. On 7/26 he called me, all upset

because there were "scuff marks" on the black inner plastic wall.

His request on the phone was for me to make him a whole new tank and ship it to

him at my expense, and he would "decide" if he liked this one better.

I refused to make him another tank. Remember, we didn't even want to make the

first tank. I told him we were going to call in a UPS pickup AT OUR EXPENSE . He

still had the original packing material, and was supposed to have it on his porch 3

days hence for pickup by UPS. Once we had the tank back, I told him we would

issue a FULL REFUND. I wanted only to be done with this demanding, argumentive

guy.

 

The pickup by UPS was scheduled for Monday July 30. According to UPS, no

package was there to be picked up by them on that date or the day after either.

I wasn't particularly rude. This guy just wanted to whine on and on, and I only

wanted to give him a refund and a UPS pickup, and be done with him.

To this date, this customer has trashed us on various internet fish forums. He has

recruited his friends to write threatening emails, and also trash us on other

websites. He has filed a Better Business Bureau complaint. I am sure he is

attempting to get a refund thru PAY PAL also.

 

What I find ridiculous about all this, is that he has NOT returned the tank - and it

was FREE to do so, and he has been offered a FULL REFUND as soon as it arrives.

He would rather write complaint letters and hate mail than get his money back.

You, as an organization that works for the consumer, should be aware that this is

not a "normal" consumer, but rather someone who is grinding his own ax, and has

no interest in the money involved, and is only a person consumed with a one-sided

vendenta against us.

 

Our aquarium warranty only covers leaks and cracking. It does not cover cosmetic

items that only the customer can find. Our acrylic is purchased from Lucite Int'l.

It is not sub-grade. If the customer had wanted "cast" acrylic, he should have

mentioned that at the time of ordering. Since we don't stock "cast" acrylic, I could

have declined his job a third time, and maybe he would have listened to me that

time. Everything written above is the cold, clear truth. I would still give this guy

his money back, and free shipping. However, nothing will repair the harm he has

done to my business as a result of all the obsessive forum posts and hateful

emails.

 

This is such a lie. They never declined to make the Aquarium. I never called and

bugged them. I called the week that Tom Fiala was out of town and was told that

all custom jobs had to be discussed with him. Then that same week Beth Fiala

called me and happily took my order. Said it would be No Problem. They started

getting an attitude with me when I started to asking questions about pricing,about

the design...ect.. Furthermore I was told by both owners I had to pay to send the

aquarium back. Also both owners were rude to me and hung up on me. Also I

have no idea aboutpeople calling them or writing emails. I knew nothing about

that. Nor did I ever tell anyone to.

 

This company is such a joke!

[thecowkid]

Well well well, they didn't need anyone to rag on their business. They sure did burn themselves with the cast acrylic comment didn't they.

[SCUBA BUZZ]

ha what a useless company if i ever order a custom tank it wont be thru them

[thecowkid]

Yep, just order them from me. I own Aquatic Acrylic Works. There is my cheep plug for my co.

[MrAnderson]

Here is the response from owner Beth Fiala.

 

Sirs:

 

...Our aquarium warranty only covers leaks and cracking. It does not cover cosmetic

items that only the customer can find. Our acrylic is purchased from Lucite Int'l.

It is not sub-grade. If the customer had wanted "cast" acrylic, he should have

mentioned that at the time of ordering. Since we don't stock "cast" acrylic...

 

 

I guess they can't claim you made THAT up.

[thecowkid]

Just what I was thinking

[neanderthalman]

Wait, wait wait - they use extruded acrylic for all of their tanks?

 

OMFG - anyone who has purchased an acrylic tank from glasscages would be well advised to transfer their livestock to buckets while they source a new aquarium.

 

Edit - you don't need them to look bad at the BBB - you just need them to look bad in the hobby world and we can ruin their business that way

[RayWhisperer]

OMFG - anyone who has purchased any tank from glasscages would be well advised to transfer their livestock to buckets while they source a new aquarium.

Fixed that for ya!

[neanderthalman]

TYVM - my bad

[Shadowrider]

Maybe someone with a good recorder should call this cheesy outfit and get them going with some legitimate questions and if they start going off get it recorded and post it on the net.

[RayWhisperer]

I elect you for the job Shadowbilly!

 

BTW, I love that sig!

[supernip]

hahaha the irony

 

She never denied any of the charges about the messed up tank, only implied that they were made by you. And continued to insult in a formal letter to the BBB. I don't think that bodes too well with that kind of agency.

 

That letter is more transparent than the shotty tank they made for you. I truly hope you saved some emails or recorded some conversations like we've advised you to numerous times

[nynex]

I know...isnt that funny! She basicly burned herself saying that

they dont use cast acrylic. She probably doesnt even know what

cast acrylic is...lol

 

She should have said..."We use expanded acrylic that will crack and fall

apart within a year. Since we dont stock cast acrylic which is the good

stuff...because we dont care about our customers or their livestock that

will perish..we just want their money...." lol

[Uhuru]

what a sad sad example of a business person

[wav3form]

I have a 65 gallon acrylic tank from them I bought 1.5 years ago and it's held up just fine. I use it for a fresh water tank. This is a stock/standard tank with no mods. I'll never buy another tank from them again though based on all the crap I hear about them.

[Withers]

Sirs:

 

Our aquarium warranty only covers leaks and cracking. It does not cover cosmetic

items that only the customer can find. Our acrylic is purchased from Lucite Int'l.

It is not sub-grade. If the customer had wanted "cast" acrylic, he should have

mentioned that at the time of ordering. Since we don't stock "cast" acrylic, I could

have declined his job a third time, and maybe he would have listened to me that

time. Everything written above is the cold, clear truth. I would still give this guy

his money back, and free shipping. However, nothing will repair the harm he has

done to my business as a result of all the obsessive forum posts and hateful

emails.

 

LMFAO, self ownage at its best. Whats even better is I'm not sure if she even realizes the damages she just did to her own company.

 

Is anybody else shocked at the lack of professionalism in that email?

[nynex]

Hey I just seen something kinda funny..

 

Reef Central closed my glasscages post, saying its been a month and

my point has been made...So some other guy tried to start a new post

warning people about glasscages and 2 guys kept posting saying that Im

the only person in these forums complaining about glasscages and im

just bashing them for no reason and they just praise glasscages..

 

So if thats true then I must have 70 different screen names on every forum

then..lol I think these 2 guys might be from glasscages..or they are morons

who cant read....lol

[EtOH_is_good]

have you sent the tank back since it doesn't make sense to put water in a non-cast acrylic tank?

[moonjellii]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I've heard terror stories, not about this company, if you can even call it that... but mostly about LFS... My boyfriend and I have been in the hobby almost half a year now and have had our share of negative experiences with various LFS. Some places are really just out there to make a buck without thinking of the consequences of poor customer service. I must admit it is one of my pet peeves. I think the worst kind are those who make guarantees and promises that they cannot keep. In any case, hope everything works out for you

 

Not to discourage you or anything, but paypal seriously has problems. They neither support the seller or buyer. I had a friend that sold a cellphone via ebay. The buyer paid using paypal and later recalled his payment arguing that someone had hacked into his account and fraudulently ordered the cellphone. In any case, the cellphone was already shipped out at this point and the seller, my friend, received no payment for the phone nor was it ever recovered. Paypal's reasoning for siding with the buyer was that the address was not a "confirmed" address and as such the seller protection guarantee became void. I find this silly just because a confirmed address just means the shipping address is not the billing address of the credit card used. This could simply mean someone might have had an item shipped to their workplace rather than their home. Paypal really ticked me off with this whole incident although it appears that paypal is the most convenient way to pay for things online. Sorry for such a long aside comment, but really, paypal needs to learn to take care of their users a little better.

 

Anyway, enough of my blabbering and goodluck! I will definitely spread the word and keep it in mind! References are important and any good business should know that customer service and quality are key.

[nynex]

moonjellii thanks for the comments....

 

I buy and sell on ebay and Ive had a Paypal account since the begining...Ive Won

every dispute that ive filed or was filed against me.. Ya I had a few filed against me,

which I thought was funny. Cause for a long time I worked as a tour photographer in

the Music Industry. So I collected boxes and boxes of unused backstage passes and

other tour memorabilia. Well I decided to part with alot of it..and so I would sell it

on ebay. Out of the many buyers I had...I actually had a couple of people try to tell

me my backstage passes were Bootlegs/Fakes. It just made me laugh..cause one

laminated Metallica pass I sold was my own personal pass...and the guy tried to tell

me it was a fake...LOL

 

Like I said I won the disputes..cause what I was selling was exactly what I described in

my listing. So Ive been happy with Paypal for the most part. Most times whenever ive

called them they have handled my problem right away. It always been an issue with

a buyer or seller on ebay..

 

But now this Chargeback im doing through them is completely different thing and for the

most part im getting to the end of my rope with them. Because its with the debt card which

is provided by Mastercard. Paypal has to follow their rules and its totally different from an

online ebay dispute.

 

Their Chargeback Debt does not accept phone calls and does everything through email..like ebay.

Which I think is great way to cause alot of confusion. I did call the Paypal Dispute Dept and spoke to 3

supervisors they just keep saying their sorry and tell me the CB dept is working on it. Which makes me

more mad! Ive got two different people working in my chargeback and they have sent me

emails asking for the same thing more then once..which Ive faxed as many times as they asked.

Then keep telling me I havent followed certain steps..when I have. Its frustrating!

 

They told me to call glasscages and request and RMA (return number) and I told them in five emails

and 2 faxes that I called requesting an RMA six times and everytime I got hung up on. Its like they

dont believe me...They keep telling me in every email to call for RMA. Im finally emailed paypal

and said How many times do you want me to call glasscages and get hung up on? Im still waiting

on an answer.

 

Then they also told me to get an expert Second Opinion on the aquarium. To verify what was wrong

with it. So I did from a very well known place here...and basicly says that the aquarium is subgrade

and very poorly constructed. That it would be a waste to even try to repair it. Paypal says this isnt

good enough opinion.

 

So im about at the end of my rope and getting ready to file a lawsuit against glasscages.

[NYPRODJ]

No long story here... just tried to deal with them and realized they are a-holes... didn't waste my time... lets boycott!

[Todesengel]

I definitely will not be purchasing anything from them ever, because of this posts.

[TAftonomos]

Just wondering here and saw this thread. I was checking up on GC because I was about ready to order from them. I did want to say that if they said in a letter they would accept the tank back and refund your money, thats exactly what they should do. Filing a lawsuit is just going to waste more money and time. Return the tank to them with proof of delivery, and call your CC company. IMO, PP's dispute center won't do a damn thing about something that wasn't made correctly....you wanted a tank, you got "a tank". Sucks, but thats my experience with PP.