Tottally PO'd with DR.Fosters and Smith

[gulfsurfer101]

So I ordered one of those cheap nano-cubes from them and when it got here it was cracked noticably. I called them up and they shipped me out a new one ASAP. I thought that was pretty awesome, they told me to go ahead and keep that one and salvage what I can from it. I gave it to a freind who said he could use it for some reptiles that didn't need much more than an ich of water in there. The second one shows up and I run my FW test with it and the freakin light goes out on it after about four hours. I'm glad it went before I had a thousand bucks sitting in there, so I call them back and they reassured me that they weren't sending them to me broke. I got steamed that I wasn't getting treated better and demanded to return this item in exchange for a slightly higher priced but better quality Aqua pod with the hqi lighting. They wanted me to pay the shipping back to them.After another few hours of bickering I was finally able to get them to send me a FED-EX shipping coupon for a free shipping back to them. My main concern was that it wouldn't be soon enough and that the deal would be up and I wouldn't get my AP with the sunpod. They told me they would honor the price and that they would have it in stock when my nano-cube was returned. I sent them the cube today and got on the line with customer service and was told that they no longer have that item and that it was discontinued and they are no longer getting them. I am now expecting a phone call tommorrow from them trying to convince me to get something similar to this. I don't want anything similar, I want the freakin aqua pod with hqi lighting. Their policy sais 100 percent customer satisfaction, there is no way I'm satisfied with this deal at all. What would you do if this was you.

[Caesar777]

I'd have put it in a reef or feedback forum.

 

They seem to have tried. You're the one that bought it, I figure. They can't guarantee the quality of the items they sell, only take them back and give refunds.

[scarfish]

DFS is watching.

[epicfish]

Why not post this in the DFS forum on RC?

[lgreen]

So just ask for your money back and buy it from aquabuys.com.

[gulfsurfer101]

I believe that's what I'm gonna have to do. Thanks for heads up, I still think it's pretty crappy how they handled me throught this whole ordeal. I had to fight for over two hours to be able to send this thing back to them without it coming out of my own pocket, not getting a quility product the first two time, and as far as the dfs forum on RC, I was not even aware of what that is. I hope they don't give me no bull$%#& about having to wait till my order gets there and them have some waitning period till I'm refundedmy cash back to my account so I can purchas this thing from another site befor they sell out completely also.

[The Propagator]

So just ask for your money back and buy it from aquabuys.com.

 

DING DING DING !!!!

 

 

 

Personally I have always had god luck with the doctors though ..

[gulfsurfer101]

I just checked aquabuys.com and it's a hundred and some change more than what DFS had it posted for. They had it for 175 plus shipping, auabuys has it for 299. That's just unacceptable. I should get what I wanted for the price that was to be honered by Dr. Fosters and Smith's phone reps.

[Caesar777]

I think you're one of those "problem customers"... They sent you the product you bought, but it wasn't of quality in your mind. That's fine, but it's what you bought; their obligation is to take back the item and refund you. Why should they give you a deal on a product that's of higher quality and thus more expensive AT THE SAME PRICE? It doesn't make sense. They've treated you well, and you're extremely neurotic.

[gulfsurfer101]

Did you read the above statement, the first one they sent me was cracked in the back, the second one they sent me blew the light in under one day of use while I ran fresh water through it. I'm not gonna stock a junk tank with hundreds of dollars worh of frags and other corals in something that's gonna blow down the line. I don't think I'm being nuerotic, I think I should get waht it is that I pay for. Never once had I got loud or quick with them or have I called them some something they're not.

[Doopdeedo]

Did you read the above statement, the first one they sent me was cracked in the back, the second one they sent me blew the light in under one day of use while I ran fresh water through it. I'm not gonna stock a junk tank with hundreds of dollars worh of frags and other corals in something that's gonna blow down the line. I don't think I'm being nuerotic, I think I should get waht it is that I pay for. Never once had I got loud or quick with them or have I called them some something they're not.

when i have someone that is hard to satisfy i just wash my hands of them. money back. on to someone i can make money dealing with. it's a business. they probably don't have any in because they are going to stop sending them, because they are crap and causing them lost money in shipping.

[Caesar777]

You paid for the tank, it was flawed, they sent you a new one, it was of poor quality. They replaced the broken one, but the general quality of the item is not their fault. You ordered a nanocube, they sent you a nanocube; that one was faulty, so they replaced it, and it was just of poor quality. DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR BEEF IS WITH THE MAKERS OF THE NANOCUBE and NOT WITH DRS. F&S? They did all that they should and could do.

 

Look, it's like if I bought one of those ######ty Coralife HQI pendants, it had a manufacturer's defect, I complained to them so they replaced it, and I found that it was of shoddy quality, so I demand, say, a Lumenarc pendant and IceCap ballast to replace it. It doesn't make sense, son! That's why the Coralife product is cheaper: because it's a piece of crap! You get what you pay for, and there's no reason why they should sell you something for less! I literally can't see how you expect to get a more expensive product for less because you bought the cheaper crappy product from another company. YOUR FAULT, buyer!

[Doopdeedo]

You paid for the tank, it was flawed, they sent you a new one, it was of poor quality. They replaced the broken one, but the general quality of the item is not their fault. You ordered a nanocube, they sent you a nanocube; that one was faulty, so they replaced it, and it was just of poor quality. DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR BEEF IS WITH THE MAKERS OF THE NANOCUBE and NOT WITH DRS. F&S? They did all that they should and could do.

 

Look, it's like if I bought one of those ######ty Coralife HQI pendants, it had a manufacturer's defect, I complained to them so they replaced it, and I found that it was of shoddy quality, so I demand, say, a Lumenarc pendant and IceCap ballast to replace it. It doesn't make sense, son! That's why the Coralife product is cheaper: because it's a piece of crap! You get what you pay for, and there's no reason why they should sell you something for less! I literally can't see how you expect to get a more expensive product for less because you bought the cheaper crappy product from another company. YOUR FAULT, buyer!

dead on. anyone that sells stuff will tell you stories about getting crap from customers about quality of the product. i don't think they pick out the worst ones. they can't test them to make sure they light up and don't leak either. if i was you i would think about switching to a tank that doesn't break so easy.

[Caesar777]

I know not only from working retail but just from being a customer myself in retail stores that there are a LOT of b!tchy customers that will raise a HUGE stink about often very small--or even nonexistent--issues. I see it everywhere, even in the grocery store. It's ridiculous--I understand that sometimes people have a bad day, or they have little faith in retail employees, or they are genuinely upset about the quality of a product, but the store can only do so much. Usually, again, as above, the issue is with the manufacturer and perhaps THAT is who you ought to be contacting. I'm surprised that DrsF&S haven't blacklisted him, because he's being absolutely insane. Just goes to show why I don't work for them, I guess.

[gulfsurfer101]

I still don't think your following me. I sent this junk back, told them to charge my card for the remaining balance of 72 dollars plus whatever shipping was to my current account. I was paying the difference and they knew that the moment I decided to send it back to them. They placed this information on their database and sent me a voucher to send them back the nano-cube. I even asked the rep if they were still gonna have the aqupod by the time the nano-cube would get bak to them and they had told me yes. Nowthat I have returned the nano cube they are telling me that don't have them and they saw that I was supposed to recive the aquapod and they made a mistake and now it's my loss. I hope this is more clear to you cause I can't get any more graphic without getting booted of this site. If it were you in my spot you'd be pretty F*&^%ng upset if you had all this time invested on what shouldv'e been a routine sell.

[Caesar777]

I know what you're saying, I just think you're lacking common sense and you may or may not realize that you're attempting to take advantage of this company's [imo/ime well-earned] good reputation for customer service.

[gulfsurfer101]

How is it that I lack common sense. I got stuck on shipping charges, had to negotiate for two hours on the phone so I woulnd't have to pay out of my pocket to teturn an item that didn't last me a day, was promised by their phone rep that everything was in order and not to worry only to hear that maybey they can interest me in something else. Their policy states 100% customer satisfaction and I'm not at all satisfied. I've worked on both ends before as a waiter in a 5 star hotel and had to put up with some outragous crap before but I quit and found a job that I'm happy with and no longer have to put up with poeples crap, but in turn I work long hard hours in a chemical plant and hate to see my hard earned money get messed over in small fee after small fee and the time invested on this is just seseless.

[MrAnderson]

sorry, but i gotta agree with Caesar777 on this.

 

i consider this a manufacturer/warranty issue. i think that replacing the first one was reasonable considering it probably broke during shipping. but the second one arrived in working order, only to fail after being put to use, albeit only for a short time. i'm sympathetic, because it sounds really unfortunate and frustrating, but i think you have to take it up with the manufacturer at this point.

[Gwoardnog]

So I ordered one of those cheap nano-cubes from them and when it got here it was cracked noticably. I called them up and they shipped me out a new one ASAP. I thought that was pretty awesome, they told me to go ahead and keep that one and salvage what I can from it. I gave it to a freind who said he could use it for some reptiles that didn't need much more than an ich of water in there.

 

So you could have just used your "extra" light on the uncracked tank and had one perfectly workable with no new shipping charges?

 

and now you've got another "unworkable" tank? And them stuck with no real proof besides your word and them minus what a nano cube costs... with you barking up their tree for a more expensive model shipped out to you for free because the second one shipped to you is also "broke"? Yes DFS has absolutely no reason to suspect shenanigans and you're obviously the looser on the deal...

 

sure dude, but they've got to be thinking you're scamming them.

[The Propagator]

I still don't think your following me. I sent this junk back, told them to charge my card for the remaining balance of 72 dollars plus whatever shipping was to my current account. I was paying the difference and they knew that the moment I decided to send it back to them. They placed this information on their database and sent me a voucher to send them back the nano-cube. I even asked the rep if they were still gonna have the aqupod by the time the nano-cube would get bak to them and they had told me yes. Nowthat I have returned the nano cube they are telling me that don't have them and they saw that I was supposed to recive the aquapod and they made a mistake and now it's my loss. I hope this is more clear to you cause I can't get any more graphic without getting booted of this site. If it were you in my spot you'd be pretty F*&^%ng upset if you had all this time invested on what shouldv'e been a routine sell.

 

 

I follow what your saying. I also agree 1005% with you.

An agreement is an agreement. Regardless of the quality of the product made by any manufacturer they sell they should stand behind it or not sell it. ( which it sounds like they are doing). You cannot sell a product thats crap and not expect heat for it. ( weather or not you make it your self or not.)

Thats like a guy selling some one a used car with saw dust in the transmission then blaming the manufacturer when the transmission kicks it.

 

It doesn't "seem" like they are doing that.

It does seem like they are slinking out of a verbal agreement though by what you have told us.

Which is also wrong.

 

I don't think this guy needs heat for venting.

He had a rough time two time sin a row man.

I would be pizzed too. Only not just in type.

 

Heres hoping they refund you or give you the upscale tank for the agreed upon price...

[Seanfg89]

First of all, the problem is with the ballast. The same thing happened to my NC when I got it from Dr. F&S the very same day. I contacted JBJ Lighting, explained the issue, and they expedited a new ballast and instructions that same say.

 

Now on to Dr F&S 's customer service. It is second to none, this is not my opinion but rather one of those fundamental laws of the universe. When my NC 12g started to crack (oh the horror) I immediately called Dr F&S about ordering a replacement tank. Mind you this was a couple months after I got the NC12 originally. They offered me a full refund on the tank so that I could look locally for another one so that I wouldn't have to risk any damage with shipping another tank cross-country.

 

That said I cannot understand why you are having problems with them in getting your situation resolved.

[dickie52]

What do you want the Dr.'s to do????

 

Pull a tank they don't have out of their ass???

 

You ordered a crap tank, the shipper broke it, they send you another crap tank for free and now you have a problem with the good Dr.'s??????

 

Sounds like you are taking out your frustrations of buying a crap tank out on a good retailer.

[allenspidey]

I see both sides of this issue as well. The Drs are amazing at customer service but if they said they would get you an AP then they should make good on it. Agree with the Propagator about selling crappy products. If you sell junk, you should expect to get hammered for it.

[Doopdeedo]

How is it that I lack common sense. I got stuck on shipping charges, had to negotiate for two hours on the phone so I woulnd't have to pay out of my pocket to teturn an item that didn't last me a day, was promised by their phone rep that everything was in order and not to worry only to hear that maybey they can interest me in something else. Their policy states 100% customer satisfaction and I'm not at all satisfied. I've worked on both ends before as a waiter in a 5 star hotel and had to put up with some outragous crap before but I quit and found a job that I'm happy with and no longer have to put up with poeples crap, but in turn I work long hard hours in a chemical plant and hate to see my hard earned money get messed over in small fee after small fee and the time invested on this is just seseless.

if i was them i would refund the money. put everybody back at square one. no damage done. other then drsf&s out a bunch of shipping money and two broken tanks on their loading dock.

i've called places before and they have told me they had things, driving way out of the way, and showed up to find that they didn't. i don't ##### and complain. i just turn around and walk out and never go back. no use putting the sales people through a bunch of abuse. i'm not the kinda person that starts griping about customer service. it's a business, all they want to do is make money. they have no obligation to anybody if they don't have your money, so thats why i would do a refund weather it's wanted or not.

[gulfsurfer101]

First of all I'd like to thank the prop for understanding my stiuation here, but we had a deal and the deal was broke not by me but on thier behalf. I have been waiting three weeks for a working tank that I had already paid for, didn't happen. So i'm out a few bucks shipping on the deal which is not that big a deal, I'm mainly fustrated that I had three phone reps tell me that they would have the product I wanted when I wanted it. I don't have a non cube, I can't get the aquapod, I'm out the shipping cost, and they still have my money. I don't want the money I want the tank that I decided to go with. I have the aquapod 24g with the 150w sunpod and I love it, I would much rather go with a system that I trust than some junk that will blow on me after I stock it up. If they were so awsome why would they make a foul up like this after knowing full out what the deal was. I had to drive an hour and ten minutes into town to send this thing FED-EX because I live out on a lake. That's over two hours just to keep my half of the bargain up. It's like paying for concert tickets when you find out your seats are closed due to repair, you can either not go or pay a little more for better seats, I decided to pay a littlemore and still got stiffed.