John at Advance Acrylics = Unreliable and Flaky

[johnmaloney]

well if you have had military experiments done to you that might be different then

[mew]

i can tell the difference in clarity between acrylic tanks and (non-low iron) glass tanks but the sheer ease of scratching of acrylic tanks immediately turns me off. yea, so what if you can buff those scratches out. i'd probably make 10 new scratches in the time it takes me to buff the old ones out.

 

either way, it's pretty hit and miss.

you may get your tank immediately, you may have to hound him for months before you get yours.

you may notice crazing in your tank after a year or two. i have heard from many people about his flakiness and tendency to avoid calls.

it is true that he has astounding craftsmanship and even better prices. it boils down to...

if time and patience is on your side, you should consider placing an order.

if not, you may want to considering your options first.

[organism]

why do people even like acrylic? i can see its use for uses inside the tank, for racks and what not...

 

Because he still owed me $100 some odd dollars from a massive flaking before

 

I don't learn quickly apparently...

[Orphicdragon]

Because he still owed me $100 some odd dollars from a massive flaking before

 

I don't learn quickly apparently...

 

 

Welcome to the club. We have jackets

[MitchReef]

I just tried to look at his website, just to see how cheap his prices are....Site isn't working either....

 

Also...BTW...I'm a 100% glass tank kinda guy too....too clumsy for scratch prone acrylic....

[organism]

Welcome to the club. We have jackets

 

Sweet, are they nice and comfy? Winter's on the way

[bluenassarius]

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.

 

i hate acrylic for display tanks.. i spent over 1k on one that ended up scratched within a few weeks. the top brace ended up bowing after a few months.

[Johnnydee]

Hey i ordered my tank and sump 2 weeks ago and it arrived at my door today. I think hes changed and is more responsible now or i was just one of the lucky ones. Great job john and fast shipping! Only problem was he forgot to ship the free camera box he said it would come with but he says hes shipping it tomorrow.

[organism]

I think hes changed and is more responsible now or i was just one of the lucky ones.

 

I'd for sure go with the latter part of that statement, him having changed in three weeks is kind of jumping the cliff of plausibility. Good to hear that your gear arrived on time without any lies or shenanigans

[Stephen-in-Va]

He's also selling on ebay.

http://myworld.ebay.com/macilwu

 

My experience with him was great at first. Then communication died abruptly. I left emails and voice mails that were not returned. The last one stated I'd give him a few days to contact me before filing a complaint. Within minutes "manny" gave me a call and told me the tank was shipped but no tracking number. He'd have to get it later that evening when he visited the shipper. I got the tank that evening. It had damage but I don't think it was their fault. The box looked like someone beat up on it. The overflow in the back was cracked where it attached to the tank. All in all the tank was nice and the fix was easy with some weld-on. I ordered it on/around 10/14 and received it on/around 11/5 (based on correspondence). 22 days is a bit unacceptable to me for something was supposed to have been constructed and ready to ship. Not saying I wouldn't order from him again (if he fixes the communication and shipping problems) but the chances are pretty slim unless the deal was just too good to pass up (like it was with my first order).

[Bonsai]

Received my tank today, and I couldn't be happier. I updated my post on the first page with pics ... check it out

[organism]

My experience with him was great at first. Then communication died abruptly. I left emails and voice mails that were not returned. The last one stated I'd give him a few days to contact me before filing a complaint. Within minutes "manny" gave me a call and told me the tank was shipped but no tracking number.

 

Seems about par for the course. You know, I was talking to a shop that came in last week that said that when they went to pick up a tank from John after he'd been flaking for a bit, there were two other guys working there and John wasn't around. So all of the "one man band" thing is pure bs even though even John throws that excuse out there himself, they were unhappy to say the least about the lying, I was unsurprised... The stores that overheard it were surprised as well though.

 

Glad to hear you had a good experience Bonsai, the craftsmanship is great, the customer service if you find it is like a needle in a haystack. Consistency is the most important part of any business, which this business simply does not have. If every 6th person that walked into starbucks got a coffee that tasted like dirt they wouldn't have made it past one store would they

[burky_tc]

I have dealt with John. Got my tank quickly and he even worked with me on price. He responded to e-mails pretty quickly also but there was a few days in between a few which is fine because not everyone sits in front of their computer 24/7. Some people do have a life outside these forums and the internet so I would say cut him some slack on the whole responding to e-mails quickly. Honestly there is some good complaints here and some just ridiculous ones. Not all of you are perfect and I know you have slipped on responding to an e-mail or phone call as quickly as you should have.

 

Sorry I am just a blunt person and had to say something. Not trying to be an a-hole.

[organism]

He responded to e-mails pretty quickly also but there was a few days in between a few which is fine because not everyone sits in front of their computer 24/7. Some people do have a life outside these forums and the internet so I would say cut him some slack on the whole responding to e-mails quickly.

 

Sorry I am just a blunt person and had to say something. Not trying to be an a-hole.

 

Please re-read my first post, you may not be an a-hole, but I do question your literacy skills being that what you posted has absolutely no relevance to anything I've written here. You may want to re-read the part about this thread not going the way of the ridiculous rc one as well since you missed that one.

[organism]

Also, I really don't mean to be testy, but a very reliable inside source brought to my attention recently that with the rc thread John had friends and relatives write fake reviews and comments, and that he was actively doing so in this thread as well. Not pointing any fingers, just one of those things that really makes you go "hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" when reading some of the outlandish "John is the small business owner who is the victim here" comments in this thread. Including yours.

[Lawnman]

Never had a problem with John.His service has always been great and his turn around time is usually 6 days from start to finish for me. Also I don't know John from Adam only talked with him thru emails and he always does what he says he is going to do.

[Mr. Fosi]

You gosta report it if you want them to do anything about it.

[Lawnman]

I would not take it to hard Organism.I know you are only trying to help other people from having the experience you had. But I think in the past people had a problem with Johns lack of communication and slow to not shipping things out.I think he is trying to fix that problem. Since he started selling on ebay knowing that ebay would not tolerate his old ways.So he was kinda forced to fix the problem or not make many sales.From what I hear on other forums he is really turnng around tanks.But it could all go south in a flat minute. Alot of people are just so tempted by a great deal that no matter how many people lost money they don't think it will happen to them.Like I said I never have had a problem with him but know others that have.

[Phixion]

I've had my experiences with John that I won't get into here, pretty much time issues... But I didn't sweat it as what i had him custom build for me wasn't an ASAP type of job fortunately. The delays in delivery (from order submitted to finished product) are not the best, other than that I've had great experience from John. He's a coold guy and I think things are going to change soon with AA in that he now has 3 people that work for/with him, so production should be a bit quicker now than it used to be considering his Ebay stuff and such.

 

To Burky, I'd be VERY careful before mouthing off to a WELL RESPECTED member and SPONSOR here on NR, that being Organism. I don't know of anyone that has run a truer sales ship than Organism has and does. Yes I may know him personally, but that doesn't mean my business related opinion of him is skewed because of that. And that opinion is a grade A 5-star rating and anyone that's delt with him will tell you that. Basically I'll trust his opinion before yours or ayone elses on here.

[TJ_Burton]

Or how about everybody just start playing nice and agree to disagree.

 

Everyone is going to have a different experience and opionion of a given company/person providing a service. It is quite possible for everyone to be correct to some degree.

 

Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and take what you will from the thread - don't sit here and argue with one another because it doesn't serve any purpose.

[Scott Riemer]

There are ways to respond in a disagreeing manner appropriately without resorting to personal attacks.

[organism]

I would not take it to hard Organism.I know you are only trying to help other people from having the experience you had. But I think in the past people had a problem with Johns lack of communication and slow to not shipping things out.I think he is trying to fix that problem.

 

Thanks, and it's not even that I'm trying to stop everyone from buying tanks from him. Every positive review is as encouraged and appreciated here as the negative ones since it's important to have both sides of the issue. I have no problem with that at all, my issue is when hired guns try to turn it around onto the mean and awful person that had the sheer gall and hatred to not cut a poor small business owner some slack after not hearing from him for only two months and dared to post a bad review. Those are the people that are the problem in this thread, and their agenda is fairly transparent. Everyone else, hey, you got a great tank, had good customer service and didn't give me grief for posting a bad review, I'd have loved to have been there alongside you.

[UncleJT]

How is John doing these days, anyone know? It's been awhile since the last post in this thread. In about a week, I am looking at either ordering one of his eBay tanks or having him custom build me a tank.

 

Is there anyone else I should be considering, anyone on this forum building small-ish tanks these days?

 

Thanks

[JakeB]

How is John doing these days, anyone know? It's been awhile since the last post in this thread. In about a week, I am looking at either ordering one of his eBay tanks or having him custom build me a tank.

 

Is there anyone else I should be considering, anyone on this forum building small-ish tanks these days?

 

Thanks

 

 

i ordered a tank from him about a week ago, and i got it 3 days ago. the quality is great, good communication ect. ill def. do buisness with him again

[UncleJT]

i ordered a tank from him about a week ago, and i got it 3 days ago. the quality is great, good communication ect. ill def. do buisness with him again

Was this a custom tank or one of his pre-built eBay tanks? Thanks.