CAD Lights

[eddiecorrea]

Your experience seems to vary severely from my experience.

 

I have been researching the 8G Mini series for about a week now. Most of the information I found was mediocre. Nothing overly praising and nothing absolutely terrible. Almost everyone I saw said that the customer service was decent and the tanks are useable. Some of the stuff that comes with the tank is what people were disappointed with but apparently the glass work is top notch.

 

So after reading all that I contacted Eddie. I had a response to my Facebook post within 30 mins. Then I emailed. Eddie emailed me back within a few hours with a HUGE list of responses to all my questions. He even went ahead and did custom PAR measurements for me. We emailed back and forth for a few hours. I was receiving responses every 15-20 mins. I'm more than please with the customer service I have received. So much so I ordered my tank about 10 mins before I found this thread.

 

I encourage you to email Eddie again. He seems to be a very reasonable guy as he made tons of time to talk to me and even offered me some incentives. Oh and he has a great name! haha

[Seiryoku]

It's hard to know what's reasonable when you don't know their profit margins.

 

Coast to Coast makes great tanks, but that is extremely over-priced in my opinion. I had that same tank (2 inches shorter) quoted for less than half of that price with shipping included. That was from Miracles. ReefSavvy was similar as well, but with a longer wait time.

 

I even had a way bigger tank quoted from A.G.E. for less than that.. Yikes..

 

I'm sure they have a decent profit margin. Also, I was simply asking for information and potential discounts/deals (and explanations), wasn't making any demands. Was truly ready to purchase from him at the time. At one point I had to publicly post on their facebook page to get him to respond to my email (and when I did someone else posted that they were also waiting for a response).

 

The quote from Coast to Coast seemed high (even after removing shipping charges). Their tanks look nice and customer service good, but the price quote is crazy! The quote was for 3/4" glass, maybe others use thinner glass to reduce price?

[bear-hugs]

My experience was very professional too and any questions i had answered no later than 24 hours. your responses are even faster...the beauty of modern technology. the 8G Mini is a very nice tank, im sure you will love it.

 

Wow $3000 for a 120G 48 x 24 x 24? for that price forget about good customer service, they better come over to set the tank up and throw in a massage too LOL. i rather have decent/good customer service and receive a top notch product for $2000 discount. the standard 100G Artisan goes for $825 shipped to me (48" x 24" x 20")! a custom one is not much more than that.

 

again, i think CAD may have declined to comment further on your email cause its something they couldnt do rather than, thats how they treat their potential customers. i mean i dont think any business would want to turn any "profitable" business away.

[Seiryoku]

I'd want more than a massage if paying 3k for it >_>

 

All I know is I was trying, and genuinely wanted to, buy a system from them and was ultimately ignored. If I was too much of a pain in the ass he should have just told me what he can and can't do and tell me to take it or leave it, not ignore me.

 

On a side note, the LFS I contacted about a CAD system still hasn't heard back from them. Still waiting to hear back on a drop ship quote for the system. Seems as though they don't just ignore customers, but their own dealers too.

[Seiryoku]

LOL

 

The first LFS I contacted about CAD Lights (the one that said they dropped them due to their bad service) handles Lee Mar custom orders. The EXACT info I've been looking for!!! Now I can get more into planning the tank and designing the stand...

 

http://www.neptuneaquatics.com/form/custom-tank

 

48x24x20:

- Starphire front and sides

- Rimless

- Center overflow (w/ 3 holes)

- Black back and black silicone

- Tank: $1,050

- Crate: $160

- Shipping to store: $150

 

48x30x20:

- Starphire front and sides

- Rimless

- Center overflow (w/ 3 holes)

- Black back and black silicone

- Tank: $1,200

- Crate: $185

- Shipping to store: $150

[eddiecorrea]

Your experience seems to vary severely from my experience.

 

I have been researching the 8G Mini series for about a week now. Most of the information I found was mediocre. Nothing overly praising and nothing absolutely terrible. Almost everyone I saw said that the customer service was decent and the tanks are useable. Some of the stuff that comes with the tank is what people were disappointed with but apparently the glass work is top notch.

 

So after reading all that I contacted Eddie. I had a response to my Facebook post within 30 mins. Then I emailed. Eddie emailed me back within a few hours with a HUGE list of responses to all my questions. He even went ahead and did custom PAR measurements for me. We emailed back and forth for a few hours. I was receiving responses every 15-20 mins. I'm more than please with the customer service I have received. So much so I ordered my tank about 10 mins before I found this thread.

 

I encourage you to email Eddie again. He seems to be a very reasonable guy as he made tons of time to talk to me and even offered me some incentives. Oh and he has a great name! haha

 

 

So I take this entire review back.

 

I just received my "tank" but of course it isn't a god damn tank it is a reactor that says right on the top of the box that it is a reactor with black hose!!!! SOOOOO mad. I now have LR cycling in buckets and now I don't have a tank for a week or more. I'm so incredibly pissed by this situation. I called and talked to Eddie and all he could say was "uhhhhhhhhhhh wellllll uhhhhhh the labels must have been switched. Let me find out where your tank was and reroute it." Screw this guy. I'm filing a paypal claim.

[Seiryoku]

Hit them fast and hard. From what I've read if you don't you could be screwing with them for a month or more trying to resolve the issue!

[kevin_f]

I'm glad I everything turned out okay for me with CAD. Just took an extra week to ship, but everything else was fine.

[siwelk]

I'm glad I everything turned out okay for me with CAD. Just took an extra week to ship, but everything else was fine.

QFexactT IME

 

Foxing w/ CAD is like bangin' without rubbers though.

 

50/50

[Seiryoku]

QFexactT IME

 

Foxing w/ CAD is like bangin' without rubbers though.

 

50/50

 

I'd rather not take the chance of getting an STD from them. Can only imagine how bad it would be to try and use their warranty on something!

[eddiecorrea]

Hit them fast and hard. From what I've read if you don't you could be screwing with them for a month or more trying to resolve the issue!

 

 

Oh I have. I already called Eddie. Sent a nice long email demanding results. And opened a paypal Claim to protect myself. Its been over a week since I placed an order and you only have like 45 days for a paypal claim.

[eddiecorrea]

Here is my "tank"

 

[madfx]

It's unfortunate they can't get their business in order as their tanks are generally pretty nice. Too bad all the bad service and crap add on products will keep prospective customers away.

[eddiecorrea]

It's unfortunate they can't get their business in order as their tanks are generally pretty nice. Too bad all the bad service and crap add on products will keep prospective customers away.

 

 

Ya. It really is unfortunate. What really set me off is when I called the lady who answered goes "Uhhhhhh hello?" GRRRRRR! How are you still in business even answering phones like that!

 

Apparently their reactors are pretty nice. And the build looks very solid. Too bad I have absolutely zero use for it.

 

I wonder what the person who got my 8g Mini Series is thinking right now?

[madfx]

Ya. It really is unfortunate. What really set me off is when I called the lady who answered goes "Uhhhhhh hello?" GRRRRRR! How are you still in business even answering phones like that!

 

Apparently their reactors are pretty nice. And the build looks very solid. Too bad I have absolutely zero use for it.

 

I wonder what the person who got my 8g Mini Series is thinking right now?

 

You didn't even want a reactor and got one. OP was pleading to have a reactor included with his order. Sad, but kind of funny.. I mean that in the nicest way, not trying to laugh at your situation. I know I'd be furious.

 

These companies seem to fall into same the trap of hiring people at minimum wage (no incentive to perform well) or hiring family, in-laws, or friends. (often not very knowledgeable, and not held accountable for performance) I understand wanting to run things lean at a small company, but you've got to do it smartly and not at the expense of your customers.

 

This sort of thing is why I still recommend that the OP support a local company/builder. It removes a lot of potential head aches along with shipping cost, transit times and mishaps.

[eddiecorrea]

You didn't even want a reactor and got one. OP was pleading to have a reactor included with his order. Sad, but kind of funny.. I mean that in the nicest way, not trying to laugh at your situation. I know I'd be furious.

 

These companies seem to fall into same the trap of hiring people at minimum wage (no incentive to perform well) or hiring family, in-laws, or friends. (often not very knowledgeable, and not held accountable for performance) I understand wanting to run things lean at a small company, but you've got to do it smartly and not at the expense of your customers.

 

This sort of thing is why I still recommend that the OP support a local company/builder. It removes a lot of potential head aches along with shipping cost, transit times and mishaps.

 

 

Ya. Eddie offered me a good deal to test out the tank. Saved me about $30 over a local distributer. So I went with a direct order. Looks like I'm going to have to drive about 45mins to an hour to pickup a tank tonight. Don't want to lose $80 in LR that I received today.

[Seiryoku]

Here is my "tank"

 

 

Put a betta in it!

 

I was asking Eddie to include the reactor since all I was dropping from the package was the LED fixture, but he refused. Even though when I drop the LED fixture I also lose the lamp trees that they charge ~$100 for. I'm over CAD Lights now, I'll spend even more money and get a tank, and all of the equipment, from a reputable company

 

I would still like to have Keith build my tanks, but the communication just isn't there (I think he is slightly cheaper than ordering from Lee Mar too) Going to see if either of the two locally owned pet stores can order from Lee Mar, if not I'll probably end up going through the not so local place.

 

I will try to keep this thread active as long as possible...as a personal favor to Eddie at CAD Lights!

[eddiecorrea]

So Eddie refunded me my money. I had to drive an hour north to pickup a CAD Lights tank. I will say the quality on the 8 gallon mini series is pretty good. Only thing is the overflow slots are not long enough. I took the overflow in this morning to work and milled out the slots some more. Made them twice as long. Should work great.

 

My tank went to a guy in PA. Eddie had UPS reroute the tank as it hadn't arrived there yet. He sent me a label with the address to the guy who ordered the reactor and expects me to ship it out. Hilarious to me because he gave me someone else's address and now expects me to go out of my way to fix his mistake. He wasn't really even apologetic. Just made excuses. And giving another customer someone else's address is unacceptable. I'm pretty sure it's a violation of some privacy laws to give me that.

[nor_cal_nano]

So Eddie refunded me my money. I had to drive an hour north to pickup a CAD Lights tank. I will say the quality on the 8 gallon mini series is pretty good. Only thing is the overflow slots are not long enough. I took the overflow in this morning to work and milled out the slots some more. Made them twice as long. Should work great.

 

My tank went to a guy in PA. Eddie had UPS reroute the tank as it hadn't arrived there yet. He sent me a label with the address to the guy who ordered the reactor and expects me to ship it out. Hilarious to me because he gave me someone else's address and now expects me to go out of my way to fix his mistake. He wasn't really even apologetic. Just made excuses. And giving another customer someone else's address is unacceptable. I'm pretty sure it's a violation of some privacy laws to give me that.

 

WTF? Why doesn't he just ship the guy a new skimmer and send you a return label for the one you have?

[eddiecorrea]

WTF? Why doesn't he just ship the guy a new skimmer and send you a return label for the one you have?

 

It's a reactor. Haha. But those are my thoughts exactly. He should have never had me ship the reactor to the other customer. I haven't and I probably won't ship it out for a while. That isn't my responsibility and frankly I don't have time with work. I'll see if UPS can do a pickup at my place when I'm gone. Otherwise Ill get around to it when I can.

[nor_cal_nano]

God damn it. Reactor. That'd what I meant.

[Seiryoku]

Send it to me :-p As much as I dislike CAD Lights, I think their new reactor is decent...

[Diemess]

It's a reactor. Haha. But those are my thoughts exactly. He should have never had me ship the reactor to the other customer. I haven't and I probably won't ship it out for a while. That isn't my responsibility and frankly I don't have time with work. I'll see if UPS can do a pickup at my place when I'm gone. Otherwise Ill get around to it when I can.

 

Just read your story, man that sucks. He's totally punking you around, I would of told him to do this #### himself.

 

edit: and I actually planned on purchasing a CADs tank later this year but after reading the complaints I've thrown that out the window. That is one thing I hate, crappy customer service. And judging from their photos on their facebook page, they are young minded, small company worried about "big time" custom order clients.

[eddiecorrea]

Just read your story, man that sucks. He's totally punking you around, I would of told him to do this #### himself.

 

edit: and I actually planned on purchasing a CADs tank later this year but after reading the complaints I've thrown that out the window. That is one thing I hate, crappy customer service. And judging from their photos on their facebook page, they are young minded, small company worried about "big time" custom order clients.

 

Ya. Its a bummer. I never agreed to ship it out and I never offered either. In his email he said "Oh I forgot to send the shipping label for the reactor in the last email. Please drop off the reactor tomorrow.Hes got Nitrates problems." He told me the guy has nitrate problems in his tank and he needs his reactor right away. He also pretty much told me to drop it off as if I am his employee. As I have said I will get around to it when I can. I'm in no rush as when I get off work UPS stores are closed and when I go to work they are closed. I'm not sure if they are open on Sundays as that is my one day off if I get a day off. haha.

 

What really sucks is the tanks are REALLY nice. The glass is soooooooooo clear. I've never seen such clear glass before. Major bummer that a lot of people are going to be turned away from a great tank just because he can't figure out how to properly run a business.

[Seiryoku]

But they sponsor a race car!!! Must be a great company, yeah?

 

Tell eddie if he wants the reactor returned to send you a return label AND schedule a pickup for you.