Official JBJ Nano Cube Announcement

[embryoguy]

yeah steelhead, its still a glass tank and things can happen. obviously anyone would be concerened when the wall cracks, its a GLASSS tank, the ncs are not the only fish tanks that have ever cracked, GLASS BREAKS, have you placed any liability on the vendor or the shipper? no

[steelhealr]

Well....I think most people would agree that, if a company is fair and makes good on a warranty/replacment, giving them a second chance is a consideration. You can be SURE that I will thoroughly inspect this tank and water test it again prior to making the transfer. I think Mr. Yim and JBJ are being quite fair. Makes good business sense to go by the old adage that the customer is #1.

 

Now that they are following posts on this forum, maybe a hotter model will be out in the near future with some of the modifications already made here by aquarists. Anyway, I posted on my main thread that a 'transfer' post will be next. (Gonna have to get up real early in the morning to start that one....if I don't put a tarp down my wife will ..uh...well....er..get upset. ROFLMAO). Again..thank you to JBJ and Mr. Yim for replacing my cracked tank. SH

[Onthelamb]

I got my tank replaced with another one today from the retail store I bought it from. Now my only worry is it happening again. If I wasnt home last night when my first one cracked and leaked water all over my desk and computer my house would have definetly cought on fire being that the plug bar was sitting in water when it happened. This time I have to find a spot where if it cracks it wont damage anything.

[SaltCreep]

Nice Job JBJ!!! Nothing makes me want to support a company more than seeing that they stand behind their products! Awesome step in the right direction.

[Scary1]

I talked with the guy who owns the LFS store out near me. He has been very honest and upfornt with me about a lot of things. He has stopped me from making "risky" and unreasonable purchases in the past (i.e., starfish, anemone, certain fish and corals, etc.). I told him my concerns about the nanocubes breaking. I went on to say that if he thought it would be a good idea I would buy another tank and move all my stuff into it - becuase I don't want to lose my $1700 investment. He told me that he would be happy to sell me another tank, but if I get a glass tank of any kind, it is just as likely to break. Now this guy could have told me, yes, buy another tank...he has a lot ot gain, but didn't. I think that further bolsters my claim of his honesty. He is an authorized JBJ Dealer and has sold approximately 110 tanks. He has heard of four of the ones he sold break (all his are the DX and Deluxe models). Two arrived broken, one broken when someone "lightly" dinged the glass with liverock, and one broke in someone's living room several days after they caught thier kid pounding on the tank.

 

Now, in my opionion, this is still not good. I think a tank should be able to take a cerain amount of abuse. The moral of my story is the defect rate he states seems consistent with what the JBJ rep stated. However 3-4% still is not settling...I wouldn't like my plan to arrive all but 3-4% of the time.

 

I also strongly encourage JBJ to examine thier design. There is obviously a large stress concentration factor in the corners due to the small radius of curvature. Under the dynamic loading of water movement, heating, cooling, water changes, etc. it is clear that the changes of this failing are higher than what anyone is comfortable with (personally, I'm comfortable with zero). If I was to redesign the tank I would (1) increase the glass thickness by at least 2X - this would increase the load probably by 50% and (2) temper the glass after its bent - I'd bet that the current manufacturer bends the glass and that's it. Tempering the glass would alleviate the inherenet residual stress from bending. My $0.02.

[Scary1]

PS. SH, sorry about your tank. Please let me know, as well as everyone else, how it works out with JBJ.

[steelhealr]

All I can say right now is that JBJ is honoring my warranty and they have been very fair and rapid about evaluating my case. Hey...it still has to be shipped to my house, right? Trust me...I'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb. It can still crack in transit. This new one HAS TO hold up for the tank to fly. SH

[sNEIRBO]

FYI - Steven from JBJ e-mailed me with my UPS Tracking Number this evening. Gamma-Cube, and the new stand are on the way. I too will be going over this tank with a Magnifying Glass. I appreciate the service I received, I just want to make sure everything is A-OK before doing the big transfer.

[trumph]

My cube has been up and running for over 3 months now...it came with an 1" scratch on the the inside front glass but I live with it. Also came with sponges, ceramics and bio-balls that JBJ said to throw out & a pump that was useless. I'm not a complainer but I wouldn't recommend a Cube to anyone. I don't want a replacement..do they replace your carpet/flooring/livestock/etc?? The aggravation/anxiety and lost time/livestock aren't worth it, all I want is a quality product from the start, one which JBJ hasn't been able to produce (even the stock contest cubes have to replace their original pumps to increase flow and decrease heat, yet everyone accepts that as normal) Blaming the shipper is an easy out. If UPS put a scratch on the inside of my cube while it was still packed they must be magicians!! The Cube is a great idea but a lousy implementation.

 

Heavily modded 19.9DX gallon cube owner.

[Daemonfly]

Glass breakage can always happen with shipping. This, however, seems a bit to common lately. The contest resulted in a lot more cubes being ordered lately, but still, so many reported cracks only just recently. I wonder if it's a glass quality problem from the asian supplier? Lot of demand lately, perhaps they're letting their QA slip a bit?

[SaltCreep]

Originally posted by Scary1

However 3-4% still is not settling...I wouldn't like my plan to arrive all but 3-4% of the time.

 

I assume you mean plane and if that's the case you have the comparrison backwards. JBJ's plane arrives 96-97% of the time. That's pretty dang good to me. Like I told my mom the other day I dont care if 50% of airplanes crashed I'd still fly. So with these #'s I aint sweatin a thing.

[VBAQUARIUM]

I emailed JBJ regarding a hairline crack on my 24G nano-cube that I purchased on April 21st this year. They emailed me back asking for a picture and receipt. Hopefully, everything will be fine.

[steelhealr]

It should be VBA...they have made a promise until July. Mine was shipped the same day I filed. Let us know how you make out. SH

[steelhealr]

To play the opposite side of the coin, he is how this topic is being played out in another forum. Posting it here to be balanced. SH

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=614407

[passthereefer]

Originally posted by *********

Like I told my mom the other day I dont care if 50% of airplanes crashed I'd still fly.  So with these #'s I aint sweatin a thing.

 

Seriously? You would fly if every other plane fell out of the sky? Sounds like you may have fallen a few too many times already.

[SaltCreep]

you have no idea;-)

[SaltCreep]

Originally posted by steelhealr

To play the opposite side of the coin, he is how this topic is being played out in another forum. Posting it here to be balanced. SH

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=614407

 

I dont know this doesnt seem right to me. We understand your point and have since it was first made 40 posts and 5 threads ago. JBJ is obviously stepping up to the plate. Let them do their business and let go.

 

Your trying to scare the holy h3ll out of people over a 3+% return rate. I dont know if you've ever been in sales but that is nothing.

[Scary1]

Sorry I meant "plane" not "plan". And if planes crashed 3-4% of the time (i.e. arrived 96-97% of the time) you wouldn't catch me flying...or probably any other sane person in the world for that matter. This would translate to something on the order of 50+ plane crashes on an average day. 50% *********...sounds like a death wish.

 

I also put in my vote of an acrylic cube. Ideally there would be a highly reliable glass cube. To the folks at JBJ, I'd personally be willing to pay $100 more for an extrememly reliable and durable glass cube since it is what holds my $1700 investment.

[SaltCreep]

Originally posted by Scary1

I'd personally be willing to pay $100 more for an extrememly reliable and durable glass cube since it is what holds my $1700 investment.

 

I'm with you dude. All they need to do is make it with thicker glass. I couldnt even imagine it would cost that much more. Considering the loss they're taking with replacing the current cubes they might just save money in the long run. Its a good idea.

[steelhealr]

I'm not trying the scare the holy hell out of anybodySaltkreep. This thread was started after seeing SNEIRBO's catastrophe and the other post( at RC) was started at the same time and was posted here to see the support that JBJ has. I have a lot more time to do other things than scare people. Besides, JBJ is probably going to come out ahead after this post. They are aware of shipping/packing problems; they are more aware of modifications necessary to the cube; they also may realize how big a following they have here; they have also shown us, particularly sNEIRBO and I, that they are committed to the customer. SH

[sNEIRBO]

Salt creep -

 

I'm in Automotive Sales, we sell product that we import from Asia, we 100% Inspect all of our product for a GAURANTEED 0 PPM (parts per million) defect rating. IF something slips past and our PPM rating hits 5 PPM, we're on contained shipping - meaning we have to give books of data and plans for how to bring the PPM rating back to 0 PPM, plus RE-sort all of our product to make sure it's not defective.

 

5 PPM = 0.00005%

3.4% defect rate = 34,000 PPM

 

IF our product ever hit a 34,000 PPM - I'd quit tomorrow and find another job! Because I wouldn't want to have to sit through the 18 months of meetings it would take to resolve the issues!

 

It all depends on what Industry you're in whether a 3.4% Defect Rate is acceptable. But I'd have to guess, in ANY Industry, replacing 3.4% of a product is going to hurt your bottom line! Regardless of the manufacturing cost, the selling price, profit margin or the shipping costs. That eats right into the bottom line!

 

In the world of Engineering, you make a hypothesis, then you test it. It sound like JBJ has done their homework. It sounds like they are confident the problem is shipping induced stress, and they are going to make changes (better packing, better shipping practices, better inspection, etc.) to test that hypothesis. I would guess that in 6 months, if they are still seeing a consistent rate of failures, they'll re-hypothesize and come up with another plan.

[VBAQUARIUM]

JBJ contacted me this afternoon, and everything has been taken of. I should getting my cube in a week or so since they are waiting for a new shipment. Thanks JBJ for taking care of this customer.

[jaykay]

Defective rate has to be much higher than 3.4%. I know waaay too many people that had to replace broken ballasts, pumps, etc..., and now their cracking!! 8% sounds more reasonable to me, but of course thats just me.

[icecool2]

Originally posted by sNEIRBO

Salt creep -

 

In the world of Engineering, you make a hypothesis, then you test it.  It sound like JBJ has done their homework.  It sounds like they are confident the problem is shipping induced stress, and they are going to make changes (better packing, better shipping practices, better inspection, etc.) to test that hypothesis.  I would guess that in 6 months, if they are still seeing a consistent rate of failures, they'll re-hypothesize and come up with another plan.

 

I would have to disagree with you there. It's obvious that they haven't done their homework. If they did the packaging would be designed to handle shipping. Also, the tank glass wouldn't have been so thin in the first place. The problem is that they are trying to put an end to the bad word of mouth they are getting by making a few people happy. That doesn't solve the problem. And as it has been said before, the job of a good customer service person is to always make the customer feel good even if they aren't getting a good deal.

 

In this case, I think this is a bad deal. Sending you another tank isn't fixing the problem it's fixing the symptoms of it. It's like treating glaucoma with marijuana. It makes the person feel better, but it isn't doing anything to fix the problem.

 

I've been on the waiting list for the 2005 24DX since February and I've decided against the tank. It seems to me that everyone is buying the tank for the look of it and because it's all-in-one. Since everyone just guts it when they get it anyway, all you are really buying is the glass and the shape. Since the glass isn't trustworthy or well-made, why buy it?

 

On a final note, what are you going to do 6 months from now when your warranty is up and your tank cracks? JBJ will tell you that you are outside of the warranty and tell you to take a hike.

[steelhealr]

Glad to hear that VBA.....off to Target for you for the big Tupperware. LOL SH