A
Anonymous
Guest
Thumbs up for Inter-American Pet Supply (Bow CValley)
I recently took delivery of a custom 330 glass tank (96" x 27" x 30" tall), heavily partitioned glass sump (46" x 21" x 21"), and a 2" tubular steel stand. I must admit that I am quite pleased. This is not the first tank I have bought from Inter-American (I am sure you can find details of my Starphire 360 if you search this board), but with their reputation of being allways behind schedule and the seat-of-the-pants manner in which they conduct business (no contracts, all over the phone, etc.), I was hessitant to get another tank from them. But I took the plunge and they came through with flying colors. Everything - holes, bulkheads, etc - was built according to the plans I gave them, and the workmanship was excellant. They did not disappoint. Of course, I must acknowledge that I was pretty pro-active and called them numerous times while they were cutting and drilling the glass to make sure there were no ambiguities or misunderstandings.
By the way, their crating of the tank and stand for shipment was excellant. The entire tank was sitting on a 9' x 3.5' pallet, with styrofoam all around for padding, and completely incased in wood. Other than the independent shipping company informing me that my shipment had mysteriously gained 100 pounds when it reached the Chicago city limits ( :lol: you gotta love this city), everything arrived in perfect (and bullet proof) condition.
Thumbs down for Oceanic:
I rarely gripe about companies, but I thought this warranted a few words. I recently took down an Oceanic 175 bowfront (the tank that has been replaced by the 330 discussed above). As I disassembled the plumbing, I was shocked to see the amount of water damage the Oceanic stand have incurred. The stand, which was purchased new about 4 years ago, is manufactured mostly from press board. Whereever the press board had gotten wet (nothing major, just the occaisional spill, drip or splash that is typical for a fish tank), the wood had swelled up. It was not until I actually removed my CPR sump, ETS skimmer, and 3 Iwaki pumps that I could see that portions of the press board (e.g., under one of the pumps) had swollen over 1". 8O I am guseeing that once water found its way though a weakness or opening in the wood, everytime I splashed or spilled a little water, it found its way thoguh the same weakness or opening.
In any event, I talked to LFS about buying a new stand. They quoted me $600, and explained that Oceanic has been building these stands out of pine for at least last few years. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they would have ever built a stand for a tank as big as 175 out of press board. Anywho, the LFS suggested I give Oceanic a call just to see if they would be willing to give me a break. I did and was thrilled when they told me that - even the the stand was out of warranty - they nevertheless would replace the stand. All they need were some digital photos of the stand to confirm the damage. I sent them the photos a week later, and they called me to confirm that yes, they would replace the stand - no charge. I thought to myself: now that is a company that stands behind its products. But the thought was short lived. The next day, Oceanic called me back and said that they had changed their minds and would not replace the stand. Ok, fine. I can understand why they don't want to replace the stand - I never even asked for a complete replacement. But I did ask them if they would at least sell me a replacement stand at cost or wholesale, particularly since I don't believe that the stand should have been built out of press board in the first place. They declined, and said the best they could do was give me a 20% discount off of list, i.e., $480 for a replacement stand.
It appears that my best alternative is to basically rebuild the damaged stand by relining and reinforcing every one of the press board elements, or by building a completely new stand from scratch. A hassle and a lot of work, but it is better then giving Oceanic another $480.
I recently took delivery of a custom 330 glass tank (96" x 27" x 30" tall), heavily partitioned glass sump (46" x 21" x 21"), and a 2" tubular steel stand. I must admit that I am quite pleased. This is not the first tank I have bought from Inter-American (I am sure you can find details of my Starphire 360 if you search this board), but with their reputation of being allways behind schedule and the seat-of-the-pants manner in which they conduct business (no contracts, all over the phone, etc.), I was hessitant to get another tank from them. But I took the plunge and they came through with flying colors. Everything - holes, bulkheads, etc - was built according to the plans I gave them, and the workmanship was excellant. They did not disappoint. Of course, I must acknowledge that I was pretty pro-active and called them numerous times while they were cutting and drilling the glass to make sure there were no ambiguities or misunderstandings.
By the way, their crating of the tank and stand for shipment was excellant. The entire tank was sitting on a 9' x 3.5' pallet, with styrofoam all around for padding, and completely incased in wood. Other than the independent shipping company informing me that my shipment had mysteriously gained 100 pounds when it reached the Chicago city limits ( :lol: you gotta love this city), everything arrived in perfect (and bullet proof) condition.
Thumbs down for Oceanic:
I rarely gripe about companies, but I thought this warranted a few words. I recently took down an Oceanic 175 bowfront (the tank that has been replaced by the 330 discussed above). As I disassembled the plumbing, I was shocked to see the amount of water damage the Oceanic stand have incurred. The stand, which was purchased new about 4 years ago, is manufactured mostly from press board. Whereever the press board had gotten wet (nothing major, just the occaisional spill, drip or splash that is typical for a fish tank), the wood had swelled up. It was not until I actually removed my CPR sump, ETS skimmer, and 3 Iwaki pumps that I could see that portions of the press board (e.g., under one of the pumps) had swollen over 1". 8O I am guseeing that once water found its way though a weakness or opening in the wood, everytime I splashed or spilled a little water, it found its way thoguh the same weakness or opening.
In any event, I talked to LFS about buying a new stand. They quoted me $600, and explained that Oceanic has been building these stands out of pine for at least last few years. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they would have ever built a stand for a tank as big as 175 out of press board. Anywho, the LFS suggested I give Oceanic a call just to see if they would be willing to give me a break. I did and was thrilled when they told me that - even the the stand was out of warranty - they nevertheless would replace the stand. All they need were some digital photos of the stand to confirm the damage. I sent them the photos a week later, and they called me to confirm that yes, they would replace the stand - no charge. I thought to myself: now that is a company that stands behind its products. But the thought was short lived. The next day, Oceanic called me back and said that they had changed their minds and would not replace the stand. Ok, fine. I can understand why they don't want to replace the stand - I never even asked for a complete replacement. But I did ask them if they would at least sell me a replacement stand at cost or wholesale, particularly since I don't believe that the stand should have been built out of press board in the first place. They declined, and said the best they could do was give me a 20% discount off of list, i.e., $480 for a replacement stand.
It appears that my best alternative is to basically rebuild the damaged stand by relining and reinforcing every one of the press board elements, or by building a completely new stand from scratch. A hassle and a lot of work, but it is better then giving Oceanic another $480.
