Glasscages = Rude & Unprofessional

[nynex]

tried to order a custom tank and all I got was greif!!!

I was curious how many other people have had a bad experience with this
company glasscages.com? Ive never experienced such a nightmare then
what this company gave me!!!

I ordered a custom 20x20x12 acrylic nano cube from them 2 weeks ago. I have a
beautiful mated pair of Dragon Faced pipe fish that I wanted a tank for.

I was very specific about how I wanted the tank made. Their website makes the company
look as if they specialize in custom made aquariums. I called to order my tank and
the first person I spoke to had no clue about prices on anything. So then I called the
next day and this person didnt know either and said I had to email the owner Tom.
So I emailed the owner 5 times within 5 days and never heard from him. So finally
that friday a woman name Beth called me to take my order. The website has the
tank price at $50 and no custom prices at all on the site. They also make you
believe its better to pick up your tank at one of the many trade shows they do, rather
then pay for shipping. Well the site doesnt inform you its an $85 sur charge for them
to bring your tank to a show. This is understandable if its a 300 gallon tank. But for a
small tank thats highway robbery..

Anyway I was a little put out by this, seeing that there was a tradeshow they were doing
the following week here in Orlando. So I ended up telling them to UPS it to me..which was
only $40. Now I emailed the design plans to them and began to explain how I wanted the
tank made. All I wanted was a black acrylic wall put 3 inches from the back wall as well as
2 baffles in the back making 3 chambers. One for the overflow,refugium, and return pump.
I figured this would be a super easy for them..seeing that this company supposedly specializes
in custom aquariums. This woman Beth acted like I was asking for the world. First she argued
with me and tried to make it sound like it was a big deal to do this. She also told me there was
an $85 charge for the wall and baffles. She said " Im taking a no nothing tank and turning into
a big project for them!!! I was very confused by this?? I said I though $85 was high for that
and she started screaming at me telling me that to glue those 3 pieces into the tank was a huge
ordeal. I almost laughed at her. I also see on there site that they make custom tops for their
tanks..and when I asked to add one to my order...She told me NO...go to lowes and have them
cut you a piece of acrylic to put on the top.

I was so blow away at how rude this woman was...I almost didnt order the tank! But I had seen
my friends 190 gal that they made and it was really nice. So I thought I would just ignore this
rude employee and order the tank anyway. Also I called back the following monday to order
the tank and I wanted to ask a few more questions about the order. This same woman Beth said
"Look I dont have time for you! Do you want to order this or not?? How bout we just do this on
another day!!!" ....I got really angry and said I want to order this Now!!! So then she took the
order.

I received the tank a week later. I was not happy. To look at the tank from a distance on the
stand, it looked really nice. But to look at closely, the craftsmanship was shotty at best. They
used the wrong acrylic glue...and the seams had tons of bubbles. The eurobracing had 4 super
deep scratches in it. The black false wall had a huge scuff mark across it. and the overflow
was not made the way I asked for it. Which really puts me out, cause i made sure the overflow
was clearly explained in the tank design. The front panel has 4 or 5 small scratches in it. The
refugium outer wall and inner wall both had scuffs and scratches on it..

So I called and asked to talk to the owner. He was not there as usual. So this same woman Beth
gets on the phone and I try to explain to her what was wrong. She cuts me off and says" Look
you send the tank back and we will refund your money!" I said I dont want that. I want a
replacement tank! She says " NO we dont do that! If you are gonna nit pick everything to death..
We dont have the time to keep sending you tanks that you wont be happy with!. I said what are
you talking about?? You sent me a tank that has damage and was not made to my specs. I would
like another one and I will send this one back. I already made a stand and canopy for this tank.
She then got extremely rude and said " We dont need your business!..we get thousands of tank
orders and everyone is always happy!.. Shop somewhere else!! We will refund your money minus
shipping and you have you pay to ship the tank back...I started to say is that fare I have to pay
return shipping?? and she hung up on me!!!!!

This company was the rudest ive ever delt with and I would never deal with them again and
would not recommend anyone else buy tanks from them.

Has anyone else had problems with them?? I would like to know...

 

[bleedingthought]

Yes, some people have had problems with their CS.

 

[Len]

Glasscages is known to be spotty when it comes to CS and product quality. Sometimes, it's very nice. Sometimes, it's very poor. That's pretty much what I expect from a "budget" manufacturer.

I know people who have taken the chance and had good experiences; they sent them detailed drawings of their plans to insure clarity. I'd always do this myself, and ask the manufacturer to sign the drawing or provide a detailed invoice and diagram of more expensive or complicated custom jobs.

Even if there was a miscommunication in your tank details, the scratches are definitely not acceptable.

I feel obligated to say that I'm somewhat surprised you went ahead with the transaction after the first two series of unpleasantries. I personally would've gone in another direction (there are a lot of acrylic fabricators out there). It is clear to me that neither of you liked each other, so I'm also a bit surprised they took your business, no offense intended.

 

[Anonymous]

I can kind of see why they wouldn't be interested in customizing a $50 tank. There can't be much profit in that.

That no excuse for being rude or for sending you a poorly built tank with scratches.

They should have a policy that the only customize larger tank, so it's worth their time and effort.

FWIW, they built my 300G tank exactly to my specifications, did it timely, and the owner (Tom) was pleasant to deal with.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Bubbles in the seam?

I think you get a refund and make one yourself!

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/7/diy

 

[mr_X]

i ordered 2 tanks from them. a tank they call the 195-5 i believe, which is roughly 200 gallons, and an acrylic sump for my girlfriends 30 gallon cube.
they were cool with me on the phone, but when i asked for some custom baffles in the sump, they told me they weren't going to attempt it. they will build the sump for me, but that's it. it was hard for me to explain it to them on the phone, and hard to draw what i wanted too, so, i don't blame them.

it does say on their website that there will be a charge for pickup at one of the reptile shows, just not how much. it's a standard price, for the most part. my 200 gallon tank and sump are costing me 100 to be delivered about an hour away from me.
i guess it's like the U.S. postal service- a single stamp will send your letter to the house next door to you, or the other side of the country.

as for the craftmanship, august 18th i'll let you know about that. i will tell you that they were $500 cheaper than all of the other custom tank stores i have inquired to.

 

[Anonymous]

I have heard countless horror stories about GC's shoddy workmanship. The stories about their customer service are normally very similar to the one you mentioned. However, I, just like Len, am very confused why you would have proceeded with the order after being treated the way you were.

They are a boilerplate tank manufacturer. If you want anything custom they are not the ones to go with. They basically told you that in a number of different ways and conversations.

I'm sorry you had the awful experience with them, but not surprised.

 

[Anonymous]

It seems like they just shouldn't have taken the order if it was too small for them to do.

If you paid with a credit card, have the credit card company charge back the full price.

 

[nynex]

First off it shouldnt matter if I ordered a $50 or a $1500 tank. There site
makes them look like a custom tank maker. Second, Len said that why did
I proceed when It was clear we didnt like each other. When ordering I had
nothing against them...if I did I wouldnt have ordered from them. The
women I was dealing with (beth, who is the owners wife) was blunt,rude,
and acted like they had no time for me..cause I was ordering a $50 tank.
Heres where the problem lays. If they dont want to customize small tanks
then their website needs to point that out. Again I will say...I was a paying
customer and it shouldnt matter what im ordering, Im a paying customer
just the same.

Plus is that any reason to send me a tank that is scratched,scuffed,not
made to my specs ( I gave them a very detailed specs) and told them I
wanted it made exactly to these specs, they eurobracing on the top was so
poorly glued and then to top everything off they only rounded 3
sides...they left one square!!!! They also left the baffles very ruff and not
smoothed out at all. So if a fish decided to jump into the sump and then
accidently gets carried over into the refugium..hes gonna get sliced up by
the razor sharp baffles that should have been smoothed out. How nice is
that. By the way that $50 tank cost me $200 when all was said and
done..and the tank looks very bad!

Im a pro photographer and it doesnt matter to me if im hired for a $100
job or a $10,000 job. I take pride in my work and always give my
customers the best job I could give. Its called having pride in your work!

Obviously glasscages doesnt have this,nor do they care if the customer is
happy with the end result or not...Thats a shame. This company needs to
be boycott. Go over to reef central...there is tons of horror stories over
there about glasscages.

 

[mr_X]

take pics of the shoddy workmanship and post them here please.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree, $100 or $1000 dollars, the workman ship should be the same. I would honestly return it, put a cancel on my credit card and be done with it.

 

[Anonymous]

They did a bad job on your tank - have your credit card charge it back.

Truthfully, this would have made me not order from them:

I called to order my tank and
the first person I spoke to had no clue about prices on anything. So then I called the
next day and this person didnt know either and said I had to email the owner Tom.
So I emailed the owner 5 times within 5 days and never heard from him.

 

[rbursek]

Nynex,
just read "your post" and before going any further as far as reading, first thing I said to my self, as a business owner was, Mom and Pop shop. mom answers the phone and pop makes the tanks, after reading all the responses I guess I was right. TOTALLY UNEXCEPTIONABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I give my clients what they want, sometimes I have to talk them out of what they want because from my experience I know they will not be happy in the long run, some listen some do not, the ones who do not usually call me and tell me the wished they listen to me!!!! Then pay me again to do it the way I suggested. If the price is to cheap, be aware, if it is too expensive go else where. The boss is always right, if in dought, go to rule #2 the boss is always right!!!!LOL
Bob

 

[nynex]

Ok finally I took some pics of this monstrosity...

Here is the tank on a 29 gal biocube stand..Doesnt look too bad...Notice the unfinished overflow...

Lets look a little closer...whats this? A huge scuff mark!!

oh this is nice...they rounded one end and not the other..

this is has to be the worst looking baffles ive ever seen!!

Another big scratch on the euro brace!!

Nice glue job here guys...geezzz could it be more sloppy!!!!

 

[Len]

Ya, that looks shoddy. Return it and deal with the charges through your CC.

FYI: I didn't mean to fault you for any of this. All I meant to say was that after reading your recount of the first couple of conversations, I personally would never even think about placing an order. If nothing else, I find that if I start off on the wrong foot with the other party (whether as a seller or buyer), it complicates matters should anything arise down the line.

 

[mr_X]

that is some awful news, considering i just spent close to 1500.00 with them.
i was considering going with www.artaquatics.com
but they were about 500 more. maybe it was 500 well spent.

 

[Anonymous]

What was the final cost for this tank?

 

[mothra]

Wow, I think I could have done a better job than that! I can't believe they let something like that out the door, no pride of craftsmanship at all.

If you decide to have someone else build a tank for you Envision Acrylic is very professional and custom jobs are their specialty. You can get in touch with James (the owner) very easily.

 

[SnowManSnow]

I had them build my display tank and was VERY pleased.

I find very few ppl who are satisfied with their acrylic work.. MUCH MORE are happy with thier ummm GLASS cage.

B

 

[Anonymous]

Something similar happened with a guy who lives near me, he bought a nice half-cube tank, but they put the rounded corners on the back of the tank where the black acrylic was and the butted up joints in the front, needless to say he got another one, but unsure if he had to pay for it.. probably did.