My Deltec Saga.....

[fishywoo]

Summer twelve months ago I returned a deltec pump from my APF650 that I considered faulty. I sent it to Marvin at D&D aquariums who had taken over from Doug. I paid for a new replacement pump awaiting the results of an inspection that would verify if the pump was problematic and thus covered by warranty.

A month went by and I had no reply so I called and was told that the pump had been sent to Germany. It would be returned in a month. Two months go by and several phone calls and e-mails. The pump is still in Germany. There is no offer to just pay me the 100 bucks I paid for the new pump. They will call me in a month.

The start of a new year and more phone calls and apologies its still in Germany.
April this year and now I have Stuart from D&D Aquariums involved. His e-mail and I quote
"As I said Paul it is in a box still waiting to go back despite my chasing to get it moved"

An e-mail I sent to Stuart. "On the old pump Marvin an I went through a miriad of tests over the course of a week (including the flap) before deciding something was wrong and he advised me to return the pump".

His reply. "Not a lot I can say"

I have been courteous and nice whenever consulting with either Marvin and Stuart until My last e-mail in which I said if I didn't get a resolution I would threaten legal action. They called my bluff and now no one takes my calls or replys to e-mails.

From the various reef boards I have found that both these men seem to be stand up guys. Is it just that Deltec don't want to standby their warranty? I will say in Marvins defence he offered me discounted Deltec equipment but this I did not need. 12 months and no solution is not good business sense and their dealing of this matter frustrates the hell out of me.

Any thoughts ideas on what I should do. Welcome.....

 

[junglebase]

That is the reason why i got rid of my Deltec Ca Reactor... too much b-s.. it might just be me but just my two cents....

 

[rafal07013]

post your comments on RC in appropiate forum. people should be aware how clients are treated.

 

[juiceguy]

german equipment is great.....when it works. i also have had issues with deltec cal reactor and to Marvins defense, he is a stand-up guy and does his best to help but his hands are tied by germany. the same goes for BK, ATB if something breaks on them you better have a back-up plan because replacement parts take forever to come by. if you like the skimmer, i would try modding it with another pump save yourself the aggrevation of dealing with deltec.

 

[ECFENCING]

I would say ATB is much better in my opinion in terms of customer service. I had a problem with the venturi piece on my volute and the pinwheel on an eheim 1250 pump and Victor looked around and sent me a new volute. He also sent me an extra pinwheel.

Juiceguy you are right. It did take a week or two. Pump wasn't broken but not performing the way I thought it was supposed to.

I've never dealt with Deltec before.

Fishywoo I wish you the best of luck and hope your problem is resolved.

 

[regal]

I feel for you man. I had the deltec aquabee pump crapped out on me. They are way over priced for a pump with a terrible track record. I modified a eheim 1260 to run the calcium reactor and call it the day. Now I need a replacement for the needle wheel impeller of the eheim 1260 for the skimmer and I was told it would cost me $179.99. I looked at the needle wheel impeller and the impeller of a regular eheim 1260. It looks like they just glued the needle wheel to the impeller and pass on the markup to smug like me. :irked:

 

[pecan2phat]

Regal,
Marvin charged me $200 for a replacement needlewheel last year, ($500 if you need a whole new pump) so you are getting a good deal :lol2:

If I had to replace another one, I would try Euroreef's replacement for the Eheim needlewheel. It's $100.

 

[stoneriff]

I feel for you. Being in high end sales myself, I find it unacceptable and hard to believe that these companies don't want to stand by their products. How do they expect to stay in business when they treat the people that support them this way? You should go on every site possible and post your issue. People like this should not stay in business, regardless of how good their product is supposed to be. If you don't stand by your product and handle warranty issues promptly, Goodbye. You don't deserve anyones business!

 

[pecan2phat]

Even Doug use to be a shiester. Would make BS promises on items that came in not so pristine.

 

[jrobbins]

As a small business owner I can tell you personally that once someone threatens legal action, that pretty much kills any other possible resolution. At that point I have to call my lawyer and he is going to say not to have any more contact with the customer, and to wait for the opposing lawyer to contact us...Beyond that, threatening to sue over $200 is a bluff pretty much anybody would call...

Maybe just try writing a letter saying you are sorry you over reacted and say you want to work this out amicably. I know it sucks to do that, especially when you think you are right, but you are holding almost no cards in this hand. They have your pump, they have your money, and if they aren't based in New York, it's going to be almost impossible to sue them in small claims court here. Even if you do go to court and win, how the hell do you plan to collect on the judgment...

 

[cali_reef]

Sucks to deal with people that don't want future business. I'd Imagen Marvin is getting lots of these warranty claims to stop eating up these claims him self.

Repost this in every reef site's equipment and\or vendor feed back forum.. This is bad for Deltec sales and someone may want to take responsibilty and do something for you.

 

[fishywoo]

J robbins I have had problably 20 phone discussions and about the same amount of e-mails to resolve this amicably. I was always polite and never lost my cool. But it was always give meanother week. Meanwhile my old pump sat in a warehouse in Germany somewhere. Juiceguy hit it on the head Marvin is just a distributer who takes a small piece off the top it is up the German company to honor the warranty. To me if 12 months has past then they aren't honoring that warranty.

 

[fishywoo]

Well after posting this thread on RC seemed to have got some sort of a result. Marvin got a call from an overseas distributer saying, "Who is this guy" Suffice to say he has offered to pay me out of his own pocket. The whole hassle with this thing is not about the money but the onus seemed to be on me to have to continiously chase up this matter with endless phone calls and e-mails.

 

[regal]

Regal,
Marvin charged me $200 for a replacement needlewheel last year, ($500 if you need a whole new pump) so you are getting a good deal :lol2:

If I had to replace another one, I would try Euroreef's replacement for the Eheim needlewheel. It's $100.

I broke another needle wheel this weekend.:irked: Where can I find this euroreef replacement. I got one from H&S for $149.99 but it looked different. I guess it is the new design but it sucks the same amount of air as my old one.

 

[pecan2phat]

http://commerce03.i2net.com/able55n...te-impeller-assembly-Eheim-1262-P173C105.aspx

 

[regal]

Thanks Warren. Placed my order. Do you happen to have the Rowa C+ media for the calcium reactor? I know you are selling the skimmer and the reactor.