A warning around purchasing an Alkatronic 2nd hand

[Rewd]

I appreciate your efforts and I stand behind my promise of buying you lunch if you make it to reefapalooza 2022 at the meadowlands this year!! Haha

 

[Rillo Boy]

I appreciate your efforts and I stand behind my promise of buying you lunch if you make it to reefapalooza 2022 at the meadowlands this year!! Haha

Lol… there’s no good restaurants round there

 

[131696]

Get rid of all the gadgets keep it simple and know exactly what your tank is doing by hand not a machine,machines break then what you have to do yourself then .stop depending on machines do it yourself learn

 

[ying yang]

Well sounds like a result for you if previous owner responds in a week or even if doesnt.

Goodluck

 

[Rewd]

Hopefully so! I am counting on Winston at this point lol. We've been chatting all day--seems like a good guy.

 

[DopamineKata]

You are 100% correct … we have no idea what is the history of this unit …. What if it’s unlinked and then the someone who have got the original receipt produces it and says it IS his ?
what would we then do as we have released this to someone else .
We have got to take the necessary steps to safeguard both ourselves and the customers ..

Ask them for a copy of the police report saying it was stolen...

 

[rtparty]

I highly doubt Rewd went over, stole a Focustronic product from someone, went home tried to set it up, and then started posting publicly asking for help. LOL

Why doesn't he just give the police his address and make it even easier to find him?

This is an open and shut case. If FT can unlink the device like they claim, unlink it and get it setup for Rewd. If the original owner somehow comes back around and can prove it was stolen, unlink Rewd's device, send the original owner a brand new unit and be done. It is called customer service and there is a way to fix this that doesn't involve Rewd waiting even longer.

I was set to buy an Alkatronic but not after reading this. I will take my chances with the Trident. At least Neptune support responds in a timely manner.

 

[Octocat]

I was set to buy an Alkatronic but not after reading this. I will take my chances with the Trident.

Lol, someone earlier in the thread said Neptune does the same. Maybe try GHL? I think I read brs is having a big sale on their gear...

 

[Rillo Boy]

Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

 

[Rillo Boy]

I highly doubt Rewd went over, stole a Focustronic product from someone, went home tried to set it up, and then started posting publicly asking for help. LOL

Why doesn't he just give the police his address and make it even easier to find him?

This is an open and shut case. If FT can unlink the device like they claim, unlink it and get it setup for Rewd. If the original owner somehow comes back around and can prove it was stolen, unlink Rewd's device, send the original owner a brand new unit and be done. It is called customer service and there is a way to fix this that doesn't involve Rewd waiting even longer.

I was set to buy an Alkatronic but not after reading this. I will take my chances with the Trident. At least Neptune support responds in a timely manner.

And you think that you can get APEX to unlink a unit if it’s not registered to you ? ??? .. apex is exactly the same as the FT !

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Glad you got it sorted but what a headache

 

[CCK_8814]

Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

While chances of buying an iPhone on the used market that’s possibly stolen is fairly high I truly doubt anyone is going to try and sell a stolen AT and then go through everything they did to try and unlink it. Also, if you have proof of purchase (via eBay or similar) you actually can get apple to remove an iCloud account, I’ve had it done once. I’m not saying the policy you have is bad, but once proof of purchase is supplied I feel it should be open and shut especially with how much proof this particular person had.

 

[JoshH]

Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

And you think that you can get APEX to unlink a unit if it’s not registered to you ? ??? .. apex is exactly the same as the FT !

No one was being a "Keyboard Warrior" All we did was merely respond to the OP's situation. Which frankly would have never made it's way here to begin with if he hadn't have felt his customer service experience was incredibly lacking.

The OP had stated he had already sent you ample information to get the job done and you guys responded by saying you wouldn't do it. And then when he tried to ask on your page, you closed his FB chat. People understand that this is a decent security feature, although I don't think many people are stealing these things, but who knows. No one has an issue with the feature. People had an issue with FocusTronics initial refusal to even help.

Thank you for reaching out here and showing excellent restraint and professionalism. You are an excellent representative for your company.

 

[polyppal]

Watch out, Focustronic… You gonna land on the ‘someone’s mad about my product on R2R’ list:

Focustronic
Bulk Reef Supply
Vibrant

 

[jmichaelh7]

This goes for Apex too, if it’s linked to another persons account you CANNOT use it. Fortunately I was able to contact the seller and he decoupled it for me

the apex you can hard reset.

I could try contacting them but i want to be clear, I don't believe the old owner did anything malicious. He just didn't unlink it from his account because he may not have known to do that.

To the OP. This is great knowledge about the gadgets were are starting to see more and more coming out each year for our beloved aquariums. i think this is a good reminder for everyone if they are purchasing a controller, or equiptment, that it can lock you out. Thanks for shedding awareness !

 

[i_am_mclovin]

Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

This isn’t an easily portable or easily stolen device. It’s not an iPhone. This kind of manufacturer/user registration lock on a piece of aquarium equipment is insane. Thanks for helping me remove mastertronic from my shopping list with this statement.

 

[ColoredRock]

And you think that you can get APEX to unlink a unit if it’s not registered to you ? ??? .. apex is exactly the same as the FT !

https://www.neptunesystems.com/downloads/docs/Comprehensive_Reference_Manual.pdf

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Get rid of all the gadgets keep it simple and know exactly what your tank is doing by hand not a machine,machines break then what you have to do yourself then .stop depending on machines do it yourself learn

So do you use a ladle? Soup spoon? The ones with the holes in it? Did you cut the holes in your ceiling with a hand saw to get the sunlight in? What a ridiculous statement in this hobby

 

[Scratch08]

Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

You do realize an iPhone can be factory reset without going to the Apple store right...lol...obviously you dont. Glad you decided to fix this issue for the OP...as far as my high horse goes, I'll ride away...

 

[rtparty]

Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

And you think that you can get APEX to unlink a unit if it’s not registered to you ? ??? .. apex is exactly the same as the FT !

Yeah.....you're not exactly helping yourself or FT here.

There's already a ton of talk in the background about FT and their lack of service. The owner constantly blocks people who ask for help. It's all well documented.

If I provided Neptune with a proof of purchase on a used item, they'd help me. Know how I know? Because I bought an ApexEL that was still linked. One email in asking for help, they responded, I showed them proof and gave them the original owner's info I got from PayPal. Poof. It was done.

We can only hope for better service now that BRS is carrying the FT line.