A warning around purchasing an Alkatronic 2nd hand

BRS
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Orphek OR3 reef aquarium LED bar
rtparty said:
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.
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Whoa whoa there, lemme measure that horse there fellow consumer. Maybe it’s better this dude “never posted”. PR yikes.
 
Thank you everyone for all of the discussion around this. As Winston said, this issue has been resolved when the previous owner responded that it was ok to unlink. While I don't agree that this policy should be so stringent, and I am still not happy with my initial customer service experience, Winston here was the consummate professional for the entire ordeal. In fact, we chatted about all kinds of random crap today. He's good people! And as someone else said, a great representative for Focustronic.

Although this situation is resolved, and I actively playing with my new toy, I think it's critical that this post stick around so that future Alkatronic 2nd-hand buyers and sellers are both VERY much aware that they need to take this critical step when it changes hands and also that Focustronic will learn from this and maybe look at changing up some of their policies.

Thank you all!
 
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AS
Well, this sorry story has made my mind up not to buy any Focustronic products; I was seriously looking at the Mastertronic as well.

I don't care what the excuse is about why it can't be reset; there should be a way to do it.

It connects to the cloud right? So they can tell that it hasn't been used since the new owner has said they bought it? And the original owner isn't responding to requests? And you have someone saying that they bought it? With a receipt? If it was mine and it was stolen, and someone tried to contact me, I would be pretty keen to respond.

From what I've read there isn't even a master reset for the people who've had their own units lock up on them (which had already made me cautious).
 
HeyLookItsCaps said:
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
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Maybe he knows something we don’t?
62C7E58B-85C0-484E-9255-9F2B76CC92EF.gif
 
HeyLookItsCaps said:
I wonder if this “situation” would’ve been resolved if it weren’t posted here with support from other members….
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lol

FishyFishFish said:
Well, this sorry story has made my mind up not to buy any Focustronic products; I was seriously looking at the Mastertronic as well.

I don't care what the excuse is about why it can't be reset; there should be a way to do it.

It connects to the cloud right? So they can tell that it hasn't been used since the new owner has said they bought it? And the original owner isn't responding to requests? And you have someone saying that they bought it? With a receipt? If it was mine and it was stolen, and someone tried to contact me, I would be pretty keen to respond.

From what I've read there isn't even a master reset for the people who've had their own units lock up on them (which had already made me cautious).
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That’s concerning . You can’t reset your own
 
Ecoscape Reef Rock
AS
Scratch08 said:
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...but at least I don't smell like horse ****
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Only if you can unlock the phone.
 
Deltec
DopamineKata said:
Only if you can unlock the phone.
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It can be done without the lock code. Requires the use of a computer and a piece of free software, I just did it over the weekend for one of my coworker's daughter...she got the phone for Christmas, set a code, then forgot what it was...she's 12. Takes about 10-15 minutes
 
AS
It could become a fun thread. Someone smarter than me should make a poll here to see how many have experienced their reefing gear being stolen(or reefing gear identities). To determine how rampant it really is to justify pentagon level security clearance on these devices. Is it because of these security measures most criminals won't go past the porch in their endeavors ? Curious minds (well maybe just me) want to know !
 
Company: "This isn't yours! You've stolen this product, you fiend!"

Robber: "Okay? I'll go sell it to some schmuck on reef2reef so he can make a post about your customer service. *click*

In a world of online selling, locking a device does nothing. A thief could steal someone's locked iPhone too and still sell it on eBay for $200.

Say he bought this product from someone who stole it, but he thought it was legit? Does that mean you're going to tell him to return the device to the original owner and forget about the $700 he just spent? Or does it just stay locked in his possession, he throws it away and buys an Apex to never look back again, leaving both him and the original owner out a lot of money and a product thrown in the garbage. Equipment changes hands quickly in this hobby, so it should be tailored for that as well.
 
Tidal Gardens
ying yang said:
Can't help you sorry but wish you all the best in this matter.
It's a shame the manufacturer if their policy is cant reset it unless got original buyers permission, good customer service would be they try contact the original buyer ( if they still got current contact details ) and help you resolve your issue especially after you showing pay pal receipt of buying it from original owner ( again if your receipt shows original buyers name and details etc) and as you say if it worked you would be then a customer buying future products .I do understand why would have policy like this but at same time would of thought there is a way to help someone if they bought it second hand and original buyer didn't log out or whatever was needed as sure this would happen more than just to you .
Hopefully others who researching buying one of these units comes across this thread and insists to seller to do whats needed so at least some good comes of this terrible situation pffft.
I'm not sure how long you trying to contact original owner who you bought it from,but I know I personally haven't looked at my emails for years or Facebook so maybe who you bought it from only occasionally looks at emails or Facebook and hopefully soon sees your messages and helps you out in your dire situation
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I had this issue with an icecap gyre controller. @CoralvueDon did a great job reaching out to the previous owner via email and got me all taken care of. Absolutely best experience ever after feeling like I had an expensive set of paper weights to!
 
BRS

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
See comments…

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