Apex customer service is the terrible

[Flyingbulldog]

When you figure how to hook up all the controls and update all the firm ware, hours of time and hundreds of dollars.

Then a controller goes offline, you need to trouble shot and can’t find the reasons why.

You than have to go online, send an email to someone who sends you a link that you already read. They tell you, we have availability on this day and it 48/72 hours away from the day you don’t know why nothing is working.

You then have to download software on your personnel computer before they will make an appointment.

Apex if you are reading, you make things to complicated. There is not easy trouble shoot and I shouldn’t have download software to make an appointment to find out the problem.

 

[Bob Escher]

The software is used to login onto your computer so they can get to the Apex Controller and try and troubleshoot
I do agree getting a hold of them is trouble some

 

[Flyingbulldog]

Yes, I understand what the software is for, it shouldn’t take 48hrs to tell me I need a new ap8, display, controller, etc.

It is so frustrating to have your heater go out in the middle of winter, when you purchased a heater to be controlled by apex. It’s not more than 2 years old, updated, no water damage of any kind. I am not a fan of apex, more than ph, heater and on/off outlets

 

[Bob Escher]

Are you mad The the heater manufacturer

 

[dealseer]

I’ve not had good service from Neptune either.

 

[Bob Escher]

Fortunately for me in three years I’ve only had one minor issue with my Apex Display,
I sent it in it was out of warranty but I had bought it I told them so and they sent me mine repaired with no charges

 

[Daltrey]

An apex controller is not for everyone. It takes a little more than basic knowledge to set it up and operate it to it’s full potential. There is a steep learning curve but once you take the time to really learn how to use it there is endless possibilites that it can be programmed to do.

My entire house is automated and everytime someone stops by they always want to know how did I do this or how did I do that. I tell them it is very simple but does require you to have a Bachelor of Information Technology Degree.

 

[Bob Escher]

An apex controller is not for everyone. It takes a little more than basic knowledge to set it up and operate it to it’s full potential. There is a steep learning curve but once you take the time to really learn how to use it there is endless possibilites that it can be programmed to do.

My entire house is automated and everytime someone stops by they always want to know how did I do this or how did I do that. I tell them it is very simple but does require you to have a Bachelor of Information Technology Degree.

I have one the problem is I graduated in 87

 

[mikeandkerry]

Yeah I'm starting to not be a fan
I know it has endless possibilities but here in my experience
I bought the fusion. Brand new
Setup up went to plug in everything to the outlets and program noticed something was wrong
took like Week for them to say send in the eb8
They send it back saying they fixed it by replacing whole new board do to water damage (witch is impossible )
That was the first I even plugged it in
Now as we speak the same thing happened to the eb8 after plugging a pm2 module
They now have my brain ,pm2 ,eb8,and cables to see what is wrong
I'm sure they will again say it's water damage
When again there is no way everything is in a control panel far away
And after they tried telling me that the first time I made sure of it

 

[Flyingbulldog]

Are you mad The the heater manufacturer

The heater didn’t malfunction, th controller that I paid $800 dollars to control went to boat loader mode.

Step learning curve? I have an Electrical engineering degree, work with system administrator and it took us an Hour and two phone calls to get it out of boatloadwr mode.

My recommendation is to have a backup aquabus (brain) in stock. So you can swipe and re- programmer faster than waiting 48 hours to solve the problem.

Last vent, to solve the problem you have to have internet access, PC computer (all apple) and router. The PC computer part is the part that gets me, Windows 10 is a waste of time.

I had to call them everyday and get pieces of information on how to solve a problem of firm ware, going bad and sending my controller into a different mode

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

..has an electical engineering degree...

thinks there is something actually called boatloader mode....

 

[JonPhillips]

Will continue to run from this company with all my money still in my hand.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Will continue to run from this company with all my money still in my hand.

i doubt you have that much money in your hand.

Just saying, the apex is a great product and for those with a lot of money invested in their setup, it is almost a necessity. I loved to bash apex until i got one. Then i was saying to myself.. why on earth did i wait this long.

To the original OP.. sorry you had trouble, it does happen. Not often, but it does happen.

 

[JonPhillips]

Write me back 5 years from today with a list of everything you own apex that hasn’t become obsolete or sent in for massive repair again and again. List will be short. See the difference between and “money pit” and investment. The tech just hasn’t arrived in my opinion to warrant all the hassle I hear...and yes, I’m broke, but I’m trying to overcompensate by pretending the only reason I don’t like apex is because it’s not a well thought out company, not because I am too poor to afford one.

Where are all the testimonies about how Apex saved their reef? We catch probs and save reefs in this hobby because we’re on top of things. Period. Controller or not controller. People like it because it’s orange. Just like people love John Deer because it’s green and yellow. It’s a mower. It cuts grass. How many bells and whistles can we put in the thing so people with deep pockets will pay? “But I need the controllability”!

Apex horror stories > Apex save the day stories

If it’s fun, you like it, and you have hours to tinker with it call it what it is: FUN.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

perhaps you think that because you are not reallt informed about what they could do?

I have had mine for 3 months and it already saved my tank twice.
1. episode one.. huh, my ph seems to be dropping. Didnt trigger an alarm but i look at the graph every day and it seemed wrong. So I went to investigate.. forgot to put my alk input hose back in the doser rez. Nothing like an alk crash and calcium spike to start melting your SPS collection.

2. amperage alarm goes of for my reeflo barracuda pump. huh? thats weird.. sounds normal. look at the graph.. its definately drawing more amps. shut it down, open the impellor chamber.. my son dropped a piece of 20'? string in the open 100 gallon fuge, it wrapped around the impellor. so yeah, it saved me from burning out a $480 return pump.

This forum is FULL of examples like this.

all this wealth of controller knowledge from a guy that was just posting a couple weeks ago asking how to install an ATO....

 

[recess62]

Write me back 5 years from today with a list of everything you own apex that hasn’t become obsolete or sent in for massive repair again and again. List will be short. See the difference between and “money pit” and investment. The tech just hasn’t arrived in my opinion to warrant all the hassle I hear...and yes, I’m broke, but I’m trying to overcompensate by pretending the only reason I don’t like apex is because it’s not a well thought out company, not because I am too poor to afford one.

Where are all the testimonies about how Apex saved their reef? We catch probs and save reefs in this hobby because we’re on top of things. Period. Controller or not controller. People like it because it’s orange. Just like people love John Deer because it’s green and yellow. It’s a mower. It cuts grass. How many bells and whistles can we put in the thing so people with deep pockets will pay? “But I need the controllability”!

Apex horror stories > Apex save the day stories

If it’s fun, you like it, and you have hours to tinker with it call it what it is: FUN.

1 On vacation in Cozumel. Got an email and text alert that my tank temperature was low. House temperature set at 50 Had my house sitter check a heater that had failed

2 on vacation in Cozumel. Got a message that apex was off line gave a call to the house sitter. Checked the house and there was no power

If one is doing Alk into a tank with thousands of $ in corals it would be foolish not to have your tank monitor pH and alert you with pH spike

On and on and on

In my case is not so much about control but more about piece of mind. I am frequently away and having the ability to monitor the tank gives me some respite

Moral of the story

Don’t go on vacation to Cozumel

 

[SonoranReefer]

Last vent, to solve the problem you have to have internet access, PC computer (all apple) and router. The PC computer part is the part that gets me, Windows 10 is a waste of time.

Seriously they can’t trouble shoot over a Mac? That’s ridiculous these days. I have completely switched over to all Apple products 5 years ago and have zero interest in a windows based PC anytime soon. (My MacBook I bought then still works perfectly fine btw).

I already own an ATK, I bought it over the Tunze because I thought oh I’ll get an APEX someday. I had issues with the ATK out of the box. It took several weeks messaging back and forth with Neptune support to finally get it resolved. After going through their tedious trouble shooting guide a half dozen times we finally did get it working after they sent me a new part. But it took weeks to get to that point. All of this really makes me apprehensive about spending what they want for an APEX :/

 

[recess62]

Seriously they can’t trouble shoot over a Mac? That’s ridiculous these days. I have completely switched over to all Apple products 5 years ago and have zero interest in a windows based PC anytime soon. (My MacBook I bought then still works perfectly fine btw).

I already own an ATK, I bought it over the Tunze because I thought oh I’ll get an APEX someday. I had issues with the ATK out of the box. It took several weeks messaging back and forth with Neptune support to finally get it resolved. After going through their tedious trouble shooting guide a half dozen times we finally did get it working after they sent me a new part. But it took weeks to get to that point. All of this really makes me apprehensive about spending what they want for an APEX :/

I think you misunderstood. I have all macs and they were able to remotely log into my apex and help me with a network issue. I have had nothing but good customer service.

 

[SonoranReefer]

I think you misunderstood. I have all macs and they were able to remotely log into my apex and help me with a network issue. I have had nothing but good customer service.

Yes I misunderstood, glad you could clear that up. I still plan on getting an APEX, as it’s the best option on the market currently by a long shot! And yes they did get my issue resolved, I just diddnt like how long it took is all.

 

[Scott.h]

I disagree with the statement of bad customer service. I think that part of the problem is that there hasn't been another aquarium controller in the same league, causing most to have to go to one company for help. Lots of volume. Up front the apex is a pretty complex device for a first time user causing lots of call volume. But once you get someone on the phone, unlike other companies, you can actually understand the person you are talking to. I've never had an issue that couldn't be solved quick. I have 3 apex units. I've even had an apex employee log into my device outside of work from their home to solve an issue. Every big company has their shortcomings, but comparing apples to apples I think they do a pretty good job.