Customer Service, best experiences, please share!

[JNalley]

Hey guys, as someone who spent 20+ years in customer-facing positions before realizing I hate the general public, I always appreciate companies with good customer service. In fact, the customer service experience I have with any given company will be one of the most important factors in whether or not I will continue to buy and use their products. If someone tells me about a good customer service experience, and I need something that that company offers, I am even more likely to go to them based on my friend's customer service experience over their competitors, because customer service is that important. So I thought it might be a great idea for people to showcase reefing-related companies with a good customer service experience and celebrate those that gave it to us. Hopefully, other companies can learn from this and do better, because this space is full of companies that have terrible customer service.

Recently, I had an issue with some OceanDirect live sand, it was no fault of CaribSea, partially my fault as a buyer, and partially Saltwater Aquarium's fault as the retailer. Back in October, I ordered some Ocean Direct sand from Saltwater Aquarium.com. Instead of listing the Product Name (Original Grade, Oolite, etc), they list the sand grain size. I guess I ordered .25-1.0mm sand (which I now know is Oolite) back then and received Original Grade (which is what I actually wanted, so I thought .25-1.0mm = Original Grade).

So fast-forward to this past week, I ordered the same sand I ordered before, except this time, I received Oolite, which I know is far too fine of sand for my shallower tank. Noticing the "Oolite" sticker I reached out to SA and explained, and they said it was definitely the same sand I got before. Well, I had 1/2 a bag of the sand from October, so I put it in the bottom of my new tank, and taking their word for it, I dumped one of the new bags on top of the old bag, and low and behold the sand was completely different. There's a clear line of demarcation between the coarser-grained sand from October and the new Oolite sand I received. So, I sent pictures and after some back and forth, I decided to call CaribSea to see if something had changed. The lady who answered the phone was very pleasant, and after some exchange of information, we determined that I was probably shipped the wrong sand back in October (happy accident, but aided in my confusion) and that the new Oolite sand is being bagged in the old Original Grade sand packaging but getting stickers placed over the SKU. So mystery and problem solved, right? Well, instead of making me go back to Saltwater Aquarium, she offered to send me a new 40lbs bag of Original Grade free of charge due to the error. I did not ask for it, but I did kindly accept it...

Something as small as that has strengthened my loyalty to CaribSea, I still won't use Arag-Alive sand, but OceanDirect Original Grade is forever my go-to sand. So CaribSea, if you read this, thank you very much, I appreciate you.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This can be sbtopic if controversy
Some peoples opinions will not only differ but there are people no matter what you do can be pleased
For me- Neptune apex. Aquasd and ice cap
There are some that will agree and disagree with my picks

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

This can be sbtopic if controversy
Some peoples opinions will not only differ but there are people no matter what you do can be pleased
For me- Neptune apex. Aquasd and ice cap
There are some that will agree and disagree with my picks

@AquaSD - one of my favorites.

 

[homer1475]

Tunze USA has me as a customer for life, simply because of the CS I received when my ATO died.

 

[jgirardnrg]

Reefbreeders... Logan really goes above and beyond.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Orphek has been great to me , James is the rep for my area and answered all my questions timely and in professional matter, I had a weird faulty power bar and they sent a new one and a free orphek lens kit

 

[homer1475]

I know recently this will not be a popular opinion.....

@Bulk Reef Supply

Anytime I have needed to call customer service, they have always made things right.

 

[JNalley]

I know recently this will not be a popular opinion.....

@Bulk Reef Supply

Anytime I have needed to call customer service, they have always made things right.

I don't know why that wouldn't be a popular opinion... BRS has good customer service from my experience too, the issues people have with them don't stem from Customer Service experiences...

 

[Sean Clark]

Hey guys, as someone who spent 20+ years in customer-facing positions before realizing I hate the general public, I always appreciate companies with good customer service. In fact, the customer service experience I have with any given company will be one of the most important factors in whether or not I will continue to buy and use their products. If someone tells me about a good customer service experience, and I need something that that company offers, I am even more likely to go to them based on my friend's customer service experience over their competitors, because customer service is that important. So I thought it might be a great idea for people to showcase reefing-related companies with a good customer service experience and celebrate those that gave it to us. Hopefully, other companies can learn from this and do better, because this space is full of companies that have terrible customer service.

Recently, I had an issue with some OceanDirect live sand, it was no fault of CaribSea, partially my fault as a buyer, and partially Saltwater Aquarium's fault as the retailer. Back in October, I ordered some Ocean Direct sand from Saltwater Aquarium.com. Instead of listing the Product Name (Original Grade, Oolite, etc), they list the sand grain size. I guess I ordered .25-1.0mm sand (which I now know is Oolite) back then and received Original Grade (which is what I actually wanted, so I thought .25-1.0mm = Original Grade).

So fast-forward to this past week, I ordered the same sand I ordered before, except this time, I received Oolite, which I know is far too fine of sand for my shallower tank. Noticing the "Oolite" sticker I reached out to SA and explained, and they said it was definitely the same sand I got before. Well, I had 1/2 a bag of the sand from October, so I put it in the bottom of my new tank, and taking their word for it, I dumped one of the new bags on top of the old bag, and low and behold the sand was completely different. There's a clear line of demarcation between the coarser-grained sand from October and the new Oolite sand I received. So, I sent pictures and after some back and forth, I decided to call CaribSea to see if something had changed. The lady who answered the phone was very pleasant, and after some exchange of information, we determined that I was probably shipped the wrong sand back in October (happy accident, but aided in my confusion) and that the new Oolite sand is being bagged in the old Original Grade sand packaging but getting stickers placed over the SKU. So mystery and problem solved, right? Well, instead of making me go back to Saltwater Aquarium, she offered to send me a new 40lbs bag of Original Grade free of charge due to the error. I did not ask for it, but I did kindly accept it...

Something as small as that has strengthened my loyalty to CaribSea, I still won't use Arag-Alive sand, but OceanDirect Original Grade is forever my go-to sand. So CaribSea, if you read this, thank you very much, I appreciate you.

The world needs more of this.

 

[homer1475]

I don't know why that wouldn't be a popular opinion... BRS has good customer service from my experience too, the issues people have with them don't stem from Customer Service experiences...

Oh I agree, their CS is second to none. But we all know their reputation lately.

 

[CryptoNautical]

For me it was Aqua Illumination. Had a light that had a issue with the LED's and they replaced the light with no questions or cost to me. I didn't even have to pay shipping

 

[Jedi1199]

@Living Reef Orlando

I have gotten corals from here in 2 recent live sales. Ann is absolutely the best. If there is even the smallest issue, Ann makes it right, no questions asked.

Marine and Reef:

Had an issue when I ordered my lights from them on Black Friday. No fault of theirs, was actually a FedEx issue. Their CS rep did all the legwork with FedEx and took care of everything to get my package delivered.

 

[JNalley]

This can be sbtopic if controversy
Some peoples opinions will not only differ but there are people no matter what you do can be pleased
For me- Neptune apex. Aquasd and ice cap
There are some that will agree and disagree with my picks

Sure, but this isn't about "Which companies do you think have the best customer service" it's "Share some great customer service experiences you've had" I think sometimes personalities collide, sometimes you get someone on a bad day, sometimes as the customer, there's just nothing that can be done or said to make it right. I totally agree, but instead of trying to focus on the negative, share a positive experience... Who knows, maybe you got great service from Maxspect about a Gyre pump, and someone else reads it who has a terrible experience with Jebao gyre pumps, it might push them to give Maxspect a try (Just an example). If they're on these forums, go ahead and give them a shout and let them know they did well.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sure, but this isn't about "Which companies do you think have the best customer service" it's "Share some great customer service experiences you've had" I think sometimes personalities collide, sometimes you get someone on a bad day, sometimes as the customer, there's just nothing that can be done or said to make it right. I totally agree, but instead of trying to focus on the negative, share a positive experience... Who knows, maybe you got great service from Maxspect about a Gyre pump, and someone else reads it who has a terrible experience with Jebao gyre pumps, it might push them to give Maxspect a try (Just an example). If they're on these forums, go ahead and give them a shout and let them know they did well.

As mentioned - Neptune apex. Aquasd and ice cap have been very good to me

 

[DopamineKata]

I had spent a couple grand with BRS before realizing they had a reward point system. After signing up for it I reached out to them and the credited all of my prior purchases. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things but I appreciated it.

 

[Kodski]

Honestly I haven't had to talk to many companies with issues directly but the two I have had to talk with, I've had wonderful experiences with.

First @AquaSD who credited me my entire order when UPS decided to take four days to ship an overnight package.

Secondly, Daniel at ReeFi was of great help when I was having issues setting up my ReeFi Uno. I messaged him later in the evening thinking I'd get a response the next day and he responded within 15 minutes. It took around an hour of trouble shooting to get everything sorted out. But Daniel was great at explaining and helping me along the way. I'd always recommend ReeFi for the customer service as well as some awesome lights.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Luckycorals refunded me for a lobophyllia that melted quickly after being added to the tank way back last year. He deduced I was a newer reefer and let me use store credit despite it likely being my fault. I haven't purchased from him in a little while, but quality CS and great communication means I will again eventually.

 

[happyhourhero]

Battlecorals. Adam is great to work with in general and the one time there was a shipping issue, he quickly reshipped the exact same picks in a new Battlebox. I could be perfectly content ordering periodic battle boxes.

 

[JoeinLA]

BRS. I had what I thought would be a really problematic situation that was addressed instantly and w/o any fuss or stress. They are absolutely the first place I go to buy stuff.

 

[Kellie in CA]

Unique Corals. Their guarantee (7 days!) is spectacular on corals. I've had a few pieces that were refunded to me easily.