Help! Freight Dropped My Tank

[bevo5]

About 8 years ago I bought a big 240g acrylic tank from Tenecor. Many of you might not know who that is, because the day after the tank was delivered they immediately went out of business. They sold me on a 30in high tank at only 1/4 thickness, but after going back and forth I was OK with their assurances.

I filled the tank up and it bowed quite a bit - but that's also normal for acrylic. Cut to two months later and the seems are hazing really bad. I get a local builder to come over and he says to drain it ASAP because a tank that age shouldn't be doing that.

So I drain the tank and try to contact Tenecor...to find out they're out of business. I then contact my credit card company and find out it has been too long since the clock starts when you PAY not when you GET the tank.

In the end, I replaced it with a glass 180 and sold it to someone for peanuts - after showing them the issues and everything of course.

Moral of the story - act fast and look out for yourself only.

 

[h2so4hurts]

They sold me on a 30in high tank at only 1/4 thickness, but after going back and forth I was OK with their assurances.

And research required acrylic thickness at tank width and height. 30"x96" is 1" cast minimum.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

It has a chip.

It's hard to tell how bad it is from the pictures but a small chip/clamshell will not hurt anything (not that you should have to deal with that on a new tank).

 

[Cell]

say you don’t feel safe unpacking the tank more than you already have, you are frightened it may shatter, you saw it dropped and can see a chip in the bottom of the tank. That should be enough for them.
They are trying to get you to accept it, a chip is clear damage, why do they want you to find more, I would definitely find out how long you have with your credit card to make a claim, don’t miss that date, I would reply politely still but start to get firmer if they don’t reply with a replacement offer on reply.

Or just unpack it and get a better look. The whole point was to not go further until the vendor advised. Well, the vendor gave the ok to unpack and inspect so go for it. None of this will change the existence of the already visible chip and however that may be resolved.

 

[Krully]

I’m going to disagree with those that say keep it if the give a partial refund. Either you have confidence in it with the chip or not. If you truly don’t trust the tank, then even with a full refund giving you a free tank won’t make you feel good about it. A free tank that fails and you lose everything is not a win. Maybe find out who the mentioned tank builders are on this forum, tag them and try to get their expert opinion. See what someone who definitely knows what they’re talking about says about the chips effect on the tanks structure. GL.

100%. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with any doubt about my tank. Peace of mind is well worth a partial refund.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

@Joe Glass Cages what do you think about this, being you’re a manufacturer?

 

[Biglew11]

say you don’t feel safe unpacking the tank more than you already have, you are frightened it may shatter, you saw it dropped and can see a chip in the bottom of the tank. That should be enough for them.
They are trying to get you to accept it, a chip is clear damage, why do they want you to find more, I would definitely find out how long you have with your credit card to make a claim, don’t miss that date, I would reply politely still but start to get firmer if they don’t reply with a replacement offer on reply.

+1 and let them know your not necessarily blaming them (the manufacturer) for the damage. but be firm you want a replacement. this is what shipping insurance is for, (if they didn't insure it then that's there problem<don't tell them this) but it's the mind set to have while still being polite + professional.

 

[bevo5]

And research required acrylic thickness at tank width and height. 30"x96" is 1" cast minimum.

You know what - I think it was .5. It was a long time ago. Either way - wasn't enough.

 

[Reef.]

Or just unpack it and get a better look. The whole point was to not go further until the vendor advised. Well, the vendor gave the ok to unpack and inspect so go for it. None of this will change the existence of the already visible chip and however that may be resolved.

The whole point was the OP would like a replacement tank.

The request is not to help the OP but to find a reason to justify not replacing the tank.

The OP has already rejected the tank, the tank has been dropped and has a chip in it, why would the op want to help WB achieve a result they don’t want.

 

[Cell]

You seem to be speaking for the OP. As far as I can tell, he came seeking advice if the tank was ok or not. Not venting on how he already demanded a replacement.

What is the fear of fully inspecting the tank? You think WB is gonna come back and say "Gotcha! You opened it!"?

 

[Reef.]

It's hard to tell how bad it is from the pictures but a small chip/clamshell will not hurt anything (not that you should have to deal with that on a new tank).

you can’t claim the chip will not hurt anything when you haven’t even seen the chip, it might or it might not, either way, on a new tank, a chip should not be there so therefore the op has a right to reject the tank as damaged.

 

[Reef.]

You seem to be speaking for the OP. As far as I can tell, he came seeking advice if the tank was ok or not. Not venting on how he already demanded a replacement.

What is the fear of fully inspecting the tank? You think WB is gonna come back and say "Gotcha! You opened it!".

the op said they want a new tank, they had already emailed /told WB as much before the request to unpack the tank, if I’m speaking for the op, you are speaking for WB.

 

[AJ192]

At the current moment, I decided to pull apart the crate and fully inspect it and I am planning to fill it with water. I have fully inspected the whole tank for any signs of cracks and damage and it all looks good, I have inspected the seems, but have not filled it with water yet. The tank may be fine and I might keep it, I have calmed down a little bit and realized that this tank may be fine. Both my parents think this too. But, I won’t know until I fill it. I emailed them about filling it without voiding my warranty (I didn’t buy there stand) but I have not yet heard back.

 

[AJ192]

You seem to be speaking for the OP. As far as I can tell, he came seeking advice if the tank was ok or not. Not venting on how he already demanded a replacement.

What is the fear of fully inspecting the tank? You think WB is gonna come back and say "Gotcha! You opened it!"?

The top part is correct im curious if it is ok, I am planning to do a multi day leak test, when waterbox gets back to me saying I can do it without voiding my warranty.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

you can’t claim the chip will not hurt anything when you haven’t even seen the chip, it might or it might not, either way, on a new tank, a chip should not be there so therefore the op has a right to reject the tank as damaged.

I did not claim the OPs chip wouldn't hurt anything, I stated that a small chip won't hurt anything but that I couldn't tell from the pictures. So i'm not sure what the point of your post is?

 

[Brian_68]

Companies can easily follow these threads so anything that is said here is fair game in their assessment of the truth. Anything said to them directly should align with what you say on forums.

 

[fishguy242]

i think bottom line is brand new tank is chipped ,no matter how bad,unacceptable

 

[Reef.]

I did not claim the OPs chip wouldn't hurt anything, I stated that a small chip won't hurt anything but that I couldn't tell from the pictures. So i'm not sure what the point of your post is?

Just to be clear, my point was a small chip might be an issue, you making a blanket statement that it wouldn’t is misleading.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

If your set on leak testing it, at least wait for them to confirm that it won’t mess with the warranty. Better safe than sorry

 

[Reef.]

At the current moment, I decided to pull apart the crate and fully inspect it and I am planning to fill it with water. I have fully inspected the whole tank for any signs of cracks and damage and it all looks good, I have inspected the seems, but have not filled it with water yet. The tank may be fine and I might keep it, I have calmed down a little bit and realized that this tank may be fine. Both my parents think this too. But, I won’t know until I fill it. I emailed them about filling it without voiding my warranty (I didn’t buy there stand) but I have not yet heard back.

the main thing is you are happy with the tank, if it’s nagging you now, you could get over that, probably will, now is the time to decide.
chances are it will be fine, shame you have to goes through this after spending so much money.

good move asking them to allow a fill test, if they refuse then you have a clear reason to demand a refund, you are trying to work with them, hopefully they will do likewise.