Pro Reef salt from Turkey

[DHill6]

Same here, no credit yet and It's been since Monday... What is going on @Bulk Reef Supply?

I’m sure they’re over run with people wanting credit. I called about a different matter and was credited for the TMP Turkey salt. Thank you BRS

 

[ceaver]

Yes I was credited.

From whom? BRS? Or TM directly? Thanks
Edit: it looks like BRS. Cool, as long as I get my credit, too

 

[drawman]

I’m sure they’re over run with people wanting credit. I called about a different matter and was credited for the TMP Turkey salt. Thank you BRS

Hopefully they do it for all of us. I was told to be patient and wait for future info.

 

[Frogspon]

Hopefully they do it for all of us. I was told to be patient and wait for future info.

This is the same response I got. I'm not going to "sit tight" if they're handing out backdoor credits to people that aren't. Water changes are a little time sensitive??

When I pay higher prices for premium salt I would at the very least like to have some usable salt.

 

[DHill6]

This is the same response I got. I'm not going to "sit tight" if they're handing out backdoor credits to people that aren't. Water changes are a little time sensitive??

When I pay higher prices for premium salt I would at the very least like to have some usable salt.

Back door credit to people who aren’t sitting tight? Unbelievable comment. I spoke to the representative about a different matter, salt situation came up. I wasn’t bullying them or asking for a refund or credit.

 

[tharbin]

I do find it troubling that BRS seems to be crediting some customer accounts and telling others to sit tight. It is one thing to need to work out a policy and quite another to have different policies for different customers. That doesn't fly with me.

I have zero interest in a replacement box at this point. Not because I will not use the salt any longer but because I had to go out and buy another salt since the salt was, at best, questionable. Since I only use a few gallons a week, I already have a year's supply of a competitor's salt. I really don't need another box of salt sitting around unused.

I do not think the backdoor credit comment was directed at anyone on this forum but rather at BRS for having an inconsistent policy.

 

[Cell]

I'm guessing vendors may be in a tough spot here. TM is still insisting this salt is safe to use, but also closed the factory etc...are vendors being reimbursed for returned product? If TM considers the salt safe to use, should vendors ask for the buckets back?

It seems the prudent route here would be a directive from TM to destroy /dispose of any Turkish produced salt, but that has not happened. Instead it's mixed messaging: shut down plant, stop selling it, but go ahead and use it because it's totally safe.

 

[FishyFishFish]

I do find it troubling that BRS seems to be crediting some customer accounts and telling others to sit tight. It is one thing to need to work out a policy and quite another to have different policies for different customers. That doesn't fly with me.

I have zero interest in a replacement box at this point. Not because I will not use the salt any longer but because I had to go out and buy another salt since the salt was, at best, questionable. Since I only use a few gallons a week, I already have a year's supply of a competitor's salt. I really don't need another box of salt sitting around unused.

I do not think the backdoor credit comment was directed at anyone on this forum but rather at BRS for having an inconsistent policy.

I mentioned this on one of the many TM threads but, did you see BRS’ video about this?

They started by saying that they will look after everyone and that you can send the salt back for a refund. A couple of minutes later they said that they didn’t want the salt back and people should wait for a couple of weeks to find out what TM’s resolution will be.

They didn’t really seem to have decided on a rigid policy (imagine that; they’re making things up as they go again, which was exactly my complaint about their last promo).

I’m sure BRS will eventually look after everybody, but I think they’re currently waiting to see what guidance TM will give them and they don’t really want to do anything until then. I think it would have been better for them to come out with a clear statement (as SaltwaterAquarium has done). That statement could have given the unambiguous option to return it or sit tight (which is effectively what I inferred from their video) but they have chosen to just muddy the waters with their lack of clarity (no pun intended).

 

[tharbin]

That statement could have given the unambiguous option to return it or sit tight (which is effectively what I inferred from their video) but they have chosen to just muddy the waters with their lack of clarity (no pun intended).

Too bad, it's a great pun.

 

[sgrosenb]

Too bad, it's a great pun.

Epic pun.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with how @Lou Ekus and the Tropic Marin folks handled this. They didn't entirely dismiss it, they had an understandable skepticism, but continued to listen and made what appears to be the right choice at the end of the day. I've been using solely Pro Reef salt for the 3+ years my tank has been up. I have a few buckets with plastic handles from Turkey and I'm guessing that explains the brown slime I've seen in some batches (I originally chalked it up to being the algae in my WC hose... which who knows maybe it was). No adverse affects to corals that I can say definitively happened from the salt... I've killed my share of SPS and it would have happened with or without bad salt.

I'm hoping this is a situation where the good from the reefing community can come out and help TM. Given their stellar track record over the years, as well as the consistent "we're here to help and listen and be open-minded" messaging throughout this whole thing, I'm confident that TM and vendors will have a good process for refunds and exchanges. But that takes time and coordination and patience.

Hoping the reefing community can have the same patience with TM and vendors that it takes for cultivating a successful reef; if so, we'll all get through this and on to more happy reefing.

Cheers,
Scott

 

[FiddlersReef]

I think one of the best thoughts on this so far was (I think) posted on here by somebody who said this may be the best time to continue or start using TM's (german) salt, because they're going to make darned sure this never happens again. I believe like any company, their reputation is critical, and something has gone wrong. They're going to fix it and fix it well. Just like any company would.

It makes perfect sense to me that they were skeptical. Who wouldn't be? They thought their standards were top-notch. But who hasn't seen a new story about something going wrong in a company process that they thought was solid, because somebody screwed up or didn't care? The people are always the weak link.

It's also entirely possible that another brand is going to get a big influx of customers, won't keep up, and may cut a corner and end up causing the next big issue. Who knows, but it's not unreasonable if some place gets overwhelmed.

Reading Facebook groups talking about this is enough to drive you crazy. Everyone jumping on board and wanting to know why their refund hasn't come through yesterday, with no insight whatsoever into how many thousands may be in line and where they fall in that line. And of course, everyone who has lost anything in the past few months is trying to point the finger at TM salt, without any evidence at all. In some cases it may be what happened. In others though, I suspect the coral was on its way out anyway.

Personally I think it's all caused by the fake snow at the olympics. I mean come on, they started making that, and I had something die the next week. Clearly that was the cause.

No offence intended to anyone here. This is by far the most mature forum discussing this.

 

[Brian_68]

Epic pun.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with how @Lou Ekus and the Tropic Marin folks handled this. They didn't entirely dismiss it, they had an understandable skepticism, but continued to listen and made what appears to be the right choice at the end of the day. I've been using solely Pro Reef salt for the 3+ years my tank has been up. I have a few buckets with plastic handles from Turkey and I'm guessing that explains the brown slime I've seen in some batches (I originally chalked it up to being the algae in my WC hose... which who knows maybe it was). No adverse affects to corals that I can say definitively happened from the salt... I've killed my share of SPS and it would have happened with or without bad salt.

I'm hoping this is a situation where the good from the reefing community can come out and help TM. Given their stellar track record over the years, as well as the consistent "we're here to help and listen and be open-minded" messaging throughout this whole thing, I'm confident that TM and vendors will have a good process for refunds and exchanges. But that takes time and coordination and patience.

Hoping the reefing community can have the same patience with TM and vendors that it takes for cultivating a successful reef; if so, we'll all get through this and on to more happy reefing.

Cheers,
Scott

I actually think they are doing a terrible job at handling this. They had enough time and confirmed there is an issue, and they should have a policy already on how to get a refund. It is not rocket science.

 

[sgrosenb]

I actually think they are doing a terrible job at handling this. They had enough time and confirmed there is an issue, and they should have a policy already on how to get a refund. It is not rocket science.

I'd personally strongly disagree with your wording of "terrible"; that's not how I'd characterize this at all. But everyone is open to their own opinion.

They acknowledged that there are issues with some batches of salt on 1/27/22, just 5 business days ago. I'll take them at their word (given their track record and strong communication throughout) that they were working hard testing, gathering information, etc up until that date before they could make an official announcement. If you disagree on that fact (i.e. if you believe they've been secretly sitting on this information for a long time and just haven't gone public with it), then unfortunately I don't think that I personally will be able to have a very constructive conversation with you unless you can show some facts proving such.

Moving forward with the assumption that on or around 1/27/22 is when they had final confirmation that there were issues, they could have taken the route of NOT announcing issues until they had a refund plan in place. That's fine, but a refund plan would likely take more than 5 business days, and they would've been ridiculed for waiting to announce new information, all the while knowing that folks are using compromised salt.

Rocket science or not, it takes time to figure these things out. I'll reiterate my prior post - patience. If we're still having the conversation about how refunds work a month from now, then yes - I'd start to question what's going on. But I'd give them at least a few weeks to work it out with vendors, etc.

 

[Brian_68]

I'd personally strongly disagree with your wording of "terrible"; that's not how I'd characterize this at all. But everyone is open to their own opinion.

They acknowledged that there are issues with some batches of salt on 1/27/22, just 5 business days ago. I'll take them at their word (given their track record and strong communication throughout) that they were working hard testing, gathering information, etc up until that date before they could make an official announcement. If you disagree on that fact (i.e. if you believe they've been secretly sitting on this information for a long time and just haven't gone public with it), then unfortunately I don't think that I personally will be able to have a very constructive conversation with you unless you can show some facts proving such.

Moving forward with the assumption that on or around 1/27/22 is when they had final confirmation that there were issues, they could have taken the route of NOT announcing issues until they had a refund plan in place. That's fine, but a refund plan would likely take more than 5 business days, and they would've been ridiculed for waiting to announce new information, all the while knowing that folks are using compromised salt.

Rocket science or not, it takes time to figure these things out. I'll reiterate my prior post - patience. If we're still having the conversation about how refunds work a month from now, then yes - I'd start to question what's going on. But I'd give them at least a few weeks to work it out with vendors, etc.

This thread and issues started Dec 8th, 2 months ago...... It took 7 weeks for them to acknowledge as you note on 1/27.

 

[ripcord]

I talked to customer service at saltwateraquarium.com on Monday, and they would only refund my money if I paid for shipping my turkish bucket back to them, which I got the week before, so they havent been exactly stellar in their response to this situation. I’ve got a new email to them to see if they’ve changed their tune!

 

[FishyFishFish]

I talked to customer service at saltwateraquarium.com on Monday, and they would only refund my money if I paid for shipping my turkish bucket back to them, which I got the week before, so they havent been exactly stellar in their response to this situation. I’ve got a new email to them to see if they’ve changed their tune!

This was posted on SaltwaterAquarium's Facebook page in the middle of last week. Maybe they didn't have this policy in place when you called, but it seems pretty clear now.

That being said, if you have purchased a Tropic Marin product from us from turkey in the past and don't feel safe using it, You can send it back to us at no charge to you. If you would like to return any Tropic Marin salt made in turkey for a full refund, please feel free to reach out to our customer service agents via email at [email protected], we will send you a free return label and refund in full.

 

[ripcord]

Hope so, that would be refreshing. On Monday they weren’t concerned.

 

[Frogspon]

Back door credit to people who aren’t sitting tight? Unbelievable comment. I spoke to the representative about a different matter, salt situation came up. I wasn’t bullying them or asking for a refund or credit.

The only "unbelievable comment" here is your proclamation of being made whole while others are left in the dark... and then trying to act like it's anything but. lol

What exactly would you like us to refer to your preferential treatment as champ?

 

[Duffer]

Let’s not make this thread into some bent up posts…don’t know if you realize but another thread here about this issue yesterday turned upside down and was pulled…we don’t need that for this one, so let’s take a pause

 

[Stackrat]

Does anyone in the UK know for sure if TM Pro Reef supplied here comes from Germany or Turkey? I want to change from Aquaforest which is now exactly the same price.