I used to think this store hung the moon but after going there a few times and finding CBA, i dont think ill ever go back. When i had my mom with me the employees would line up in droves to help us, but when i was by myself i practically had to go up and smack somebody before i got any help. And still then i could barely get anything out of anybody. Everything was also overpriced ($90 for a small, ugly zoanthid rock). The owner would also tell me anything to make a sale. I went in there as a newbie to the reef hobby so pretty much anything they told me i took to heart (my mistake). This included me buying an open brain coral from them that was half bleached, the owner even said to me "oh itll be fine its just stressed from shipping." A couple weeks later the tissue was just rotting right off of its skeleton. that was also partly my mistake because the coral department manager said that he wouldnt risk buying it. But the owner went and didnt even give two seconds to consider that this might not be a healthy specimen to sell. Ill have to admit that they are a pretty decent store with a few very polite and helpful employees, but Theres definitly better stores out there.
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- Thread starter cyclura
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Not to jump on the band wagon but must agree, I think they have ALOT of sick animals in there and they do what ever they can to sell them.
I'd be very interested to find out who exactly you talked to over there.
I am a pretty religious shopper at this store only because they are less than 5 minutes from me, and everyone else is a good 30+ minutes away.
Here is my <somewhat> objective opinion.
1. Your experience with this place is going to depend on entirely who you talk to. There are two owners, Steve and James. Steve will do whatever he can to rip you off. James is much more honest and if you get screwed one way or another he will attempt to make it right for you.
Robert runs the reef stuff, and he will also rip you off in any way he can (WORSE than steve). I've actually had him try to double the price of something before my very eyes when he found out I wanted it.
Ryan and Lee are the most straight up guys there. They genuinely care about your purchase and your chances of success with it. It's unfortunate, but if you can't talk to one of those two, forget it.
2. They do have lots of sick fish, and how honest they will be with you depends entirely on who you talk to (see #1). The fish that they do have that are healthy (80%+) are usually very reasonably priced.
3. Corals... see #1 on what I said about Robert. Their corals are ridiculously overpriced.
Bottom line, I'm not sure my assessment leaves a glowing review though.
I was talking with someone who is very familiar (very very familiar) with store tonight and echoed a similar opinion. Here is the sad part to me. This is the only store really in this area of town and there are a lot of affluent people who live here. I think if someone had a CBA or Marine Fish here they would do really well, but they just seem to be about ripping people rather than building relationships. I am sure they get some walkin business from newbs, but an LFS should try and build a relationship if they want to stay in business.
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Well IMO it seems as though your chances are you will get a person there that is going to screw you over. I totally agree about over priced things there!
I 100% agree that ryan and lee are the best employees there. I also think Lee is a straight up guy, he helped me especially when i first started my brackish tank by saying "yes this will do" or "no dont get that its too expensive and will die" and Ryan is a very experienced guy to still be in highschool and was the sole person to help me in setting up my first reef tank. But,
unless you get the right person in the right mood on the right day when the sun in shining just right, your going to get ripped off and told anything to get you to buy sometime...anything.
unless you get the right person in the right mood on the right day when the sun in shining just right, your going to get ripped off and told anything to get you to buy sometime...anything.
Just as a comment from a different perspective; Aquarium Showcase is an ARC sponsor and has in the past been VERY supportive of the club and activities. They even made a very significant donation to SaltwaterU last year and have always been there for the club. While I don't have any personal experience with this store, we still appreciate any comments coming from the community. Hopefully the LFS will take threads like this as constructive <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">criticism</span></span> and not as an attack. We are fortunate to have them as a sponsor and I expect to, at the least, bring this to their attention.
I think it's great that the club welcomes constructive comments like these. I was actually half expecting this entire thread to be deleted because of fear that the sponsor might pull out. It's nice to see that it's recognized that we aren't trying to needlessly bash.
I agree 100 percent I added to our presidents rep after his post. As long as people are being honest in good and bad expieriences, we are just sharing info and it may end up helping a sponsor as they may not be aware of the problem ~ doesnt seem so in this case ~ but its nice to be able to speak freely
I would also like to add that this wasnt ment to be an attack. But it was ment to prevent others from having similar rip off experiences that i did. Should this store read this post and change their act i would be estatic because they are located so near to me and i wouldnt have to drive clear into marietta to get supplies...nor would i have to order anything off the internet. However, i simply cannot afford to spend $80+ (at the very least) on simple everyday supplies that i need to restock on periodically at this store. Sure, this is an expensive hobby...but its not THAT expensive.
But having said all this i stand by my opinions, and if this store gets its act together it would make my year.
But having said all this i stand by my opinions, and if this store gets its act together it would make my year.
mistergn10
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Hey Adam
I am sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I work there on the weekends and try to go out of my way to help anybody that walks throught the door. I have also put a call into James and I am sure he will get on here and answer anyones questions. By the way my name is Mike and feel free to talk to me on any weekend I will be more than happy to help you guys in any way I can. Lee and Ryan are also like was said earlier great guys to talk to and are always straight up with everybody. I hope this helps and look forward to seeing you guys in person. Next time you are in the store come up and introduce yourself to me I would love to meet you guys from the site.
Thanks
Mike
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i've been in the store several times have not had bad experiences i have had bad experiences else were and just don't go back if i do i talk to someone else to clear it up just an opinion sal
They are opinions, that is kinda what we do here, give opinions and advice. you will find tons more positive threads about sponsors here, you will also find sponsors that we love and frequent, occasionally take a hit.
OH BTW welcome to the site :shades: - interesting first post - :shades: and you ALREADY have a reputation, interesting as well
<span style="color: black;">Wow! You used your very first post on this board to tell members of this board to simmer down. Come on. You could at least introduce yourself first. I agree with everyone on this here. Most, maybe even all of the negative things posted here are true. Please believe that we are not going out of our way to ruin this store. If anything mentioned in this thread could possibly ruin this stores credibility, then I think they should address these problems before that happens.</span>
Freedom of speech does not stretch to these boards and I appreciate why. I personally have dealt with three different people in the shop and have two bad experiences and one good one. I should be able to share those experiences with the members of the board. If I can't read others experiences that are negative, this type of exchange is totally useless. Unless someone can prove or at least show some form of malice on the intent of the people posting (i.e. former bitter employee), I am not sure what the problem is. I have no issue with the owners posting in direct response to comments either.
I think if you head over to reefcentral or other forums virtually every sponser has positive and negative commentary. It is the reponse to that commentary and the volume either positive or negative that helps me decide if this is a place I am going to do business with.
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+1 to the last three replies. I would love to reply, but some might call it harsh, rude, over-the-top, profane, etc, so I'm glad some other people did it alot more civil and courteous than I would have.
BTW, welcome to the ARC. :confused2:
BTW, welcome to the ARC. :confused2:
<span style="color: black;">Just to make a small comment coming from my moderator responsibilities here... I am going to continue to monitor this thread and will step in if needed. Many forums choose to exclude certain topics from discussion (politics, religion, etc) and are very strict on "flaming" (my reasoning for this particular post being the latter). I'm going to try my best to not do that as long as everyone stays reasonable.</span>
<span style="color: black;">Basically, please keep your debating respectful and open minded.</em> Not trying to single out reefman007 but it is possible that he has been "lurking" these forums for some time and chose to respond to something he felt passionate enough about. Please don't use him as a target simply for his choice of stance on the topic and his post count.</span>
<span style="color: black;">I have double/triple checked identities of all members that have posted in this thread thus far and none led me to believe that they have "multiple personalities."</span>
<span style="color: black;">I gave my first post ALOT of thought before putting it into text. Unfortunately, due to my "position" I'm sometimes restricted from expressing my opinion. Please be mindful of your wording as well.</span>
<span style="color: black;">Anyway… carry on.</span>
:slap:
<span style="color: black;">Basically, please keep your debating respectful and open minded.</em> Not trying to single out reefman007 but it is possible that he has been "lurking" these forums for some time and chose to respond to something he felt passionate enough about. Please don't use him as a target simply for his choice of stance on the topic and his post count.</span>
<span style="color: black;">I have double/triple checked identities of all members that have posted in this thread thus far and none led me to believe that they have "multiple personalities."</span>
<span style="color: black;">I gave my first post ALOT of thought before putting it into text. Unfortunately, due to my "position" I'm sometimes restricted from expressing my opinion. Please be mindful of your wording as well.</span>
<span style="color: black;">Anyway… carry on.</span>
:slap:
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