Hi all, new member here but not new to the hobby! I have a situation here that I am hoping to get some input on from those who wish to offer it. I recently (9/4/21) went to one of the LFS here in Atl, Ga and purchased a brand new Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 50 Pro saltwater aquarium. The tank was in front of the store in the area where you would first walk in on display in a grouping of 2 other similar sized units in the middle of the entry. After the purchase the store employee and myself loaded the unit into the back of my SUV (we used the glass suction cup carriers.) The aquarium has a rubber self leveling mat on the bottom and the back of my suv is carpeted so once it was set in the suv it did not slide, even if you pushed it would not budge. Also it had at least 12" of clearance on all sides with nothing else in the back of the SUV that could have banged against it. I went out the next morning to get ready to take the unit out of the suv and that is when my heart sank. I noticed on the front outside right edge corner about a quarter of the way down from the top a small chip about half an inch long. I looked all around the carpet and area of the suv for glass fragments but nothing was there, the tank had not slid or moved so it could not have happened while in the vehicle.
I had to wait 2 days to contact the LFS as they were closed until the next Tuesday. I called and spoke to them about it and they asked for pics which I sent in an email along with how I discovered it (the sun was shinning in the back of the suv and really lit the area up where the chip is.) Out of the sun it is hard to notice unless someone really pointed at it as the area is dark where the sealant meets the glass. After I sent them the email they reached back out and asked me to file a warranty claim with Innovative Marine. The response from IM was "Chips and cracks will only occur on impact in which the glass was clearly impacted by a foreign object. If any of our stores have the aquarium out on display, it is the customers responsibility to thoroughly inspect the aquarium before accepting it. This will not fall under our warranty policy". So then I called the LFS store and relayed their message and they said they would reach out to IM and "Once I hear back, I will let you know what we should do."
Well at this point I am getting worried and sure enough the next day the owner of the LFS called me and stated they could not accept it on a return due to the chip as they would have to toss it in the dump and couldn't resell it. Now I am getting livid as I know that nothing I did could have caused the chip in the aquarium and it had to have already been present at the time of sale. I am in no way claiming they knew it was chipped prior to selling me the unit but they are flat out refusing to offer any assistance in the matter at this point. Well a few hours later they call and say they have one more of these tanks at the store and would be willing to sell that one to me for $100 less. Basically I would end up paying $1100 in all ($599.99 for the first tank that is chipped.) No offer to refund any of the cost I already have incurred. I also bought a light and other items for a total bill of sale to them for about $1200.00. If anyone wants to know where I bought this I will gladly divulge that info just in case you want to steer clear of this business and there lack of customer service and standing behind their products. I have reached out to MasterCard in the meantime to try and dispute the charge but who knows how that will go.
Ok so now my question for the community is this, can this tank still be used? The chip does not go all the way through the glass and there is no visible spider webbing or cracks.
I had to wait 2 days to contact the LFS as they were closed until the next Tuesday. I called and spoke to them about it and they asked for pics which I sent in an email along with how I discovered it (the sun was shinning in the back of the suv and really lit the area up where the chip is.) Out of the sun it is hard to notice unless someone really pointed at it as the area is dark where the sealant meets the glass. After I sent them the email they reached back out and asked me to file a warranty claim with Innovative Marine. The response from IM was "Chips and cracks will only occur on impact in which the glass was clearly impacted by a foreign object. If any of our stores have the aquarium out on display, it is the customers responsibility to thoroughly inspect the aquarium before accepting it. This will not fall under our warranty policy". So then I called the LFS store and relayed their message and they said they would reach out to IM and "Once I hear back, I will let you know what we should do."
Well at this point I am getting worried and sure enough the next day the owner of the LFS called me and stated they could not accept it on a return due to the chip as they would have to toss it in the dump and couldn't resell it. Now I am getting livid as I know that nothing I did could have caused the chip in the aquarium and it had to have already been present at the time of sale. I am in no way claiming they knew it was chipped prior to selling me the unit but they are flat out refusing to offer any assistance in the matter at this point. Well a few hours later they call and say they have one more of these tanks at the store and would be willing to sell that one to me for $100 less. Basically I would end up paying $1100 in all ($599.99 for the first tank that is chipped.) No offer to refund any of the cost I already have incurred. I also bought a light and other items for a total bill of sale to them for about $1200.00. If anyone wants to know where I bought this I will gladly divulge that info just in case you want to steer clear of this business and there lack of customer service and standing behind their products. I have reached out to MasterCard in the meantime to try and dispute the charge but who knows how that will go.
Ok so now my question for the community is this, can this tank still be used? The chip does not go all the way through the glass and there is no visible spider webbing or cracks.
