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  #1  
Old 10/15/2007, 10:28 AM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Thumbs down My Brand New Defective Skimmer!! Octopus

Purchased a Dual Recirc 250 model skimmer from www.marinesolutionsinc.com a few weeks back. The price was great and it arrived right on time. Everything was great except there was a bit of damage to the cup from poor packaging.

After running it in mild vinegar for a day or two the cup, lid, and neck crazed up. Here are the pics.








Now I was very patient with Marine Solutions Inc. I contacted them after I noticed the issue. To get any response I called there "corporate headquarters" and left a message on the answering machine. My email was then immediately returned. This told me that they were right next to the phone listening to the message but will not pick up the phone.

I was told to wait and see the warranty status. After a week I received an email that was sent to me and one other person. Saying "please send mark a new cup for his skimmer". That is the last I heard from them. 3 emails, and several unreturned phone calls, I am now really angry. No money saved is worth this hassle. A new cup isn't going to solve the neck falling apart in a year and I'm not going to own anything brand new that is defective.

Today is my final day dealing with this nonsense. I have the skimmer boxed up and am sending it back today.

I hope I don't have to do a chargeback, but at this point, it seems inevitable.....
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  #2  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:14 AM
koraltek koraltek is offline
pwn3d by skimzor
 
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same [violation] thing happened to mine when it was new, except i didnt even give it a vinegar bath, within 3 days the whole inside of the neck was crazed....i suspect they pack them in the boxes too soon after manufacture, and the trapped vapors from the acrylic glue are weakening the skimmer body, especially around the top. this probably wouldnt happen if they wernt using recycled acrylic as well.
unfortunately that is what you get when you buy chinese s***, i dont care how great they are after you mod them..you start with s***, you end up with the same.
that is why i usually steer people away from buying them unless they are totally broke, impatient, and live in the ghetto.

i just sold it at a loss and was done with it, because i knew what to expect as far as dealing with the importer, and i decided to just put it in the "i dont care pile", otherwise i was just too agro...as you can see

Last edited by Nanook; 11/07/2007 at 11:59 PM.
  #3  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:15 AM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE


I just talked to coralvue, this is probably a scam.
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Colorado is sweet.
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My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics
  #4  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:17 AM
einsteins einsteins is offline
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WOW that is nasty...

Hope they do the right thing....

GL

einsteins
  #5  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:42 AM
miwoodar miwoodar is offline
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Ouch Mark. You paid $500 for that thing...a reputable company would come through and help you out on this one. It would be one thing if it were a year down the road and this started to happen (it still shouldn't) but the thing is brand new.
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  #6  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:48 AM
STEVEBEAM STEVEBEAM is offline
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I bought the Octopus Recirc Needlewheel 200 about 9 months ago. It has been working great and I have never had any issues like what you are experiencing. Mine was packed in solid molded foam that left little chance for breakage. Yours must be a fluke.
Steve
  #7  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:51 AM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Mike, I think this photo combined with my discussion this afternoon with Coralvue says a lot.

-The Canadian distributor is out of business.
-The Skimmer did not come from Coralvue
-Coralvue is the only US distributor for Octopus Skimmers and has nothing to do with Marine Solutions Inc
-Multiple people are having the same issues with skimmers from Marine Solutions Inc.

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Colorado is sweet.
I'm always down to go to the MJ
My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics
  #8  
Old 10/15/2007, 11:55 AM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by STEVEBEAM
I bought the Octopus Recirc Needlewheel 200 about 9 months ago. It has been working great and I have never had any issues like what you are experiencing. Mine was packed in solid molded foam that left little chance for breakage. Yours must be a fluke.
Steve
Steve nothing was broken out of the box, the poor packaging was due to a hose packaged inside the cup. It left a severe scar around the inside of the cup, something I could handle.

The crazing is something different, and I don't doubt the skimmer if it comes from the people who have a real business. I plan on buying the same one from Coralvue, I have never had problems with Coralvue's customer support.
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Colorado is sweet.
I'm always down to go to the MJ
My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics
  #9  
Old 10/15/2007, 12:04 PM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by koraltek
i decided to just put it in the "i dont care pile", otherwise i was just too agro...as you can see
Dude...... I am so not there yet.

But tomorrow........ I am on vacation for a week and it will go into the "I don't care for 1 week pile"

I have other more powerfull people working on this case now anyways.... all I can personally do is complain, shake my fist, and get a chargeback filed.
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Colorado is sweet.
I'm always down to go to the MJ
My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics
  #10  
Old 10/15/2007, 12:09 PM
luke33 luke33 is offline
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I was always wondering how marine solutions or octopuskimmers.com was selling them 30bux cheaper than anyone else around......makes sense now. A ko of a ko.....which seems to be a trend going around these days with chinese made crap.
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  #11  
Old 10/15/2007, 12:35 PM
miwoodar miwoodar is offline
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Is this a cosmetic thing or does it actually look like it will impact the performance of the skimmer?
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  #12  
Old 10/15/2007, 12:38 PM
daytonreefRob daytonreefRob is offline
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This is Rob from Marine Solutions. Mr Mann is ill-informed, and he is passing along poor information. CoralVue is *a* supplier of the Octopus skimmers, however, he is not the only supplier of Octopus skimmers. Where do you think CoralVue gets their skimmers? We import the skimmers into the US as well.

In the end, all of the Octopus skimmers come from the same place - China. The path they take to get to the resellers and ultimately to the consumer is often different.

Mr Mann will be receiving a replacement cup, at no cost to him, from us. In the mean time, the cup he has is very functional, it may not be as pretty as he would like, but it is not preventing him from skimming his tank.
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  #13  
Old 10/15/2007, 12:40 PM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Crazing is how acrylic falls apart. It didn't have to be 100% pretty.

Btw I finally got a reply from marine solutions

"very nice..." is all he had for me.
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Colorado is sweet.
I'm always down to go to the MJ
My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics
  #14  
Old 10/15/2007, 12:43 PM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by daytonreefRob

Mr Mann will be receiving a replacement cup, at no cost to him, from us. In the mean time, the cup he has is very functional, it may not be as pretty as he would like, but it is not preventing him from skimming his tank.
I don't care about pretty, I care about structural defects. One that this skimmer has, regardless if it gets a new cup. The body is still in the same condition. Why replace only the cup if both are crazed?

Quote:
Originally posted by daytonreefRob
This is Rob from Marine Solutions. Mr Mann is ill-informed, and he is passing along poor information.
I am just relaying what I was told by the people whose number is on the box.
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I'm always down to go to the MJ
My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics

Last edited by tkeracer619; 10/15/2007 at 12:54 PM.
  #15  
Old 10/15/2007, 01:00 PM
Zooid Zooid is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by daytonreefRob
In the mean time, the cup he has is very functional, it may not be as pretty as he would like, but it is not preventing him from skimming his tank. [/B]
For $500 I would think that the skimmer would win a beauty contest. But, I'd be less worried about the cup than I would the neck. Those pictures that were posted look like the skimmer may work for a few months before it started leaking.
  #16  
Old 10/15/2007, 01:14 PM
jmait769 jmait769 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by daytonreefRob
This is Rob from Marine Solutions. Mr Mann is ill-informed, and he is passing along poor information. CoralVue is *a* supplier of the Octopus skimmers, however, he is not the only supplier of Octopus skimmers. Where do you think CoralVue gets their skimmers? We import the skimmers into the US as well.

In the end, all of the Octopus skimmers come from the same place - China. The path they take to get to the resellers and ultimately to the consumer is often different.

Mr Mann will be receiving a replacement cup, at no cost to him, from us. In the mean time, the cup he has is very functional, it may not be as pretty as he would like, but it is not preventing him from skimming his tank.
As a consumer I don’t think I would want a business publishing my last name on a public forum like this either. Just bad taste IMO.

Jay
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  #17  
Old 10/15/2007, 01:28 PM
daytonreefRob daytonreefRob is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by tkeracer619
Mike, I think this photo combined with my discussion this afternoon with Coralvue says a lot.

-The Canadian distributor is out of business.
-The Skimmer did not come from Coralvue
-Coralvue is the only US distributor for Octopus Skimmers and has nothing to do with Marine Solutions Inc
-Multiple people are having the same issues with skimmers from Marine Solutions Inc.

To set this record straight...

CoralVue used to buy their product from SWC (Saltwater Connections) located in Canada. At one time, I purchased my product from CoralVue.

As you can see, from the printing on that box that it originally went to SWC in Canada. Then it was shipped to CoralVue in Lousiana. From CoralVue it was shipped to me. Once it arrived in our shop, it sat on a shelf until it was purchased.

I can tell you that SWC is still very much in business. I can also tell you that this is not a "standard" issue, if we want to call it that. This post insinuates that this happens all the time, this is an isolated issue.
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  #18  
Old 10/15/2007, 01:52 PM
Zooid Zooid is offline
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I'd like to know how this case is resolved. There was a point in time when I was considering an Octopus and still may.
  #19  
Old 10/15/2007, 02:07 PM
roushracer roushracer is offline
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Man, I was going to order an Octopus skimmer today too!

I think I'll hold off and consider another option...

*My concerns lay in the fact that customer service for this issue seems rather poor. Maybe it was a bad batch of acrylic, or something with extreme temps during shipping or whatever, but for something like this to happen and not be replaced immediately definitely makes me think twice about ordering.

Last edited by roushracer; 10/15/2007 at 02:38 PM.
  #20  
Old 10/15/2007, 02:14 PM
miwoodar miwoodar is offline
I like sticks in my tank
 
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Lots of people have had great experiences with these skimmers and Mark is just trying to have that same experience.
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  #21  
Old 10/15/2007, 02:34 PM
tkeracer619 tkeracer619 is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by miwoodar
Lots of people have had great experiences with these skimmers and Mark is just trying to have that same experience.
Yes, that I am. I was so happy to get this skimmer, I mean this thing is going to rock once I get it in the tank. I had really high expectations and those were shattered when the skimmer material crapped out on me.




I think we have come to an agreement and I am shipping the skimmer back for a new one today.
__________________
______________________________
Colorado is sweet.
I'm always down to go to the MJ
My Turbo Honda -> Click little red house.
Friends don't let friends buy from Front Range Aquatics
  #22  
Old 10/15/2007, 02:35 PM
Doe Doe is offline
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Woo hoo , a new collection cup for a broken skimmer, that fixes everthing.

Cant beleive that they would come here and post this and think everything would be ok

Unless a whole new skimmer is offered I would defineatly not deal with them any more and dispute the charge with my credit card company
  #23  
Old 10/15/2007, 03:17 PM
miwoodar miwoodar is offline
I like sticks in my tank
 
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Quote:
Originally posted by tkeracer619

I think we have come to an agreement and I am shipping the skimmer back for a new one today.
Awesome - way to go Rob. That is an amiable solution.
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  #24  
Old 10/15/2007, 03:38 PM
Esabasard Esabasard is offline
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I don't have all the details, but I am pretty sure there are two different versions of Octopus skimmers for sale. I don't know that this is one version or another, but one is awesome, one is crap. I made sure to get the awesome, "real" version.
  #25  
Old 10/15/2007, 05:04 PM
SWSaltwater SWSaltwater is offline
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There are a lot of etail counterfit offers on these.........
 

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