DIYreef AWOL?

[ninjafish]

Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone knows where Justin from DIYreef is? I had a fairly new bulb fail on me two weeks ago and sent him a few emails but haven't recieved a reply yet. I thought that he might be on vacation (everyone deserves one), but the web site is still taking orders - there has to be someone checking the mail right?
If anyone has any info to reassure a guy, I would sure appreciate it. Thanks!

- Chad

[idaho_reef]

I hope there's nothing wrong here as I ordered a dual MH retro kit last night. I asked a question via email over the weekend, figured out the answer so I didn't wait for his reply, and went ahead and ordered largely due to the excellent prices, equipment, and feedback written in these forums. Nothing negative until now! Yikes!

I hope everything with him is well and that this is but a small blip that can easily be explained and corrected.

Dan

[ninjafish]

Dan,

I am still standing by waiting to hear from him. All I know is that he was awesome to deal with when I bought my single retro. And like you said, he has always had really good feedback. I don't wan't to jump to conclusions and I don't want to dissuade anyone else because it might just be a missunderstanding. I guess that I am hoping that my address just got added to his blocked senders list by mistake and he doesn't even know that I've been trying to contact him.
I had a XM10K that yellowed after only four months. He was really great and said he would replace it but since then I haven't heard from him and the bulb failed to fire completely about three weeks ago. Once I get it straightened out I will post here so that people aren't wondering what happened. And if anyone else is talking to Justin please tell him about the poor fat kid in Canada .

- Chad

[idaho_reef]

Agreed. I've also emailed twice with no reply but hope, and expect, that nothing serious is wrong. I'm waiting for some positive indication. I also will post here with any info regarding my recently placed order.

Dan

[ninjafish]

Dan,
It would be comforting to believe that I am not the only one, but I really don't think you have anything to worry about. You paid for the lights and as part of the deal you have to receive a product. There is no doubt in my mind that Justin will honor that. In my case though, there is nothing that says he has to replace the faulty bulb except for his word alone. And if he no longer wants to, that is fine too, but not knowing what's going on is killing me!
I appreciate you keeping me posted!
Sincerely,

- Chad

[Eve]

Well - you guys have helped solve a mystery for me. I have a problem with a single controller (probably had it at least six months but though he might know what the problem might be). I e-mailed him during the holidays and didn't get a reply but thought he might be away.

Guess I'll just replace the controller :-(

[ninjafish]

Sorry to hear that Eve.

- Chad

[Eve]

Thanks Chad - since the controller was only about $70 - it could have been much worse!

Justin was so helpful and such a good vendor. I really hope nothing has happened to him or his business.

[ninjafish]

Actually my first thought was that he had gotten into a car accident. Fortunately, it sounds like he's ok because I have talked to someone who recieved an email from him earlier this week. As for his business... diyreef is still taking orders.

?

- Chad

[idaho_reef]

I'm glad to hear that someone has received an email from him, I too was fearing some incapacity in that recent online business behavior is different than what others have experienced and reported. For so many to post such positive feedback says much about his business behavior.

Unfortunately there's no way to contact him directly. I've just sent a fax to the posted fax number on his website to hopefully get some response.

Dan

Dan

[saltshop]

Hey guys,

First, thank you all for your concern and yes I am just fine. I took a new (real) job at a commercial/residential lighting manufacturer the first of December and to say the least have overextended myself quite a bit. Unfortunately, it looks like I will most likely be shutting DIYReef down in the not too distant future as a result, either temporarily or permanently. I was hoping to be able to do both until February when things at the new position slow down to a normal pace and I do not work 12-14 hours per day. The holidays have just made things worse as I tried to take Dec. 31st through Jan 3rd off.

All current orders will be filled no problem as I have pretty much all items that were wiped out during the holiday rush either here (still unboxed as I try to find time to go through them all...eek) or in transit to me. The site will remain open at a minimum until I empty myself out of all of these ballasts and such and I will just remove items from the store as they go out of stock. On the retro kits that are so popular, I currently have on the site to expect anywhere from 2-4 business days to give me time to wire them up as each one takes about 30-45 minutes to assemble and get boxed to ship and will do my best to stay pretty close to those boundaries. I know I have 16 kits to do from taking those few days off last weekend- so for those of you that placed your order on New Years Eve and were already e-mailing me Monday wanting to know where it is at...I am working on it. I am hoping to be able to get caught up on the light kits over the weekend as I was actually all caught up with them on the 30th.

Chad..you have mail. Eve, if you could just plug the controller into a standard household lamp and hold the temp probe in your hand to make it heat up and see if it turns the lamp on and off. You may be overloading it by trying to control 4 MH lamps off of a single controller or it may have shorted due to the wires being loose (my fault). Let me know what happens with just the one lamp.

Thanks again for your concern and I am off to try to sort through the 52 e-mails I got yesterday of which I think many look like regular customers concerned about my wellbeing...I am touched, honestly.

Justin

P.S. By the way, this is my first chance to visit RC since 12/16 so I am now going to go through my PMs here as well.

[idaho_reef]

That's great news, thanks for responding. It was the lack of response to anyone we knew of that was disconcerting. I didn't expect my order fulfilled next day, but when I saw this thread, the number of people viewing it, and no sighting of communication from you it raised a flag of concern.

Best wishes in your efforts!

Dan

[Eve]

Glad to hear from you :-)

Will do as you suggested.

Eve

[ninjafish]

Thanks Justin! Good to have you back!

- Chad