My Brand New Defective Skimmer!! Octopus

[DarG]

Not exactly, Bill.

[VengefulNemesis]

What it all comes down to is Buyer Beware. Also it's the internet, you don't believe everything on it do you?

[JCTewks]

I know that my skimmer that came from MS has Octopus onit, my pumps say octopus on them...and every skimmer that I've seen in their warehouse has octopus on it. They are not different skimmers, coralvue does not own the name "octopus" either, the actual manufacturer makes octopus skimmers.

So everyone know that when you buy an Octopus skimmer fromMarine solutions, you are getting an Octopus skimmer, same as from coralvue...

[acdraindrps]

WOW. Marine Solutions gets two big fat THUMBS DOWN.


I don't think anyone who is reading this thread will order from you guys. Why have a business for 14 years and not hire the customer support to keep people happy? The comment about ignoring customer phone calls and letting voicemail answer?! I dont cart what kind of business you are running but if you aren't answering the phone during normal business hours, how are you a business at all?

[bmb527]

Originally posted by DarG
Not exactly, Bill.

I just re-read this thread and it is exactly what I said. There is 1 MANUFACTURER for Octopus skimmers, which in turn sells their product to many DISTRIBUTORS, such as Coralvue, MS, etc. Coralvue supposedly has an excellent C.S. department while MS has a sub- par C.S. department in this particular case. If someone did not read this thread very carefully, one could be led to believe that the only true Octopus distributor in the US is Coralvue, which is not correct.
As long as MS took care of the problem, it is a done deal. I am positive that there is someone who had a negative experience with Coralvue as well. No business can do right by everyone every time.

[luke33]

Originally posted by acdraindrps
WOW. Marine Solutions gets two big fat THUMBS DOWN.


I don't think anyone who is reading this thread will order from you guys. Why have a business for 14 years and not hire the customer support to keep people happy? The comment about ignoring customer phone calls and letting voicemail answer?! I dont cart what kind of business you are running but if you aren't answering the phone during normal business hours, how are you a business at all?

I would order a skimmer from MS and not be worried, have you had a bad experience with them or just going along with the one or two bad experiences people had?

[DarG]

Originally posted by bmb527
I just re-read this thread and it is exactly what I said. There is 1 MANUFACTURER for Octopus skimmers, which in turn sells their product to many DISTRIBUTORS, such as Coralvue, MS, etc. Coralvue supposedly has an excellent C.S. department while MS has a sub- par C.S. department in this particular case. If someone did not read this thread very carefully, one could be led to believe that the only true Octopus distributor in the US is Coralvue, which is not correct.
As long as MS took care of the problem, it is a done deal. I am positive that there is someone who had a negative experience with Coralvue as well. No business can do right by everyone every time.

No Bill, the only True Octopus distributer IS Coralvue. They came up with the name "Octopus". MS used to be an usthorized dealer of Coralvues. Coralvue stopped supplying them. MS began importing the skimmers themselves through somebody else OR atleast without going through Coralvue. Yes Bill, they are the same skimmer but Coralvue has the name, Octopus, they just havent properly protected that name as of yet (they are working on it).

Here is what you dont seem to be getting ... Marine Solutions, by advertising the skimmer as an Octopus, is leading potential buyers to believe they are buying the Coralvue backed product. If it wasnt deceptive, then why are the skimmers they actually deliver to the customer labeled "SWC" and not Octopus?
MS is taking advantage of the fact that Coralvue has not yet secured exclusive rights to call their skimmer Octopus. If this is not the case, if they are not relying on customers assuming association with Coralvue, why dont they call their skimmers "SWC"? That is the name on the skimmer when you get it from them? Marine Solutions, by calling the skimmers they sell "Octopus", is relying on Coralvues reputation to sell skimmers, skimmers that are not backed by Coralvue. And many of the buyers assume that MS is associated with Coralvue and that their skimmers are backed by Coralvue.

Finally, you are assuming that this is the only case where MS has dropped the ball in taking care of the customer. I assure you that I am NOT assuming that this isnt the first and only case.

[daytonreefRob]

Here is an update for all of those who have been following this thread.

Marine Solutions has shipped a replacement skimmer. Marine Solutions is also absorbing the cost of this skimmer as their supplier of the unit, Coral Vue, is not willing to back the product they provided to Marine Solutions. When I asked Coral Vue about them replacing the unit for me, I was informed that the unit was "out of warranty" and that they would not be providing any assistance.

[Conceyted]

Originally posted by daytonreefRob
Here is an update for all of those who have been following this thread.

Marine Solutions has shipped a replacement skimmer. Marine Solutions is also absorbing the cost of this skimmer as their supplier of the unit, Coral Vue, is not willing to back the product they provided to Marine Solutions. When I asked Coral Vue about them replacing the unit for me, I was informed that the unit was "out of warranty" and that they would not be providing any assistance.

And about you all not returning customers phone calls and emails when they have issues? It does appear you are continuing to ignore them and this question as it continues to arise throughout this thread. Shows a lot for your customer service. You can give proper customer service to one customer, congratulations, now try helping out the rest of the people in this thread who have had issues with skimmers they bought from you.

[daytonreefRob]

If you have an issue, send me an email: admin@marinesolutionsinc.com. You will get an answer today.

[luke33]

Originally posted by Conceyted
And about you all not returning customers phone calls and emails when they have issues? It does appear you are continuing to ignore them and this question as it continues to arise throughout this thread. Shows a lot for your customer service. You can give proper customer service to one customer, congratulations, now try helping out the rest of the people in this thread who have had issues with skimmers they bought from you.

I think there were only one or two with issues and both have been resolved

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by daytonreefRob
Here is an update for all of those who have been following this thread.

Marine Solutions has shipped a replacement skimmer. Marine Solutions is also absorbing the cost of this skimmer as their supplier of the unit, Coral Vue, is not willing to back the product they provided to Marine Solutions. When I asked Coral Vue about them replacing the unit for me, I was informed that the unit was "out of warranty" and that they would not be providing any assistance.

I was unaware that you distribute products for coralvue. I was under the impression that you received your skimmers from a distributer in Canada. Are you trying to mislead the public once again?

I agree with other posters that Coralvue should do more to protect the Octopus name and shut this companies website down. If marine solutions was honest business people then sell the skimmers as SWC skimmers and not as Octopus skimmers, it is just that simple! I think we all know the reason why marine solutions will not do the right thing and turn off the domain name www.octopusskimmer.com and take www.swcskimmer.com because then they would sell next to no skimmers!!!

Coralvue has built the name of Octopus by establishing a network of distributors for the product and the customer support that comes from a distributor and marine solutions is acting as a leach for the work this company has put into the product. Pretty sad if you ask me!

[daytonreefRob]

[i]I was unaware that you distribute products for coralvue. I was under the impression that you received your skimmers from a distributer in Canada. Are you trying to mislead the public once again?

That is part of the problem, there is a lot of mis-information in this thread. You think you know something, but you might only know a little piece, not the whole story.

I purchased all of the multi-pump skimmers that Coral Vue received on their first batch. We had a good relationship with Coral Vue, business reasons caused us to discontinue our purchasing from them. Coral Vue was a good partner.

[lpsluver]

It is truly amazing how misinformed some of you are but yet think you know everything. And while spouting off your "knowledge" you continue to drag companies like MS through the mud! Have you really done business with them or are you just piling on? If it is the later, grow up.

There are 2 main distributors of Octopus Skimmers in North America, SWC and CoralVue. Both of them receive their skimmers from the manufacturer in China. Those 2 companies supply to the reseller like MS. Those 2 companies have been peeing on each other about the distributorships and creating some of the misinformation that is become replete in threads like this.

For the record I am a customer of MS and their customer service is fine.

I'm out!

[DarG]

Originally posted by daytonreefRob
That is part of the problem, there is a lot of mis-information in this thread. You think you know something, but you might only know a little piece, not the whole story.

I purchased all of the multi-pump skimmers that Coral Vue received on their first batch. We had a good relationship with Coral Vue, business reasons caused us to discontinue our purchasing from them. Coral Vue was a good partner.

On their first batch? ... back when you HAD a good relationship with Coralvue, HAD being the operative word.

Why would you expect Coralvue to cover the skimmer? You really wouldn't. Just like you mis-represent that you currently have an affiliation with Coralvue as an authorized dealer with the Domain name / URL that you choose to use and with your use of the name Octopus on your website, you are continuing to do so in this thread.

JRAquatics has stated it clearly enough as I have, if you want to be honest and do the right thing, then why not call the skimmers what they are, SWC, on the website. Then, cover the customer and warranty issues that are inherent with running a business. All of your customers that have legitimate issues with the skimmers.

Stop mis-representing yourself as an authorized dealer of Coralvue's Octopus skimmers, both on your site and in this thread. An email to Coralvue from any one of the members reading this thread who are interested in finding out whether you are selling the Coralvue distributed and backed product will only lose you more credibility.

[luke33]

Not to be rude dar and jr, but if you had great sales going through your company because you were selling a good inexpensive brand, why in the hell would you change the name to something no one knows? It was a smart decision to use the octo name imo. Its a popular brand and there up there on first in search this way. This is a business not an ethics company. You go into business to make money and compete, not to roll over and let people walk all over you. They sell the "octopus" skimmers whatever that means. And they do it at a cheaper price than anyone.........i think this thread has turned into a waste. The originator's problem has been solved so it should be destroyed imo, to much misinformation and ranting and raving and no one knows ALL the facts here.

[daytonreefRob]

I am still trying to figure out why the thought is that Coral Vue owns the name to Octopus?

What makes an Octopus skimmer an Octopus Skimmer? Just because it passes through the doors at Coral Vue? So when Coral Vue purchases their product from SWC in Canada , it is not an Octopus Skimmer until it gets to Louisiana inside of Coral Vue's facilities? Help me understand here!


I make no representations that I have a relationship with anyone. As for those who suggest I am not upfront with the domain name OctopusSkimmer.com, check out the footer of that page, it clearly states that this is part of the Marine Solutions Network. We are who we are.

Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? Here is an example: So if I were selling Campbells Baked Beans, I would not be allowed to register the domain name of CanOfBeans.com?

I maintain that through a lot of hard work, Marine Solutions has provided countless hours of information related to the products that we are referring to Octopus Skimmers.

Once again, DarG, you know a little piece of the puzzle and assume that you know everything that has happened to date. You automatically think you know about the relationships that are out there, why they are the way they are, and who is who.

For those of you reading this, Marine Solutions is not a a current customer of Coral Vue. We have not done business with them for about 13 months - when we purchased the skimmer from Coral Vue that stared this thread.

This whole thread comes down to a defective skimmer. This is a defective skimmer that Marine Solutions is replacing. Sometimes vendors have to pick up where manufacturers leave off. To this end, I apologize to the person that purchased this skimmer. If I could of done this over, I would have. In the end, Marine Solutions is eating this one.


DarG - What is your affiliation with Coral Vue?

[HBtank]

Originally posted by daytonreefRob
I am still trying to figure out why the thought is that Coral Vue owns the name to Octopus?

What makes an Octopus skimmer an Octopus Skimmer? Just because it passes through the doors at Coral Vue? So when Coral Vue purchases their product from SWC in Canada , it is not an Octopus Skimmer until it gets to Louisiana inside of Coral Vue's facilities? Help me understand here!

Originally posted by Jayson
I would like to clear a few things up in this thread. I am SWC we are in business and doing well.......... When I sold them to Coral Vue they were labled reef octopus when I sold them to my other distributors they were labled SWC.

It would seem this is exactly how your distributor, SWC, considers the situation to be.

Also, it seems other distributors seem fit to use their own name. Such as Pacific Coast Imports.

I personally think that as of 13 months ago you lost the ability to represent them as Octopus skimmers, JMO, as you no longer can provide the warranty that Coral Vue gives to their other distributors, as you cleary stated above.

You now have to "eat the costs" on any Octopus "labled" skimmer from Coral Vue. Also, that statement really translated to me like it was one of the few times you have ever done so. That raised my eyebrow, as I am sure you have had more than a few defects to deal with. All this makes me more hesitant to buy from you knowing this is the situation you are in and that you may not take the same action if it were not publicly followed like this one.

Of course it is not trademarked, and there is no legal grounds for any of this. The only reprocussion is when threads like this pop up and your potential buyers read other people stories of mishandled customer service and the resulting discussions of hobbiests on you vs. your competitors.

I do not think having some 13 month old Coral Vue stock gives you reason enough to label ALL your skimmers as Octopus, as I quoted above your distributor clearly labels them as SWC when he sends them to you.

Your domain name and being the only only company that sells "Octopus" skimmers that is not a current Coral Vue authorized distributer makes it all very confusing to people.

Anyways, this is just my opinion from what YOUR DISTRIBUTOR has said regarding the correct labeling of these skimmers.

[lpsluver]

People, can we get the facts straight here, please? CoralVue is not the only distributor! SWC is a distributer and provides the same exact Octopus skimmer to other resellers (like Reefwarehouse, for example). Neither CoralVue nor SWC owns the name. The name comes from the manufacturer, in China, as was explained to me.

SWC has done some custom rebranding for other resellers but as I understand it, they will be stopping that soon and just stick with the Octopus name.

This thread is way past pointless now and fraught with a lot of bad and misleading info which is all at the expense of MS.

[luke33]

Who the F cares anymore about this stupid thread...........remove the thread already

[lpsluver]

Originally posted by luke33
Who the F cares anymore about this stupid thread...........remove the thread already

Amen brother.

[HBtank]

lol.

[JCTewks]

I agree...Mods, please close this thread as it is getting beyond passing of useful information and just draggin names through the mud while misrepresenting MANY "facts".

[DarG]

"Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? Here is an example: So if I were selling Campbells Baked Beans, I would not be allowed to register the domain name of CanOfBeans.com?"

That makes no sense Rob. Your site is not "Isellskimmers.com" it is Octopus skimmer dot com.
Companies do trademark names Rob. I'm sure that if CoralVue saw this coming they would have trademarked the Octopus name for their skimmers way ahead of time. My understanding is that they are currently working on it.
I'm sure that Deltec "owns" the Deltec name for one example.
I'm sure that rights to the name Lumenarc is "owned" by SS.

" I make no representations that I have a relationship with anyone. As for those who suggest I am not upfront with the domain name OctopusSkimmer.com, check out the footer of that page, it clearly states that this is part of the Marine Solutions Network. We are who we are."

Stating "this is part of the MS Network" means nothing to anybody as far as identifying you as NOT being an authorized Coralvue Octopus dealer. It's meaningless in that regard.

If you were so confident in your ability to sell skimmers without an implied association to Coralvue you would simply call them what they are labeled ... "SWC".
If you wanted to be thought of as your own entity, you would call the skimmers "SWC" in your references to them on your website.
Instead, you clearly rely on riding the reputation and / or familiarity of the Coralvue name.
You are being dishonest here when you state that you do not intend for anyone to associate your advertising of Octopus skimmers with those skimmers that are Coralvue backed products supplied by the distributer to you under Coralvues authority.
I dont think one could be any more transparent.
But, I cant think for anyone else. I think that anyone with some sense can see the situation for what it is.

Again, if you were taking care of ALL of your customers legitimate complaints, this issue would never come up. Even doing what you are doing in terms of your chosen representation of the skimmers wouldnt have become and open issue if you had taken care of all of your customers that deserved and needed being taken care of, after the sale.

I have no affiliation with Coralvue, I know nobody there outside of an email (which was promply answered by the way) and the only product of theirs that I own or have ever owned is a pair of halide lamps.
I have purchased from you before though Rob, and had the experience of seeing my after the sale emails completely ignored.

[Poos]

I recently bought a DNW-200 from Marine Solutions and everything has been great for me...the price, the customer service, the on-time shipping, etc...

Now, it does say SWC on the cover instead of Octopus, but as far as I can tell it's the exact same skimmer with a different logo. I didn't buy this skimmer for the logo, I bought it for the price and performance. To date, both have been outstanding.