Precision Marine Support

[ramsey]

If any of you are thinking about buying anything made by PM, please look carefully at this thread:

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?63291-Precision-Marine-support-FAIL&p=795086#post795086

I just want to make sure you all are aware of the support you might get from them if you have a problem. Please message me if you have any questions.

Mods, if this is in the wrong area, please feel free to move it to the appropriate section.

[+o0zarkawater]

Interesting read.

At first I thought you were blowing things out of proportion, but when you finally got a public reply from the guys at PM I was impressed. That message was outright threatening.

I'm pretty big on customer service, and find that contacting the manufacturing company with issues will usually get you the best answers. Most of the companies I have contacted with minor issues (Aqua-C, Hydor, San Fran Bay Brand, Reefcleaners, PUR, Marineland, Eheim) were all very helpful with finding solutions to my problems/concerns. In most cases they offered to send out replacement parts to help fix my issues. Mind you that none of my products were bought directly through the companies, or even purchased new. I always mention that I purchased the equip secondhand, and they are STILL willing to ship replacement parts sometimes for free, sometimes for just 5$ to cover shipping charges. The only brand who gave me bad customer service was CPR, and I don't think I'll be buying another product from them again.

[teg]

seems like MAAST mod are covering their behind, by locking the thread, for future sponsorship from PM.... Defeats the whole purpose of "vendor & product experiences" section.

[bigbird123]

I try to stay out of these but PM has always done right by me. I have nothing against them or even you Ramsey but most of the time in posts like this, we never get the whole story as these keyboards do not carry any emotional support. I respect you Ramsey and also the guys at PM but I do not like when someone tries to carry disputes to other forums to try and start more trouble. This is not an ARC problem. It is a problem between you and them and should be resolved that way instead of thru others forums. I have a big problem with Maast but I have not brought any of it here to ARC. It's not their problem, it's mine and it should stay that way. JMHO

[joshman1204]

I am too lazy to read all 4 pages of that other thread but I will say that I have never been anything but happy with my PM skimmer and the support they have offered on the 2 occasions that I called them.

[ramsey]

BIGBIRD,

This is a pretty strong indication of their customer service. I feel like people that aren't on MAAST have the right to know what they may or may not receive if they need to contact them. You know, just bad customer service is one thing, but when the owner of a popular company responds to a complaint about their service by insulting their customer and acting like he wants to fight, people should know about that. I tried to handle it reasonably. I think my post was reasonable and it was on MAAST, not RC. I respect your opinion but in the case I feel that people should know how I was treated so they know what experience they may have from them. If you've had a good experience with them, I'm happy for you. For me, this has been BY FAR the worst service experience I've ever had.

[+Hydro]

I'm glad you posted that, his response was pretty harsh. I didn't even think that you were talking smack, talking smack and telling the truth are 2 different things. I have a business that deals with only retailers and distributors but offers customer support to end users for our products too. I sometimes will get frustrated and want to respond to a customer the way he did. That is why I don't deal with customers, I have people for that. I only talk to people when its time to end it, when being nice is over. I understand his frustration though only because I have been in his position before. Maybe your email went to a their junk folder, maybe they are having email troubles they aren't aware of. It could have been an employees job that quit or maybe they were out sick, or maybe they are behind on emails...who knows. As a business owner you take it personally when someone speaks ill of your company ,especially in public, and it makes you mad whether they had a right to complain or not. With the pressure of owning and operating a business sometimes you snap....and that is what happened with him. His biggest mistake is that he answered you the way he did, if he can't control his temper then he should have someone else smooth things over with you. I bet if you went to him directly that things would be smoothed over quick, he should apologize for his answer though, you deserve that.

Oh by the way....put you some large chunks of styrofoam in your sock. They float on top and bridge the gap from the pipe to the water, this will make a pretty big difference in the noise. It is important that you don't extend the pipe down under the water level, it will decrease oxygenation. They are like that for a reason and there is nothing wrong with the design of the sump. Also if you are getting gurgling then try slowing down the water supply to the tank, this will work but by the time it stops gurgling you may not be flowing enough water....that is something that you will have to play with.

[Will]

Thanks for the knowledge.

No vendor should speak to a customer like that in an online forum that can be accessed and seen by everyone. Its just bad business.

[pbnj]

I agree with Hydro that his response was excessive, but people need to stop using these forums for their own vindictive purposes. Geez, he didn't answer your second e-mail, so you want to try and ruin his business?

This is why companies are starting to sue people who resort to libelous, forum-bashing.

[wesreyn]

I don't see anything wrong with you posting it and I actually appreciate it. I have owned my own business for 10 years and have never "snapped" on a customer and I deal with them on a daily basis. I probably wouldn't be in business if I couldn't control it. It makes you wonder how many people he has done this to without it being brought to attention. In my opinion, it's not how many people have good experiences with a company but how many people have bad experiences that can make or break a company. I could read 1000 positive feedbacks and 5 negatives like this and I wouldn't buy from them. Especially if it is close between them and another company with all good comments. You definitely have the right to spread the word and post this wherever you want.

Edited November 20, 2010 by wesreyn

[Derekreefer]

Thanks for the info. That was the most unprofessional response I've ever read......WOW.

[ramsey]

people need to stop using these forums for their own vindictive purposes. Geez, he didn't answer your second e-mail, so you want to try and ruin his business?

This is why companies are starting to sue people who resort to libelous, forum-bashing.

First, I'm not using the forums for those purposes. I feel like people should know. What if I said nothing and someone else on ARC got treated this way tomorrow? I'd feel a little guilty for not giving a warning.

Posting negative feedback on their support on a LOCAL reef forum is hardly trying to ruin their business. I didn't blast it all over the internet.

You may not have a problem getting bad service and keep your experience to yourself not warning others. This just not my style. I provide a high level of service to my customers and I like to get some respect when the tables turned.

I spent $400 for a sump from them. Not responding to my emails for two weeks is just not right when I'm trying to get support on something I spent a great deal of money on.

On a another note, I did speak with him via email further about the situation and though I'll still likely never buy from them, he did make a small effort to try and smooth things over. It wasn't much but it was something. Just wanted to throw that out there to be fair.