[reef120]

I want to advise anyone from buying from Marine Mechanics they are a Acrylic shop located in Florence SC. They had a web site untill they decided to cancel everyones order after giving all current customers a complete headache. Here is what happened I called them and spoke to a Hutch Huchenson we went over how I wanted my Sump/refug and it can out to $375 with shipping. 5-6 days later I receive half the sump and the other half the next day,no problem untill I open the box and the sump is cracked to hell. OK I call Hutch and we decide to ship the sump back and he will build me a new one and will have it delivered at my door by Wednesday May 23rd this was Friday May 18th. Again no problem I go out and mail order my Iwaki pump my overflows and almost finished the custom plumming specific to the sump I ordered. Here is what they do I get an e-mail on Monday saing this:

Due to the problems we have been experiencing recently with broken shipments,we will be discontinuing our sump shipments.
Our records indicate you were billed $375.00 for a sump which will be refunded to your credit card today.

We apologize for any inconvenience we have caused.

Hutch
Marine Mechanics.

I try to contact Marine Mechanics and they wont responce then I try to shoot Hutch an e-mail and I get this:

As stated, no further shipments including yours. I apologize for the
inconvenience.

Hutch
Marine Mechanics.

Just like that what the heck kinda business is that.. This is my experiance and I thought I would let all of you know how they handle their business.

Reef120

[MarkS]

It sounds fine to me. [img]/ubb/confused.gif[/img]

I can understand you posting this if he did this and kept your money, but he notified you of the problem and refunded your money.

It sounds like he is cutting his losses.

What about having Reefland build you a sump? It would be made of PVC and will ship better?

Mark

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How come when you talk to God it is called prayer, but when God talks to you it is called schizophrenia?

[reef120]

MarkS,

I understand he gave me my money but it's the way they dealt with me and everyone else that had an order with them. I have been in retail for years and in my experiance that was not the proper way to handle such situation expecially after someone allready designs there pluming and orders everything they need to work that sump. Also Hutch was aware of the shipping situation prior to the first shipment and he was attempting another shipment after the fact with differnt pachaging then last minute he just cancels? Thanks for suggesting reefland for the sump I will look into that.

reef120

Shipping these large items can be challenging. We have had a few problems ourselves, not due to material strength or packaging, but simply due to poor handling. Fortunately there IS packaging material available that can beat the drivers. [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

At least they are respectable enough to refund your money.

Scott

[albee1947]

Funny how you bashed a company that did the right thing. I can imagine what will happen when they don't treat you so well.

[tlc]

order a custom sump from lifereef. may take a little while to get and may cost more but you will get what you want with great customer service.

[Green Mariner]

IMHO, Reef120 is correct, if the manufacturer wanted to stop all shipped orders he has a responsibility to complete the orders that he has on the table, then stop shipping. To tell a customer sorry for the problem I will send another one in the next couple of days and then send an e-mail 24 business hours later, not even the courtesy of a phone call. I have no problem with Reef120 venting because believe me when I say, if this happened to "Hutch" he would be complaining just like Reef120! I also have no problem with the acrylic shop stopping shipping, it was probably a smart decision!

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Check Out>> Green Mariner's Saltwater & Reef Aquarium Informational Site

[BigA]

I feel your pain...but you should feel good about getting your money back so fast. He could have sent you e-mails for the next three months without giving back your money or the product.

IME, there are a lot worse places to buy things around the net.

You can always use a rubbermaid sump until you figure out something else.

Good luck,
BigA

[Kooler]

Sorry to hear about your not so good experienced with Hutch and co. I did place an order also on a custom made 70 gallon sump/refugium and mine arrived just yesterday and I'm very pleased with it. It was shipped through FedEx and it arrived safely. Hutch warned me before shipping that if something is broken he will just refund my money and that they will no longer make sumps/refugium. He mentioned that there were 3 or 4 broken orders just this month and that's probably the reason they will not make sumps anymore. I originally talked to Jeff at Lifereef, but the waiting is too long that's why I decided to go with Hutch. Good luck.

[organicreefer]

if i read correctly didnt you get half the sump in good condition and the second half damaged if so didnt you get half for free?can you build the rest youreself?

[reef120]

organicreefer,

No I sent the first half back and he was going to rebuild me the whole sump again.

reef120

[Chicago]

be happy you got your cash back and move on.. one can only guess what the true problem was...better it cracked during shipping thatn when your tank was up..this assumes a flaw in the construction and material.. call lifereef they made me a great sump to my exact specs..good luck look on hte gright side..