tried to order a custom tank and all I got was grief!!!

[nynex]

I was curious how many other people have had a bad experience with this
company glasscages.com? Ive never experienced such a nightmare then
what this company gave me!!!

I ordered a custom 20x20x12 acrylic nano cube from them 2 weeks ago. I have a
beautiful mated pair of Dragon Faced pipe fish that I wanted a tank for.

I was very specific about how I wanted the tank made. Their website makes the company
look as if they specialize in custom made aquariums. I called to order my tank and
the first person I spoke to had no clue about prices on anything. So then I called the
next day and this person didnt know either and said I had to email the owner Tom.
So I emailed the owner 5 times within 5 days and never heard from him. So finally
that friday a woman name Beth called me to take my order. The website has the
tank price at $50 and no custom prices at all on the site. They also make you
believe its better to pick up your tank at one of the many trade shows they do, rather
then pay for shipping. Well the site doesnt inform you its an $85 sur charge for them
to bring your tank to a show. This is understandable if its a 300 gallon tank. But for a
small tank thats highway robbery..

Anyway I was a little put out by this, seeing that there was a tradeshow they were doing
the following week here in Orlando. So I ended up telling them to UPS it to me..which was
only $40. Now I emailed the design plans to them and began to explain how I wanted the
tank made. All I wanted was a black acrylic wall put 3 inches from the back wall as well as
2 baffles in the back making 3 chambers. One for the overflow,refugium, and return pump.
I figured this would be a super easy for them..seeing that this company supposedly specializes
in custom aquariums. This woman Beth acted like I was asking for the world. First she argued
with me and tried to make it sound like it was a big deal to do this. She also told me there was
an $85 charge for the wall and baffles. She said " Im taking a no nothing tank and turning into
a big project for them!!! I was very confused by this?? I said I though $85 was high for that
and she started screaming at me telling me that to glue those 3 pieces into the tank was a huge
ordeal. I almost laughed at her. I also see on there site that they make custom tops for their
tanks..and when I asked to add one to my order...She told me NO...go to lowes and have them
cut you a piece of acrylic to put on the top.

I was so blow away at how rude this woman was...I almost didnt order the tank! But I had seen
my friends 190 gal that they made and it was really nice. So I thought I would just ignore this
rude employee and order the tank anyway. Also I called back the following monday to order
the tank and I wanted to ask a few more questions about the order. This same woman Beth said
"Look I dont have time for you! Do you want to order this or not?? How bout we just do this on
another day!!!" ....I got really angry and said I want to order this Now!!! So then she took the
order.

I received the tank a week later. I was not happy. To look at the tank from a distance on the
stand, it looked really nice. But to look at closely, the craftsmanship was shotty at best. They
used the wrong acrylic glue...and the seams had tons of bubbles. The eurobracing had 4 super
deep scratches in it. The black false wall had a huge scuff mark across it. and the overflow
was not made the way I asked for it. Which really puts me out, cause i made sure the overflow
was clearly explained in the tank design. The front panel has 4 or 5 small scratches in it. The
refugium outer wall and inner wall both had scuffs and scratches on it..

So I called and asked to talk to the owner. He was not there as usual. So this same woman Beth
gets on the phone and I try to explain to her what was wrong. She cuts me off and says" Look
you send the tank back and we will refund your money!" I said I dont want that. I want a
replacement tank! She says " NO we dont do that! If you are gonna nit pick everything to death..
We dont have the time to keep sending you tanks that you wont be happy with!. I said what are
you talking about?? You sent me a tank that has damage and was not made to my specs. I would
like another one and I will send this one back. I already made a stand and canopy for this tank.
She then got extremely rude and said " We dont need your business!..we get thousands of tank
orders and everyone is always happy!.. Shop somewhere else!! We will refund your money minus
shipping and you have you pay to ship the tank back...I started to say is that fare I have to pay
return shipping?? and she hung up on me!!!!!

This company was the rudest ive ever delt with and I would never deal with them again and
would not recommend anyone else buy tanks from them.

Has anyone else had problems with them?? I would like to know...

[Ninong]

I have read mixed reviews of this company's workmanship and service. Some customers are happy and others not so happy. They seem to have a reputation as a "low price" manufacturer.

[nynex]

*****UPDATE*****

Today I called the Owner Tom. I tried to express to him my shear disappointment in the tank I
received and the level of customer service I had received. I told him how rude this woman Beth
was to me through the whole ordering process...He cut me off and yelled " Hey!!!! Thats my Wife!!!,
Shes not rude and she was super nice to you!!!" I said No tom she was not nice to me. On top of
which you sent me a damaged tank..I want a replacement. Ive already made a stand, top, lights
ect...for this size tank and I have livestock waiting to go into it....He said " I dont want your business
you idiot!!! ...Send the tank back and we will give you a partial refund!!!! and he slammed the phone
in my ear.

So ive called paypal and im getting them to charge back my full amount...Ive never in my life delt
with a company that was as rude and unprofessional as glasscages.

[FireEater]

Stories like this need to be spread throughout the boards. They will then get the message and start making things right.

I've heard a few other horror stories about them also. I also heard a few good ones. But that does not balance out the rudeness they seem to have over the phone.

[scooterman]

Well I can relate, I had almost $900 into a chiller at one company, waited almost two months after being paid couldn't get in touch with them & after another long drawn out process & finally got a refund. Lesson Learned, go to the BBB website & look them up, get information on a company before issuing money, the BBB was very helpful. I also filed a solid complaint & this company fas finally forced to make major changes, not sure how well because I would never do business with them again but it is a lesson.

[nynex]

I agree. We need to tell as many people as we can not to do business with
this company. They are rude and unprofessional.

I just discovered another thing wrong with the tank they sent me. 3 out of the 4 sides are rounded off and one is square. On top of the overflow being completely wrong from my design.. I mean how do you screw up an Overflow..?????

I dont get it. My 12 year old neice could have put this tank together better
the morons from this company glasscages..

[underseaworld]

I have a 300 gl tank from them and had nothing but good things to say about them. But then again I did not deal with beth..... I delt direct with the owner. They had a place near flagstaff az to meet and pick up the tank. there was others there that we all helped each other to load the tanks into everyone's car/trucks. by picking it up at a meeting point like that the shipping cost was like $100 or something like that I thought that was real good price. Maybe he is getting to big for his own good. I got the tank about two years ago. He also put the lead free glass in it. This tank is the best tank I have ever own. I also know someone that order a tank from him and have had no problem. I am sorry to hear you had so much trouble with them. I guess I was lucky.... I thought to pay $1200 for a 300 gl tank was a good deal this include the drilled holes and shipping at the time.

[nynex]

Beth is the owners wife. So her atitude toward the customers should be
1000% better then it was. Second the owner Tom also acted like a idiot
and was extremely rude with me as well. I dont think when you are
spending good money on someone who base's their company on
craftmanship..should be acting rude to their customers and sending out
tanks that are scratched,scuffed,not made to specs, oh and today I noticed
that they only rounded 3 sides of the tank. So the back left corner is
square. Thats so nice! This tank was suppose to be in my office to
showcase a beautiful pair of mated dragonfaced pipe fish.

For the money you spent im glad you had a good experience with
them. But if you a search on reef central.com...There are 500 other people
just like me that had horrific expeiences with these people. One guy on
Nano-reef.com said he got a 290 gal tank from them and 6 months later
the tank burst in his living room! It caused $10,000 in water damage and
he lost $7000 in corals and other live stock. Ive also heard of lots of other
people who said after a year their tanks started to leak. Everytime when
these people complained like I did...the owner and his wife reacted the
exact same way toward them as they did me..

[underseaworld]

I feel very very lucky.. After hearing all the bad stories that you told me. I woulld hate to see a 300 gl tank break. That would not be good that is for sure. I think maybe they have gotten to big for thier own good, Some company start small and then when they get to big they can not handle the pressure of handling the increase orders. Some times it is good to stay small. To be so rude to customers is not a good thing at all. I know I will not recomend them to anyone else after hearing your story. I would hate to tell someone to use them and have them be treated the way you were. Again I am sorry to hear about your grief.

[nynex]

Ok finally I took some pics of this monstrosity...

Here is the tank on a 29 gal biocube stand..Doesnt look too bad...Notice the unfinished overflow...


Lets look a little closer...whats this? A huge scuff mark!!


oh this is nice...they rounded one end and not the other..


this is has to be the worst looking baffles ive ever seen!!


Another big scratch on the euro brace!!


Nice glue job here guys...geezzz could it be more sloppy!!!!

[nynex]

bump

[nynex]

I also wanted to share this from the person/company that is going to remake my
tank.

"Nynex I didn't want to comment, but I just don't want any others on here to get
scuffed by glasscages. If you look close at your rear back so called baffle you can see
that it is probably not made of cast acrylic. One sure sign of this is the big chip in the
plastic and the chopping of the router blade. You will run into this if it is Ploy or
Extruded acrylic. Both are looked down upon in the aquatic industry. Those plastics
will yellow and crack under the lights that are used in aquariums. If a poly glue is not
used the seam will fail. Poly to Acrylic is like oil and water. They will bond but for how
long...... Well no one knows. Just wanted to point out one more problem."



I found this very interesting. Anyone wanting a good quality tank. PM me and I will
give you the the info to the guy who is remaking my tank. His work is awesome!

[nynex]

Check this out..Seems glass cages dosent have a good standing with the Better Business Bureau either..

Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee

[weez1959]

I think you should file a complaint with the BBB yourself and maybe find other unsatisfied customers willing to do the same. They both sound like a couple of shmucks. Oops, am I name calling?

[nynex]

I just filed with the nashville board of the BBB. They will be contacting
me within 30 days it said.

[scooterman]

I've filed wit BBB & had great results, BBB doesn't work if people with legit complaints let them know, this sounds like the case, stay on top of it, get these people to straighten up & make things right, it works.

[Ratpack]

Wow, glad I found this thread. I was just looking at them yesterday, thinking they might be a good source for a new tank in the future. I think I will stick to a reputable manufacturer and buy from a place I can see it before I pay for it. Hope things have worked out for you since this debacle.

[Samper]

Let me tell you about my impression of glass cages. The place where they make these aquariums is in the middle of nowhere. Seriously you drive 5 miles down a basically one lane farm road to get there. The factory is situated in the middle of an old farm with tons of run down rusted out buildings. Their entire labor force is Hispanic and not a one of them speaks english. There are about 10 workers. I arrived on a Friday to check out the aquarium that I ordered. Everything looked ok although some of the silicone looks like the pics above. From the front of the display you can't tell at all though. Everything was as I ordered except they didn't have the overflows put in yet. I spent an hour on the phone with the owner who was at a trade show because I couldn't get his workers to understand that I wasn't leaving until I atleast got the overflows in my hands. Finally after a ton of hardship they got the idea and made them. They obviously have no idea how an overflow works because I had to modify it heavily to handle the flow I was about to put through it. I have nothing bad to say about the owner or his wife. Both of them were super nice and kept in touch with me throughout the manufacturing process. I do have issues with an illegal labor force but I don't know that for sure. I couldn't have found a better price on an aquarium and it gave me a chance to explore Tennessee a little when we picked it up. I would most likely order from them again but it wouldn't be anything acrylic. I wasn't impressed at all with their acrylic stuff. The glass tanks are built very solid.

[reefaquatics]

Ive heard nothing but very bad things about this company. Their reputation
on all the boards is very bad. I for one would never order anything
from these people!!!

cheers...

[jkeithh1969]

Well, I for one have 2 of their tanks that are total crap. I did not purchase from them directly but got some of the extra tanks that a friend had left over after building his aquarium room. Needless to say there are both collecting dust in the garage.