Marineland Dive Center

As far as their solution goes, I paid $70 for the fixture and did not feel that I should have to pay more to have it looked at or to pay for a replacement bulb. The price of the bulbs at Marineland was about 1/3 of the cost of the light fixture, which I found for half the price elsewhere.
As far as they’re statement on how they stand behind their products, I don’t understand how they can. The owner admitted that they do not have technical expertise so I can’t see how they can argue that the manufacturer fell short on the performance of their product.
It’s unfortunate that Marineland has taken the stance that they have. I know how I was treated and what was said to me. This is one of those times I wish I had a recording of what was said. At this point, it’s turned into “he said-they said” argument, but in the end, they failed to live up to providing any kind of real support or show any compassion to the situation I was in. The only good that came out of dealing with Marineland is I found another place to purchase my pet supplies. I went to another vendor and not only got a sympathetic ear, but they also said they would support me if the manufacturer fell through, which is far more than I got out of Marineland. With their backing, I contacted the manufacturer to see if they could help me out. I explained to them the issue I was having and what I suspected was wrong. I asked the manufacturer if they could send a replacement bulb to try. Instead of getting a bulb, they sent a new fixture, which was far more than what I expected. I didn’t expect Marineland to switch light fixtures, but I small gesture of kindness would have gone far. I’ve bought items from them years ago and was looking forward to making further purchases, but after the treatment I received, I will not be doing any further business with them and will diligently warn others to go elsewhere if possible.
Since I have the issue resolved through the manufacturer, I’m not sure what else needs to be done. I’m not happy with the treatment and still feel I should receive some compensation or at least an apology, but judging by their response, I don’t see them doing anything. It’s a shame that places like this exist.
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: I bought a light fixture from here with the reassurance that they stand behind what the sold. About a month later, I noticed that the light was not as bright as it was when I first purchased it and brought it back to see if they could help. As I was talking to the person who sold me the light, his only words were "I'm not a technician. I can't tell you what's wrong with it.", which is understandable.

I explained that I didn't know if it was a bad bulb or if the fixture itself was bad, and I didn't want to pay $20 for the light only to have it go bad in 30 days. Since they have a 90-day return policy, I was hoping that they would have offer me a replacement bulb to try at their expense. The gesture would have made me feel good about my purchase and would show that they stand behind what they sell. Instead, I got accused of changing out one of the bulbs with a bad one. I left shortly after that.Desired Settlement: After dealing with this business, I can't count on them to locally support the equipment. I would prefer that they take the fixture back and refund my money in full so I can purchase a replacement from a business that supports their products after the sale.

Business

Response:

Yes, the customer that wrote this complaint did purchase a T-S Marine Double 30" light fixture fromMarineland Pet Center on Sept. 10, 2015 and brought it back on Oct. 12, 2015. He stated that hedidn't think it was as bright as when he had purchased it. Our employee checked the light and foundit to be working and to his experience putting out the proper amount of light To which he replied tothe customer "it seems to be working fine, but 11m not a technician". The customer asked aboutreplacing the bulb for free to which the employee stated that he could not do that without talking tothe manager. The employee called the manager and explained the situation. The manager said thatwe could not take back a light that was working correctly in our opinion but offered the followingsolution if he truly thought the light did not have the proper light output.Offered Solution: We would ship the light back to the manufacture if the customer wouldpay the shipping cost(roughly S10.00). lf the light tested to be insufficient in light output themanufacture would replace the light and reimburse the shipping cost.No one ever accused, implied, or insinuated that the customer changed out one of the bulbs for abad one. We did inform the customer that the manufactures had tightened up their return policies onlight fixtures and light bulbs in the past few years due to fraud, but we never implied that this wasthe case in this circumstance.Finally, we would like to state that Marineland does support and stand behind all the products thatwe sell. We have gone to great lengths to back our products and services over the last 47 years andplan to do so well into the future. We have even stood with our customers against manufactureswhen we fee) they are right. We will stand by this customer and continue to extend the same offerfor solution to this dispute as we had offered before and that is stated above.[redacted], OwnerMarineland Pet

Consumer

Response:

As far as their solution goes, I paid $70 for the fixture and did not feel that I should have to pay more to have it looked at or to pay for a replacement bulb. The price of the bulbs at Marineland was about 1/3 of the cost of the light fixture, which I found for half the price elsewhere.

As far as they’re statement on how they stand behind their products, I don’t understand how they can. The owner admitted that they do not have technical expertise so I can’t see how they can argue that the manufacturer fell short on the performance of their product.

It’s unfortunate that Marineland has taken the stance that they have. I know how I was treated and what was said to me. This is one of those times I wish I had a recording of what was said. At this point, it’s turned into “he said-they said” argument, but in the end, they failed to live up to providing any kind of real support or show any compassion to the situation I was in. The only good that came out of dealing with Marineland is I found another place to purchase my pet supplies. I went to another vendor and not only got a sympathetic ear, but they also said they would support me if the manufacturer fell through, which is far more than I got out of Marineland. With their backing, I contacted the manufacturer to see if they could help me out. I explained to them the issue I was having and what I suspected was wrong. I asked the manufacturer if they could send a replacement bulb to try. Instead of getting a bulb, they sent a new fixture, which was far more than what I expected. I didn’t expect Marineland to switch light fixtures, but I small gesture of kindness would have gone far. I’ve bought items from them years ago and was looking forward to making further purchases, but after the treatment I received, I will not be doing any further business with them and will diligently warn others to go elsewhere if possible.

Since I have the issue resolved through the manufacturer, I’m not sure what else needs to be done. I’m not happy with the treatment and still feel I should receive some compensation or at least an apology, but judging by their response, I don’t see them doing anything. It’s a shame that places like this exist.

Regards,