Bad experience - reef warehouse

Good Morning All,

I feel obligated to inform the forum of my recent negative experience concerning the Reef Warehouse. I recently purchased a digital thermometer, on line, from the Reef Warehouse. When the thermometer arrived (a few days later), I immediately attempted to test the thermometer. I read the instructions provided by the manufacturer, placed the required batteries in the appropriate place on the thermometer and then, NOTHING. I tried another set of batteries and again, NOTHING. I checked to make sure the batteries were placed correctly in the thermometer, still NOTHING. So, the next morning I called the Reef Warehouse and informed them that I received a defective thermometer, explaining my attempts to get the thermometer to work. I was told that I would receive a return label to my e-mail address later on in the day. However, when the e-mail arrived, It (e-mail) stated that I had to call the manufacturer of the thermometer (number provided). So I did. I reiterated my experience with the thermometer to the manufacturer. I was then told that I could send the item back to the manufacturer at my own expense. I then explained that I already paid shipping for this item but was again told that I had to pay to ship this item back to the manufacturer but would receive a new thermometer. I told the manufacturer that I thought either he or Reef Warehouse should pay for the shipping, and was told there was nothing they could do.
Just a heads-up to anyone on the forum who is considering doing business with Reef Warehouse; confirm their return policy first!

 

This is a common practice.

 

Not for me. I have conducted many transactions over the internet and if I received a defective item, I always was told that they would send a return label and send out a new item. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

It may be common, but its not right. The retailer should take care of that, not the customer. Just find sites that dont do this and speak with your money.

 

I recently bought a small light fixture from Marine and Reef.com that was defective and they sent me a new one immediately,with a return shipping label for the bad one enclosed,very good service!!

 

Many companies do this. I suspect the manufacturer will not allow anyone but themselves to deal with warranty issues. No online dealer will cover the warranty as then they'd be out the cost of the item.

 

The reality of this is reef ware house has done nothing wrong. Mfg's want the end user to call them for warranty.

Is it fair to the end user... no.

Reef warehouse is only a dealer that deals their product. Cant be mad at the dealer.

Be mad at the mfg for distributing a defective unit.

But there are companies that go above the call of duty and send you a replacement one. Thats just superior customer service.

 

If this was a warranty issue, I would agree with you Tatted4ever, however, this item was found to be defective right out of the box, and for that reason I don't feel this is a warranty issue. I would like to say here that my original intension was to just give the forum a heads up on what I personally feel was shabby treatment by Reef Warehouse. In my mind, I already paid for shipping and should not have to pay shipping again in this circumstance. Again, maybe I was just lucky concerning previous on-line purchases and this type of situation is more common than I have experienced. I thank everyone for their responses and respect everyones opinion.

 

But it is a warranty issue unfortunately. I went through the same thing qith both Custom Aquatics and Marine Depot, although, both companies did try to help as much they could.

 

Right out of the box..The seller should replace it, and deal with the company. If after 3-6-9 mo whatever. The manufacturer should deal with you. It is no different if you were to go to say Best Buy, and return an I-pod or something you bought just hours ago. They would exchange it. Period.