A warning around purchasing an Alkatronic 2nd hand

Focustronic_Eric

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I had this issue with an icecap gyre controller. @CoralvueDon did a great job reaching out to the previous owner via email and got me all taken care of. Absolutely best experience ever after feeling like I had an expensive set of paper weights to!

just to share part of the story and this is exactly what I did and told the 2nd hand owner that I am waiting for a reply from the registered owner of the unit.

this is the basic rule we need to follow. otherwise, what if some random guy email us and ask to unlink a random number and the actual user would lose control over the unit sitting under their tank?

We are happy to help transfer 2nd hand Focustronic products to the new owner. Whenever selling your Focustronic product, make sure to email our support team to UNLINK the unit from your account so that the new owner is able to re-register it. Otherwise we need to protect our userbase by doing the due diligence on our end, which can take extra time since we will be relying on the previous owner to respond to our email confirming they sold their unit.

hope this solves any misunderstanding. Cheers!
 
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just to share part of the story and this is exactly what I did and told the 2nd hand owner that I am waiting for a reply from the registered owner of the unit.

this is the basic rule we need to follow. otherwise, what if some random guy email us and ask to unlink a random number and the actual user would lose control over the unit sitting under their tank?

We are happy to help transfer 2nd hand Focustronic products to the new owner. Whenever selling your Focustronic product, make sure to email our support team to UNLINK the unit from your account so that the new owner is able to re-register it. Otherwise we need to protect our userbase by doing the due diligence on our end, which can take extra time since we will be relying on the previous owner to respond to our email confirming they sold their unit.

hope this solves any misunderstanding. Cheers!

What if the previous owner had passed away, was incapacitated, or otherwise unable to respond? What then? You would stick to your policy in the face of OVERWHELMING proof that the new owner purchased the device LEGALLY?
 
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HeyLookItsCaps

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What if the previous owner had passed away, was incapacitated, or otherwise unable to respond? What then? You would stick to your moronic policy in the face of OVERWHELMING proof that the new owner purchased the device LEGALLY?

I would request a copy of the “email” from the previous owner, in case your unit gets shut down again and you need to take this further than hotly worded communication. Learned the hard way in the construction business a paper trail is your best foundation, Bet ya a frag he doesn’t have one.
 

revhtree

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I have reached out to the member, that was referenced, who sold this unit via email and have asked him to help out here.

PS. Alkatronic is not a sponsor of this community for those of you looking to drag R2R into this. And yes we will edit and remove posts that go against our TOS whether someone is a sponsor or not. So keep your rude comments to yourself. Thanks.
 

Oregon Grown Reef

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just to share part of the story and this is exactly what I did and told the 2nd hand owner that I am waiting for a reply from the registered owner of the unit.

this is the basic rule we need to follow. otherwise, what if some random guy email us and ask to unlink a random number and the actual user would lose control over the unit sitting under their tank?

We are happy to help transfer 2nd hand Focustronic products to the new owner. Whenever selling your Focustronic product, make sure to email our support team to UNLINK the unit from your account so that the new owner is able to re-register it. Otherwise we need to protect our userbase by doing the due diligence on our end, which can take extra time since we will be relying on the previous owner to respond to our email confirming they sold their unit.

hope this solves any misunderstanding. Cheers!
Can these supposed horrible robbers call in with any random number or do they have to physically have the product in their hands to see the serial number so it can be linked? Does the person in your analogy also know the victim, went to his house, found the serial number, left the machine there, and then to spite him he called in? The only person that would steal this would be someone that knows he has it, so someone he invited into his home. These things don't happen. Even if someone did break into someone's house, they're going to steal the TV and jewelry, not some piece of equipment underneath a fish tank that the normal person has no idea what it does. It's a lame feature that's not lame on an iPhone because it has personal information on it and this product doesn't. If this product does store my personal information on it, then I don't want it either. Everything should be on an app and/or the cloud.

Another super important question...has this feature actually been helpful for anyone or only caused a headache for your company?
 

i_am_mclovin

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this is the basic rule we need to follow. otherwise, what if some random guy email us and ask to unlink a random number and the actual user would lose control over the unit sitting under their tank?
If this was such a common problem that you had to implement this "locking feature", you need to rethink your product security strategy.
 
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My comments to Eric got moderated LOL. I think his attitude and behavior is enough of a warning to prospective Focustronic customers so they see what they are getting themselves in to. If you need support, best of luck to you. ;)
 

HeyLookItsCaps

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Can these supposed horrible robbers call in with any random number or do they have to physically have the product in their hands to see the serial number so it can be linked? Does the person in your analogy also know the victim, went to his house, found the serial number, left the machine there, and then to spite him he called in? The only person that would steal this would be someone that knows he has it, so someone he invited into his home. These things don't happen. Even if someone did break into someone's house, they're going to steal the TV and jewelry, not some piece of equipment underneath a fish tank that the normal person has no idea what it does. It's a lame feature that's not lame on an iPhone because it has personal information on it and this product doesn't. If this product does store my personal information on it, then I don't want it either. Everything should be on an app and/or the cloud.

Another super important question...has this feature actually been helpful for anyone or only caused a headache for your company?

I guess if the serial # was on the box some jerk could call it in just to be a jerk. Can’t put anything past some people…. If that’s the case I would say definitely only provide the whole serial # on the unit itself, and maybe last 4 or partial on exterior packaging.

Even still that’s a pretty wild thing to do lol
 

revhtree

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My comments to Eric got moderated LOL. I think his attitude and behavior is enough of a warning to prospective Focustronic customers so they see what they are getting themselves in to. If you need support, best of luck to you. ;)

Your personal remarks were moderated. You're welcome to post without calling names or being rude. Also I emailed the member you bought this from to try and help.
 

HeyLookItsCaps

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My comments to Eric got moderated LOL. I think his attitude and behavior is enough of a warning to prospective Focustronic customers so they see what they are getting themselves in to. If you need support, best of luck to you. ;)

Eh, at the same time, let someone dig their own grave bud. I agree with the edit but it’s clear to everyone reading this anyway
 

Oregon Grown Reef

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I guess if the serial # was on the box some jerk could call it in just to be a jerk. Can’t put anything past some people…. If that’s the case I would say definitely only provide the whole serial # on the unit itself, and maybe last 4 or partial on exterior packaging.

Even still that’s a pretty wild thing to do lol
Ah yes. I remember the days when I used to go down to the local recycling center just to find boxes to companies that lock their products.
 

HeyLookItsCaps

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Ah yes. I remember the days when I used to go down to the local recycling center just to find boxes to companies that lock their products.

It IS ridiculous, don’t get me wrong because even apple puts their serial on the box if you have microscopes for eyes. Was trying to argue the middle ground haha
 
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Eh, at the same time, let someone dig their own grave bud. I agree with the edit but it’s clear to everyone reading this anyway
I think that's fair. Truth be told, this has all left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am contemplating just selling this thing. Even if it's working now, I don't know if I want to have ANY association with FT LOL.
 

HeyLookItsCaps

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I think that's fair. Truth be told, this has all left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am contemplating just selling this thing. Even if it's working now, I don't know if I want to have ANY association with FT LOL.

Just make sure you jump through whatever hoops to unlink!
 

Dburr1014

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Get rid of all the gadgets keep it simple and know exactly what your tank is doing by hand not a machine,machines break then what you have to do yourself then .stop depending on machines do it yourself learn
Skynet is the virus. It's the reason everything is falling apart!
 

MnFish1

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You do realize an iPhone can be factory reset without going to the Apple store right...lol...obviously you dont. Glad you decided to fix this issue for the OP...as far as my high horse goes, I'll ride away...
While true - you have to sign out of messages, find my iPhone and iCloud - if you want to give it to another person - or you risk problems (like them reading your messages, and having access to your iCloud account.

As to the OP - I sympathize - Sounds like a mess. Perhaps one 'solution' for others going forward - if you BUY something - test it right when you get it - that way you have PayPal protections, credit card protections etc.

As to locking a device. I can see reasons to do it. I can see reasons - with adequate proof, that the company can 'un-do' it. In the end 'caveat emptor'.

PS - people do steal and sell high end aquarium gear. People even steal fish, and coral out of tanks in LFS. It is not completely unreasonable to have this policy IMHO.
 

Dburr1014

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I think that's fair. Truth be told, this has all left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am contemplating just selling this thing. Even if it's working now, I don't know if I want to have ANY association with FT LOL.
Don't forget lunch! LOL
 
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While true - you have to sign out of messages, find my iPhone and iCloud - if you want to give it to another person - or you risk problems (like them reading your messages, and having access to your iCloud account.

As to the OP - I sympathize - Sounds like a mess. Perhaps one 'solution' for others going forward - if you BUY something - test it right when you get it - that way you have PayPal protections, credit card protections etc.

As to locking a device. I can see reasons to do it. I can see reasons - with adequate proof, that the company can 'un-do' it. In the end 'caveat emptor'.

PS - people do steal and sell high end aquarium gear. People even steal fish, and coral out of tanks in LFS. It is not completely unreasonable to have this policy IMHO.
Someone mentioned in a different post about doing a poll regarding theft of aquarium gear. I don't know if they were being tongue and cheek, but I actually think that might be fascinating topic for a website like R2R to look in to. In my 15+ years as a reefer and 30+ years of fish keeping, I don't think I've ever seen the topic discussed a single time.
 

MnFish1

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It can be done without the lock code. Requires the use of a computer and a piece of free software, I just did it over the weekend for one of my coworker's daughter...she got the phone for Christmas, set a code, then forgot what it was...she's 12. Takes about 10-15 minutes
Thats different than transferring ownership of the phone to another person. I think that was the point the person was making
 

MnFish1

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I guess if the serial # was on the box some jerk could call it in just to be a jerk. Can’t put anything past some people…. If that’s the case I would say definitely only provide the whole serial # on the unit itself, and maybe last 4 or partial on exterior packaging.

Even still that’s a pretty wild thing to do lol
In the beginning days of APEX - and possibly still - there were reports of people hacking into networks and changing settings on tanks changing the titles on the thing to 'bad words', changing the settings, etc. I know that many devices 'now a days' - require some unlocking - trying to get a Nest thermostat onto a new account (the old owners of the house did not reset it - and we could not get ahold of them) - was very similar to this situation...

IMHO - The OP - you got what you wanted - in a short period of time. The entire situation would have been avoided if you had just tested the unit when you bought it - not seven months later - you would have been easily able to return it reset it or charge PayPal, etc. Not quite sure why the continued 'attacks' and issues (from everyone).

What I am most interested in is if its TRUE - that one is not able to factory reset a device without contacting the company (i.e. a reset button). That seems weird if true.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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