I am not a frequent poster here, but am posting this in the hopes that others will not be lured into the same problem with this person.
On 29 Feb, I contacted John at Advance Acrylics in Corona, CA to build a custom sump for me based on a recommendation by my LFS. I sent John the CAD drawings for the sump, and he priced it out, but came back later and recommended some changes. I was OK with the changes, as they were a structural improvement. I issued John a cashier's check via priority mail on 1 March. The sump was to be shipped with an order from the LFS and John had committed to a 7 Mar date.
Meanwhile, I inquired about an ATO reservior to match the sump on 7 Mar, and John priced it out, stating that it will have to go out on its own shipment. OK, no problems.
Later in the day on 7 Mar, I received a text to call John; he explained that he made the sump wrong and was going to have to remake it, and that there would be a delay of a week or so. Because of the delay, John gave me a good price on the matching ATO and I immediately PayPal'd him the funds to press on so that there would be no delay waiting on me.
Weeks passed and no communications. Emails and calls were not returned.
During the first week of May (2 months have passed), I was in the LFS that recommended John, and they stated that they had finally reached him, that John stated that my sump and ATO had been sitting in the corner of the shop ready to go for at least 4-6 weeks, but that John had lost his phone and all of his contacts. He told them that now that he had the info, he was shipping my sump and ATO immediately.
After 4 weeks passed, after asking where the sump and ATO was, I finally got a response from John on 4 Jun stating that he was finished, and that the sump and ATO would ship the week of 4 Jun or not later than the middle of the week of 11 Jun.
4 weeks later, and no items, I emailed John on 29 Jun and asked that either he ship for me to receive the sump and ATO by COB on 6 Jul or to refund my money in full. Silence. I've since emailed John again twice, and again, no response. He does not respond to inquiries from the LFS on this subject either, but responds immediately when asked to quote a new project.
In fairness to John, he does nice work. But I'm not the first person with this issue in searching on the internet, and until the last two weeks, we've had no ugly conversations, nor have I pestered him.
All of the above are the facts. I can post full transcripts of my email and phone text chains here to prove it. I've had to move on as of today and make arrangements for another sump from someone else, as I need to start a larger tank and I can't wait forever.
I just want my money back at this point. And we are not talking chump change for a cheap sump. John has had almost $1,100 of my money since 1 Mar and has not delivered anything.
So, if you got a tank or sump from John, great, he does nice work. It's not a question of his workmanship. If you haven't ordered from him other than on Ebay (User ID acrylicaquariumsuppliers) where you are protected from this type of thing, I'd recommend that you think long and hard on it before writing that check. Buyer beware.
Kev
On 29 Feb, I contacted John at Advance Acrylics in Corona, CA to build a custom sump for me based on a recommendation by my LFS. I sent John the CAD drawings for the sump, and he priced it out, but came back later and recommended some changes. I was OK with the changes, as they were a structural improvement. I issued John a cashier's check via priority mail on 1 March. The sump was to be shipped with an order from the LFS and John had committed to a 7 Mar date.
Meanwhile, I inquired about an ATO reservior to match the sump on 7 Mar, and John priced it out, stating that it will have to go out on its own shipment. OK, no problems.
Later in the day on 7 Mar, I received a text to call John; he explained that he made the sump wrong and was going to have to remake it, and that there would be a delay of a week or so. Because of the delay, John gave me a good price on the matching ATO and I immediately PayPal'd him the funds to press on so that there would be no delay waiting on me.
Weeks passed and no communications. Emails and calls were not returned.
During the first week of May (2 months have passed), I was in the LFS that recommended John, and they stated that they had finally reached him, that John stated that my sump and ATO had been sitting in the corner of the shop ready to go for at least 4-6 weeks, but that John had lost his phone and all of his contacts. He told them that now that he had the info, he was shipping my sump and ATO immediately.
After 4 weeks passed, after asking where the sump and ATO was, I finally got a response from John on 4 Jun stating that he was finished, and that the sump and ATO would ship the week of 4 Jun or not later than the middle of the week of 11 Jun.
4 weeks later, and no items, I emailed John on 29 Jun and asked that either he ship for me to receive the sump and ATO by COB on 6 Jul or to refund my money in full. Silence. I've since emailed John again twice, and again, no response. He does not respond to inquiries from the LFS on this subject either, but responds immediately when asked to quote a new project.
In fairness to John, he does nice work. But I'm not the first person with this issue in searching on the internet, and until the last two weeks, we've had no ugly conversations, nor have I pestered him.
All of the above are the facts. I can post full transcripts of my email and phone text chains here to prove it. I've had to move on as of today and make arrangements for another sump from someone else, as I need to start a larger tank and I can't wait forever.
I just want my money back at this point. And we are not talking chump change for a cheap sump. John has had almost $1,100 of my money since 1 Mar and has not delivered anything.
So, if you got a tank or sump from John, great, he does nice work. It's not a question of his workmanship. If you haven't ordered from him other than on Ebay (User ID acrylicaquariumsuppliers) where you are protected from this type of thing, I'd recommend that you think long and hard on it before writing that check. Buyer beware.
Kev