Advanced Acrylic

[StevePhx]

I’m so disappointed to have to post.

I ordered a custom sump from Advanced Acrylic back in March. Paid in full.

COVID hit and so they shut down. No problem. Never communicated the issue but I overlooked that and waited patiently. Wasn’t going to get upset in a pandemic.

Emailed them in June numerous times and finally got a response saying they were back in the office and my sump was all set to go this weekend.

It’s now September. I have been told at least 10 times my sump will ship the next Monday or next Friday.

Then John the owner would call. I still have never received a call from him.

Today was the final straw when a promise of shipping today was missed. It makes me sad because they make amazing sumps but just aren’t able to deliver.

 

[mattgsa]

I'm right there with you.
So I ordered my sump from Advanced Acrylics. I spoke with John, and I let him know that I needed by the fourth, and he said not a problem he guarantees it will be there by the fourth. I had to go pick it up from the shippers today, because they tried to deliver it to the company without calling ahead on the 8th. Well they are closed on Tuesday's which they would have know if they had called. They didn't call anyone, it just sat on their dock. I called them out of frustration, and drove out to Selma to pick it up my self. Only to find out they sent the sump but it was the wrong color. So will have all blue pipes with a red and white sump. Don't get me wrong the sump is beautiful, just not what I ordered. I was expecting much better customer service then what I received given the price of the sump. :mad:;Rage

 

[SR Reefing]

Well well well.

I wish I see ur post before I order mine.

Very very disappointed as well. I may post a separate thread about my experience.

Over all worse experience I had with any company aquarium related.

Over all I think my drawing and delivery time was missed around 10 times, not days. Meaning, it will be ready "Tomorrow" and that tomorrow will never come.

 

[dburt520]

Out of curiosity, what did you end up doing? I am in the same boat - been waiting a little over 2.5 months now, paid in full on day 1, several promised "shipping X date, shipping tomorrow, production manager guarantees it will ship tomorrow and we will send you pics of it on the pallet and tracking number, and I still don't have anything - no sump, no picture, and of course no tracking info.

 

[StevePhx]

Out of curiosity, what did you end up doing? I am in the same boat - been waiting a little over 2.5 months now, paid in full on day 1, several promised "shipping X date, shipping tomorrow, production manager guarantees it will ship tomorrow and we will send you pics of it on the pallet and tracking number, and I still don't have anything - no sump, no picture, and of course no tracking info.

I got my sump from them finally. I demanded my money back. I sent a formal notice that if I didn’t have a full refund by a certain date, I would be filling a cc dispute.

I had pictures of my sump 3 days later.

It’s a nice sump but not perfect. The edges on the openings are still rough and not polished, the seam on the back wasn’t connected well (totally cosmetic).

I had ordered sock silencers that never arrived but didn’t have the time to chase them down again.

They are just over their heads with orders and can’t keep up but can’t afford to stop taking orders. I don’t know if Covid caused all the issues or if this was happening pre-Covid.

 

[dburt520]

Dang - NOT PERFECT is not something I want to hear after I am out of pocket for $1700+ for a sump. Prior to ordering I read nothing but rave reviews about them and of course since my order I have read several negatives.

I opened a PayPal case - communicating directly with them is nice, and they do respond to me quickly, but several quick responses that are inaccurate or lies doesn't leave a good feeling with me.

 

[StevePhx]

They will talk all day long but it’s all lies.

 

[dburt520]

Got a tracking number today after the PayPal claims. Oddly enough, PayPal has called me twice during this entire ordeal to inquire about the transaction, vendor, leadtime, whether I received anything yet or not etc. The second time she called and there was no update to anything other than more missed ship dates, she started the claim on her end.

Sumps are supposed to arrive tomorrow, but I don't think I'll ever do business with them again.

If it's going to be 3 months, just say three months! Building and planning a large'ish tank is a long process, but building a sump should not take longer than designing and then building a tank, shipping it from Canada to AZ, getting the stand built, moved into the house, scheduling a group of friends to come get the tank moved onto the stand, and then sitting around for 3 weeks waiting on the sump!

 

[dannyt]

had the same issue with them years ago, also received a large ATO with a massive leak thru the seams

 

[cidermaster]

I was literally just getting ready to order a frag tank from them tonight !! Glad I decided to look on here for reviews before pulling the trigger

 

[dburt520]

I was literally just getting ready to order a frag tank from them tonight !! Glad I decided to look on here for reviews before pulling the trigger

Ya, I can't say I would reccomend them. Their sumps appear nice, I've seen a few in person, but in a hobby that is realitively small, customer service goes along way. They were extremely responsive, but again, responsive with inaccurate information doesn't do anybody any good.

I cut them a bit of slack initially on the long lead time as the acrylic industry as a whole was pretty slammed making sneeze guards and other protective pieces for COVID measures, but I was out of pocket for just under 2000$ and 2.5 months of time and it shouldn't have resulted in PayPal claims to prompt a shipment.

I've literally been told it was going to ship almost every single day since the 15th. Was told for a month and a half or two months that the 15th was the ship date...

 

[Dilan Patel]

I had the opposite experience. I ordered a frag tank early summer of 2020 + a custom fit frag rack and the crafstmanship, packaging, communication was awesome. Sorry to hear that people didn't have as good of an experience as I did.

 

[Reeffraff]

I do NOT recommend anyone do business with Advanced Acrylics. My experience is the same as most posting here. Ordered at the beginning of Sept, it's now mid Dec and nothing but a lack of responses and failed promises.

 

[Reeffraff]

An update on my last post. I did finally receive my custom order from Advanced Acrylics and it is as I ordered. The explanation I got was that they needed to take on a lot of acrylic PPE work to be considered an essential business and remain open during COVID shutdowns. However they are now VERY behind on aquarium related orders. While this makes sense, I still do not know why they are simply not upfront with their customers about the situation and instead are giving people the runaround. Curious business strategy if you ask me.

 

[FishyFishFish]

Does anyone have any update on more recent orders? Have they caught up yet? They do have some really nice looking stuff but I’m not sure whether to risk it.

 

[dburt520]

Mine finally showed up. Unfortunately it wasn't exactly as ordered. They offered me a small store credit for the troubles, or said they would rebuild the sump but I have no interest in anything else from them and didn't want to wait another 3+ months. Will not be ordering from them again. To many other great sump builders out there.