Apex customer service is the terrible

[Sleepydoc]

A controller is never ‘required’ - they just make things much easier by automating, monitoring and letting us check on things while we are away.

How much of a perterbation each tank can handle before issues arise really depends on the individual setup, but things happen with every tank, and the sooner you catch them the better.

 

[DarthSimon]

Neptunes Control Solutions are simply amazing. I agree with what was said above, it's not for everyone. I have a degree in Computer Science, and work in the IT Field.
The Apex EccoSystem is for the computer minded and patient people. For example I just finished an Automatic Water Change project with an Apex DOS that is mind blowing.
I am now at a point with Apex control, that all I have to do is walk downstairs to my basement on pour salt into my mixing station tank. With Optical Sensors, I am alerted when it's time, as well as water is produced automatically.

Yes you do need to contact them via a website form. Honestly they get back to you very quickly. Within an hour most of the time. They even answer me at 2:30am EST..... I think they have people on call that work night hours for over seas.... Getting them on the phone is hard. They do make appointments. I also was very frustrated with them when I first started with Apex gear, wanted questions answered quick. I learned that email is the fastest way. If you really need them, they will get on phone in emergency.

Happy Reefing!!

 

[Want2BS8ed]

If you travel an Apex is a beautiful investment...

My favorite Apex story: I live on the East Coast of the US (Virginia) and traveled internationally a lot (I mean a LOT) for work. I'm sitting in Mumbai and get a text from my wife: "your pump thingy is making that noise again..." From the other side of the world with my phone I can turn off the VorTech, she shakes the snail out and I can turn it back on. That's magic.

I've lost track of how many times I have received alerts that avoided major disasters.

I'm now on my third generation of Neptune controller. It hasn't always been a bed of roses and Neptune has done a lot of things that have left me scratching my head (things like not having a back-up function when the 2016 Apex's first came out, removing the capability to edit season tables, etc.), but overall I have found their service to be more than adequate when needed. I have certainly had better, but far more often much worse.

If it comes to a connection issue or more importantly a programming issue, the community here on R2R or Neptune's own forums have generally been faster. Hardware issues you will have to go to Neptune though.

M

 

[DarthSimon]

Above post well said. I am also a long time Apex user. Had the last generation hardware from up until about 2013. Now have the 2016 gear. They are there for you when you truly need them.

 

[laverda]

While I know Neptune support is far above some of the other controllers, do not feel I can truly trust my Apex like I could my older aquacontrollers. Yes the Apex has more bells and whistles, however it does not have the reliability to truly count on it. The older Aquacontrollers had none of the issues with bootloaders, updates causing all sorts of issues, power outages causing it to lose programming or modules.

Just today at 9:40 am for some reason the temp dropped abruptly from 77.3 to 74.2. The heater outlet turned on at 76.2 not 76.8 as programed. The temp continued to drop and I did not get an alarm txt or email. Problem was I have 2 300 watt heaters on the one outlet, but only one came on. Luckily I have 2 addtional heaters not controlled by my Apex which came on a little above 74 degrees. If I had not happed to look at the display I would not know any of this. My alarm was set to email if temp is below 74.7 with a defer of 10 min, however according to my fusion graph it was below 74.7 for about 15 minuets straight. Also concerning the temp reeding seemed to be 2 degrees low compared to my old Aquacontroller. They were pretty much reading the same not long ago. By feel I thing the Apex is wrong. I have a calibrated thermometer I will have to get out and compare. The temp reading being high would explain why the second heater did not come on. I set my heaters as close to 78 as possible. One think I really like about my Neptune controllers has been the do a much better job of keeping the temp of my tank consistent the the heaters alone ever would. I normally keep my tank at 76.2 to 77.7. Without a separate controller I have seen 3-6 degree temp swings on some tanks.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

what does that have to do with customer service?

 

[five.five-six]

IMO neptune support is on par or better than your average non paid contract manufacture support on enterprise network and IT equiptment.

Meaning that if your were to buy a dell or some other enterprise equiptment without a service contract, their support would be about as fast or slower than neptune offers.

Generaly when I open a support ticket with a vendor, I expect a confirmation of the ticket imedeatly and response within 1 business day. That seems to be the industry standard. Every ticket I have opened with neptune has been responded to within 24 hrs, including weekends. They are almost always resolved within 48 hrs. Exception being a hardware failure which required shipping.

That’s pretty darn good support IMO

Now if you want to spend thousands or tens of thousands for a service contract with a SLA, then that’s another story but the whole Apex is only $1k. To my knowledge, neptune does not offer a service contract with SLA.

 

[five.five-six]

While I know Neptune support is far above some of the other controllers, do not feel I can truly trust my Apex like I could my older aquacontrollers. Yes the Apex has more bells and whistles, however it does not have the reliability to truly count on it. The older Aquacontrollers had none of the issues with bootloaders, updates causing all sorts of issues, power outages causing it to lose programming or modules.

Just today at 9:40 am for some reason the temp dropped abruptly from 77.3 to 74.2. The heater outlet turned on at 76.2 not 76.8 as programed. The temp continued to drop and I did not get an alarm txt or email. Problem was I have 2 300 watt heaters on the one outlet, but only one came on. Luckily I have 2 addtional heaters not controlled by my Apex which came on a little above 74 degrees. If I had not happed to look at the display I would not know any of this. My alarm was set to email if temp is below 74.7 with a defer of 10 min, however according to my fusion graph it was below 74.7 for about 15 minuets straight. Also concerning the temp reeding seemed to be 2 degrees low compared to my old Aquacontroller. They were pretty much reading the same not long ago. By feel I thing the Apex is wrong. I have a calibrated thermometer I will have to get out and compare. The temp reading being high would explain why the second heater did not come on. I set my heaters as close to 78 as possible. One think I really like about my Neptune controllers has been the do a much better job of keeping the temp of my tank consistent the the heaters alone ever would. I normally keep my tank at 76.2 to 77.7. Without a separate controller I have seen 3-6 degree temp swings on some tanks.

Most of the EB8 ports are rated for 5A or roughly 550 watts. I bought a used DC4HD for $50 for that exact reason, 600 watts of heaters.

 

[DarthSimon]

I agree... Neptune support is excellent... Honestly of you post on the forums, there are experts in there that help within minutes.....

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

people hateing on neptune should go get a vertex cerebra..

 

[jrvelie]

So far I have had great luck with Neptune. I got a used 2016 and was having issues setting it up and within 2 hours I had a call from them and they had me up and going in 10 minutes.

 

[Streetdoc77]

Over the years every time I have had an issue or problem Neptune systems has resolved it .... IDK but in my book I call that great customer service . Somebody has always gotten back with me via email or phone .