EmdeReef
2500 Club Member
After reading positive reviews on reliability and quality, I decided to give GHL a try - a decision thousands of dollars later I regret. I avoid writing bad reviews but after a number of good faith attempts I believe this is something that should be raised.
When dealing with companies, including the very largest I try to go by something @Ryanbrs nicely summarized in one of his videos. That every company will, sooner or later, run into problems with its products, but should be evaluated by how well they handle those instances.
This is my experience with GHL since 2017:
1) My brand new P4 megaset arrived with expired or expiring (same month) calibration solutions and without a temperature probe. A temp probe has been sent. I thought ok. P4's remote functionality is a different post, but one of the main reasons I got the controller was to be able to monitor the tank while traveling. Turns out, that's not so easy with MYGHL. Charts are updated at random intervals, often your 2nd data point is over a day old. Often time you won't be able to even access the site.
2) My conductivity probe never worked well. I opened multiple tickets on their website, posted on the forum and basically got nowhere for almost 6 months. I've emailed with the US staff as well and after the initial follow up the issue would not be resolved. They've only recently offered to send a replacement...The probe simply settles at a value and does not change despite for example an accident where my ATO siphoned and my salinity dropped significantly...
3) Two months after getting the P4 the pH probe died. I tried the GHL site to open a ticket and was asked for a lot steps for a probe that simply wasn’t even registering. After I replied that none of that worked I got no response. Finally, I just replaced it with the BRS pH probe which has worked without issues.
4) My doser 2.1 pump 1 sticks and I opened a ticket, got one response asking for follow up info and when I provided it, I never got a response. Regret not returning the unit to BRS while I could. Right now I just don’t use the first pump and I don't have the required energy to get their customer service to actually react.
5) The last straw is/was with the Doser Maxi, which arguably based on experiences of users on this site does not appear to be ready for prime time. After receiving the unit it would freeze when running both pumps after only a couple of minutes and would not turn on again without unplugging the power cord. My unit does have the heatsink and the issue is not due to the power supply either (tried 3). The initial response from their cust service was to measure the current and check if the adapter works. Don't laugh, but I don't have a multimeter and I don't think I should have one to troubleshoot a well designed $500 pump... Once I got the new power supply it had a European plug, ok I ran to the electronics store and bought a converter. The problem persisted and after more time I got a return label, shipped the unit. It's been almost 10 days since GHL got my doser maxi and I have been completely unable to get any response from GHL acknowledging they received it (UPS label shows they did), let alone the ETA on repair or replacement.
At this point I have requested a refund and I don't believe I'll ever go for another GHL product. I think like many European companies in this hobby they're suffering from inadequate customer support, at least in the US. I'm also not that convinced their products are of better quality than alternatives and believe me I'm not a fan of alternatives...
When dealing with companies, including the very largest I try to go by something @Ryanbrs nicely summarized in one of his videos. That every company will, sooner or later, run into problems with its products, but should be evaluated by how well they handle those instances.
This is my experience with GHL since 2017:
1) My brand new P4 megaset arrived with expired or expiring (same month) calibration solutions and without a temperature probe. A temp probe has been sent. I thought ok. P4's remote functionality is a different post, but one of the main reasons I got the controller was to be able to monitor the tank while traveling. Turns out, that's not so easy with MYGHL. Charts are updated at random intervals, often your 2nd data point is over a day old. Often time you won't be able to even access the site.
2) My conductivity probe never worked well. I opened multiple tickets on their website, posted on the forum and basically got nowhere for almost 6 months. I've emailed with the US staff as well and after the initial follow up the issue would not be resolved. They've only recently offered to send a replacement...The probe simply settles at a value and does not change despite for example an accident where my ATO siphoned and my salinity dropped significantly...
3) Two months after getting the P4 the pH probe died. I tried the GHL site to open a ticket and was asked for a lot steps for a probe that simply wasn’t even registering. After I replied that none of that worked I got no response. Finally, I just replaced it with the BRS pH probe which has worked without issues.
4) My doser 2.1 pump 1 sticks and I opened a ticket, got one response asking for follow up info and when I provided it, I never got a response. Regret not returning the unit to BRS while I could. Right now I just don’t use the first pump and I don't have the required energy to get their customer service to actually react.
5) The last straw is/was with the Doser Maxi, which arguably based on experiences of users on this site does not appear to be ready for prime time. After receiving the unit it would freeze when running both pumps after only a couple of minutes and would not turn on again without unplugging the power cord. My unit does have the heatsink and the issue is not due to the power supply either (tried 3). The initial response from their cust service was to measure the current and check if the adapter works. Don't laugh, but I don't have a multimeter and I don't think I should have one to troubleshoot a well designed $500 pump... Once I got the new power supply it had a European plug, ok I ran to the electronics store and bought a converter. The problem persisted and after more time I got a return label, shipped the unit. It's been almost 10 days since GHL got my doser maxi and I have been completely unable to get any response from GHL acknowledging they received it (UPS label shows they did), let alone the ETA on repair or replacement.
At this point I have requested a refund and I don't believe I'll ever go for another GHL product. I think like many European companies in this hobby they're suffering from inadequate customer support, at least in the US. I'm also not that convinced their products are of better quality than alternatives and believe me I'm not a fan of alternatives...
