Mode Aquariums - Documenting my experience

Zbutcher

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Hello everyone,

I know Mode Aquariums has a pretty bad reputation on here so I am going to document my process of buying a large frag tank step by step until it shows up at my house and is set up, with pictures and all. I figure this is a good way to have this documented so in the case I do get screwed you guys can see what happens and how then you wont have to. I have seen the tank I have purchased in person and it is an awesome system I will say that. I have moved 3 of them for a friend and I am interested to see what its like as the one who purchased it. Out of the 3 I have moved one of the sumps did show up with one side completely cracked. But it is too early to say if thats on Mode or the shipper.

So far I have purchased the aquarium (see attached picture). One thing I have noticed is they said I would receive a confirmation email and I have not received anything yet and its been about 24 hours since I have purchased. I looked at my orders on the order page and it still says processing. NOW I will give them a bit of a break on this as the tank is not in stock and it says specifically they will start shipping again June 15th, so I am curious if they do not accept the payment until it ships or they have the stock again.

One of the draws to Mode Aquariums for me at least in this case is the price IMO is unbeatable. However, the reason for this from what I hear and see is the level of customer service you receive. I know personally already I have tried messaging them on Facebook and received some responses but eventually when I had questions the person left me on read and never answered. I also wanted to pay via PayPal for the buyer protection, but it actually does not work when you select that option. Furthermore, on the checkout page it says you need to agree to the terms and conditions, out of curiosity I figured I would actually try and give it a skim through, and funnily enough the terms and conditions dont exist! When you click on the terms and conditions it gives a 404 page not found. But if you do want to purchase the product you have to agree so its kind of messed up/shady. So the only option I really have for paying is through a credit card which I did and that seemed to have worked. Despite the website saying processing, my credit card has the charge applied to it. Needless to say I do have my credit card company on speed dial in the case this goes sideways.

Thanks for reading folks! I will update the thread as soon as I have one!

IMG_1696.jpg
 

lapin

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Brave one you are....
 

Jekyl

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Adventure? Excitement? A Reefer craves not such things.
 
OP
OP
Z

Zbutcher

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Brave one you are....

Adventure? Excitement? A Reefer craves not such things.

Update #1: It is now the 15th which is the day that the aquarium is supposed to ship. I have not heard from the company and my order is still "Processing" however my credit card has in fact been charged. I tried messaging Mode Aquariums on Instagram and Facebook and have not heard a thing back yet.
 

Johnnyrainbowreefer

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Update #1: It is now the 15th which is the day that the aquarium is supposed to ship. I have not heard from the company and my order is still "Processing" however my credit card has in fact been charged. I tried messaging Mode Aquariums on Instagram and Facebook and have not heard a thing back yet.
I curious as too what happened? I am going through the same thing. Thank you.
 

reefingaz

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This may go down as the shortest or fastest build of all time. The OP may have never gotten the tank to even begin. Mode really has a bad reputation online. I’m curious what happened with this build.
 

Johnnyrainbowreefer

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It’s been 14 days they have my money 3 emails later no response and no skimmer from Mode Aquariums. Bogus scam site I think. They emailed me a tracking number with a shipping label only. I’m very disappointed with Mode
 

rick13

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I'm in the same exact boat. Ordered the skimmer on the 5th got a email for shipping label next day. Tracked number only label created. Sent a few emails, no response.
 

reefingaz

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You know what sucks more than not getting what you ordered online??? Starting a thread to “document your process” and then bailing once you have others waiting for updates. 2 months and nothing from OP so shall we assume he got screwed out if his tank and their is no build??
 

Smite

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They built a custom 180 for me with drilled external MM overflow. Took about 2 months longer than expected but that’s the norm it seems for custom. I confirmed with them, exact dimensions 72x24x24. I had a second party build a steel stand for it.
It showed up and I did a quick check. Looked good.
Neighbor help me load it on the stand and it was just under 2” short in length. I measured my stand and the tank to confirm. Here’s where they ticked me off.
They came back. They asked for the tape amd measured. Said, see look 72”. He had the helper hold the dang tape measured off the end so it’d line up on 72. I said give me the tape and measured it, 70.25”…. Well,uh, weird. Then the slip up. “Sometimes the measurements aren’t exact and we don’t know until we receive them. “ I said, I thought this was custom and built in house. “Oh no standards are shipped from China”. what the heck!
Then I started looking close. I spotted a chip in the bottom corner, he claimed it must have happened while moving it. But it was on the inside where the bead of silicon was so the tank was assembled with a chipped piece of glass! They tried to fill the chip with silicon which is why I didn’t notice at first.
They offered 200 bucks off? I said no you’re building me a new tank to the dimensions you promised. They assured me that one would be built in house.
All said and done the finished tank was nice, I believe it was actually built here, in house.
There is no way in hell I would ever do business with them again though. Way to shady of an experience.
 

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

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.4%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 67 34.4%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.8%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.4%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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