150 Gallon Reef
Active Member
*video attached at end*
Hey everybody. I want to first start off saying I never write bad reviews. I am pretty easy going and truly believe issues can be resolved by simple communication. But for this case. This is BAD.
It started off with me jumping on their Black Friday deal and placing an order on IM’s website on November 12th of this year for a Nuvo 200 EXT complete reef system. Expected delivery date is end of December. I was so pumped to
finally have my dream tank build!
20 hours pass by and I see the exact same aquarium at my LFS for the same price, but no shipping cost! I immediately emailed them seeing if I could cancel my order and informed them I would be buying the exact tank but from a local shop. I also explained how I’d like to save money with shipping buying local. They refused to cancel the order since it was a built to order tank. I was irritated by the zero effort or accommodation to help, but I get it. I screwed up and should have looked local before ordering directly from them. Never thought my local shop would every carry a tank like that in stock.
Fast forward to November 26th and I get an email saying the tank is at their warehouse and please confirm the shipping address and the order is ready to ship. In that email, it states once the tank is shipped, I will receive an email with the freight tracking information. I confirm the shipping address and do not get any reply email.
December 2nd comes and I get a call from a freight company saying my tank is on their dock and would like to schedule a delivery. I still have yet to receive my tracking information from innovative marine. I had not planned to take the day off to receive the tank, nor did I have any clue is was actually shipped out. 5 hours after the call from the freight company, I get an email from IM with my tracking information. This is already giving me bad feelings in my gut.
I call IM and ask why they didnt send me any tracking info and am now in a bind. The rep Brian tells me they wait 1 business day to send the tracking information over because it usually takes 24 hours for the freight company’s system to actually see that they have the package. I’m calling BS in my head as I’m listening to this. Well, they were off for thanksgiving and Black Friday. So the next business day was Monday. IMO, if you know there is a holiday and you are off the day following, use some common sense and send the tracking information even if you do not think it will be updated in a timely manner.
So the only day I was able to take half a day was Tuesday December 5th. So I accept the package for Tuesday. I am told by the freight company that my tank will be delivered between 2 and 4. I arrive home at 1230 and my tank is sitting in the middle of my driveway with no driver in sight. They left it. Unchecked and not inspected. I immediately panic and inspect the exterior for any damages. Luckily everything looked good. Unfortunately since I had no knowledge the tank was even shipped, I had nobody lined up to help me bring the aquarium into the house. So I called IM and explained the situation and told them I cannot get the tank moved into the house until the weekend. I was assured by Brian that the tank will be fine as long as it is out of the elements. I also had 48 -72 hours to inspect the tank for any blemishes or breaks. Fine. I’ll deal with it. The sump and stand were stacked ontop of the tank. A friend of mine is able to come over Thursday December 5th to help me bring the sump and stand inside.
Once I am able to open up the lid of the tank box (almost exactly 48 hours after I came home to a tank in my driveway) I find the silicone pulled back on the 2 back walls. I’m furious at this time. This cannot get any worse. I call IM immediately and am told to send a video to them showing the silicone. I upload it to YouTube and send them the link to the video. I get a reply from them within an hour stating the peeled back silicone is not a structural issue. As long as the silicone pressed between the glass is intact, the tank is fine.
No, the tank is not fine! I am not filling a 200 gallon aquarium with water to later find out immediately or years later, that the silicone was in fact an issue. I also believe that I paid for a brand new, perfect, $4800 tank from IM. Not a poorly siliconed Aqueon aquarium from Petsmart. I reply back stating I am not happy with the tank, even if it is structurally sound. I did not pay for a blemished tank, nor did I have any plans to own a blemished tank. I received the same email response saying “the tank is structurally sound”.
I called Brian at IM and told him that this was not an acceptable tank to sell as brand new unblemished. He said the silicone will not peel back in the future unless I were to put a razor blade underneath it and pull it back. He did all he could do for me. I asked to speak to a manager or someone higher up and he refused twice. He said if I wanted to speak to someone higher up, I had to reply to the email I have been writing to, and he will send it to management. I’m livid at this point.
I am writing this wondering if this is the norm. Is this what customer service has turned into? Is this what “quality” tanks look like now? Am I in the wrong? I am at a loss of words with what to do. I will say, I will never purchase a tank again without seeing it first. Learned my lesson there. But this can’t be right. The entire process from start to finish has been horrible. I have ordered from them in the past and never had this issue. I am at a loss of words with what to do now.
Video attached of the silicone job
YouTube video of the entire video i
Took of the silicone job
Hey everybody. I want to first start off saying I never write bad reviews. I am pretty easy going and truly believe issues can be resolved by simple communication. But for this case. This is BAD.
It started off with me jumping on their Black Friday deal and placing an order on IM’s website on November 12th of this year for a Nuvo 200 EXT complete reef system. Expected delivery date is end of December. I was so pumped to
finally have my dream tank build!
20 hours pass by and I see the exact same aquarium at my LFS for the same price, but no shipping cost! I immediately emailed them seeing if I could cancel my order and informed them I would be buying the exact tank but from a local shop. I also explained how I’d like to save money with shipping buying local. They refused to cancel the order since it was a built to order tank. I was irritated by the zero effort or accommodation to help, but I get it. I screwed up and should have looked local before ordering directly from them. Never thought my local shop would every carry a tank like that in stock.
Fast forward to November 26th and I get an email saying the tank is at their warehouse and please confirm the shipping address and the order is ready to ship. In that email, it states once the tank is shipped, I will receive an email with the freight tracking information. I confirm the shipping address and do not get any reply email.
December 2nd comes and I get a call from a freight company saying my tank is on their dock and would like to schedule a delivery. I still have yet to receive my tracking information from innovative marine. I had not planned to take the day off to receive the tank, nor did I have any clue is was actually shipped out. 5 hours after the call from the freight company, I get an email from IM with my tracking information. This is already giving me bad feelings in my gut.
I call IM and ask why they didnt send me any tracking info and am now in a bind. The rep Brian tells me they wait 1 business day to send the tracking information over because it usually takes 24 hours for the freight company’s system to actually see that they have the package. I’m calling BS in my head as I’m listening to this. Well, they were off for thanksgiving and Black Friday. So the next business day was Monday. IMO, if you know there is a holiday and you are off the day following, use some common sense and send the tracking information even if you do not think it will be updated in a timely manner.
So the only day I was able to take half a day was Tuesday December 5th. So I accept the package for Tuesday. I am told by the freight company that my tank will be delivered between 2 and 4. I arrive home at 1230 and my tank is sitting in the middle of my driveway with no driver in sight. They left it. Unchecked and not inspected. I immediately panic and inspect the exterior for any damages. Luckily everything looked good. Unfortunately since I had no knowledge the tank was even shipped, I had nobody lined up to help me bring the aquarium into the house. So I called IM and explained the situation and told them I cannot get the tank moved into the house until the weekend. I was assured by Brian that the tank will be fine as long as it is out of the elements. I also had 48 -72 hours to inspect the tank for any blemishes or breaks. Fine. I’ll deal with it. The sump and stand were stacked ontop of the tank. A friend of mine is able to come over Thursday December 5th to help me bring the sump and stand inside.
Once I am able to open up the lid of the tank box (almost exactly 48 hours after I came home to a tank in my driveway) I find the silicone pulled back on the 2 back walls. I’m furious at this time. This cannot get any worse. I call IM immediately and am told to send a video to them showing the silicone. I upload it to YouTube and send them the link to the video. I get a reply from them within an hour stating the peeled back silicone is not a structural issue. As long as the silicone pressed between the glass is intact, the tank is fine.
No, the tank is not fine! I am not filling a 200 gallon aquarium with water to later find out immediately or years later, that the silicone was in fact an issue. I also believe that I paid for a brand new, perfect, $4800 tank from IM. Not a poorly siliconed Aqueon aquarium from Petsmart. I reply back stating I am not happy with the tank, even if it is structurally sound. I did not pay for a blemished tank, nor did I have any plans to own a blemished tank. I received the same email response saying “the tank is structurally sound”.
I called Brian at IM and told him that this was not an acceptable tank to sell as brand new unblemished. He said the silicone will not peel back in the future unless I were to put a razor blade underneath it and pull it back. He did all he could do for me. I asked to speak to a manager or someone higher up and he refused twice. He said if I wanted to speak to someone higher up, I had to reply to the email I have been writing to, and he will send it to management. I’m livid at this point.
I am writing this wondering if this is the norm. Is this what customer service has turned into? Is this what “quality” tanks look like now? Am I in the wrong? I am at a loss of words with what to do. I will say, I will never purchase a tank again without seeing it first. Learned my lesson there. But this can’t be right. The entire process from start to finish has been horrible. I have ordered from them in the past and never had this issue. I am at a loss of words with what to do now.
Video attached of the silicone job
YouTube video of the entire video i
Took of the silicone job
Last edited:
