Disappointed in Bulk Reef Supply order with caution!

[Oregonic]

I posted what is listed below on R2R the other day in hopes of getting BRS attention to resolve a shipping issue. I have got no response from them since. I did however receive a private message from someone else who had same issue.  I will never order from them again!

 

I must start by saying I have had great experiences with BRS in the past. BRS also gives back to the community through education. I have learned so much from their videos and probably owe alot of the successes ive had with my tank to what I have learned from their videos. That being said the las order I made through them had been super frustrating. On Oct 19th I received an order of Aquaforest 123, some reagents for alk tester, some glue, a salifert nitrate test kit, and some flipper blades. Package arrived all thrown in one box that was barely holding together. The Aquaforest 123 must be about 30-40lbs of liquid and had beat up evething else packaged with it. Would have been very easy when packing to put all the little items in a separate box before placing in the lare box with the Aquaforest, most likely everything would have arrived in decent shape. The large box that everything was shipped in also was not reinforced with tape around the edges, so there were multiple holes in the bottom of my box. The flipper blades were missing, most likely fell out of one of the large holes on the bottom. The contents of the salifet test kit were not in their box either and the spoon for measuring the powder was MIA. That night Oct 19th I sent a email along with photos to BRS customer support and figured I would hear back promptly. Didnt hear back for a few days so I decided to call on Oct. 22nd thinking possibly they did not receive my email or it was just missed. Spoke with someone and he apologized and adked that I send the same email directly to his work email and he would take care of it asap. A few days go by so i call again on Oct. 25th. They guy I speak to this time says I see that the last person you spoke with made a note but was working in the warehouse today so he would handle it himself and asks if I can send him a copy of the email so I do. Today is now Nov. 1st and I have yet to hear any response from BRS and have already chalked up the flipper blades up as a loss. I was able to get a measuring spoon for the test kit from a buddy so got that covered. I will definitely be reconsidering who I order from in the future.

[Emerald525]

Sorry to hear this. They have been a sponsor for a few years and shipping has always been fast and cheap. Usually when quality suddenly goes down there are some sort of personnel changes. Either new management or budget cuts. 

@BulkReefSupply hopefully you see this and can provide a response. 

[SuncrestReef]

Wow, sorry to hear about this.  I'm not trying to defend BRS, but I have had a couple of damaged or defective items shipped, and they have always promptly replaced the items with no questions asked.  I've been impressed by their customer service on several occasions between May and Sept 2018.  Hopefully things aren't going down hill in their customer service dept.

[Oregonic]

I have had nothing but great experiences in the past. I have spent thousands of dollars with them over the last few years and never had any issues. This is the first time I have ever received anything damaged. Thats why I am surprised how they have handled this. It honestly is their loss, I will just spend my hard earned money elsewhere in the future.    

Edited November 3, 2018 by Oregonic

[albertareef]

14 hours ago, SuncrestReef said:

Wow, sorry to hear about this.  I'm not trying to defend BRS, but I have had a couple of damaged or defective items shipped, and they have always promptly replaced the items with no questions asked.  I've been impressed by their customer service on several occasions between May and Sept 2018.  Hopefully things aren't going down hill in their customer service dept.

This has been my experience as well - even when the damage seemed to be related to bad packing at the manufacturer (leaky  test kits). Sorry to hear about your trouble. 

[Knuckledragger]

A few months ago I ordered a six stage “Plus” RODI unit with triple TDS meter. They sent the regular six stage without the upgrades. Called and got a return slip and sent only the four stage section as the two DI resin sections would not need replaced. They did not offer to speed up shipping, so I waited and finally received the replacement. I opened the package and discovered that they sent the wrong one again. I got ahold of them and they apologized and shipped a replacement and again did not upgrade shipping or offer anything else to make it right.

By now my project was weeks behind and I expressed my frustration with their customer support. They said sorry and offered nothing - no reward points or anything. So I made another trip to ship the incorrect item back. I received notice they had shipped a replacement but saw that it appeared they may be shipping a full unit including the DI chambers even though I had made it VERY clear that I already had that section. I did not want to have to make another trip to ship another part back. I emailed and called and left a message. No response. Sure enough, they sent the entire unit - although what I received was a downgraded “upgraded” “new model” unit with dual TDS on the DI section and no chlorine test strips as was supposed to be part of the original package I paid for.

I called again and told them I was very disappointed with this whole scenario and was frustrated that I would now need to make yet another trip for a return. I also told them I would be keeping the triple TDS meter because that is what I had paid for. I also pointed out that I did not receive chlorine test strips which were part of the original upgraded package I had purchased. They said “sorry”, keep the extra DI section and we will send the test strips. No offer of reward points or anything else to compensate for this redicilous transaction. Sure I have another DI section, but I do not need it. I will probably sell it at some point.

My project ended up more than a month behind. I did another order weeks later because BRS was the only place I could find what I needed. Sure enough, items were missing, and as noted by the original poster, items were poorly packed and had banged around against each other. They sent the missing items with a “sorry” but no upgraded shipping or anything else. 

Not sure why the sudden decline in performance but seems something is is up. They are not the BRS I have always ordered from. Sad and I hope they can turn it around.

[albertareef]

Definitely sounds like something is up with their distribution system. Wonder if they changed up the process recently. Sorry to hear as they were previously pretty reliable. 

[CuttleFishandCoral]

Brs just updated there website last week and it was down for three days. I randomly bought something retail on there and couldn’t figure out why they didn’t ship it.

They gave me $20 worth of points but I paid $30 to get it shipped two day. 

They ended up shipping it overnight cause I had to have it by Saturday for a install. 

Nobody is perfect and they made it right when I called. Dealing with a human is always best. 

[Oregonic]

Well I received a post on my R2R post this morning from the man Randy himself.  I also received an email from a guy named Jason who is the customer service lead at BRS along with his number so we can discuss the order. I will update here after I speak with him to what the outcome is.  Glad it looks like they will be able to resolve this.  I just wish it had never made it to the point where I had to publicly post this on either fourm.  We all know mistakes happen, and when they do the most important thing is a prompt resolution.

 

[Oregonic]

Spoke with the customer service lead Jason this afternoon. I was very impressed by his professionalism. New flipper blades on the way already, received a tracking number in less then a hour after speaking with him. He also promised he was going to not only look into the reason the ball got dropped after I had made several attempts to have BRS correct the issue he also stated that he was going to look into ways to ensure this does not happen to others in the future. He made a great point that BRS hires hobbiest over those with a strong background in customer service, customer service can be taught, reef passion cannot.  Jason restored my faith in BRS.

[The ReefBox]

I also placed an order a couple weeks ago and after a day or two went by, realized I did not get a shipping confirmation. Then low and behold I receive an email apologizing the order did not make it out by their deadline and credited me $20 in BRS REWARDS. I Did not need the eb8 super fast so I was ok with the resolution and appreciated the fact they did not wait till I called to inquire on my order. I have been mostly happy with them. They even replaced all 12 t5 bulbs I ordered that were obviously mis handled by UPS 

Edited November 8, 2018 by River City Corals

[Knuckledragger]

Glad others have had some positive experiences lately. Mine was a big fail with so many missed customer service opportunities. I got a “sorry” for all the trouble.......

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I have heard a couple horror stories lately but honestly I am not too surprised. The do an amazing amount of volume, staggering really. You have to understand that there is some poor soul who stuff boxes all day. How many f#%cks would you give after stuffing boxes for 7 hours in a warehouse?? It is not like they have a corporate policy "ignore emails".

I have had stuff shown up broken and I sent a polite email and it got resolved.

My experienece has been great, maybe give them another try?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Jlpete]

I have worked in ecommerce for over 15 years.  I have dealt with the smallest companies to the largest from a consulting prospective.  What you are describing is very common in all fulfillment centers that have not development a standard production line packing process.  The fact the CSR is in the DC drives this further.  This says to me they are running short staffed and utilizing other staff to fill the void.  I have actually done that exact role in my early years when I ran a CSR department.  DC gets backed up send in a CSR or manager who do not typically work in the DC.  That was me, I got in the way more times then not.  Sounds like they may need to do some modification to their production line and institute quality control.  I have often worked with clients where we placed multiple orders and did unpacking parties just to help management understand the customer experience.  I will never forget some the junk we found. Missing products, missing box stuffers, wrong packing slips, improperly packed items.  Just implementing standard packaging requirements can lower the customer service cost for a company.  Plus with the day and age of social media the number of people hearing about is too costly for a smb company.