RO/DI Unit Frustration

[SULLY]

I feel bad about kinda hi-jacking the thread. My only real point I guess would have been that if she might have purchased something like that from a LFS, she probably would have not had to come on here and ask for help. I know myself personally have gone to peoples homes to help them out with an item they purchased from me if we couldn't get it resolved over the phone. Not trying to pee in anyone's oatmeal(clap)

[Guest LisaJill]

CCR - we're good, let's move on.

 

LisaJill, do you regret your purchase you made online for the fact that you received no customer service?

 

No, not at all. I am actually very hopeful that BFS has not gone out of business; they have great reviews and I did a lot of research before purchasing one of their units. Russ answered a ton of my questions with novel-length responses. It was a shock to see their DNS not responding and I'm hopeful it's just a server glitch that will be resolved.

 

I'm a hermit - I do almost all of my shopping online; I'm good with it. I rarely have a customer service issue and BFS never said they would install the unit for me or any such thing. I was well aware when I got it that I might have trouble getting it up and running. I'm old enough to know my limits and interests, so I knew this might be a stumbling block. I can't put computers together either, but I can sure work 'em well once they hardware is up and running!

 

Now, regardless of this being about a fish store or any store - unless someone goes in and pays for installation; they have no right to expect installation. Seriously - we're a capitalist society. =) If BFS had a recommended installer in this area (or a list at all) I would have arranged for that in advance. Barring that I decided to give it a shot and quickly realized that I had a list of things I had to get done that I not only needed to do - but knew how to do do and would enjoy doing - and that learning how to plumb this unit was not anywhere near the top 10 of those items.

 

Now, one of the stores I frequent did offer to help me get the RO/DI unit assembled so that I could hook it up at home. I do not include their name here so as not to turn this into an advertisement - but I can assure you that they will get a lot of business from me even if it is not this particular service. I chose not to go that route as I'd rather have it assembled, installed, and tested all at once.

 

Eventually, in 2-3 years, I will be looking at someone to custom build a tank, plumb it, fill it with water, and make sure the parts all work together and there are no leaks. From there I will get the salinity correct, I will add live stock, cycle, clean out the skimmer, and do ongoing maintenance including water testing, making sure there are no clogs, cleaning the skimmer, and doing water changes. Not to mention the other 5 million things needed to maintain a reef tank. I hope I will find a company that will be in business in case I do run into problems that I need help with - but that is part of being an educated consumer. If they go out of business? Then I'll find someone else to help - and probably with this much argument as well. *smirks*

 

I hope that if others do read this thread that they are not intimidated by all of the "bits" that go into running a reef. For any level of skill and desire, there are support systems around. Some people may want a reef without doing any work at all. I want a reef where I do no hardware work, but I don't want anyone else touching my water or livestock. Nurturing the system and maintaining it is what I enjoy.

[dsoz]

I got a bunch of new corals from Seahorse yesterday; I'll need to post some pictures. The camera (an EOS XSi) is new though' date=' so I'm not really using it to its fully capabilities. I think I'll delve into the manual this weekend. [/quote']

 

I think I just got the same camera (or at least my wife got it for us). The Cannon EOS Rebel XSi? I never had a chance to take a class on how to use a camera, but I know a little about it from my dad, and from using telescopes (f-ratios, shutter speed, etc.). I too need to sit down and take about 100000000 pictures to see how to get it to work well. I am glad that it is digital, not film. That would be really expensive to take a lot of pictures if it were film. I also want to get a macro lens (my wife thought that the telephoto lens was more important for us when we go on our big vacation this Christmas break).

 

Good luck with the new camera, and I am glad that you found someone to help you with your problem with the RO/DI.

 

dsoz

[Guest LisaJill]

Yes, dsoz - that's the camera. I love it; but I need to break out the manual and sit down with it and my photography books and learn something. This weekend I hope to have time to do so. I suspect I'll be investing in a new macro lens. Because I really need another expensive hobby, right? *eyeroll*

[TheGooseWhisperer]

Dsoz and LisaJill...

 

If you dont mind me asking what did you pay for the camera? Did it just come with a basic 28/100 type lense? Looking into a new camera is coming up on my list and just thought I could get a quick bit of feedback from both of you since the Rebel XSi seems to come up soooo often in aquarium threads. Response by PM is fine if you wanna go that route...

[Guest LisaJill]

Yea, I got the kit lens and am currently in the process of researching a 1:1 macro lens. Uh, the camera with the kit lens, I got it a few months ago. Was around $800.

 

I try to make myself forget these things fast, or I'd never go to a store again. Urgh. I got mine at Best Buy as I had uh, some spare reward certificates to use anyway; which brought the price down $200. =)

[dsoz]

Dsoz and LisaJill...

 

If you dont mind me asking what did you pay for the camera? Did it just come with a basic 28/100 type lense? Looking into a new camera is coming up on my list and just thought I could get a quick bit of feedback from both of you since the Rebel XSi seems to come up soooo often in aquarium threads. Response by PM is fine if you wanna go that route...

 

My wife went to a "camera store" because of the customer service (the same reason I go to a LFS, not shop on-line for fish stuff). The other reason is that the camera store offers free beginning camera classes so that she (and my son) can learn to take better pics (then they can teach me).

 

After the camera ($800), the telephoto (paid $100 for a $200 lens) the memory cards, bag, extended warranty (wife insisted), new printer, a couple of different filters, blah, blah, blah... it came to about $1300. I know that we could have saved money going somewhere else, but it is my wife's camera (she will let me take fish pics with it though). I hope (but do not expect) to get a macro lens for my b-day next year.

 

I think that we would have been better spending the money on a new tank, but the camera was so that we could get good pics of our next big vacation at Christmas time. She wanted it now so that she could practice, and learn how to take good pics.

 

dsoz

[blown65]

I am going to throw this out here so people might have a better understanding of what I am talking about. And I guarantee there is not another store out there that will dissagree with this. There is nothing that frustrates a store employee or store owner more than when a person comes into the store looking for something specific' date=' ask you ever possible question that could be asked about the products operation, set-up, maintenance and so on, and a half hour later gets ready to leave and says, "well, I can get it on the internet for $35.00 cheaper" and walks out the door. Or even better yet, you get the person that bought a product that you carry on-line because they could save a few bucks and had a problem with it or can't figure out how to use it (hence the reason I got on this thread to begin with) and comes into your store or calls you on the phone and wants to know all the answers to the questions they have about the product that they decided to purchase on-line instead of buying it from their local fish store. Now myself, I still help the customer out anyways. But I also make sure that the point gets across that it's no always about the cost! I am not going to gouge you on the price as it is refered to far too often. But I do need to make enough to keep the doors open, bills paid, and put food on my table for my family. You might pay a little more for the product, but the customer service you will receive in return will be second to none. I will ALWAYS go out of my way to support my customers as long as they somewhat return the favor to me. Now there is some on-line stores that do offer great customer service. But I can tell you they are not going to stop by your house to help you hook something up or you are not going to drive the product to them to point out the question you have about which fitting goes where.[/quote']

 

Totally agree with this and yes it pisses me off to use my knowledge to go buy the product from company B. Only because Company B offers no such service.

 

I'm all for saving a buck also, but I also give respect to those in business and don't just use them in that manner. I'd much rather spend a few bucks more, build a relationship with a local store than look like the cheap *** that is just coming in wasting everyones time. I have a few non-customers I see every [language filter] yr that come in and ask 30+ minutes of questions and just leave with thanks. I always remember them, every yr my patience grows thinner.