Aquarium village price quotes

[meloncoral]

Hi Rich
I cant figure something out about your price quotes?
You list prices all over this forum for tanks and fish and everything else which is great!! But how come when I call up for a price on a tank you cant give it to me over the phone ? I don't live around the block from you and I want to buy my stuff from you so if you dont tell me how much a fish tank is before I leave my house,:banghead: then how do I know its worth driving all the way out there to get it?
I would understand if you didn't list any prices here but its public info?
Unless its just the guy who answered the phone the other day?

Thx

 

[jbjints]

I think it's common practice not to give prices over the phone. They have no idea who is on the phone, it could be a competitor looking to price gouge. I worked for a well known plumbing company in the city and my boss used to have his receptionist call other plumbing companies and pretend to be someone in need of plumbing work and she would ask " What do you charge per hour?" or "What do you charge to snake a toilet?". It happens all the time and this is why I wouldn't personally give prices over the phone either but AV could have different reasons.

 

[PolandSpring]

They give an estimate

 

[meloncoral]

jb I don't know? every plumber I have ever called has always given me their prices?
If they don"t they lose the biz , because I call the next guy and he gives me the price.
And Poland Spring when I called they flat out said no and were not cool about it?
Thats why Im asking?
I can"t think of any store on LI that won"t give a price on the phone for a tank or livestock? Why wouldn"t u?

 

[Exotic Reef]

They give an estimate

Yea true but You ask for a price and they tell you it less then 100$ and that what you bring to the store you could short because the don't want tell you the real price .. Waste your time your gas And be alil mad

 

[Aquarium Village]

Hello again to those of you who true Manhattan Reef members. I want you to know it is a great experience dealing with all of you. I appreciate your support and positive feedback. The specials that are posted on this site are not my normal prices. They are specials created for Manhattan Reef members ONLY. This is something I have decided to do to thank you for your ongoing support and I will try to continue to do this. We do not give price quotes over the phone as a store policy. Through modern technology we are very aware when a competitor is calling us. In instances where we do not know who is calling, we believe that our prices are more than competitive and in most cases lower than our competition. We have never had a person come in to the store and tell us that they are disappointed and traveled a long way for nothing. We also try to work with members to give them better prices when they purchase from us. This is not always possible because of the low margins that are available in this very competitive industry.
It is also very telling that the people questioning my policy are user names associated with my competitors. I know my loyal,good customers realize this. For those of you who do not, this is a common practice of competitors to try to excite people to respond to something that really has no value.
I want to thank my competitors and these other people for keeping my Aquarium Village's name active and and in the public forum. The people who shop by us know of our great prices and superior service. Thank you, again, for all your support. Rich

 

[thirty6]

Nicely done rich, wish your store was closer to NJ

 

[BaaMNYC]

+1 aquarium village is great with great prices.

 

[Mattl22]

+1 aquarium village best store around!!

 

[meloncoral]

I want to thank my competitors Thank you, again, for all your support.

Rich

WOW
You are very paranoid of competitors?
You have special" modern technologies" set up in your store to detect when a competitor is calling ?
It sounds like you have special methods to determine who is a True MR member and a false one? Is there a secret handshake or a decoder ring I didn't hear about? :shhh:

Anyway you have a nice store and it was a simple question.Thanks for answering it with your creative reasoning.
:cheekkiss

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Try to pm him instead of calling so he know who you are

 

[PHILYD1]

Aqua Hut in CORAM has been around for 30 years and they dont even have a phone!!!!!!!!The owner believes that if a customer has a question or needs something they should come on down, He also told me that if he had a phone he would need to hire someone to pick up the phone all day long just to answer questions..

 

[thirty6]

Try to pm him instead of calling so he know who you are

+1. I recently price a few tanks this way with no issues

 

[Awibrandy]

Aqua Hut in CORAM has been around for 30 years and they dont even have a phone!!!!!!!!The owner believes that if a customer has a question or needs something they should come on down, He also told me that if he had a phone he would need to hire someone to pick up the phone all day long just to answer questions..

Responding to the Aqua Hut post: This is why I don't go there, and I'm sure I am not missed. I am not about to travel so far only to find out that don't have what I am looking for.

AV, is not nearly as far, and I can always call them to certain that they do have what I am looking. At times being that they know who I am they may even tell me the price. All around good people at AV.....

IF Rich is paranoid he has good reasons to be so.......:hug:

 

[FlyTekk]

Rich gave me the best price on a DB 80g frag rimless EDGE THAT I WILL BE PICKING UP THIS FRIDAY. ;0) He even held it for me given my specific circumstances waiting for my house to close. That kind of stuff makes me customer for life. He too told me he could not tell me prices over phone initially. And for whatever reason i completely understood and agreed and drove up to long island. And i know it sucks to drive far just to know a price but i did so anyway due to all the good feedback here on MR.

 

[Imbarrie]

Not sure if I completely understand why AV is not quoting prices over the phone. I do think they continue doing a great job with their selection and their clientele. They moved into a business that could not find their footing and they have turned it into a destination for MRs on Long Island.

As for Aquahut, this is a business without a phone? So there is no way to make sure they are open before driving all the way there to buy something? This is not close to a huge population center and I can guess a lot of people will not be wasting any time with that store. Or a business run by someone who wont even give them the courtesy of letting them know they are open before they drive all the way there to find out they are not.

 

[Arati]

yes AH has no phone and yes many of us in Suffolk love the place. it was the first place I went after the hurricane to see if they needed help last year. AH has a lot of support and loyalty from us.

yes it kinda stinks if you are planning a long drive you cant be sure. I can see that. then again im sure if you asked they might have an email of an employee there may give a cell phone # to a valued customer.

sorry to derail..

like Rich said the specials aren't the prices they would give over the phone anyway and it would just cause confusion. PS no over the phone estimates from my company either.

 

[Weicowireman]

I think it does down to people not wanting to leave money on the table. Your cost is the cost, I would assume all distributors roughly get the price around the same give or takea couple bucks. Some maybe willing to take less margin on a tank with anticipation of earning there business with corals, dry goods etc. people choose not to give prices over the phone because other people will use there price against them. It's common business practice not to give prices over the phone. Plumbing you are providing a service not a product. Products have no labor costs. Smart decision not to give prices over the phone. I saw you were on long island, no matter where you are on Long Island you an travel to AV in about 1hr or less. If you are a enthusiast like the rest of MR, it's worth a drive to visit all the Lfs on the island... Just my thoughts..

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

people choose not to give prices over the phone because other people will use there price against them.

I have to agreed with you on this, most inquires(not all though) will use the price quote to low ball another vendor that they already plan to purchase from. My personal experience in May is that I have more than 20 inquires on fish tanks from MR and my quote is a always set formula which is more or less the same as the current market web price. As of today, not a single lead follows thru.


So my theory for the end users is go with whichever vendor you feel comfortable with and shop with them. In fact, I don't think you should get a tank too far from your location because of all the hassle in moving and such unless it's a nano. Check out a well stocked store is always a worthwhile trip.

 

[Weicowireman]

I sell wire and cable for a living so I try to be sociable and provide the best service as possible. That should count for something.. Av has great service, a fair amount of other stores ahh not so much.


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