aqua illuminations terrible customer service

[BYU]

just a rant on how bad customer service is
i will never buy another light from them
i called to see if they would fix my lights which was working but 1-2 leds were out
asked for a rough estimate they say prob $75 is it’s an easy fix but no obligation.
took pictures and send it to them
they call me back saying $250 or 40%off a new light
i told them no thanks since i already upgraded my lights
they send my light back broken and won’t turn on
i call and send an email with picture and proof with date and time it was working the day i sent it
they ask for a video which i sent
now they say they too bad we didn’t do it
I asked if maybe they forgot to plug something back in but i really think they sabotaged my light since i didn’t pay for the upgrade
i spoke to the manager alex who was cordial but useless
stay away from aquailluminations c2 development

 

[FMF0331]

WOW, that's not cool at all. You would expect more from a reputable company. Thanks for the heads up ... i was going to buy 8 AI 64 hydra , for my 300 gallon build ( $630.00 x 8 )

I'll continue my search for new Leds lighting

 

[Jamesmost]

That stinks

 

[editour2]

Contact the owner and state the whole story. Send prior emails and pics or videos to substantiate your claim. Sometimes that makes a big difference.
I did this when I was getting the run around from a reef related equipment company and the issue was rectified immediately after being jerked around for over 6 months. I purchased a part from them to fix an issue , (at their recommendation), and the part was defective. The part in turn ended up leaking internally destroying the inner electronic module which in turn destroyed the entire piece of equipment rather than fixing the initial small issue. They tried to charge me for a repair that their defective NEW part caused. After months of complaining I wrote to the owner. They ended up sending me a prepaid shipping label, since I refused to pay shipping again, and overhauling completely the piece of equipment at no charge and expediting the unit back to me with an apology from the President of the company.

I did a Google search on the President/owner and found the following:


"Both companies have an unwavering pledge to provide our customers with the very best in innovative aquarium products,” said Chris Clough, president of Aqua Illumination. Marine, founded in 2003, makes VorTech pumps, Radion lighting products, Elements coral glue and other accessories.Feb 24, 2014."


That's Christian Clough...and the 2 companies they are referring to are AI and Ecotech.

Try emailing...... [email protected]
And CC
[email protected]

 

[BYU]

thank you
i was about to make a complaint to bbb
but i’ll try this rout first
this hobby is not cheap and i wish they would stand behind their product
they know we spend a ton on our tanks

 

[ducati335i]

just a rant on how bad customer service is
i will never buy another light from them
i called to see if they would fix my lights which was working but 1-2 leds were out
asked for a rough estimate they say prob $75 is it’s an easy fix but no obligation.
took pictures and send it to them
they call me back saying $250 or 40%off a new light
i told them no thanks since i already upgraded my lights
they send my light back broken and won’t turn on
i call and send an email with picture and proof with date and time it was working the day i sent it
they ask for a video which i sent
now they say they too bad we didn’t do it
I asked if maybe they forgot to plug something back in but i really think they sabotaged my light since i didn’t pay for the upgrade
i spoke to the manager alex who was cordial but useless
stay away from aquailluminations c2 development

I had a different experience, but they couldn’t fix my nanos so I got 40% off on new ones.
im not sure it was a great experience but I felt mine was fair..
my ai sols are going on 10 years, only had to replace a power supply cord.. I bought and extra controller for 100... if that goes you are basically done.. there is a way around it but I’m not that high tech.. def call them again, hopefully they can do better.. I may have got lucky as most of these companies just want profit..
The best company is tunze... their customer service is extremely fair! And high quality

 

[BYU]

i just upgraded to g5 so i didn’t want to spend a ton fir new ones
i just wanted them back working the way they were when i sent them in
if i didn’t upgrade i would have taken %40 off

 

[FMF0331]

Hopefully they will do the right thing, they absolutely have to know we the hobbyist spend a ton of cash on this reefing hobby ( lights ) to sustain the live stocks, why wouldn't they want to keep us as a returning customer. Look at car dealers, restaurants, resorts etc ... they want to return to them, so it's their best interest to keep the customers happy.

I really hope AI will go beyond and try to fix your lights.

Good Luck

 

[Juano908]

Wow.....

Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk

 

[editour2]

Let us know how it worked out.

 

[nvladik]

Complaining to BBB is useless. and a complete waste of your time.

 

[kevin315]

blast them on r2r haha, i dont think i ever saw a manufacture or sponser that didnt give a satisfied response back

 

[BYU]

i blasted them on r2r but they edited my post
the moderator changed the title
i posted it as aquailluminations bait and switch
they won’t let anyone else post on it either

 

[BYU]

i also sent the email to the president

 

[kevin315]

wow really? I saw people blasting apex and liveaquaria and they all got the customer service they deserved later. Unbelievale, guess they are playing with favorites

 

[BYU]

yeah i posted under vendors feedback

 

[jkidd155]

dosent ecotech own ai

 

[Air breather]

BBB is not an effective place to complaint to. IMHO

 

[BaaMNYC]

Was there any positive resolution on this?

 

[geldof]

This is unfortunate. I've been reading far too many complaints about AI customer service. I have ran them on my tank for many years, since the SOL BLUES. Am now running Hydra 64 HD's and hate to think about having to deal with AI customer service, if anything goes wrong. I was actually semi outraged at the condition my lights arrived in. The box was totally inadequate for holding sensitive lights. The fixture itself was flopping around in the package, when it arrived from BRS. So far, so good for 8 months now, but seriously? They were expensive lights.

I am testing out a new light from REEFI, at the moment, over my frag system. The owner is already amazing and communicative. The light itself offers far more value than anything currently on the market. Really thinking of switching over to more "cottage industry" reef hardware, in the future. Already did it with my new lifereef skimmer. I think the big companies are starting to forget who their customers are. Time to go small.