Mr. Coral does it again!

[davelin315]

Everyone, I'm not going to get involved in the merits of this as I think that Dave and Mr. Coral can work this out themselves, either here in the open, or behind closed doors, and I'm not privy to anything more than they themselves have revealed here or in other threads.

 

I will, however, offer this up. The rules do not prohibit the posting of PMs in restricted forums, rather they restrict them in public forums. Members deserve certain privileges and the vendor experience is one of those privileges. It was recently asked why these are here instead of in public, the answer to which is we need to try and give our members perks and privileges and also protect the integrity of this forum from those who join the site only to attack (e.g. "ghost" accounts designed to circumvent rules). Vendors who are members also enjoy the same privileges, albeit restricted by a set of rules that applies to vendors only.

 

So, without condoning or condemning anything that has been posted here, there are no rules violations in this particular thread that I have seen and Mr. Coral is free to respond in this forum since he's a member, too. Remember, this thread here is designed to relate experiences and hopefully others can learn from these experiences as well as improve the experience for others. There has been both positive and negative feedback in this thread which is what this forum's intended purpose is, to educate the consumers so they can make an informed decision. It's up to each person to decide if they want to spend their money somewhere or not, so read through this, decide what your opinion is, and spend accordingly.

[gwweber]

the only problem i have with MC is that you can not go to the store and get the good frags they are always in a tank and saved for internet sales. Well, i like to see what exactly what i am buying and dont like surprises. However, the stuff i have bought at the store has been nice and they gave me a really sweet deal on the very very nice blonde naso i got there.

[sdah0414]

As for the bait and switch accusations, that's a pretty serious accusation. The rules say limit one on the high end frags. Seems, to me at least, you were trying to circumvent the rules by placing multiple small orders to get multiple limit one's. The "exact wording" may not have explicitly said limit one per order, but I think the average consumer would naturally think that limit one meant limit one per customer. I see no issue with canceling your order for that reason. I know multiple people were interested in the hornets for $10. If he allowed everyone to place multiple small orders like you were trying, only a couple of people would get them and you'd see other discussions on here about how he didn't have what he advertised. Seems like a no win situation...

 

I'm not familiar with the inner workings of paypal, so I can't speak to whether or not it's his fault. 3 months does sound like a long time for a resolution though.

 

Sometimes I wonder why he bothers being a WAMAS vendor. It's fairly obvious that a lot of people on this forum have it out to hurt his business. (Not saying this post has that intent, but I believe others are) Same discussion over and over.

[mrcoral.com]

I'm not even going to bother posting what really happened. Dave was told over and over to stop ordering from me and he kept doing it?? Ask yourself why? Because he knew he could not find a better deal anywhere in the country. I mean come on who would keep coming back for more and more if I was so bad. Dave of course!! This guy made us fine tune every rule we had because he kept trying to take advantage of us and you guys!!! Then he got mad because I mention he got the Hornets? I wonder why? He wanted to sell them to you guys and make money!!! People like this makes me want to get out of the business. If you believe this trash please don't come in the store. I'm not going to go back and fourth with this. You guys don't understand the work we have put in to give you guys the best deal in the hobby. If you really believe this stuff I would never step into Mrcoral again!!!

 

Anyone who wants the truth just come on in and I will be happy to tell you what we had to deal with.

 

Goodnight

 

Sonny

Edited December 18, 2010 by mrcoral.com

[DaveS]

Did I keep ordering? Sure, I have absolutely no problem admitting it. As others have pointed out, I have a problem- I'm a coral junkie. Sonny is the drug dealer and customers like me are his addicts. If we don’t like that arrangement he likes to cut us off! As demonstrated in #17, he has enjoyed doing that with others.

 

As I said before, yes MC does do have the best coral prices in the country (doesn't necessarily mean best deal after you take into account survivability and other factors). It was a consensual business relationship based on the understanding that the refunds would be worked out later. How many times have we heard Sonny say "I'll take care of you!" I continued to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

But I digress. Sonny, please provide facts instead of rhetoric. If you have any relevant facts, please feel free to provide them. Please let me know how people who buy corals like those hornets, grow/frag them, and try to sell them "makes [you] want to get out of the business." I'm curious how finding flaws a system is bad. Numerous professions such as legal, accounting and computer security are based on exactly this.

 

Please feel free to explain things here. This forum and entire club is designed for situations just like this so EVERYONE can get answers. They shouldn't have to drive up to Frederick to get your side of the story.

Edited December 18, 2010 by dbartco
Took out an off-topic sentence.

[mrcoral.com]

When I state people like you make me want to get out what I mean is this so I'm clear.

 

People who over and over try to work around the system to take advantage of a store that is trying to bring deals to there customsers. Let's be clear here!! I'm not in business for someone to work around the system and try to take advantage of me. That is why I did not want your business and you keep coming and coming and coming!! Our goal is for everyone to be able to enjoy the corals not just one person!! I want everyone to be able to get hornets not just one person. Why did you have to get all the Hornets? Enjoy the deals not make me think twice about bringing in the deals.

 

Not even sure why I'm even responding to this. I said I would not but now I'm so pissed at this. I don't care what you say and how bad you bash me people like you I refuse to deal with. As I stated if people want to know what really went down and all the headaches I have got over this just let me know. We had to change rules on the site just because of this guy UNREAL MAN!! I wish you luck in the future Dave. I really think you are a nice guys but as a customer you are by far too difficult. You keep trying to get around the system that was not cool.

 

 

Also, on another point if you guys see something on the site just order it and come pick up. We have loaded up the $10 tubs just like the online site. We got hit so hard with this deal we are finally getting caught up.

 

Good night again and Dave I will no longer respond I promise this time. You are a truly amazing person. If a store told me they don't want my business I would never go back but man you must be a coral Junkie because you order so many times and we hated it every time you did. That is the truth. I'm glad you are finally not a customer. We never have had a customer like you!! I know it sounds crazy guys with this type of economy but I refuse to take money from someone like this and he kept throwing it at me and telling me how I should be running my business. That should tell you something right there on the type of person we are dealing with and the deals I'm binging in.

 

I know Dave has a bunch of buddies on the board and that fine but ask yourself this. How good can Sonny's deals be if Dave keep going back and back even after the owner told him to stop!! If you would like to give me a chance come on in and let me show you why Dave keep buying and buying.

[Prunfarm]

My $0.02. It has become apparent that this is no longer a 'Vendor Experience' thread, but a personal vendetta under the guise of helping the common man; "But in the end I realized that the ones who would be hurt by my deleting this are WAMAS members and the organization itself. The whole idea of WAMAS is to HELP the hobbyist." Ok, you've given your experience. No need to beat this dead horse any longer, and teach us how legal, accounting, and computer security firms are based. I read your explanation of why it took 4 months to post this, but these same firms that you speak of would not wait 4 months to take action on something. The wait makes it seem more like a personal issue to me.

I don't know much about the inner workings of PP. Hopefully all of that is worked out. I'm not going to even try to determine who is at fault here, I really don't care. I have had good experiences dealing w/ Sonny, and with this website. It just irritates me when I read things like, "I'm curious how finding flaws a system is bad." Now I know why they write CAUTION CONTENTS HOT on coffee cups. This thread started with facts and ended with rhetoric. Let's put a fork in it.

[ErikS]

My $0.02. It has become apparent that this is no longer a 'Vendor Experience' thread, but a personal vendetta under the guise of helping the common man; "But in the end I realized that the ones who would be hurt by my deleting this are WAMAS members and the organization itself. The whole idea of WAMAS is to HELP the hobbyist." Ok, you've given your experience............ Let's put a fork in it.

Vendetta? Don't think so, a vendetta would be to find every thread & post "stay away"...........that's my .02.

 

Threads like this always run out of steam, it's just the way of the forums. The advantage of length is that by the time they've run their course readers get a good idea of who's talking out their hind parts. Sooner or later it always comes out who's really "at fault" (if one could say that) - it can go either way, vendor or consumer.

 

I'm an adult, I can read & form my own opinions. Sometimes I think "buyer beware" other times I think "what a PITA customer". I've bought stuff that doesn't have 100% great reviews - it's because I read the reviews and 1) accept the known flaws 2) figure it's the consumer's issue. I'd rather make an informed decision.

 

I see Dave was trying to skate a bit (multiple orders) but the way it was handled seems poor also. What I learned from this? Don't drive there, what's online is not in the store. Like gwweber I'm a hands on kind of buyer. This information was valuable to me...........it's the holiday break for me, I know I'll take a drive up there! Not find the same selection? I'd be annoyed - might even give a larger audience "the heads up". But now I know, which I'm okay with...........as long as I know.

 

I'd rather have the information and make my own decision than to have it swept under the carpet...........to me that does let the club down, if not sharing experiences then what are we doing?

Edited December 18, 2010 by Origami2547
Removed personal reference

[mrcoral.com]

My 2 cents!! We have 2 8 foot tubs loaded with $10 frags and expanding to the next tub this week. If you want a certain item please order it online and pick it up or we can ship for free over $50.00.

 

What are others Stores doing? What are they charging I can tell you it is not $10.00. It is funny whenever we mention Mrcoral that somehow stories are created. From your post Erik it seems like Mrcoral does not have any $10 frags in his store and not worth the drive. I take offense to that. The truth is we have more frags then all the stores on Wamas combined and there $10.00!! THAT IS THE TRUTH. So worth the trip? I would say so.

 

Again, if you see items online and you have to have it order it for sure.

 

What else can I do guys?

 

I go way over what all other vendors do and I get bashed.

 

I give you $10 corals.

 

I give you the largest selections of Frags in the area.

 

I offer Free shipping over $50

 

I offer 20% off reg price items for Wamas more then any other store.

Edited December 18, 2010 by mrcoral.com

[Prunfarm]

Well, you certainly did form you own opinion. I obviously wasn't picking sides, just stating that the thread has derailed. Maybe you can see why I see this thread turning into an attack, when the OP says that $50 isn't a big deal to him. I have no problems with sharing experiences, but to lecture someone about their business practice is not sharing experiences.

Edited December 18, 2010 by Origami2547
Removed reference to personal reference.

[Origami]

Did somebody say, "Put a fork in it?" I agree.

 

Thread closed.

 

If the original poster wants to post a follow-up, please PM me or one of the mods, and we'll re-open it for you. For others: If you have vendor experiences of your own that you want to share, please do so in another thread.