PK3 October 18, 2018 October 18, 2018 Anyone know where Brandon from Pure Reef Systems is? I’ve been trying to get a hold of him and haven’t gotten a response in a while.
Origami October 18, 2018 October 18, 2018 These were in a post from earlier this year. Have you tried either? sales@purereefsystems.com 703-887-5951
PK3 October 18, 2018 Author October 18, 2018 That’s the number I have. I’ve been texting with him for a while, but the communication fell off over the past few weeks and I was just wondering if he’s on vacation or something else.
Origami October 18, 2018 October 18, 2018 That’s the number I have. I’ve been texting with him for a while, but the communication fell off over the past few weeks and I was just wondering if he’s on vacation or something else. That I don't know. I've not reached out to him myself for a few months now.
gioNVA October 18, 2018 October 18, 2018 I gave up on him. He promised to make me a sump and it would be ready by two weeks. Then had an excuse of white pvc sheets not available and it will be another two weeks so he can order them. After another two weeks, he said still no pvc so I said make it in gray (he said he had it available) and the sump would be done. Waited another few weeks and then he stopped responding. Basically just wasted about two months waiting for a sump to be made. Hopefully things are ok with him as we need local builders but I wouldn't recommend him based on my experience.
Origami October 19, 2018 October 19, 2018 I gave up on him. He promised to make me a sump and it would be ready by two weeks. Then had an excuse of white pvc sheets not available and it will be another two weeks so he can order them. After another two weeks, he said still no pvc so I said make it in gray (he said he had it available) and the sump would be done. Waited another few weeks and then he stopped responding. Basically just wasted about two months waiting for a sump to be made. Hopefully things are ok with him as we need local builders but I wouldn't recommend him based on my experience. Thanks for the feedback, Francis. I'll pass it on.
PK3 October 19, 2018 Author October 19, 2018 I gave up on him. He promised to make me a sump and it would be ready by two weeks. Then had an excuse of white pvc sheets not available and it will be another two weeks so he can order them. After another two weeks, he said still no pvc so I said make it in gray (he said he had it available) and the sump would be done. Waited another few weeks and then he stopped responding. Basically just wasted about two months waiting for a sump to be made. Hopefully things are ok with him as we need local builders but I wouldn't recommend him based on my experience. This has been my exact same experience, except I've been waiting for 6 months. It's not like I was in any rush, but I would check in every two weeks or so and at least get a response (even if the content of the response never came to fruition). I haven't gotten a response to a few texts in the past month or so, so I figured I'd check with others to see if they've been in contact and know his whereabouts.
AquaHaus October 22, 2018 October 22, 2018 Same experience for me. Won a raffle GC at last winter meeting, reached out and have been waiting ever since. Same replies about supply shortage and vacation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
GraffitiSpotCorals October 24, 2018 October 24, 2018 Same experience for me but worse than everyone else. Paid for a custom skimmer and gave me a date which never happened, later dates, then later dates, with excuses to follow and shortages on stock to blame. Then he got really angry that I was trying to contact him, big argument happened in person at my house, when he came over with a hostile take it or leave it attitude. I don't even like thinking about the experience or sharing about it, it messed up my head really good. It was before he was even on wamas. Sad part was I paid in advance and I know of three people who had all of their products built and delivered many months before I ever saw a sign that mine was being started. I couldn't even find out any information on him when I was looking, it was like he was trying to hide from me. My tank crashed eventually because I had no skimmer and the bank had to get my money back by persueing fraud. Lucky I got most of it back. But the time and energy I spent trying to talk to him wasn't even worth the money in the end. I wish I knew people were still having issues or I would have tried to warn others. Imo wamas should not let him sell here, I don't care how good his products are. Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
mogurnda October 24, 2018 October 24, 2018 Holy cow! I thought I was the only one. I had an awful experience with these guys back in 2016. I needed two holding tanks and two I-mazes (think narrow acrylic troughs) for research in Mexico in 2016. Because the equipment needed to be shipped to San Diego, and then put into a van to get to the field station, I had a very firm drop dead date. I made this clear when I placed the order. I placed the order on the last week of April. I also added a couple of 16" cubes to the order in mid-May, and they appeared willing to produce those as well (with the caveat that it was impossible to get more than a sentence out of them over email). As the deadline approached, my emails from the time show a series of requests for information from me, followed by silence or excuses from them. After they missed the final deadline for shipping on June 14, I sent a desperate message. I got a message back about how hard it is to make a tank that looks perfect, and that I should go to someone else if I needed it sooner. These tanks were going to a garage in Baja, why would I need perfection? What do these clowns think a deadline means? In desperation, I contacted Glass Cages, who got the tanks done and shipped to San Diego in the nick of time, without a hiccup. It was great to work with actual professionals. I never posted any feedback, because I did not want to seem like a whiner. Pure Reef seems to make beautiful sumps, but, to be as charitable as possible, they are not businessmen. I guess I was lucky that I only lost sleep worrying about whether I would be able to do my research, and that their lack of professionalism did not cost money as well.
GraffitiSpotCorals October 24, 2018 October 24, 2018 Thanks for sharing, I feel bad other wamas members were strung along as well. I hope others that had experiences like this post, so no one has to go through what me and my wife went through. Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
Origami October 25, 2018 October 25, 2018 Awful. I had no idea this was going on.... It's disheartening to hear that there were issues going back to 2016 and earlier.
GraffitiSpotCorals November 19, 2018 November 19, 2018 Pk3 and gio, did you guys ever get a hold of him? Anyone else still have money in something he is making for you with no responses back? Looks like he is off the vendor list now. I hope no one gave him cash...Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
gioNVA November 19, 2018 November 19, 2018 No, i stopped attempting to contact him. Thank goodness I didn't have any money in it.
PK3 November 20, 2018 Author November 20, 2018 Fortunately I didn’t have any money in with him either. He’s stopped responding to my texts altogether. I’ve pretty much moved on. Unbelievable.
GraffitiSpotCorals November 20, 2018 November 20, 2018 Ok good to hear neither of you had money in anything. I wonder how many people had issues altogether during this whole time.Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
Blue Tang Clan December 27, 2018 December 27, 2018 I was in off-and-on again contact, looking to have a PVC sump made. I've seen some of his work and it's pretty bada$$ so I hope he does resurface from vacation, personal struggles or whatever.
zygote2k January 29, 2019 January 29, 2019 FWIW, I’ve known him for 25 years and he has always delivered on his promises. There have been delays but he’s always kept his word and he makes high quality components. Theres way more to the story that’s being told here by some members- I know of some of the details and I think people are throwing him under the bus.
gioNVA January 29, 2019 January 29, 2019 I for one am not throwing him under the bus. I contacted him on Apr 11, 2018 to get a sump built. Said he was going to order materials. When my deadline came, he said he needed more materials. Told me 3 weeks to completion. After 3 weeks, said white pvc is not available. So I said just go ahead and make it in gray since that is what he had available. May 10, 2018, he said assembly on sump has started. On May 22, he said frosted acrylic was shipped by mistake instead of clear. He told me new acrylic will be delivered on May 29 and he won't be back in his shop until the following week. I waited another week and he said it's still not complete. Asked him how much longer, he said another 2 weeks. Contacted him again on June 27 and he disappeared. Have all the text messages so there is no other story other than he failed to deliver. If there's more to his story, then he should address it.
mogurnda January 29, 2019 January 29, 2019 1 hour ago, zygote2k said: FWIW, I’ve known him for 25 years and he has always delivered on his promises. There have been delays but he’s always kept his word and he makes high quality components. Theres way more to the story that’s being told here by some members- I know of some of the details and I think people are throwing him under the bus. This is why I hesitated to post anything. No matter how bad a businessman is, someone will defend them. I stand by every detail of my story, and have the emails to prove it. I eagerly await additional details. If he has been thrown under the bus, he earned it.
PK3 January 29, 2019 Author January 29, 2019 My intention was never to throw anyone under the bus. I was simply asking if anyone knew where he was because his responses to me were always very prompt, but then they started to fall off. It wasn't until others responded that I realized the facts they laid out were exactly the same as my experience. My communication to him has always been cordial, patient and understanding. Like gioNVA, I waited for over 6 months and never received a product. There's really nothing more to this story. I would love for him to deliver on his promise and would still be willing to take delivery.
Origami January 29, 2019 January 29, 2019 Your first-person feedback is welcome here. It sounds like repeated attempts were made in multiple instances to make contact and to close the loop on pending orders/needs. Offering your experience and seeing it backed up by similar experiences is valuable to the community. I would hardly characterize it as "throwing somebody under the bus." It's not piling on if these were all separate and indepenent, but similar, experiences repeated over time.
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