River City Aquatics

[SoLiD]

Not once have they ever tried to "push the envelope to make the quick buck", quite the opposite, in fact.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply River City Aquatics practiced this method of up selling. I said I've seen another store do this (right in front of me). It rhymes with Ets Art in my home town of Corpus Christi.

[SoLiD]

Carlos, Misti, & Staff "Just keep on keeping on and you'll see, good things will happen to you." -Joe Dirt

[bozack]

I am even surprised this thread went 3 pages.
I think we all know River City wouldn't even have to defend their position because we know they are in an elite class by themselves.

It's great to have them, (Misti, Carlos etc) so local.

[longhorna95]

I have been to RCA a few times and every one there is very knowegable and havent tried to "just make a buck" on me. I bout some zoo's from them also and they are doing great! just some personal info I thought I would through out there.

[cseger]

Wow.

I feel like its 2002 and I have just questioned the competency of the Bush administration.

Carlos is correct to some degree in his post on this subject. Due to an unmanageable hair algae infestation, and after trying every solution I could think of, I consulted with River City Aquatics about what my last option would be. After paying for them to come to my house and look at the situation it was determined that all I could do was take all of the rock that did not have coral on it out of my tank and leave it out for a couple of weeks to kill everything on it, which I did.

After the two weeks were up I once again had them come out to the house because I wanted an expert to handle reintroducing the rock and make sure that the hair algae had been completely eradicated. I assumed that they would not do anything harmful and explained to them that I would be out of town for a week immediately following the procedure.

They completed the process and I went out of town the next day.

When I came back, all of the remaining coral in my tank had died. I checked the water, and my nitrites were at about 2.5 – 3 ppm and nitrates were around 2.0. I did not have an ammonia test kit at the time, having not had a problem with that, nitrates or nitrites for several years.

I took a sample of my water to another shop and was told that my ammonia levels were high as well. I asked how this could be and the person there explained that after everything had died off on my rock it had still left behind biological debris. When reintroduced into the aquarium, this debris decayed, causing the drastically increased levels of harmful chemicals in my water.

This is precisely the sort of thing that I had hired RCA to prevent. I assumed that since I had explained to them my situation (including the fact that I was going out of town) and they had consulted with me that they would handle this process professionally and would notify me of any special tasks that I would need to do. Apparently neither of these things happened.

I have posted this because up until this point I have had nothing but a positive experience with RCA. I have spent thousands of dollars there over the years and have depended on them for advice. The staff people have always been very friendly and helpful. However, when this incident happened I was shown a different side of Carlos. Thinking that the deaths in my tank were their fault, but not wanting to be mean, I left a message for Carlos to call me because I thought that since the cost of one of the 2 days service they had rendered was roughly equal to the value of the livestock I had lost we should just call it even. (I had already paid for the first service call.) After not hearing back from him I went in person one day to talk to him. I brought a water sample for them to test as well. Carlos wasn’t there, but Jake was very helpful. He tested my water and was his usual honest self when I asked if I needed a certain product, telling me that it was unnecessary. I asked him to tell Carlos that I had stopped by and would like to talk to him.

I received this email later that week:

Chad,

It was brought to my attention that you stopped by our store the other day to have your water tested. Unfortunately I will have to ask that you do not return to RCA until your balance is paid in full. I understand that, through the advice of another fish store, you have decided that RCA was at fault for your losses while you were on vacation and that “we should just call it even”. I do not think we are even. The losses you experienced had nothing to do with the work we performed on the aquarium. The fact that you are refusing to pay and yet still come in for free water testing is a little disturbing.
If you would like to discuss this further please mail a check for the total balance of $168.29. Once we have received payment I would be happy to call or email you and discuss what happened to your tank. Until we receive payment I will ask you not visit or call RCA.

River City Aquatics
12108 Roxie Dr. Suite A
Austin, Texas 78729

I responded to this email trying to explain my point of view but received no response. The fact that he won’t even talk to me about this before I pay him seems very unfair to me. I had come to expect a higher degree of customer service from RCA. I found the entire situation very frustrating and so posted my experience here.

I understand if people want to believe someone that they have a history with over a newcomer. That is human nature. If Carlos wants to dispute any of the assertions above I am sure you will take his word over mine. I just needed to have a place to express my frustration about a situation in which I felt I was wronged and thought that the “Vendor and Product Experiences” section of an open forum was an appropriate place to do so.

That’s all I have to say about that.

[SoLiD]

I am even surprised this thread went 3 pages.

Hmmm. It's still only 1 page on mine. Go to your User CP>Edit Options>Thread Display Options>Number of Posts to Show Per Page, & change it to "Show 40 Posts Per Page.

Sorry Off Topic.

-David

[bozack]

OK, how about I am surprised the thread didn't get locked when a sponsor gets bashed by a new user??
Nothing ever good comes from it but I do find it funny how the newer generations find that they must vent online. Probably the same people with crazy myspace pages and when they apply for corporate jobs they wonder why they don't get hired, LOL.

Good advice on the user settings though, just changed. Thanks

[JimD]

"I understand if people want to believe someone that they have a history with over a newcomer. That is human nature. If Carlos wants to dispute any of the assertions above I am sure you will take his word over mine. I just needed to have a place to express my frustration about a situation in which I felt I was wronged and thought that the “Vendor and Product Experiences” section of an open forum was an appropriate place to do so."

This is the appropriate place and you are entitled to express your experiences and you have done so in a non aggressive manner. These types of scenerios are very touchy and need to be handled with respect and courtesy for both partys. I see no reason to close this thread at this time, as long as it remains a discussion with hopes for resolution, I, myself will not close it. Just be aware that most of the sponsors here will typicly be defended by the members and choosing your words carefuly will go a long way...

[bigmoe21]

did you sign some sort or work/service agreement freeing them from liability of loss fish, etc..usually if you are going to schedule service from a store i think there would be some sort of pre-disclosed agreement, was there? so that, if your livestock did end up dying during or after they visited, you could not hold them liable. just curious and not trying to start trouble..

[ErikH]

Personally, it sounds like that tank was not being taken care of properly in the first place. What if all that stressed a fish and caused it to die? What if your water quality prior to this was the cause of death to a fish and THAT caused the downward spiral of your already problem tank? Would it not have been wiser to have RCA come in much earlier to do service? To me it sounds like you are looking for a fall guy, and Carlos is it. His manner in the letter is completely appropriate, and after a week of being gone, it is next to impossible to say that the rock was the entire cause of your tank crash. Did you forget to leave the A/C on, and one day, your fish died? There are too many ifs ands or buts from your side to determine that RCA was at fault in any way. Welcome to MAAST, sorry for your bad experience, and thank you for handling yourself the way you have. You do have every right to be upset, but most people cringe at leaving their tanks for days at a time, not a week. Who fed your fish?