Beware Of AquaTraders

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L

Lantz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 24, 2009
68
0
6
Alabama
I found what could have been a very good deal on a light from AquaTraders
http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-4x54W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-Pro-Series-p/52211.htm
When it arrived it wasn't packaged well at all and was broken, (Bulb, Connector, Cover) not to big of a deal until I called their customer service, they said the light bulbs were a free item? and not covered, I thought I just paid for the whole damn thing? so I bought another one like a fool ( I couldn't find a t5 54 watt anywhere) and it came with a flimsy box bend in half with my bulb in it :cry:
Again Aquatraders customer service was very little help saying they would submit a claim to UPS, why they didn't do this the first time still puzzles me or maybe they did and kept the money.
So one month later I still have a light that is broken and paid extra for a second bulb & shipping. after all this figured in It would have been cheaper to buy one from my local fish store plus I would have one that worked!
Here's some pictures:
BrokenLight.jpg


The replacment

broken%20light%20003.jpg


I just wanted to save anyone else from having to deal with this company's customer service.
 
almost all the dealers that sell oddysea stuff say that, even ebay ones say that you gotta read the whole description.

oddysea bulbs are crap anyway so no real a loss.
 
Agreed, definitely don't buy lights from these guys. I bought a jebo 110W CF unit from them several years ago which seemed like a screaming deal. I called them before ordering to specifically ask whether the bulbs were connected using waterresistant end caps, to which they replied "yes, yes, end caps!". I also asked if they could send it with 6500K bulbs since I was going to be using it on a freshwater setup and they agreed.

So I ordered the light, only to find that it arrived with a white (maybe 10000K?) and a blue (not actinic, just blue) bulb. Plus, the bulbs were connected with wires and electrical tape. Plus the overall light output seemed very dim for 110 watts, but I guess that didn't really matter since the ballast crapped out in a couple of days anyway. I called aquatraders to complain but didn't really get anywhere with customer service.

I ended up gutting the fixture and using it as a nice housing for a single 55W AHsupply kit which ended up looking at least 2X as bright as the original 110W fixture and was certainly much less of an electrical fire hazard.

I guess overall I think both Aquatraders and Jebo light fixtures suck.
 
If it costs half as much as the well known brands, there is a reason.
 
Lowes has T5NO fixtures, the bulbs are 28W instead of 54.
 
I've posted on another thread that Aquatraders are the worst. The main guy in charge of things they sell is named Elvis. He sells cheap China made crap and buyer beware. Any time someone has a problem with their products, you have to jump thru hoops just to get them to listen much less replace your broken product. I've been there and nothing has a guarantee. He actually have to run a filter while it's dry just to show you that it works and any problems are the customers. Beware of Odysea, and other cheap China made products. You get what you pay for.

The Doctor
 
Are we talking about AquaTraders in San Bruno, Ca.?
 
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