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$175.00 gift certificate from Mobile Aquatic worth nothing

Orion

Orion

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At BAYMAC I won a gift certificate from Mobile Aquatic for $175.00. So, I contacted Richard from Mobile Aquatics on May 18, 2010 and I got a reply from him (same day). I sent him a list of the corals I was interested in and he finally replied again on June 1, 2010. At this point he asked me to cover the shipping which was not a problem. After going back and forth with a few phone calls I forwarded to him a payment for the shipping on July 18, 2010. I also sent him a message as to what day to ship the corals as per his instructions. Finally on July 22, 2010 I called him and he told me that he was closing down his business due to getting a job. He said he will do his best to send me the corals and will call me to let me know when he will ship them or refund my shipping payment. Well, I have not heard from him so I called him again on July 29, 2010 and left him a message to call me back. No phone call at all. On July 31, 2010 I got an email from PayPal letting me know that a refund from Mobile Aquatics has been credited back to my acct.



Well I am a little disappointed since I have won a gift certificate and now it is worth nothing. It seems to me that Mobile Aquatic was a small shop run from a garage. It would be nice in the future to have sponsors that are going to be more reliable donating prizes for the raffle tickets. Mostly I needed to vent since I was very excited to have won something good at BAYMAC and looking forward to have some nice corals added to my tank collection.
 
This is a mixed bag..I'm sad for you that you didn't get something out of it. I'm also sad that Richard is out of that part of the business (some of my first good corals are from him and I still love em).

n the other hand, I'm glad he refunded you (not typical of businesses closing up shop). I'm also happy for Richard (assuming it is a move he wanted and is happy with) with his new career.
 
Yeowch man that sucks. Its one thing to have a $20 gift certificate be worthless, but $175 is a huge chunk of change.

I mean there are some good coral farmers who literally grow out of their garage (keeps overhead WAY down), some are good, some not so good. He had to be doing decent business though to be able to fork over a $175 gift though.
 
Gus,
a friend forward this to me so i can get a chance to reply. For starters there was only to be TWO PRIZES dontated for BAYMAC, but three were chosen. The first was honored at the show. The second was a few weeks after the event. Yours you had contacted me yes but honeslty you were very slow to reply. I am not saying I am a perfect person by anymeans. As I told you over the phone I have been very busy with a new job and as i close up my company.
I can not take personal calls at work nor conduct my other business there so comunication right now is off. To make things even better my personel phone screen is out due to droping the phone in water so i can not read my screen 85%of the time to make things even more challenging. so as you called me the second time at my office i thought i had informed you that i was going to refund you. Well i guess that was not good enough. Should i refund your raffle ticket cost as well. I dont want this to get into an arguement about what when on at what time lines but communication and follow thru was not the best on both sides of this matter. Once again I am sorry things did not work out on your end but you have again been refunded for the shipping cost on a prize that you won 3 plus months ago. If i can get my new employer to represent me there next year I will be there again and perhaps as a courtesy bring you a few frags then as a gesture. presently with the new job i can not even thing of having the time to run to fed x. I have been on the road 4 out of 5 days this week and now working at a trade show all weekend. So the remaining time is my personal time and well earned. I hope you understand.

Richard
 
that sucks man, espicially since it seems like you were trying to jump right on it and he was just dragging, hell you only waited like 10 days from the event to ask about using it and he delayed delayed delayed and then said tuff luck, and as far as refunding the shipping he really had no choice, paypal would have refunded that without him doing a thing based on the fact he never sent any products to you.

I hate ppl who do business like this, this is really whats wrong with our whole business systems, if you say your going to do something then do it, he handed out the GC and thus should have honored it, hell if anything he shoulda thrown in some extras since he was closeing up shop
 
I think this is sad on all accounts. Trying desperately not to side with anyone, I think a business going down is higher on the totem pole for my regrets. Seriously, if he gave $175 * 3, that's $525 dollars donated to Baymac's attendees. At the same time, the thought of winning a prize that is null and void is pretty horrible too.

It sounds like both parties were trying to make things right but the realities of today's economy reared its ugly head.
 
Perhaps some of it, however, Richard has a (or had) a pretty extensive collection of oddball LPS though.

For me I feel for both sides, Gus being let down after getting all jazzed up on getting some new coral, and Richard, a friend, hanging up his hat and leaving the service business (that hits very close to home). The coral sales were there to bolster income due to the service business not being very lucrative in the area where Richard was working.

I wish both parties the best and hope that the closure can be amicable.
 
Is this the same person/company?

http://www.mobileaquatic.com/index.html

They had some really cool stuff....but should take down the website if it's them......

-Gregory
 
Gregory, it's a him, a one man show doing service and running an etail business, I'm sure he'll take it down soon, but I'd imagine at this point he has an incredible amount of stuff on his plate.

Richard is a good man, sometimes things happen in a fashion that causes you to prioritize in a fashion that is not always ideal, but is best for advancing your life.
 
Bummer I found out about him too late...there's SEVERAL corals on that site I'd pick up in a hot New York minute.....Damn! Any chance that Dragon Soul Favia or Green and Red Aussie Maze are in DBTC?

-Gregory
 
I feel you guys from a friend persective, but hoestly BAYMAC was May 8th, 10 days later he was contacting him, and the guy waited another 2 weeks to even tell him he needed for gus to pay shipping, if the business was going down the tubes why not just say that then, something like

"I will be closing my business soon, if you want to use the GC pick right away and send shipping money so I don't have to occur any costs, if you don't it will be no good"

But the whole idea that he did some time good buy refunding the shipping money for something he never shipped is outrageous, shit I wish someone would do that shit to me, I know I better not see they ass at any other events if they screwed me outta my money, of closing their business will be the last thing on their mind
 
Orion said:
It seems to me that Mobile Aquatic was a small shop run from a garage. It would be nice in the future to have sponsors that are going to be more reliable donating prizes for the raffle tickets.
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It was as was every single dealer at BAYMAC besides 3. Yes, 3/4 of them are run out of a garage, that is how most etailers do it.
I can not even fathom how you are even putting any of this on me. How pray tell do you suggest I should have vetted out who might be getting a new job in the future so I could REFUSE their kind donation to the raffle? Sorry this rather pisses me off given how much work I put into getting those donations, and giving every single penny to the clubs? What did I get out of BAYMAC, a BILL.

Roc said:
I feel you guys from a friend persective, but hoestly BAYMAC was May 8th, 10 days later he was contacting him, and the guy waited another 2 weeks to even tell him he needed for gus to pay shipping, if the business was going down the tubes why not just say that then, something like

"I will be closing my business soon, if you want to use the GC pick right away and send shipping money so I don't have to occur any costs, if you don't it will be no good"

But the whole idea that he did some time good buy refunding the shipping money for something he never shipped is outrageous, shit I wish someone would do that shit to me, I know I better not see they ass at any other events if they screwed me outta my money, of closing their business will be the last thing on their mind
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Violence, even the suggestion of threatening violence, is not welcome at BAYMAC.

Sorry but it was clearly noted on the raffle tub and on the website "(2) $175 Gift Certificates (does not include shipping)". I printed the raffle bin description myself and it as well said the same thing. I am also pretty sure Richard, when he asked for shipping money, was not hired in his new position.

http://thebaymac.com/?q=node/7
 
Roc said:
I feel you guys from a friend persective, but hoestly BAYMAC was May 8th, 10 days later he was contacting him, and the guy waited another 2 weeks to even tell him he needed for gus to pay shipping, if the business was going down the tubes why not just say that then, something like

"I will be closing my business soon, if you want to use the GC pick right away and send shipping money so I don't have to occur any costs, if you don't it will be no good"

But the whole idea that he did some time good buy refunding the shipping money for something he never shipped is outrageous, shit I wish someone would do that shit to me, I know I better not see they ass at any other events if they screwed me outta my money, of closing their business will be the last thing on their mind
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Imus, I suggest you reword your post, it only makes you and the forum you are posting on look sophomoric and petty.

The rest of us are actively looking for a solution and you are taking a threatening tone regarding a transaction you are not involved in, that is unacceptable AFA I'm concerned and in no way is representative of the club. If choose not to edit your post I will do it for you, however, I would like to give you the opportunity first.

Thanks
 
Yikes man, really. It's not like he took $175 bucks plus shipping and only returned the shipping. Its just coral man, the shit grows, in some case quite weedy, there will be more out there.
 
tuberider said:
Imus, I suggest you reword your post, it only makes you and the forum you are posting on look sophomoric and petty.

The rest of us are actively looking for a solution and you are taking a threatening tone regarding a transaction you are not involved in, that is unacceptable AFA I'm concerned and in no way is representative of the club. If choose not to edit your post I will do it for you, however, I would like to give you the opportunity first.

Thanks
Click to expand...

if you want to reword it please do, remember to reword the quotes of the post as well.

I haven't threatened anyone BTW, I said what would happen if someone refused to give me back my MONEY ((nothing about the 175.00) I paid for shipping, how I would act if I saw them in public, if that removes me from an event well Thats sad that we as a group of ppl bent of NOT screwing ppl over would side with a guy who DID rip someone off

Remember orginal post and here we are talking about the notation that he was generous or special for returning a paypal transaction for shipping...........
 
Let's get something really clear.

First, Gresham: I did not nor I am putting any of this on you. As for the shipping I did not complained about paying for it. It was and is clear to me that when you win something not matter what it is you are always responsible to cover S&H charges.

Second, Richard: I understand your situation and I know how hard sometimes it gets trying to manage personal life with bussiness. I am selfemployed and I make sure that when I go to bed I have done my best to get back to my clients either by email, text or a phone call.

And last but not least, it is just a dissapoitment that, after winning something nice and getting all happy, is gone.

Mike, you said "it is only coral and that shit grows". It might be true what you have said but It is the principal behind. I am not asking anyone here to hand me over anything because of this. I could wait until something that I will be interested is on DBTC or as I have done most of the time buy my corals from my LFS.

Like I said in the original post I just needed to vent and if any one felt offended that was not the original intention and I apologize.
 
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