Bad Product Reviews / Discount Specials

[dvbrien]

This is not an a slam thread but a critical thinking, want to know thread.

There are a lot of options for every product that this company sells... and Ryan proudly touts his objectivity and his selection based on quality, reliability and safety. We've heard this many many times on video where he compares products that are cheaper to options and products he/BRS sells.

So, why does BRS continue to sell some products that they know is bad quality? Reading the reviews on BRS of so many products that arrive defective, are manufactured poorly, or break well within the warranty period, specifically in my case a SKIMZ skimmer. Half of them have no reviews it seems and those that do, half of the reviews are horrible. From pump failure to just plain build quality.
Recently, half of all the stuff dumped on "clearance" looks to be junk based on the multiple reviews. I have never had a critical word to say about BRS and they have always treated me fairly, but there are a lot of people who will just buy stuff and never return it or even say anything about a bad product... is this the target audience ? I just don't understand why BRS would continue to sell bad stuff when you have a review system in place to catch bad products. You should return them to the manufacturer who needs to own the responsibility of making the bad products instead of dumping them on the public for a marked up "discount". I purchased a skimmer a few days ago for "50% off" at $380 and I have never regretted a purchase more than this...

Ever!

Out of the box, it's very obvious that this is not a quality product. The bonding glue work is shotty filled with air bubbles, there was a lot of acrylic and plastic shrapnel in the skimmer that floated out when cleaning it... I later put it in the sump and the motor housing to the unit that houses the needle wheel has a big air leak... I'm not interested in fixing a brand new product like I've read so many others have. Can I ? Yes, but I refuse. Its new and the problem falls on the vendor / manufacture. The return process is easy but I don't want a replacement SKIMZ. I don't want to pay a restocking fee. There are some instances where products need to be put in use before determining success or failure, which conflicts with the return policy of having been in water. I think it's really disappointing that anyone is having to deal with this brand. I'm sure there are many success stories, but these problems are not an isolated incident, it's wide spread with multiple issues according to reviews. I feel BRS isn't considering the amount of people who have bought these and those who will have issues. This was supposed to be about making thing fun and easy. I borderline fell betrayed that these were discounted knowing all the issues instead of being returned to the makers... and for those that paid $700 + for this skimmer or others in this lineup, I am sorry for your loss... BRS has a responsibility to the public. You may not know us, but we know you and we take your opinions and product selections seriously as you see and test more than any 1 party can. So that wraps up my concern. I'm not mad, just really disappointed. I sold a really great SRO-5000Int for this skimmer. It was a huge mistake.

 

[rtparty]

When someone has a negative experience they will tell 17 people (somewhere around there) but when they have a positive experience they will tell 3.

Did you contact BRS about returning your skimmer and the problems with it? If so, what did they say?

 

[Gareth elliott]

When someone has a negative experience they will tell 17 people (somewhere around there) but when they have a positive experience they will tell 3.

Did you contact BRS about returning your skimmer and the problems with it? If so, what did they say?

I think the percentages are even lower for good reviews. Most good sales experiences the customer will tell 1 person for every 3 that they have. Think of the last time you had a great waiter, how many times have you ever gone and wrote about it or how many people did you tell about it. Why advertising costs so much, especially on items the average customer may only ever buy one every several years.

 

[Fishfinder]

I don’t think it’s about selling junk products. It’s about options. Not everyone wants the same product, not everyone wants the same brand. It’s about offering multiple options to the customers. And that’s what the reviews are for. If you want the cheaper product it’s your responsibility to look at the reviews and make a determination. Not everyone can afford the top line product.

 

[SR Reefing]

I don’t think it’s about selling junk products. It’s about options. Not everyone wants the same product, not everyone wants the same brand. It’s about offering multiple options to the customers. And that’s what the reviews are for. If you want the cheaper product it’s your responsibility to look at the reviews and make a determination. Not everyone can afford the top line product.

I think you are right. Its about choice. I know good review doesn't really mean more expansive product, but in general it is. Hard to find cheap product that produce the same result as the more expansive product. Therefore if all product for sell on BRS is 100% good review, only means you don't get to chose what you want to buy but what everyone else brought and happy with it. Is that what we really want BRS to do?

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Hi @dvbrien, I'm really sorry to hear about the frustration with your new skimmer. I'm sending you a PM requesting some contact info so that we can get this resolved.

 

[dvbrien]

I will connect with you in a little bit.
The Skimmer is an issue, but not the reason for the post. It's a legitimate question.

As for the other comments... I have personally turned at least 5 people on to BRS who have collectively spent thousands. I personally have wrote ravingly good reviews about BRS as my previous experience dictated. Which is why I have to ask... I just don't get it.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I have been a manufacturer / distributor in the aquarium industry and sometimes you have to offer what sells due to a price point and many times you get stuck with products that won't sell at any price! That said I believe all of us do the best we can to offer good products at fair prices. Service is how you survive and BRS just demonstrated great service right here!

 

[Hot2na]

I wrote about a negative review about brightwell aquatics phosphate-R resin.....and sunbmitted to BRS...it was never even posted by BRS...it should be !! that product does not work !!

 

[dvbrien]

[QUOTE="Lowell Lemon, post: Service is how you survive and BRS just demonstrated great service right here![/QUOTE] I agree and never had issues with customer service at all... It was just a question about continuing to sell products that have horrible reviews and customers being stuck with them or have to spend the time to ship them back when they probably shouldn't have been sold and just sent back to the manufacture or thrown out. As a manager for the largest retailer of electronics, I had to deal with faulty products multiple times everyday. When I installed products, I would literally refuse to install stuff that I knew the customer would likely have problems with down the road. My reputation was on the line. This same company now edits and sensors what reviews that get posted... (nothing less than 3 stars). I quit, I could not work for a company without integrity. LiveAquaria does the same thing these days.
This is not a comparison to BRS. I was just disappointed that some of these items are still being distributed when people have reviewed and warned them about the damage some of these products have done to their homes and what not. Adam somewhat satasfied my question in a PM.
See 3rd paragraph... I still stand by this. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-the-hobby-used-to-mean-and-how-we-change-back.525637/

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

@Hot2na if you want to send us a PM/reply with the nickname you used for your review, I can look into that for you. The person who posts reviews recently had a baby, so they're a little behind at the moment.

 

[Potatohead]

There are a lot of politics involved, unfortunately. Unless you are Walmart or Costco or Amazon it is difficult to dictate to the manufacturer the way you want things to be. Maybe for every good solid popular Skimz product they actually want, Skimz makes them buy another not so fast moving product. Or maybe they're just trying to meet certain thresholds to maintain discounts, or whatever, I don't know, but sometimes it is very complicated.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

@dvbrien
I understand what you are saying but there is nothing made by humans that is 100% perfect. Each manufacturing run has a percentage of below spec results and some slip by quality control especially in higher production numbered products. It is a fact of life and you have to accept some imperfections in the human condition. While you worked for a company you had the luxury to refuse to install certain items....the owner of the company purchased those same items in good faith only to discover there were limitations to the quality of the product. Until you have invested your own hard earned money and tried to establish your own business you might just miss out on some of the struggles of being an owner!

Please be aware of the human condition and it's limitations. We all struggle for the most part to deliver the best of ourselves everyday.

I agree that expensive products should be of a higher level of quality. Even Porsche struggles with quality issues and it effects the overall brand unless they can connect with the effected customers and provide a reasonable solution.

 

[Zohar78]

it also can be a product line can be universally very good, but maybe have one or two models in that product line not quite up to par with the rest of the line.

 

[dvbrien]

There are a lot of politics involved, unfortunately. Unless you are Walmart or Costco or Amazon it is difficult to dictate to the manufacturer the way you want things to be. Maybe for every good solid popular Skimz product they actually want, Skimz makes them buy another not so fast moving product. Or maybe they're just trying to meet certain thresholds to maintain discounts, or whatever, I don't know, but sometimes it is very complicated.

This... Exactly what I was thinking ... We had certain vendors that wouldn't let us re-sell returns. They wanted them all shipped back to them. Others didn't want them and told us to smash them and send a component to get an adjusted value for them. Some we were stuck with indefinitely and good or bad we ate the cost (BRS has done this for me on another purchase). I think these may all apply but I just wanted to know. From them, as for the post it can be deleted. I don't want them getting bad publicity for a question I should have just asked them... in hindsight.

 

[rtparty]

What if for every bad review and poorly made unit, there are 10,15, 20 or more that are just fine and no problems? Do you seriously stop selling an item because a couple poor pieces got through? Absolutely not. That's crazy talk.

I will give an example in my line of work: promotional items and apparel.

Nike (I don't care what anyone's politics are) makes quality items. That can't be disputed. They make good stuff 95%+ of the time. Maybe 99% of the time even. Every so often a shirt, jacket, polo, whatever...comes out and sucks. It doesn't fit right. It snags super easy. The material is just garbage. Does that mean I stop selling all of Nike? Or even some of Nike? Or do I ask the vendor to help me out to take care of my customer?

If I only sold brands/items with 100% positive reviews, I'd be out of business.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

"There are a lot of options for every product that this company sells... and Ryan proudly touts his objectivity and his selection based on quality, reliability and safety. We've heard this many many times on video where he compares products that are cheaper to options and products he/BRS sells."

Ryan is a salesman plain and simple. A very good one at that. You can't take his word as gospel just because he's putting up high production value videos on Youtube. He's selling products, he's selling BRS. BRS has shown how biased and subjective their content is many times and has been called out for it many times, but people continue to think they are great and buy things which I totally understand. I think people just want to have some type of high standards for our hobby businesses and the faces of those businesses. People tend to Halo Effect with the faces of these businesses.
At the end of the day though, the businesses and the people behind them are very flawed, very human, and you can't expect anything better from them than you would any other business. It's unrealistic to expect that 100% of the products on BRS site will be great quality with all good reviews. They may be stuck with a bunch of product and don't plan on re-ordering due to shoddy quality, but have to keep it listed and sell their remainder of their stock instead of taking a loss on it.
Our hobby is filled with low quality products and their isn't much competition so manufacturers get away with it more. After my last experience with a number of defective hobby products, I'm resolved to stick with stuff sold on Amazon Prime going forward where I get no questions asked returns and excellent customer service from Amazon sellers who are motivated to maintain good ratings. BRS and MD don't have that motivation.

 

[pirate2876]

I dont understand how people always say there are all these terrible reviews of said product and then go out and buy them anyways? If the reviews were truly that bad, why did you buy it? Did you not do your homework and read up about the product you intended on buying? BRS's role is to supply you with options for your purchase, not tell which one you should buy. No offense, but if you dont do your due diligence, how can you blame BRS?

 

[dvbrien]

I dont understand how people always say there are all these terrible reviews of said product and then go out and buy them anyways? If the reviews were truly that bad, why did you buy it? Did you not do your homework and read up about the product you intended on buying? BRS's role is to supply you with options for your purchase, not tell which one you should buy. No offense, but if you dont do your due diligence, how can you blame BRS?

You couldn't even read through the 2nd paragraph where I explain exactly the answer to your post, negating the reason for your to post. "Half of them have no reviews "

In relation to the other comments here... I was willing to give it a chance based on not condemning an entire brand because of bad reviews on other models in that brand.

As for people who keep insinuating that somewhere I said I expect 100% reliability... I suggest you too, re-read my post. On several occasions I said many negative reviews... example the Apex ATO... more than half the reviews are "wouldn't recommend" with 86 or something reviews. This should be dealt with. Apex should be assuming a buy back from these customers. There is obviously a faulty product engineered there.

Thanks, Feel Free to Delete the Thread.

 

[SaltMan]

I'm with you and feel products should not be sold with know ongoing issues. These items for this hobby can be incredibly expensive and it's very disappointing when you get it only to experience that it does not live up to the expectations your led to believe. Seems like such a risk that I just can't afford to take. I know there are many great and awesome products out there but the few bad lemons out there just ruin it for me.