Need some advice about my 150 gallon tank

[owong]

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum...I actually have a problem and was looking for some advice. I am located in New York and having been raising fish for about 7 years now. As my fish grew I had to buy a bigger tank, about 3 years ago I went to this store and bought a 150 gallon tank and a metal stand. About 4 weeks ago the sealants on the bottom of the tank somehow loosened up. About 80-90 gallons of water spilled into my room before it was discovered. There was water damage and many things needed to be replaced.

I called the store where I bought the tank and they informed me that I should call the manufacturer of the tank to claim it under their warranty. After speaking to the manufacturer and sending them a picture of the tank on the stand they informed me that the stand is not made by them therefore the warranty was only valid for 30 days. I had no clue that this was the policy nor did I know that the metal stand wasn't made by the same manufacturer of the tank. The stand has no labels but the manufacturer said that they can tell by the way the bars lie on the bottom. I called the owner of the store and he informed me that this isn't his problem and he wasn't liable for any damages. When I bought the tank the sales person told me that the tank has a 20 year warranty. Funny thing is that the store admits that they do not sell the metal stand that is made by the same manufacturer of the tank.

Unfortunately 2 of my 7 fishes died and my friend was nice enough to take them in for the meantime. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? I was even thinking about taking the owner to small claims court. Is it just a lost cause? I need to find a new tank soon because my friend only has a 55 gallon tank and I think it is getting too crowded for them.....

[ron v]

Do you have a copy of the tanks warranty? What, exactly, does it say?

[flynngriff]

Ouch!

I'm very sorry to hear about this. My only advice would be to talk to a laywer about it. I would guess that the store owner would be liable, since he did not tell you the stand would void the 20 year warranty on the tank. In fact, if the sales person stated the tank had a 20 year warranty, the store is liable to uphold that warranty. I don't think it matters if the store was counting on the manufacturer's warranty or not.

I'm no legal expert, but this is how I believe it works. I'd definitely contact a lawyer. The store should be liable.

Good luck!

[fishfreaks]

first, welcome to the forums! and secondly, if it was me, i would take them to small claims court. just for the simple fact that there was so much damage and things to be replaced. seems to me that somewhere, someone your talking to is lying. was the tank level on the floor? that is the only reason why i could see it break. but then you would think the sides would be the first to give...but ron v is right, do you have a copy of the warranty?

[owong]

I actually don't have a copy of the warranty. I spoke to the vendor and they said the warranty has changed since the time I bought the tank. Originally it was 5 year warranty if you have a Perfecto Stand and Tank but if you do not have a Perfecto Stand the warranty is only 90 days. Now the warranty states that they have a 20 year warranty if you purchase a Perfecto tank and stand but only 1 year if you purchase another manufacturers stand. I tried getting a copy of the original warranty but they do not have it anymore....



http://www.perfectomfg.com/news.htm

http://www.perfectomfg.com/faq.htm - teh FAQ has warranty information towards the bottom

[owong]

Thanks for the warm greetings. I have a friend who is a lawyer and he told me that it might be tough because it seems to be a more of a he said she said case. I might just do it because the owner might not want to waste his time being bothered by going to court, it is time consuming. The tank was definitely leveled...it actually hasn't moved from it original spot since the day I purchased it....I'll try contacting the manufacturer again to see if I could obtain a copy of the warranty...

[fish_doc]

Welcome and sorry to hear of your situation.

Unfortunally I agree it would be hard to get any money out of the store owner or manufacturer. It gets down to would you have bought the tank and stand from that store it it ended up costing you alot more due to them not buying the most affordable stand on the market?

It is kind of like taking your car in for a oil change. You need to specify what brand of oil to use or they use their brand X which could void your car warranty. It is not the manufactures responsibility to babysit the owner through every moment but the owners to read all the paperwork they send with the product. As difficult as it is to do you need to read everything provided. It is because of excess lawsuits there is so much to read when you buy anything anymore.

Sorry for the bad news but laws are made for the protection of businesses anymore.

[owong]

Thanks for your thoughts about the situation. I believe that everyone is right and I'm am out of luck. I just spoke to the manufacturer and they said that they couldn't help me at all because that is their policy. They also don't sell directly to the public therefore I have to go through another store...what's messed up about that is they only sell to distributors who then sells them to stores...I called the distributor and it is the same distributor the store uses. So if anyone is in the Queens NY area don't purchse anything from Fishtown USA that is located Flushing NY...Mike, the store owner is a crook....

[TheOldSalt]

You may not be able to get any justice on this one, but at least you can get revenge.

Order 500 Foster-Smith catalogs. They'll be happy to send them. When they arrive, spend the day out in the parking lot near the store, handing out catalogs to everyone who looks like they're going to that store, and to everyone who comes out of it. Do not go into the store, and try not to let him find out who you are. Get a permit first for distributing flyers so he can't stop you or sue you.

Also be sure to tell the other stores in the area what happened, so they can in turn tell all the local hobbyists. The next time those hobbyists buy a tank, it won't be from Fishtown.

[Lexus]

Oh EVIL!!!!

[Scuba Kid]

nice idea OldSalt!

[Lydia]

good one old salt

[Thunderkiss]

Heh, Vengeance is mine sayeth TheOldSalt !

[Fishfirst]

nice... I want to boycott a store in my own town... I may have to do that lol NICE plan