Tropic Isle ... Jalli light issue

[Mrs Fish]

Need some advice ...

Tropic Isle set up my tank in August of 2006. All equipment bought from them including an $1100 MH light fixture by Jalli.

Everything I bought was covered by a 1 year guarantee by Tropic Isle.

The Jalli fixture burnt out through no fault of my own in April of this year ... thus it was about 8 months old.

Tropic Isle inspected the fixture and agreed it was in excellent condition and this was no fault of mine. They gave me a trade-in value of $500 against a new MH fixture ... which I purchased at a total cost of about $1400.

I still have the credit note, which stated they need to return the fixture to Jalli to confirm the warranty return.

Nothing has transpired. I have called patiently every 6 weeks since April ... but the latest advice was to speak to Mr London because they no longer deal with Jalli.

Who is my warranty with? I feel like I was sold a more expensive light fixture under some false pretenses (that I could recoup the $500 under warranty) ... clearly I needed to renew the fixture within 48 hours ... but upgrading under the basis of this refund was attractive at the time.

Any ideas??


Mrs Fish
(Sue)

 

[Moe_K]

I moved this out of the VE forum, since you're looking for advice.
Good luck w/ the refund.

 

[willray]

Was the guarantee in writing?It sounds like your 1 year guarantee was thru tropic Isle.I would be very upset at this and not let it go any further until you demand satisfaction.They even got more money from you for another light fixture ."need to return it to jali for warranty"(bull).That's something they should honer regardless of when THEY get off their butts and send it back.What if you didn't have the money for a replacement light would they have let your tank die.6 wks,6-wks... w/o enough or no light in a reef tank = death.
IMO they are way,way overpriced on dry-goods so much so that prices seem to higher than retail.Almost no one sells at full retail $.I bet your light fixture could be had online or even another lfs for a lot less moola.

 

[Liam]

how long was the original manufacturers warranty?
I don't understand the $500 dollar credit towards a new light,IMO should'nt you have got a full replacement from Jalli?
Sounds like a scam to me,tropic isle gives you credit so you can buy a new light from them and then sends the unit back for full replacement and back on the shelf it goes.
Maybe i am missing something here Sue but it seems fishy to me.

If they won't back up any warranties for you then you may has well just shop online and get the products for half the price they charge.

 

[Mrs Fish]

They offered to replace it with the same Jalli Fixture, but understandably I didn't want to have another possibly faulty unit, so they offered to give me the market value $500 if I bought an upgraded unit in it's place.

Their receipt (which is infront of me) states:

April 23 2007 - Returned Jallie 250 A27 metal halide. Purchased coralife at 1/2 price ($649). Will return 1/2 if Jallie issues credit. (My signature)

I know that this unit is much cheaper on-line .. but the tank would have died by the time the replacement light had shipped. My warranty was with Tropic Isle, so I had to return/replace there.

Sue

 

[JOHNNY O.]

More than likely the light was on the shelf for 2 years or so I think your getting the short end of the stick. I would contact the maker of the light and find out what their warranty truly is.

 

[besl]

Mrs Fish, I hope this works out for you... although I agree with Liam it sounds like you are tied to TI on this transaction in that they have your fixture and you have their credit... however, knowledge being power you may want to contact Jalli directly to see what their policy is and perhaps you can use this to your advantage with TI:

http://www.jallicorp.com/index-explorer.html
indicates you can contact them at:
858-350-0073
services@jallicorp.com

Good luck with this.

 

[smithcreek]

When you contact Jalli try to determine if TI ever attempted to return the light. If they didn't make an attempt to obtain the refund for you I would hold them responsible. This is what small claims courts are for.

 

[TurboVinny]

like the saying goes "squeeky wheel gets the oil" I would call everyday and bug them. they aint doing much in there anyways but stare at their customers

 

[jovreef]

Trade-in value?!?! your not upgrading your returning a broken fixture within 1 year, you should get full value not "trade-in"

This sounds like a huge scam. the light probably had a manufacturers warranty, they return it and get a new one to re-sell plus they get however much more you spent over $500 to buy a different light. In other words ... they just made over 1k profit without shelling out a dime!

I would let them know you are going to call the manufacturer since you have not gotten an answer from them & see what they say.

 

[smithcreek]

Three words: Better Business Bureau

Also, sounds like they still have the Jalli light, which in any case is repairable and worth money, so in essence they won't even return your rightful property.

I've seen BRS members with TI in their avatar, I hope someone responds to their seemingly very shady business practices.

 

[Mr.HaHa]

Three words: Better Business Bureau

Also, sounds like they still have the Jalli light, which in any case is repairable and worth money, so in essence they won't even return your rightful property.

I've seen BRS members with TI in their avatar, I hope someone responds to their seemingly very shady business practices.

i was at TI last night and i happened to see a Jalli light sitting on a shelf in the lighting section. I am not sure if this is the light that was returned but it was either 36" or 48"

i should have asked if it was for sale.

 

[Mrs Fish]

All good pointers ... will take it up next week and see if I can get a resolution. Think I will start with a call to Jalli ...

Sue