Bad experience with Seaclear tank through MarineDepot.com

[bodie]

I purchased a 50 gallon SeaClear tank with built in skimmer box through MarineDepot back in late December 2005, but to date I still haven't received the tank. The problem is the tank ships directly from the manufacturer, Casco. For whatever reason, it takes Casco over a month to ship out a single tank.

To their credit, MarineDepot has promptly answered my emails and even offered to refund my money if I wanted to cancel my order, so my complaint isn't really against MarineDepot. I do believe they're a reputable company and have done their best to work with me. The only gripe I have with them is their website listed that the tank usually ships out within 10 business days and never mentioned that it could take this long. Maybe I am being naive, but I assumed that Casco (the manufacturer of SeaClear tanks) had a warehouse full of tanks and just shipped them out after they received the order. Again, I'm not really mad at MarineDepot, but I do think they should update their website and explain that if you order a SeaClear tank that it will take over a month to get it.

For the life of me, I can't understand how it could take this long to distribute a tank. I asked MarineDepot to contact Casco and find out when my tank would ship and all Casco could tell them is sometime between the end of January or beginning of February. I wonder if a retail store tried to order tanks from Casco, if they would have to place the order months in advance to get the tanks? I know they also sell SeaClear tanks online at Petco and other online stores, but I'm not sure if it takes them over a month to ship as well. I would have cancelled my order and bought from somewhere else, but then I would have risked having to wait another month if Casco treats all of their orders this way.

Anyway, the moral of the story is I wouldn't recommend anyone buying a SeaClear tank if they have to get it shipped from the manufacturer, Casco. As for MarineDepot, it's sad that they deal with such a shady company as Casco because it ruins their good reputation. I would deal with MarineDepot again because they did offer to cancel the order after I found out it would take over a month to ship, but based on this experience, I think I will shop elsewhere first.

[Brenden]

Why not find a different manufacturer that has a tank available and then cancel your Casco order? Marine Depot is a good company as you stated. I have purchased from them many times.