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-   -   Neptune Support (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2161628)

ccradr 04/23/2012 01:31 PM

Neptune Support
 
One of the main reasons for purchasing the APEX controller vs other brands was because of all of the great support that I have heard about. Several members on this forum have bent over backwards to help me with what seems to be a hardware issue. But getting in contact with Neptune Systems has been a huge struggle for me. I have gotten infrequent email response and i have left messages with no return phone calls. Very Disappointing!

Mohawk1069 04/23/2012 07:20 PM

+1 Apparently their "stellar" customer service is somewhat of a myth.,

The only way I got any help was to call every few seconds for 2 hours till I finally broke through their phone system and was able to actually speak to someone., Even then he seemed annoyed at having to deal with me and hurried me off the phone., Even though he had to go get an engineer to help him figure out my problem.... :deadhorse1:

drukkosz 04/23/2012 08:09 PM

+1 to that. I have been calling all day and left few messages, wrote an email. no response, nothing!!!

I am so frustrated with it that i just want to open my window and throw it out!!!

ccradr 04/24/2012 12:26 PM

Well I finally got through the phone line using a similar method as You Mowhawk. My unit is 1 week old and has to be sent back for repair. They are cross shipping another main unit to let me use while I ship the other, but I had to put a "down payment" ($200+) before they would ship that "temporary" unit. Why not just let me have the new unit your shipping me instead of fixing mine and using theirs temporarily? And why the down payment when it's under warranty and under 30 days? What can I do. I'm caught...sold my reefkeeper elite, so I can't even cut the lights on.

96slowbra 04/24/2012 02:46 PM

similar situation. installed brand new apex and problems with temp readings. after emails with neptune for diag help, looks like it might be the controller and not just the probe. email seems to be their preferred method of communication. i like phone calls, but i got pretty responsive help and got a new unit on its way in a reasonable amount of time. i like that you can email questions about pretty much anything, i had some questions about my ato and he shot me a code with everything that i wanted it to do..

ccradr 04/24/2012 04:43 PM

I stand corrected....they are shipping a new unit for me to keep.

drukkosz 04/25/2012 06:36 AM

I am still trying to call them, left few messages but they just dont care!!
I got one email on Monday at midnight, responded to it right away and nothing since them!!
I am ****ed. Not only have been frustrated with that stupid controller but now i can’t do anything because they are ignoring me!

And you would think that somebody would even respond to that post to keep good name of the company but nope. You are on your own.

So, so far my problems are:

Controller doesn’t keep the time after power failure (bad battery)
It doesn’t see breaker box ( its been 5 days since i add top water by hand)

Is it normal for controller to show ph 2.6 even when probe is not connected??

Not going to even mention that their manual is written by and for robots.

RussM 04/25/2012 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drukkosz (Post 20178024)
It doesn’t see breaker box

You need to explain how you have your floats connected, and show us the programing you are using. Start a new thread so we can help.
Quote:

Is it normal for controller to show ph 2.6 even when probe is not connected??
Yes, that is normal. If you are not using the pH probe port, you should just disable it.

pyton 04/25/2012 08:07 AM

+1 I have ran into the same issueS with their "steller support."

The reason for the deposit is to make sure you actually ship the old unit back and there is not water damage. Some people have had good luck with this me not so much. Every time I send mine make they claim water damage. At least until I sent pictures of where the head unit is set up at.

I do not call Neptune because it is a waste of my time.
I get better support here on RC and I believe that is what people are claiming is Neptune Systems "steller support"

Honestly if I had not spent so much money on this controller with all the bells and whistles I would not be using it. Very disapointed over all with their product and support.

Thank Goodness for the wonderful people on this forum to help me out, some of the best support I have had (RussM, KenArgo, sweatint, ect) you know who you are!

drukkosz 04/25/2012 08:40 AM

[QUOTE=RussM;20178118]You need to explain how you have your floats connected, and show us the programing you are using. Start a new thread so we can help.

I have one switch connected, one wire to the ground and second to first port.
there is no programing becasue controller doesnt detect breaker box.
I have a pump connected to port 4 but cannot program it.

I have ph probe, just didnt connect it yet because i am trying to resolve other issues first.

After spending $550 you would think if should just work.

ccradr 04/25/2012 09:28 AM

I would agree on the support really coming from this forum. My first impressions aren't great, but hoping that Neptune steps up to the challenge and gets better. Thanks to you guys for helping with technical support on this forum.

RussM 04/25/2012 10:02 AM

Drukkosz I am not going to perpetuate a hijack of this thread. Start a new thread about your break out box and we will help you there.

RussM 04/25/2012 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussM (Post 20178776)
Drukkosz I am not going to perpetuate a hijack of this thread. Start a new thread about your break out box and we will help you there.

Btw, I am referring to ME hijacking this thread away from the original topic, not anyone else ;)

BrklynArch 04/25/2012 07:14 PM

I made one phone call earlier this afternoon, got through right away.....explained my problem to the rep. He was very nice, took his time answering all my questions decided a remote patch-in was needed to further diagnose the problem....so we set up a time that i would be home and he could call me back around 8pm NY time....at 8 on the dot my phone rings and its Paul (or Peter...forgive me if i mixed it up buddy) from Neptune support! He patches into my computer remotely, found the issue, resolved it in about 5 min...updated my firmware to the latest version and even set up the controller so i can access it via the web when away from my computer ( i kept procrastinating setting it up and it seemed like it would be a pain but he did it in 2 minutes).
I honestly have to say it was one of the most pleasant customer service experiences Ive had in a very long time. If your having an issue, send an email give it some time they will respond, or shoot a phone call and try for off peak hours. but all in all i have to say their reputation for stellar customer service really is deserved. just give them some time to respond there are a lot of apex units out there and its a pretty complex little gizmo so the volume of calls and support emails is probably pretty high.

brownie718 04/25/2012 08:47 PM

I have to agree with BrklynArch. I had my unit for less than a month with no issues. Until I lost power over the weekend. When the unit rebooted the Temp probe became disabled. When I got home Tuesday I shot them an email. I got a quick response that included a new beta version of firmware that corrected the problem. To me you can't ask for much more than that.
They also said the new firmware would be available in the middle of next month

DolphinLVR 04/25/2012 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrklynArch (Post 20180824)
I made one phone call earlier this afternoon, got through right away.....explained my problem to the rep. He was very nice, took his time answering all my questions decided a remote patch-in was needed to further diagnose the problem....so we set up a time that i would be home and he could call me back around 8pm NY time....at 8 on the dot my phone rings and its Paul (or Peter...forgive me if i mixed it up buddy) from Neptune support! He patches into my computer remotely, found the issue, resolved it in about 5 min...updated my firmware to the latest version and even set up the controller so i can access it via the web when away from my computer ( i kept procrastinating setting it up and it seemed like it would be a pain but he did it in 2 minutes).
I honestly have to say it was one of the most pleasant customer service experiences Ive had in a very long time. If your having an issue, send an email give it some time they will respond, or shoot a phone call and try for off peak hours. but all in all i have to say their reputation for stellar customer service really is deserved. just give them some time to respond there are a lot of apex units out there and its a pretty complex little gizmo so the volume of calls and support emails is probably pretty high.

I also agree with BrklynArch! I too had an issue after a brief power outage and my EB8_3 forgot it's aquabus address upon power being restored. I shot them an email and also left a voice message. Paul with Neptune contacted me within a reasonable amount of time. After I explained the issue to him, he knew what was wrong. He said that he was off of work and had a 1 hour train ride home, but he could telnet into my controller and fix the issue while he was on the train. Paul fixed the issue and sent me an email stating such.

In my opinion Paul with Neptune went above and beyond to provide awesome customer service.

pyton 04/26/2012 08:33 AM

the problem is for every one happy customer, they tend to have one upset customer, and they do nothing to improve their name.

A simple sorry goes a very long way

rogergolf66 04/26/2012 10:15 AM

Wow was buying a new apex today. This thread is making me think twice. Maybe I won't.

Want2BS8ed 04/26/2012 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogergolf66 (Post 20182908)
Wow was buying a new apex today. This thread is making me think twice. Maybe I won't.

I'm not sure I would base my opinion on this thread alone. I have had nothing but positive experiences with Neptune's support.

From trouble shooting to warranty repairs and some pretty odd technical support questions to boot - I WOULD rate the customer support as stellar.

I'm running 3 Apexes from simple to complex installations. Stuff happens and the one time I did have a problem with an ORP outlet on one unit, it was handled promptly and courteously.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DolphinLVR 04/26/2012 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2BS8ed (Post 20183201)
I'm not sure I would base my opinion on this thread alone. I have had nothing but positive experiences with Neptune's support.

From trouble shooting to warranty repairs and some pretty odd technical support questions to boot - I WOULD rate the customer support as stellar.

I'm running 3 Apexes from simple to complex installations. Stuff happens and the one time I did have a problem with an ORP outlet on one unit, it was handled promptly and courteously.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1 I love my Apex and wouldnt trade it for anything else. The support I have recieved from them is outstanding in my opinion

MHG 04/26/2012 11:42 AM

I love my apex, but they should have an advance replacement program for warrantee issues. It is a critical item and most of us would need to reconfigure our systems to run without it.

However, that have been pretty responsive on email support on my losing network connection. But that support has dropped off a bit as all the fixes only seem to prolong the problem. I hope they get back on it and I will again sing their praises...

Landsailor 04/26/2012 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccradr (Post 20175097)
They are cross shipping another main unit to let me use while I ship the other, but I had to put a "down payment" ($200+) before they would ship

Charging a deposit for a cross ship replacement an extremely common practice utilized by companies of every size. Neptune isn't Amazon, so they can't afford to "float" thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. (Besides, Amazon already has your payment information on file.) Expecting a small company to give you a replacement system and hope that you return it is the unreasonable concept.

As to whether or not their support is adequate, I rate it off the freaking chart. It was a couple of hours before they logged in, checked some stuff, then told me to update the firmware...three days after Christmas. The only times it's had to reboot since the end of January was when I have moved it and had to unplug it.

It will be interesting to see how all of these recent issues are resolved, how many of them are hardware/firmware related, and which ones are PEBKAC.

spoofer 04/26/2012 12:01 PM

couldn't agree more with the so called "great service" I bought my APEX on 12/09 and like many others struggled to setup my APEX - My problem not Neptunes, but it ended up the EB8 started smoking upon first power up - again minor problem and Kurt from Neptune was pretty helpful and after a few emails back and forth i had to mail in the whole unit - two weeks later *refurbished* EB8 and the rest of my APEX.

Since then i've only used it as a glorified timer- I finally was able to hard wire a line to utilize the unit via the internet 2 months ago. Horrible time getting that to happen, but again my problem not Neptunes a month after running updates and getting it running via the net my system didn't come back on after a brief power outage. I posted on this forum and got some ideas of what it could be, but ultimately i needed to contact support... lol

Yaaaaa .. phone is off the hook it's not ringing with people answering it - it's 2012 don't tell me the phone is busy. Email! wait 24 hours for a pre fabbed cut and past repair procedure. ask a question ... try another 24-48 hours.. ultimately.. need to send it in at my cost and wait for diag. on the unit - cost will range anywhere from 0-$150.

Ok, that sucks but i invested $550 for this new so i'm not going to scrap it.. I send it in and wait and wait - two weeks go by. I've been in this hobby for 15 years and have a ton invested and trying to run my system without these units is a pain- do able but a pain... i couldn't get a loaner unit and it's not the end of the world, but when I call and constantly get a busy signal and when I email to see what's going on - i get a response of "didn't you get my repair estimate?" NO - I never got any emails nor any phone calls...

LACK of CARE - not a concern to them and $175 is now the cost and I won't get it obviously for another week? and the kicker - call us so we can get your credit card number... .yaaaaaa... been trying all morning... nothing but a busy signal.

They sure do have it down- buy a overpriced POS that you have to send in every year for a few weeks - get charged up the ying - yang and then get a nice thick attitude - can't wait to get it back and start from scratch on programming.

Very disappointing product, very disappointing service..

Landsailor 04/26/2012 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spoofer (Post 20183324)
couldn't agree more with the so called "great service"....I finally was able to hard wire a line to utilize the unit via the internet 2 months ago. Horrible time getting that to happen, but again my problem not Neptunes a month after running updates and getting it running via the net my system didn't come back on after a brief power outage.

Since you starting the post using sarcasm, I can only assume that you are also being sarcastic for the rest of the post.

Yes, if you have problems using their item in a way other than it is intended, it is your problem. Complaining about having to run Ethernet to it being a "horrible time" is definitely your problem.

The system being damaged by possible power surges after a "brief power outage", definitely your problem, as well.

I've never seen anyone claiming that the Apex comes with wireless networking and has a built in UPS or surge suppressor.

I would love to know what made the EB-8 smoke and if it was truly "defective from the factory" or if it was due to saltwater.

spoofer 04/26/2012 12:38 PM

Landsailor - very true i have many problems that are MY problems and obviously i was first to admit that. The unit was plugged in a month prior to being used on a tank and Kurt never disclosed what caused it to smoke, but it did and even posted on this forum when it happened.

The system should be able to deal with a power outage ... FYI first power outage since I have owned the unit.... and it was circuit breaker in the building being flipped off.

thanks for your condescending attitude anyway- do you have a system? or are you a employee of Neptune's either way - the lack of service was the concern. The product is what you would say is "it is, what it is"

Thanks again for pointing out the short comings of others and i hate to tarnish the rep of a product i invested so much into, but it should be noted there is issues with the units and the lack of service is troubling.


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