The Skimz skimmer clan

dumbo said:
SGD 270=R1653.02

Leslie, I still think the skimmer itself is true, replacing with a proven bubble blaster is what I suggest and am busy with after I have completed a few tests as I spoke to you about.
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I definatley agree that there are other alternitives, but im hell bent on resolving this issue of warranty, you must remember there were quite a few skimmers purchased, and i recomended some of them to people, now they have a problem.. and we get shifted to singapore when we have trouble..

I will not let it go on princapal.. somebody has to fight the fight as tiedious and longwinded as it becomes...

I am definatley interested in looking at the replacement option personally as i am sure even the new impellor, if supplied will be prone to failure aswell... im still investigating but its seems as this is the case.
 
they have now acknowlegdged that it is a warranty claim but what they are prepared to replace is unclear. looks like only the impellor but at my cost to get here..

so i have drafted and sent the following e-mail:

Janet and Annie

This is taking up alot of my valuable time, and i have incurred losses with livestock, I bought this product here in South Africa, and expect the warranty to be honoured to my country at leat if not to my door, I know for a fact you are doing this for other members within south africa, Why am i being exempt?

Please see the thread i have started in the below link, I was one of the first in the country to purchase your product and promote it, alot of people bought this product on my recomendation and as first generation buyers we have all been dropped with regards to service!

The Skimz skimmer clan - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Now you decide..

I feel i am owed a pump (es50000) due to a faulty impellor seizing and damaging it
and an impellor (hopefully new and improved version)
inclusive of postage to my residence in South Africa.

As a company whos product has failed globally i would think you would be wanting to redeem faith within the market you hope to supply, and the way to do this is by cleaning up the mess your product has caused by taking ownership.

This is not a threat but a warning, irrespective of my outcome here i will be posting my dealings with you publicly for the South African public and world to see.

The longer you haggle over postages and warranty responsorbilities, the less likley you are to be making sales, as i assure you.. I WILL NOT LET THIS GO!

Kind regards
 
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Express Reef said:
@leslie hempel; I really wanted to buy one of these skimmers, but witnessing the hell you guys are going through I seriously doubt if I would ever buy a skimz product...:banghead::beatdeadhorse5:
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Same here, so I went with the JNS.
 
Response from Janey Yeong (Skimz)

Hi Leslie,

We are arranging the replacement to you.

We do appreciate you a lot for your support for Skimz.

The impeller was due to bad batch.

You should receive our awb soon.

Regards,

Janet

My response

Thank you

Please be specific as to what you are replacing? i do not want the items to get here and they are either incorrect or not what is agreed upon.

Impellor (new improved)?
Pump and impellor (new improved)?
Pump impellor (new improved) and postage to my SA residence?

Thank you
 
latest correspondance

from janet
Leslie


We are sending a complete new es5000 skimmer pump and an impeller for es5000


Yes to the given address.
Best Regards,

Janet Yeong

my reply

Thank you

My postal adress is

** **** ***
Gonubie
East London
South Africa
****

Please advise of tracking number when it is arranged
 
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leslie hempel said:
latest correspondance

from janet
Leslie


We are sending a complete new es5000 skimmer pump and an impeller for es5000


Yes to the given address.
Best Regards,

Janet Yeong

my reply

Thank you

My postal adress is

** **** ***
Gonubie
East London
South Africa
****

Please advise of tracking number when it is arranged
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Woohoo Happy days:mbounce:
 
more info taken from can reef

Skimz Updatre

This is a long term update on the Skimz 202. As many of you know the Skimz pumps and impellers have had design defects in them. The problem was the impeller was oversized for the pump. This resulted in not being able to throttle the air supply properly. If you opened the throttle more the pump would cavitiate. I do know that Aqua Digital was trying very hard to expedite and resolve this issue within Canada. I waited for sometime before the replacement came. This only came about after a few email exchanges with the company directly. While I was waiting the impeller had a catastrophic failure. The magnetic impeller core split. ( I suspect the original impeller trapped air in the space between the magnetic shaft and housing. This caused the corrosion of the shaft and eventual failure.) In the process it damaged the internal housing sleeve surface causing the pump to overheat. I brought this up to SKIMZ directly for a replacement pump. The pump still worked with the new impeller but at this point in time it is starting to fail again. It is starting to seize. SKIMZ did initially agree to replace the pump but now refused to respond to my second email on the subject of pump replacement. (This was in Jan). I will keep you posted on this.

Having said that.... The overall construction of the Skimz 202 construction is very good. After a year I took the skimmer out of operation and inspected it. I found the unit to have no cracks or signs of wear and tear. The welds are good. The body design is very efficient at concentrating skim mate and one of the best I have used to date. Cleaning the skimmer cup is easy, it disconnects locks in with a gasket with a simple turn. I do recommend you clean the whole skimmer once a year. You do need to have an extra feed pump (Mag 5) to deliver a constant water flow to the main skimmer pump…gravity feed is to unreliable if your ATO fails. I would say if they come up with a better pump and the cost isn’t that much more(or less) you will have a good unit that will be good for many years. Because of the construction the resale value should be quite good. It easily matches the performance of some more expensive skimmers on the market today.
Sidenote: this goes for any non North American built piece of equipment. I wish they would include adaptors(metric to English). So if replacement pumps and fittings are need we just have to go to Rona instead of Germany

Skimz SM202 Trial/Review\Closing Comments - Page 4 - Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board
 
Personally I think this whole thread has turned a mole hill into a mountain and it's just so typical of this forum. My SM121 has been great, better than great in fact so I think it's unfair to judge an entire brand due to one particular pumps failure. Will i buy another one, yes definitely, it's a good quality product and I think that they just got the balance wrong with the pumps which I suspect would have been sorted out should you have to buy a new unit. You live and learn, just ask Toyota.

The big issue here is the fact that the dealership changed hands as the company was having its own teething pains. Had the dealership remained with one person, I can promise you this all would've been handled a lot better. To push the problem back onto the client is simply unacceptable and exacerbates the situation and that's got more to do with Exotics than Skimz.

Leslie I understand your frustration but I can't help but feel that your tirade may have impacted negatively on you getting this sorted out in a positive way. If you shout at someone they are going to shout back or be less inclined to help, that's just human nature.

Just my 2c
 
fly* said:
Personally I think this whole thread has turned a mole hill into a mountain and it's just so typical of this forum. My SM121 has been great, better than great in fact so I think it's unfair to judge an entire brand due to one particular pumps failure. Will i buy another one, yes definitely, it's a good quality product and I think that they just got the balance wrong with the pumps which I suspect would have been sorted out should you have to buy a new unit. You live and learn, just ask Toyota.

The big issue here is the fact that the dealership changed hands as the company was having its own teething pains. Had the dealership remained with one person, I can promise you this all would've been handled a lot better. To push the problem back onto the client is simply unacceptable and exacerbates the situation and that's got more to do with Exotics than Skimz.

Leslie I understand your frustration but I can't help but feel that your tirade may have impacted negatively on you getting this sorted out in a positive way. If you shout at someone they are going to shout back or be less inclined to help, that's just human nature.

Just my 2c
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@fly*

This is not to be seen as a negitive thread but a warning to those who purchase a product whereby the manufacturer changes their decisions in a heartbeat, its also to show other people struggling with the same problem i have been, that there is a way to get the product you paid good hard earned money for sorted out under warranty ..

Had my situation been assessed and concluded with an answer in 48h i would have been happy but its now a month..

Skimz is a fantastic product in its construction. the quality is very very good.. but the motor which is the heart is not...

i have been extreemly paitent.. moreso that i think anyone wuld have been... dealing with people abroad which is difficult to do..

like it or not it is a true representation of the happenings of what it took to hopefully get this product repaired...

but thank you for your contribution...
 
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yes I agree with you fly* and Leslie are both right, however we need our skimmers to work, we do not have company funding to adopt " o well lets just buy another skimmer " , I too will be livid if my investment failed after 6 months, especially when one finds out that there is an admitted error in design and the company involved hardly does anything about it, A recall would suffice here.

beware of Lynching here...
 
no need for lynching guys :)

it is an unfortunate thing that happened not aiming any blame at the importers...

Im not entirely happy with dealing with singapore as there were all sorts of other misunderstandings (mails not delivered due to picture size etc) and it was simply through persistance the the conversation started again...

it has been an exhausting process..
 
dumbo said:
I'm happy for you Les, there is light at the end, Singapore will send it, the have already given me my parcel number.
this is where you can trace it from there side untill it reaches our side processes SingPost - Home
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thanks i needed that :)

I just hope there is light at the end of the tunnel and a there is an improvemnt with the impellor....

im still very curious as to the performance of this impellor but i guess we will have to see after 6 months...
 
Don't get me wrong, I understand why peeps are unhappy BUT there are 2 things I don't agree with:

1.) the fact that the client has to deal directly with the suppliers?! This is a no-no in any industry, why it has happened here is beyond me and tbh it's why I'll never buy anything that exotics imports again. I will make it my mission to do so.

2.) the fact that all of this has been aired on a public forum is also wrong. Granted it was a necessity due to the huge lack of responsibility from the local agents but it's just become really messy and it's dragging what is a very good brand through the mud. This thread and exotics have absolutely destroyed Skimz reputation in South Africa and any resale value should I ever want to sell my skimmer!

So yes, I get why you're unhappy but there are way better ways to handle things. This could've all been dealt directly with the skimz, there was absolutely no reason to drag the brand through the mud on a public forum. And be it intentional or unintentional it's exactly what has happened.
 
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