Buyers beware!!

I have a short story to share with everyone about a recent incident I had at my LFS

I am from winnipeg, SWC is a local fish store that I had been dealing with for the last year or two.

I purchased my LED fixtures there and when i had issues with bleaching corals i decided to go back to T5's so I purchased another fixture there.

I need the phone number to contact the store about a question i had for the fixture so I found his online store and got the phone number....then I noticed the exact same T5 fixture on the online store was $200 cheaper than he advertises in store. I got gouged $200 for being a local and regular customer.

I sent him an e-mail asking why i was charged so much more in store and it went un answered for 3 days.(suppose to return emails in 24Hrs)

So today I went down there to have a civilized conversation with the owner to find out why i paid so much more.

Well.....The owner got my email and knew why I was there. The first words out of his mouth were to Leave....while he sits there puffing on a cig.

I didn't even get to ask my question before he assaulted me in front of another customer. When he assaulted me, I quicky broke his hold from my jacket as he attempted to drag me out, and told him if he touched me again I would literary drop him on the spot.( i'm a big guy and do kick boxing 3 times a week so it would have been fun) I kept my cool and waited as he called the police.

The police came and I requested a copy of the stores video camera recording that shows the assault. I will be pressing charges on the store owner.

funny enough the officer that I dealt with told me it could be that hes in a bad mood cause he is facing a $1Million dollar fine now and possible imprisonment when he illegally imported some LR that he claimed he didn't know it was protected LR and he also gave the excuse that he was going to use it to build a fence....what a joke....

These are also quite recent for the charges...Dec 9 2011.

Check out the article:
Winnipeg man faces $1M in fines for smuggling coral

I am quite ashamed that I ever did business with this guy. He is as crooked as crooked gets! I didn't know he conducted business like this and hope others will not support SWC. If you still do, your having a hand in the destruction of the oceans coral reefs.

 

Wow, I guess you would never see that coming would you. At least you were able to keep your cool and not get arrested yourself. Great job!

 

Thanks dude! you kinda have to learn to keep your cool even when you want to explode on someone once you learn a form of self defence or it could get you in some serious trouble.

Had i lost it he would have been sucking his christmas dinner out of a straw....its hard to chew with a broken jaw ;D

 

Lol, that is to true. Thanks for sharing your story though. I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate it.

 

unfortunately i purchased a SWC 160 cone skimmer about 6 months ago, which had to be replaced. Really wish I had went with the reef octopus, or bubble.

 

funny enough....some of the SWC skimmers are actual reef octopus skimmer that he takes the lid off the collection cup and puts a SWC lid on it and marks it up....

 

How did did this company get a good reputation?

 

when did they have a good reputation??

only reason i did business with them is because i have a limited number of LFS that sell salt water and living in canada most online stores wont ship live goods to me.

Since i am off work for the next 3 weeks i plan to print off the article that explains what he is doing and stand outside his business and hand them to his "potential customers"....off his property on public sidewalk.

Only problem with that is there are some people that just don't care!

I hope he actually gets jail time and that the fines bankrupt him .

There is no place in the world for people like this other than a cell IMO.

 

Dangg man.. Props to ya. I wouldve knocked him out the seconded he grabbed ahold of me. Sounds like you need to spread the word about his store around there!!

 

The on-line community considers their protein skimmers to be a good value.