Miracles Tank Quote.... Missing Info!

[Josh]

@EricTMah You definitely have a point about how many quotes they probably put out per day. However when you get a quote for 5 grand and you cant even tell what the stand looks like or if they are even drilling the holes/overflow it will for sure make you think things are expensive. If you want to be the "top quality manufacturer" you have to be constantly proving it. With half assed quotes its your first interaction with new customers and trust me if he got the same type of responses i did its a terrible first response regardless of how quality their product might be.

 

[Nonuser]

Problem with Quotes is you can do 100 quotes and only 1 out of the 100 the person is serious about buying. So its hard to give everyone a detailed quote without wasting our day. But they should have a questionnaire that has to be filled out to get a quote and if 80% of the questionnaire is completed then spend the time with the quote.

I quote for a living and I can tell you the amount of people out there wasting everyone's time is amazing. In my job I quote people that already have 2 or 3 other quotes and think by some miracle I will be able to quote hundreds of dollars cheaper than the competitor. I can't most of the time its within a hundred dollars and not even the same product that they are getting quotes for.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[Josh]

Yeah i 100% agree with the fill this form out, it would save so many headaches, when i requested my quote i did basically exactly that, i sent them as much info as i could because on the service end of things its extremely frustrating when a customer wants you to quote a "part", but has no clue what they actually want. Its a shame that these people cause issues for the legit customers just wanting their questions answered, 5000 dollars is a lot of money to spend on a tank people want peace of mind before they sign off on that.

Best thing you can do is just call them its so much easier to iron things out over the phone than to email back and forth and be stuck behind anonymity.

 

[Quartapound]

I think a lot of good points have been made, it's been helpful and I appreciate everyone's opinions.

I'd like to reiterate that I've never doubted the quality or workmanship of Miracles tanks.... I know they make REALLY excellent tanks. I like that they're 'local'. That's why I went to them first.... and why I'm continuing this insanity instead of simply looking elsewhere.

Some things I'd like to point out:

• I'm not the expert. Nor should that be expected of me. They've done this WAY more times than I have. It's their job to LEAD the customer through the sale (if they want to make a sale, that is). As others have pointed out... some sort of form, or structured way of categorizing information and keeping communication clear would be incredibly helpful... there's a lot of variables at play here, and it's easy to miss details (as is evidenced).
• I agree my first request was a MESS. I emailed because I needed more information, and was expecting to be educated a bit, from a professional, as we were going through the process. I soon realized that wasn't going to happen. So... I regroup, and try to make as precise a request as I could (in my uneducated state). I got a short, to the point response with two prices... Great! I think... but wow, $1500(really $1400), jeez, that's depressing... $995 would be much easier to swallow... So I think... they wouldn't give an unsafe quote would they? Then I post on here to look for validation, and email them back trying to find a way to make the less expensive number more 'acceptable/safe' to me.... (maybe they'll tell me 1/2" is completely safe, and they just like 'overbuilding tanks', as is their reputation (not a bad thing)).... Then I get an answer back -- 'sure! we can fix that, we'll eurobrace it for you! Only $135'.... I had very clearly requested a eurobrace... I even used bullet points for each detail!.... One step forward, two steps back.
  
• Of course there's the expectation that custom tanks are more expensive, but a custom tank does not equal an unlimited budget. If that were the case (and I had an unlimited budget), this entire thread wouldn't exist. If my 'dream tank' quote isn't in line with my budget, it should not be completely unexpected for me to try and tweak details to get what I perceive as a good value, and within budget. It is my understanding that one of the largest factors to affect price would be rimless vs euro. Thus, my willingness to be flexible on this major detail... to be honest I don't really care which style I get, I truly like them both... Just no black plastic rim... and on budget.
• Others have had similar experiences.

I don't think we need to continue to beat this dead horse.

I hope to have a new tank soon. Hope it doesn't cost me a fortune and I end up with what I asked for.

A new build thread in the distant future, maybe....


@Matt1997 the details you gave about the tank building dimensions/thicknesses was interesting and helpful, thanks!

 

[bugger]

I bought a 90 gallon from them cost 1600 or so plus shipping and the stand was an extra 1000 or so 3/4 inch glass starfire bean anaimal 48 by 18 by 24

 

[bluface]

I've been happy with their build. My custom tank is a beaut!
Decide on what you want and get one price. Rimless tanks with minimal scape are gorgeous! Good luck with your new build, just have some fun!

 

[Matt1997]

Maybe look at a new Red Sea reefer 350 as well?

 

[Steve Peters]

I had same communication issues with Miracles. They were very slow to reply and gave no real input. I finally gave up and purchased a Red Sea Reefer so at least I knew what I was getting. You would think if someone was spending 4-5 K on glass they would bend over backwards for the sale. Just my experience.