Aldi, Faulty fish tank light..what to do??

snuggles09

Bought a fish tank there before Xmas..was one of the Thursday special buys.

Light worked for 3 days and blew. When we took it out it was welded together so you couldnt change the bulb. I went down to Aldi, had words with the manager and they said another replacement would be sent out. They wanted to swap the whole tank but we've over 100 euro worth of fish in it so we opted to just get the bulb replaced.

The bulb arrived Friday gone (yeah we were waiting that long!) and we put it in. Went to turn on light today and not a peep. Light gone again after we waiting over 6 weeks for it to be replaced. I'm cracking up over it. What can I do??? The light in the original, and the replacement light are NOT water proof and you cant replace the bulb as they have it all welded together arseways.

Advice on how to approach Aldi please? I'm so annoyed I'll more than likely lose the head. I had to be a bit of a bitch in the first place to get the replacement by telling them it wasn't fit for purpose etc etc and in the end they backed down after I spoke to 2 different managers.

Whats the point of waiting another 6 weeks for the same light that will go belly up after a few days?

What to do or say?:mad:

Cabaal

Lidl generally provide very good customer service, go back to the store and explain the story and they'll likely sort you out...obviously since they don't have the item anymore all they can do is refund you.

snuggles09

I got it in Aldi on the Glen had to really fight my corner the last time..I don't fancy a round 2 but I've no choice.

They might offer a refund but I can't give back the tank as it's full of fish now..bit of a catch 22:(

robtri

Aldi arent great on customer service........ at all......

snuggles09

robtri wrote: »

Aldi arent great on customer service........ at all......

tell me about it:rolleyes: not looking forward to tomorrow

Sully

Moving to Consumer Issues. Not really Waterford specific.

Topic Moved

snuggles09

cheers:)

snuggles09

anybody any advice??

tommy21

snuggles09 wrote: »

anybody any advice??

Well look they offered to replace it day one didn't they? Its not their fault there is fish in it (though of course given its a fish tank its to be expected!). Can you not put them in another container temporarily, surely an hour or so while you switch over would be ok unless their worth thousands!

alexmcred

Can you not just buy a different light from some other pet shop or else just return the whole unit for a refund.

honeybadger

i say your better off cutting your losses with it rather than going back in and causing a sceane and probaly shaming yourself from shopping in that paticular aldi again:),,theres oviously a fault with the light set up in the hood but i say if you were to bring the hood of the tank with you out to mcguires garden center out on the dunmore road and ask for a chap called noel,im sure he can help you out fairly reasonably,,the aldi set up is a nice beginner set up,the tank is fine but the accessories that come with it are a little below par hence why the set up is so cheap

Guy:Incognito

robtri wrote: »

Aldi arent great on customer service........ at all......

They offered to replace it and when the OP didnt want that they organised a spare part they probably wouldnt normally sell. What else are you expecting them to do?

brendansmith

Stekelly wrote: »

They offered to replace it and when the OP didnt want that they organised a spare part they probably wouldnt normally sell. What else are you expecting them to do?

Rectify the fukking problem correctly!!!!

Irish people are rediculous when it comes to this stuff.

Cabaal

brendansmith wrote: »

Rectify the fukking problem correctly!!!!

Irish people are rediculous when it comes to this stuff.

How to you suppose they replace the item when they don't have them in stock?
The option of a refund is within the law, if they offer it is its a perfectly acceptable outcome to the issue.

WIZE

Call Aldi . Ask them to Get a whole new fish tank and when It arrives to the store , Transfer the fish to a big container , Go to aldi with the OLD one , Pick up the new one , Bring it home , Add the old water + Fish . Happy days . Its really not that hard if you think about it .I think aldi and Lidl customer service are great conpared to Tescos and Dunnes*









* And no I dont work for either store

snuggles09

whats the point of them giving me the same light (or tank) when all the lights are faulty which is what i said in the original post??i don't care how much i paid for it..it's meant to be fit for it's purpose, as it's described, corresponding to sample (ie. the light bloody working) and it doesnt...i've priced the same light and it's over 40 euro to get one that will work in it at a garden centre

i bought the tank in good faith..i shouldnt have to do all this running around..it's Aldis goods that are faulty and replacing it with another faulty one makes no sence as i'd be back down again within a few weeks with the light gone again

thats whats doing my head in:mad:

easier to cut my losses and never shop in the place again

as for the customer service comment i had to literally have an argument with one of the staff down there to even get the light..her reply when i told her was "well i bought one and the light broke and i had to go pay 50 euro for a new light" and i had to say thats not the point, it's faulty, i was entitled to a replacement and then another manager had to be called etc

so to be thats NOT good customer service. she had no interest in dealing with me and i went in in good humour not ready to eat anyone out of it

neilthefunkeone

Should be a customer service number for the manufacturer on the box..

Give em a call and they will sort it..

Had a tv from aldi that broke.. rang the manufacturer on a sunday(yep they were open), was collected tuesday.. back to me working on thursday.. no charge..

I didnt bother going through the store and i actually worked there at the time...:eek:

WIZE

snuggles09 wrote: »

whats the point of them giving me the same light (or tank) when all the lights are faulty which is what i said in the original post??i don't care how much i paid for it..it's meant to be fit for it's purpose, as it's described, corresponding to sample (ie. the light bloody working) and it doesnt...i've priced the same light and it's over 40 euro to get one that will work in it at a garden centre

i bought the tank in good faith..i shouldnt have to do all this running around..it's Aldis goods that are faulty and replacing it with another faulty one makes no sence as i'd be back down again within a few weeks with the light gone again

thats whats doing my head in:mad:

easier to cut my losses and never shop in the place again

as for the customer service comment i had to literally have an argument with one of the staff down there to even get the light..her reply when i told her was "well i bought one and the light broke and i had to go pay 50 euro for a new light" and i had to say thats not the point, it's faulty, i was entitled to a replacement and then another manager had to be called etc

so to be thats NOT good customer service. she had no interest in dealing with me and i went in in good humour not ready to eat anyone out of it

Your making a mountain out of a mole hill . You make it out that everything that Aldi sells are Faulty . Its one blooding fish tank .
They offered you a Whole new fish tank . Instead of asking for the light . im sure you need a Lid with the electroncs in it .

snuggles09

they didnt offer me a lid..they offered me a light which i waited 6 weeks for which is now faulty and every other light they will send me will be faulty as all the lights are the same

thanks for the advice

will contact Aldi

WIZE

Whats the make of the fish tank

WIZE

snuggles09 wrote: »

they didnt offer me a lid..they offered me a light which i waited 6 weeks for which is now faulty and every other light they will send me will be faulty as all the lights are the same

thanks for the advice

will contact Aldi

Your right is the way that the Bulbs will always blow if the electronics are Faulty . they should send you the lid cover not just a bulb

WIZE

http://www.aldiwarranty.com/search/search_results_detail.asp?id=1171

This I think will help you

snuggles09

Most Haunted wrote: »

http://www.aldiwarranty.com/search/search_results_detail.asp?id=1171

This I think will help you

Thanks a million..Will contact them now:) And just to add it's not even my fish tank it's my other halves but the ear ache i'm getting over this tank has me rattled:D

WIZE

snuggles09 wrote: »

Thanks a million..Will contact them now:) And just to add it's not even my fish tank it's my other halves but the ear ache i'm getting over this tank has me rattled:D

No problem and Good Luck . Let us know how you get on

snuggles09

they said they know the lights re faluty. nothing to do with the lid. said they will send a replacement within 10 days. they are awaiting new lights from China as they are celebrating their new year everything is delayed.

said he can almost guarantee that the new light he send will work as i was sent a light from a faulty batch and they've had a load of them back.

alls well that ends well and I avoided going into the store.

Cheers Most Haunted;):)

WIZE

I will have my fingers crossed for you

Rainbow_brite

Hi Snuggles09

I had a similar problem before with a Christmas ornament that I bought the bulb went after about a day.. went back to the store they had to order a new one as it was specialized fitting.. waited weeks (Christmas was well over by the time I got the replacement) blew again went back to store but they didn't want to refund me so I ended up leaving it at the end.. too much hassle.

I'd say if the same problem happens again, explain that its a recurring problem and demand a refund. Then buy another fish tank, transfer the fish and bring Aldi back the old tank and get your money back.

Hope it works out for you.

brendansmith

Cabaal wrote: »

How to you suppose they replace the item when they don't have them in stock?
The option of a refund is within the law, if they offer it is its a perfectly acceptable outcome to the issue.

Oh boo hoo, the poor thriving massively successful retail company.

I would suppose they get the customer out a working replacement asap with an apology.

techybabe

snuggles09 wrote: »

Bought a fish tank there before Xmas..was one of the Thursday special buys.

Light worked for 3 days and blew. When we took it out it was welded together so you couldnt change the bulb. I went down to Aldi, had words with the manager and they said another replacement would be sent out. They wanted to swap the whole tank but we've over 100 euro worth of fish in it so we opted to just get the bulb replaced.

The bulb arrived Friday gone (yeah we were waiting that long!) and we put it in. Went to turn on light today and not a peep. Light gone again after we waiting over 6 weeks for it to be replaced. I'm cracking up over it. What can I do??? The light in the original, and the replacement light are NOT water proof and you cant replace the bulb as they have it all welded together arseways.

Advice on how to approach Aldi please? I'm so annoyed I'll more than likely lose the head. I had to be a bit of a bitch in the first place to get the replacement by telling them it wasn't fit for purpose etc etc and in the end they backed down after I spoke to 2 different managers.

Whats the point of waiting another 6 weeks for the same light that will go belly up after a few days?

What to do or say?:mad:

I totaly understand what you are going through with this light problem!!!

I bought the tank from aldi on 17th dec 2009, the light lasted 6 days...i contacted Penine (manufacturer) and was told the batch of lights that went out with the tanks are all faulty and they had contacted the supplier in china and the supplier was shipping them a new batch of lights.
i asked when the new batch would be arriving and was told "in around 10 days time", so after waiting 14 days with still no light...i called penine again only to be told that the lights were on a boat from china...somewhere in the ocean and they didnt know exactly when the lights would arrive...penine suggested i wait another 10 days, so i did and still no light...(during this time i went to local aquarium shops to try to purchase another light that fitted the hood...(to no avail as its a sealed unit held on with only 2 screw holes under the lid) i called penine yet again...only to be told the same story!!! so i flipped and called trading standards and opened a case ref with them. i then immediately called penine back to inform them that i had registered my complaint with trading standards.....so they passed me to a customer services manager who said that the lights were NOT on a boat, but they were being flown over and should arrive the following wednesday...and he offered to send me out 2 lights from the OLD faulty batch in the meantime...which i accepted (coz some light for a few days is better than none!)

so i fitted one of the faulty ones until the new batch one arrived and swapped them over last thursday...... and guess what...the NEW BATCH light blew today!!! i plugged in the first faulty replacement again..but it didnt switch on...so i am now using the second faulty one they sent me and i'll be lucky if it lasts a week!
and yes during all this i did contact aldi head office who offered a full refund if i took the full tanks setup back to the shop.....but what use is that??? a similar setup from pet shop costs twice as much....this thank was sold as fit for purpose!

some people dont realise that tank water needs to be cycled to get water chemistry right for fish, and that substrate shouldnt be disturbed as there is good bacteria living in it which aids in keeping ammonia, nitrite etc low and it is very stressful to net and move fish which is not something that can be done in an hour!!! so in response to someone elses comment about "just nip down and get another tank and awap them over"
whats the point in tearing ur tank apart, disturbing the water chemistry, stressing out the fish.....just to get another tank from aldis (which they no longer have in stores as its not a regularly stocked item) and even if it was in stock...you get it home, set everything up again only for the bloody light to blow in a weeks time and then you are back to square one!!!!! pointless!!!!

so having connected the last faulty batch light today, i've called a person from aldi called Santosh on 01506 657092 and given her all the info, she said she would call penine and phone me back...that was 2 hrs ago...if i have not heard anything in the next few hrs i'll be ringing trading standards again.....coz lets face it people all we want is what we paid for..... A FISH TANK THAT HAS A HOOD WITH A WORKING LIGHT!!!!!
AND THE LIGHT SHOULD AT LEAST LAST 12MTHS!!!

So SNUGGLES09 i totally understand how this id driving uou up the wall and when i get this matter resolved i will let you know how it went.....but im ready for contacting WATCHDOG !!!

techybabe

UPDATE!!!

After calling Santosh back at aldi on 01506 657092 she put me through to Penine who told me that they now have new replacement hoods in stock with a different light and fitting (but its the same hood with a hole drilled at the back)so they will send me one out and it should arrive within the week.
however i have read o another forum
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/319010-help-finding-a-new-tank-light/

that people have received these new hoods and the light is not bright enough to illuminate this size of tank and that the light is fitted on its side on the back panel, so condensation runs into light...sounds dodgy to me!!! but also on this forum people have recommended getting a light from ebay for £8 with free postage...this is the ebay item number 230442876402. some people have made a makeshift bracket and others have secured on through the original hood holes with cable ties.....and i think this one may have a replaceable bulb??
oh well its worth a shot for £8.......hope this helps you snuggles09.

techybabe

hood arrived from aldi, completely unsafe!!!! its similar to a bedside table lamp fitting shoved through a hole on the back lip of the hood and takes a standard bayonette golfball bulb!!! and sits 1cm above water level...WITH NO WATER SEAL WHATSOEVER!!! so water splashes and condensation will run right over the shape of the bulb and straight into 240volts!!

taken matters into my own hands and invested £8 in a waterhome 3 light from ebay which arrived today...has a different slider bracket fitting but im just gonna make it fit bt screwing a thin piece of wood to the original 2 holes under hood then make holes for new light into the wood.....solved

BillyBoy

My lamp went last week, pretty peeved to see that a lot of people had a similar experience here. Didn't bother trying to go back to Aldi after reading the hassle that other people went through.

Ended up going for this instead. Expensive but its fits perfectly on the tank and requires no hood altering (and the light illuminates the tank very well). It also has a bullb that can be replaced. Happy with my purchase

Don't mean to be dragging up an old thread but said I'd post it just in case anybody else was having the problem and wanted another option (hope its ok to post the link mods, if not please delete )