Verify tanks size before buying

[markcasper]

Check out what happened to me.
http://odrcomplaint.bbb.org/ODRWeb/Consumer/ComplaintData.aspx?ComplaintID=8978245&ComplaintType=

[jasonl6]

Link dump!

[markcasper]

Link dump!

http://odrcomplaint.bbb.org/ODRWeb/Consumer/ComplaintData.aspx?ComplaintID=8978245&ComplaintType=

Try again, maybe their not letting it go through til the guy responds.


short version, bought 800 gallon tank, got it home and its 600 gallon tank. Called auctioneer to complain, asked for 25% off and he hung the phone up on me. This was an online auction. Reported him for false advertising, tank is going back today!

[Waynehere]

Yep, the link wants a logon. Maybe you can just copy and paste your complaint in the body here?

I also bought a tank locally that was supposed to be a 400 and turned out to be a 300 gal. The guy made an honest mistake and has been really good to me with other things I had bought, but lesson learned there.

Wayne

[markcasper]

What a joke, called them around noon, told them I'd be bringing it back. Lady talked to some guy and they said bring it in. Got there at 2:30, the lady went to tell the owner, guy told her to tell me he won't take the tank back, even though thats what he told me on Saturday before hanging up on me. He wont take it back because I turned him in to the BBB, until he talks to his attorney. Guess he wants a lawsuit?

[500592]

What an #%^**%#}}}#%^^***#}{{#%^ good luck I hope you get your money back

[spencer11]

wow, i would be very unhappy with him. and why should he get mad about you turning him in, when he did what you said he did? i hope you get your money back

spencer

[maple flats]

It's not easy, but if a tank is not stamped with the capacity, I guestimate. I measure the inside size and get cubic feet, then x 7.5. If it were a simple shapes you can get very close. Most are harder. 2 of my tanks I measured the straight wall part, down until the rounded bottom. Then I used just under 1/2 the volume of a cylinder for the rest. I got real close. My last 2 were easier, they have straight sides with just a little v at the bottom.

[OneLegJohn]

Not worth the legal fees. You'd be better off trying to work something out.

[spud]

Not worth the legal fees. You'd be better off trying to work something out.

Reporting him to the BBB is a good thing. But I agree with One Leg John that it is not worth the legal fees. To get $1000.00 back might cost you $5000.00 and I have been there and done that. Just take the lose and be more careful next time. There having a problem here in Vermont with some guy selling tanks and there not what there supposed to be. I don't think it is the guy's fault though. He just did not know. If a shipment of tanks comes in and the dealer is told they are 4000 gallon tanks then he just assumes they are 4000 gallons tanks and sells them for that. It would appear the people at fault are the ones that make the tank and they should be held accountable.

Spud

[markcasper]

Reporting him to the BBB is a good thing. But I agree with One Leg John that it is not worth the legal fees. To get $1000.00 back might cost you $5000.00 and I have been there and done that.

Spud

Actually I would go the small claims route, it usually is less than $100 and you make that as part of the claim as well. This guy hung the phone up on me on Saturday, and would not face me in person yesterday. He false advertised whether something is worked out or not. He has 2 weeks to respond to BBB. If in 2 weeks nothing has changed, then he'll be getting something else in the mail. The link to BBB won't work because of an active complaint in process. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000055383366

I had no idea who I was dealing with and was curious as to what this guy looked like, lo and behold, above is a facebook link. I will repost the BBB when things come to an end.

[spud]

I have also done the small claims route and it stinks. Yes you pay only $100.00 or so to file. Most likely you will win the case but then comes the bad part. The court will not get the money for you and has no interest in getting the money for you. All the court say's is you win and the other guy has to pay you whatever amount. Then they tell you to have a nice day and good luck trying to get the money from the guy who is ordered to pay you. Your next step will be calling a collection agent and signing on with them. Oh yea they want 50% of whatever they can recover from you. Most of them can't recover anything because they have no power and are very limited as to what they can do. I know your mad about getting burned by this guy (and I would to) but I really think your beating a dead horse here.

Spud

[tuckermtn]

can you or someone you know with a facebook account post something on his facebook page? My wife is the facebooker in my house so not sure if you can even do something like that.

[markct]

I am not sure if i missed a previous post or such but what happened here? was it a new or used tank? how much size difference are we talking, ie are you upset because your 400 gallon tank only holds 395, or is it more like half the volume they sold it as? If its a used tank it could easily have been a mistake or miscalculation when measuring. Now to be honest if i sold a tank to someone and made a mistake, offered to take it back and make right, then in the meantime the guy goes and filles a bbb complaint i think i would be a little pissed too as i made the the attemp to make an honest mistake right and still get bad mouthed

[markcasper]

I bought a zero vacuum tank via online auction. I picked it up one week ago. It was advertised as an "800 gallon maple sap tank" http://smithsales.auctionflex.com/showlot.ap?co=11217&weid=22365&weiid=8350520&archive=y&keyword=tank&lso=lotnumasc&pagenum=1&lang=En

I got it home and for some reason, it looked alot smaller when it was up on the trailer than when it was sitting on the ground. I have a 3,4,500 gallon zero and measured the 500, then it struck me, it was not 800 gallon, even metered it half full of water and only came up with 300 gallons.

I called the place and talked to a guy about it, he said he couldn't speak for the owner of the auction company, but thought it wouldn't be a problem to return it and get my money back. So I called the next day and talked to Mr. Close and inquired about giving me $300 refund to compensate for the lost gallons size going from 800 to 600. I told him that I would have never paid 1212.00 for a 600 gallon tank if I would have known. He said NO to that idea. He said that I would have to bring the tank back to his business so he could verify that it is smaller than he advertised, if so, he'd return my money. I said that if he did not believe me, that he should come to my place to verify. I asked him again about entertaining the idea of just giving me $300 back, and I would go away and be satisfied. Then he started to get angry. He then repeated the offer of just bringing the thing back and returning my $$$. I explained to him when he went to reauction it again, a 600 gallon tank is going to bring far less than an 800 gallon.

By then he was really getting agitated. I then said if he didn't entertain my idea of $300 back that I will report him to the proper authorities for false and misleading advertising (there is a state statutes on the books relating to auctioneers)

He was p$!@#*d!! He then told me "you go right ahead and do that, now you have a nice day." CLICK, he hung up on me. So I called the sherrifs office in the next county over and they advised to contact the BBB and possibly the state dept. of commerce.

Whether it was intentional or not, they should no better. If I sold someone a case, 12 quarts of syrup and they got it home and there was only 9, would I tell that person to bring all the syrup back because it was shorted 25%? Its the same deal with this tank. The max I would have gave for a 600 gallon would have been in the 8-900$ range. I can still use the tank, its just that I paid too darn much for it because I thought it was 800 gallon.

In my opinion my offer would have been the best way to go for him and it would have stopped me from turning him in. He told me to do it, so I did it.

[markcasper]

can you or someone you know with a facebook account post something on his facebook page? My wife is the facebooker in my house so not sure if you can even do something like that.

I don't think you can unless say I and him were "friends". His business listed under facebook is public, so something could be posted on there.

[brookledge]

When looking at tanks it is not hard to calculate the capacity. 231 cubic inches per gallon. So what ever the shape is you can come up with a good estimate. Square/ retangular are the easiest but round or cylindrical can be done by calculating the area of the shape of the tank. Even a tank like a Zero you can come pretty close since it is round and then the ends are concave. Just subtract a couple inches in lenght for the concave ends. If you do the math and it comes up close to the advertised size it is legit
Keith

[OldManMaple]

If Smith Sales is a member of he Wisconsin Auctioneers Association, Inc You may have an ethics complaint. check here http://wisconsinauctioneers.org/code-of-ethics/

[markcasper]

Thanks for the link to the auctioneers assoc. I do believe it says on their website they belong. I will check it out. Smith Sales did respond late last week, basically is a 3 paragraph spread how I was a disgruntled buyer. There was no mention of them breaking a state statutes however. It was lawyer jargon and it was quite apparent. It was stated in the response that I refused their offer to return the tank. That is not true, the truth is the owner hung the phone up on me. As I mentioned in a former post, I took the tank back last Wednesday per a conversation with an employee, I got it there and they rejected it saying the owner could not take it back because I reported them to the BBB.

The response to my complaint also stated the terms on their website site saying, "AS IS WITH NO WARRANTIES". This to me would be valid if the item was advertised correctly. Since it wasn't, "AS IS" goes out the back window.

[SapZilla]

http://odrcomplaint.bbb.org/ODRWeb/Consumer/ComplaintData.aspx?ComplaintID=8978245&ComplaintType=

Try again, maybe their not letting it go through til the guy responds.


short version, bought 800 gallon tank, got it home and its 600 gallon tank. Called auctioneer to complain, asked for 25% off and he hung the phone up on me. This was an online auction. Reported him for false advertising, tank is going back today!

I guess I can't give you a fair shake mark. I know you well enough and know you have problems with transactions seamingly everyday. I've just heard so many complaints from you. Just last year you went on and on about how you got burned on an "experimental evaporator". There again, experimental is experimental. You bought it knowing you were experimenting and there would be a good chance it would fail.

Anyway, with the time you waisted fighting these people and writing about it here you could have already earned the difference with a moderately lucrative task.

[Thad Blaisdell]

I guess I can't give you a fair shake mark. I know you well enough and know you have problems with transactions seamingly everyday. I've just heard so many complaints from you. Just last year you went on and on about how you got burned on an "experimental evaporator". There again, experimental is experimental. You bought it knowing you were experimenting and there would be a good chance it would fail.

Anyway, with the time you waisted fighting these people and writing about it here you could have already earned the difference with a moderately lucrative task.

I would have to say that if you are going to bash someone here at least get your spelling right. If I were going to throw someone under the bus I would at least know how to spell it. I personally believe he has a legit gripe. If you want to bash him do it under your breath and move on. No reason to post it here.

[farmall h]

I agree. This is not the forum for personal bashing. If you know the person "well enough" than a phone call would suffice.
Back to the zero tank. I'm a little puzzled. What does it say for capacity on the manufacturer tag? Must have one. Also where is the measure stick? If you had it you could divide the #'s on the stick by 8 and get the gallon capacity of the tank. Our dairy has a 600 gallon round tank...this one pictured looks to be the same height but longer. I would definately measure it to be sure.

[wiam]

I agree. This is not the forum for personal bashing. If you know the person "well enough" than a phone call would suffice.
Back to the zero tank. I'm a little puzzled. What does it say for capacity on the manufacturer tag? Must have one. Also where is the measure stick? If you had it you could divide the #'s on the stick by 8 and get the gallon capacity of the tank. Our dairy has a 600 gallon round tank...this one pictured looks to be the same height but longer. I would definately measure it to be sure.

Any milk tank I have seen had inch measurements on the stick, not pounds.

[markcasper]

I guess I can't give you a fair shake mark. I know you well enough and know you have problems with transactions seamingly everyday. I've just heard so many complaints from you. Just last year you went on and on about how you got burned on an "experimental evaporator". There again, experimental is experimental. You bought it knowing you were experimenting and there would be a good chance it would fail.

Anyway, with the time you waisted fighting these people and writing about it here you could have already earned the difference with a moderately lucrative task.

I do not know who you are. Other than telling about this tank, most all of anything else that i have ever "complained" about has been offered in response to other 'Traders' asking for advice or experiences with such. The tank issue is still up in the air and there has since been other issues with the auction company unrelated to my issue that have since cropped up. I will not tell you what, b/c I would be complaining then.
As for experimental evaporator...that was my phrase I coined after it was a failure. The thing was sold with the sole purpose to perform and it did not. There are tons more people that make syrup with more problems than I and they are not on here to know, so it seems you felt you needed to attack me. If someone asks for advice on equipment issues, concerns, experiences....etc, thats what this site is for. Noone said everything had to be positive and uplifting because this isn't a perfect world and it ain't reality bud.

[farmall h]

Wiam your right. The stick is in inches then you correspond that reading to the # chart. I forget...been a long time since I milked on the family farm. Thanks for jogging my memory.:)

[spencer11]

very well said mark

spencer