On August 19, I purchased a used 1/2 horsepower Aqua Medic Titan 1500 aquarium chiller from Michael Ufret that he had advertised on Craigslist.
Since the list price on this chiller is about $850 new, it seemed like a pretty good deal to pay $400 for this chiller.
The seller promised that it worked well and he would provide a 30 day money back guarantee.
On August 21, my aquarium maintenance technician installed the chiller. Although it powered up, it just blew room temperature air, and did not cool the water as it was supposed to. Since the water in the tank immediately began rising, he disconnected the chiller. It ran for approximately 10 minutes.
Mike Ufret refused to respond to repeated emails and voicemails until I finally contacted him through the Atlanta Reef Club forum. He then concocted a story about how the chiller was damaged due to improper installation.
1) When the chiller was purchased, Mike said "you may have to shake it and tilt it around a bit to get it working". That was the extent of his buyer instructions. He did not say anything about it being in danger of being broken.
2) At the time of sale, Mike guaranteed to take the chiller back if I had problems. He repeated that promise on the phone when I first reported the problem. He only refused to take it back and give me the money back after the check had cleared the bank. It is obvious in retrospect that his intent was to delay the transaction until the money had cleared and a stop payment could no longer be issued.
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