Aw...?

[Funkateer_1]

Whats everyone's feedback on this store?

[cdgardner11]

I have never bought fish from them, but I was off of work for awhile and went to all the local fish stores within 30 or so miles, and they had the best price of anyone for food and equipment. Not as good as online but for a local fish store really good prices.

[av619]

large variety.... they have almost everything. that is not fish or corals.... but fish and corals they have a good selection... went in there the other day and a few fish in tanks were dead but thats the first time i have seen that there.... maybe they just got lost in acclimation... although it was a Wednesday and they dont get shipment until wed. night.... so those fish were at least a week old... customer service is ok but it seems they dont have the most solid advise...I think if you have a question go to octopus garden from what I hear or post it on here! corals aqua sd has some good deals it looks like and they have a killer selection!!!!! ........ take what you want from my post...

[Magiksurfman]

Went there alot starting up, ill still go there and cruise and to get ro water but i find myself just staring at their fish and corals and not really committing anymore another lfs down the street is to blame for that and a guy who was formerly there, which i forget his name. They have one of the biggest assortment of fish and freshwater plants, i think only Pk rivals (i tend to stay in one area) but if i need a special plumbing part, or really anything dry goods they are pretty well stocked they got a cool freshwater section too. No real bad experiences with customer service but, Ive noticed they will usually only ask you if you need help once then they let you cruise and you usually have to be the one to get their attention after if you need help or have a question.

[Funkateer_1]

bump!

Good, bad, or ugly lets hear what you got

[Yolo]

I have been going there for years. Mostly buy Frozen/Dry food, bulbs, feeders and look around for an occaisional fish. Think I bought way too much Ich medication from there!!!....LOL (not your fault). They have a good/large dry goods/food section.

Would like to see more effort on feeders. They bring in hobbyists who have tanks and one thing leads to another. Either you don't have ghost shrimp or no small minnows and make me feel like I'm bothering you.

Good place for parts and fittings when putting plumbing together also.

Overall I like AW.

[JohnnyAirtime]

bump!

Good, bad, or ugly lets hear what you got

Oh Mark, you know the bad and ugly won't be posted... but, nice to know your curious of what people think of your work place.

Pat (the owner) has been an instrumental part in my reef keeping. From when he was originally wholesale sales only (I acquired a wholesale license).... to now. The store has everything you need for dry products... yet, is a bit more expensive then most LFS or online ordering. In a pinch, I buy dry product. But most often visit for my frozen foods I often need, or an occasional fish and they do have a great assortment of plumbing needs.

Sadly, the coral selections have gone down hill over the years, and the fish all seem to be itching... or not stocked as well as they used to be.

Lots of great knowledge in the employees, yet often I find myself hunting down an employee to bag a fish or get a price on something even though there's 4-6 of them running around chatting it up at the fish-bag counter.

... it's my first store to go to when I need FROZEN food, Plumbing, or some sort of dry product.

[Funkateer_1]

Oh Mark, you know the bad and ugly won't be posted... but, nice to know your curious of what people think of your work place.
If anyone has any experiences good or bad please post them. Yes this is Marc from AW (Tall kid with the curly hair) and i just want to know how to improve the store and what you guys would like to see at the shop.

All my posts are 'off the clock' on SDR, I do not represent AW in what I say or advice I give here. Even when i'm doing with a 9 hour shift at a fish store I'm still on reef forums. The addiction never ends :lol: .

[Therapy]

I went to buy a bulkhead for a used filter I just bought. As I walked to the check out I wondered to myself how I was going to drill the bulkhead. I happen to see Pat working hard on something in the side room. I asked do you have a way to drill a hole in my plastic barrel. He immediately stopped what he was doing and started looking through drawers. He pulled out a hole saw and said yes I can do it. So I ran to my truck pulled out my 55 gallon barrel and brought it to him. He drilled the hole for me and said....."no charge".
I also appreciated Sam giving me a long explanation on a koi pond filter I was looking at.Its cool they now have pond stuff in the same store.

[seareef]

I went to buy a bulkhead for a used filter I just bought. As I walked to the check out I wondered to myself how I was going to drill the bulkhead. I happen to see Pat working hard on something in the side room. I asked do you have a way to drill a hole in my plastic barrel. He immediately stopped what he was doing and started looking through drawers. He pulled out a hole saw and said yes I can do it. So I ran to my truck pulled out my 55 gallon barrel and brought it to him. He drilled the hole for me and said....."no charge".
I also appreciated Sam giving me a long explanation on a koi pond filter I was looking at.Its cool they now have pond stuff in the same store.

Pat's a really cool guy. Nice of them to do that for you.

[afitzwater]

Ive been in there about 30 times, their selection is great, their prices are high and their customer service needs improvement! I still go back but I wish they stepped their customer service up a bit, but I must admit I called the other day and they were a big help over the phone just not in the store

[surfnsd]

I like the place. Just feel sometimes that when I ask a question theres 1 or 2 employees that talk down to you or make you feel like youre bothering them. So I only ask certain people questions. Other then that theyve been life savers with plumbing parts and hard to find items. Ive bought fish from them over the years that have done great in my reef, Ive gotten dry goods and frozen food from them. Most of the time everyone in there is super friendly and willing to answer your questions. There's been a couple times theyve gone above and beyond trying to find me a part I needed. Yea their corals have kinda gone down hill but I still head over for most my dry and frozen goods.

[reefhobby]

Nices store to look thru. never bought anything as prices seemed high
I never feel like the young kids want to pull away from talking to each other to help anyone.
Maybe it was bad timing the half dozen times I've been there
Nice store though
Just my 2 cents

[nate]

Ive always had really good customer service at AW, especially from marc, he definitely knows his stuff

[sushibug]

I have a few complaints about AW. One is that no one asks if you need help even if you are standing nearby. Two is that when you ask them if they have such and such brand in stock, they say "why would you want that anyway? this brand (we have in stock) is better." Third, they always brag and act like know-it-alls.

[mrfrogspawn]

I have a few complaints about AW. One is that no one asks if you need help even if you are standing nearby.

This has been my experience there as well. You can walk around the store for half an hour and not have a single person ask if you need help. I was told this place gets super busy on the weekends, so if you cant get help during the week with only 2 other customers in the store, how in the heck would you get help if its super busy?

[Duke4130]

Marc, you have helped me out a lot with my questions in the past. Pat is pretty cool too. Some of the guys at the beginning had bad attitudes I though towards customers, but after a while everyone was cool.... Prices on corals are very high compared to other places. Also AW doesn't give package deals.

[SDguy]

I check out AW just like most stores because you never know when you'll find that must have specimen. My collare and hybrid pelewensis butterflies are from there. Incredible fish. Not to mention my beastly 5 year old tomini tang, and my almsot 5 year old gecko goby!

[kamero87]

I have a few complaints about AW. One is that no one asks if you need help even if you are standing nearby. Two is that when you ask them if they have such and such brand in stock, they say "why would you want that anyway? this brand (we have in stock) is better." Third, they always brag and act like know-it-alls.

+1 to this, these are my only complaints about AW... especially number 1, it seems like theyre too busy talking amongst themselves instead of helping potential customers, i dont work at AW so i dont know where everything is in the store, so it is nice when someone is there to show me where stuff is, or tell me if you have any fish/corals available

[nate]

that's odd, it feels like every time i go in there the second i look at something someone approaches me telling me how cool X is and if I need help with anything else

[SDRotary]

I like AW but I will have to agree the coral selection wasn't great before and has gotten worse, but some cool fish. Still p/u a mantis or something weird every once in a while there, and the occasional fitting hd doesn't have.

[Duke4130]

+1 to this, these are my only complaints about AW... especially number 1, it seems like theyre too busy talking amongst themselves instead of helping potential customers, i dont work at AW so i dont know where everything is in the store, so it is nice when someone is there to show me where stuff is, or tell me if you have any fish/corals available

+1....

[sushibug]

+1....

+1 But I will say that their coral selection is much improved and I am starting to see better prices than their competition. This might end up being the main store I visit, even with the drawbacks.

[Yolo]

This is an OLD Thread and I don't like to bump ones like these. They are outdated and staff, conditions, managment, etc change often in the LFS business.

AW is now a sponsor here at SanDiegoReefs and will be having a sales event for our members the 24th and 25th of March. Come on out, see the store, and if you have any suggestions to improve their product line, service, or inventory, discuss it with them in person! If you can't make it ot the event, they have a Forum presence here on SDReefs.

Thank you

Mike