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Progressive Marine and Rich Gallup

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:05 pm
by Xster
Hi guys, I went to Rich's for the first time today with Terry. He seems like a pretty nice guy. I bought two acros from him. He did give me a good deal on them, in my opinion anyways. I also hand delivered a blue-rimmed deresa clam to Shawn.

But man, did he have the flatworms in like three of his tanks. It was loaded with them. The sandbed was covered in red/orange. Terry joked, "Damn Rich, you got the flatworms bad over here. You breeding them??!" I let out a little giggle. All Rich said, "Yep! I got em bad!"

Also, he has many aiptasias in his tanks also. Besides these two pesky things, I would say he is still a decent "LFS." Please remember that I am stressing the fact of "LFS," which means he is still out to make a buck, which is just business.

He does have a good selection of livestock, including a variety of acros, clams, anemones. Those were the only things that I paid attention to. I guess you just have to catch him at the right time as far as price is concerned.

He JUST needs to get rid of those darn planaria and aiptasias, and take care of his tanks a little bit better.

This is only my first impression of Progressive Marine.

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:12 pm
by tbmoore
I just wanted to make clear that this thread started talking about Ricks in New Orleans and Xster is talking about Rich Gallop of Progresive Marine in Mobile.

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:15 pm
by Scott
Rich is ok. The main problem that I have is that he prices things as you ask how much they are. I have seen the apstasia before, the flatworms must be pretty new or I didn't see them.

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:39 pm
by snoopdog
Rich always has Aptasia from when i met him. He also on occasion will have hair algea but not often. The only real problem most customers have at Rich's is the lack of notated prices. I attribute this to the fact he is not there often and has more things going on at any given time than 5 people. This is not only a store front for him but also a "stock" location for his daily maintenance customers or even setting up a new tank for someone onsite. I am sure if Rich slowed down some he would have time to price his tanks. I do remember when he had his wife price them last year during summer when she does not work. Rich is a very nice guy and has a great personality but this is also his bread and butter, most of his money probably comes from tank maintenance.

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 8:37 pm
by Scott
I will say that if he has time he will help you figure out a problem or answer some questions and I have bought a few pieces of used equipment from him for about what an individual would sell them for. Unfortunately, other times he tried to sell me used equipment for the same price you could get a new one. I think it depends on his mood and how much money you spend there.

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 8:45 pm
by snoopdog
I just have mixed reviews myself, sometimes when i leave there i feel like i get a good deal, other times not so great. I feel the problems with all vendors these day is the lack of service you get for your money. No one is personal anymore with there customers and it shows these days. If vendors treated there customers like they would like to be treated themselves they would get more business.

Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 9:04 pm
by Xster
Amen to that, snoop.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 2:39 pm
by JIM
"yes the price for that is $30.00"
you go to pay and price is $45.00
can we guess who im speaking of?

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:18 pm
by Brandon
...and then charges your card for $46.50
Yep.. tis a shame. :x

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:29 pm
by Xster
Brandon wrote:...and then charges your card for $46.50
Yep.. tis a shame. :x
Rich didn't even add tax on my purchase. Two efflos for a negotiated price of $145 plus Shawn's 4-inch blule-rimmed derasa for $35. Even price of $180 charged to my credit card. Hmmm, I guess I was lucky to catch him on a good day. I am too scared to go back now. :lol:

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 4:30 pm
by tbmoore
Rich is in business and to make a dollar...I have seen nothing out of place. If you know what you want when you go there and bargin for it then you can either buy it or not but he has always treated me good. He has sold me a couple of things I did not need like a sea apple but that was my choice. When I have been in a bind he has been more than fair and good on the prices...No local store can compete with online. Some of his prices are high some are low...but he has always done what he said he was going to do with me. Some things I would rather pay more for and get local like live rock...so I can pick my pieces. He does have some flat worms he needs to get rid of but if you dip and watch your tank you will be ok. When My tank was scratched and I needed to replace he did me right and was here when I needed him.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 4:34 pm
by Brandon
I'm not really complaining.. it's just kind of funny.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 4:55 pm
by Xster
But Rich does price things "on a whim," which could be bad business. If he did in fact stated something and then charged for something else, then that is bad business also. I guess Rich just needs to be much more CONSISTENT with his business dealings.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:40 pm
by Scott
I think he has a bad memory. Several times, back when I dealt with him more, he told me a price and then asked me what price he quoted me just a few minutes later. I really don't think he does it on purpose, at least I hope he doesn't. I just like the fact you can go in Coral Connection and the prices are there written on the tank.

Progressive

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:02 pm
by Dys
Well... I decided today to take a trip over to Progressive.

For a out of garage shop, its quite a setup. Was actually surprised at the selection he had in there, and everything that he carries. He carries some items others dont even think about, such as Metal Halide. Almost every store i been in didnt have anythign halide related in stock, but, "We can order it", Rich actually had some stuff available right there and then. He was very pleasant to deal with, was a nice atmosphere, he wasnt all over us, even as small a setup as he has, let us browse etc...

I did check out his live rock section, ended up bringing home a piece my wife really liked, was very purple, had quite a bit of live stuff on it.

I did notice the aiptasia in his tanks, and brought it to his attention, he said honestly, he has customers who wants it, and so he gives it away on per request basis.

All in all, I will say the experience was more than worth a trip back, 35 miles was worth it. Of course as Rich and I spoke, I said I would call before lugging myself over there to make sure items I want are in stock.

I have seen some retail locations not as equipped and or stocked as his setup. Cheers Rich!