Eric,
I ordered a late season batch of 21 AquaPros last August. I have sold 15 of them this spring and all 15 have had problems. Most of the issues have been with the timers. Some of the problems were with internal workngs of the timers, but some of them were wired improperly. The latter was causing the motors to spin backwards and in reverese sequence. It has cost me a lot of money and time on the phone and trips to people's ponds. Three of the units leaked through the site glass and caused mold to grow. I have expressed my concerns and have been told that new timers will be coming my way to include with the un-opened units before I sell them. However, I am going to personally assemble all of the units and test them before they go out. Even if the timers appear to be working, the new owner will get the additional timer.
I have sold a couple of the Texas Hunter's this year and my clients love them. They are expensive, but it's worth it to those not wanting to continually mess with fixing their feeder. I like to look at them as the Cadillac versus the Cavalier. You get what you pay for. Obviously, many people can't stomach dropping over $700 on a feeder, but those who can are much happier in the end. A lot of my clients do not live next their ponds. THeir ponds are on recreational property so monitoring the units everyday is not an option. They need to know that their feeder is going to clock-in and go to work everyday.
All I can say to people is that there is a reason that some feeders don't cost very much. Just like most things in life, if you really want quality, then you are going to have to pay for it. It is good that there is a wide selection of product on the market. There is something out there for everyone and thier corresponding budgets.
Having said that, we have some AquaPros that have worked like champs from Day One. Quality control has to be implemented 100% of the time, though. Fifteen out of fifteen for this year is not a good record. For guys in the business such as Todd, Nate, Greg, and I, it becomes a major pain to deal with these types of issues. I assure you we are not getting rich selling feeders. I'm almost to the point of telling my customers to go to Cabelas to buy their feeders. It ends up saving me money in the long run.
