Dear Lowe's Customer Service:
The submersible pump for our goldfish pond broke late yesterday, too late to make it to Cornerstone Waterscapes or Hardscape to buy a replacement.
Both of those specialty stores are closed Sunday, and our goldfish seemed to be gasping for air this morning. My wife declared an emergency, previous after-church plans were canceled, and I came to your store at 15th and Yale to buy something with which to aerate the pond.
I purchased your 1300 gallon/hour pump and your pressurized filter with UV light, along with 20 feet of corrugated 3/4" PVC tubing, as was recommended on the box.
When I got it home, it was clear that the outlet for the pump wouldn't fit inside the tubing. So back to the store I went, traipsing back and forth between the plumbing aisle and the pond aisle, trying to find an adapter that would allow me to connect the two.
When I got back home, I discovered that the filter kit contained three nozzles, one of which was for the pump.
When I finally got it all put together and switched it on, I was underwhelmed. The flow was a mere trickle, even though this pump had a higher rating (1300 gph) then my previous pump (1200 gph), an American-made Little Giant submersible pump (5-MSPR-WG). It is not a strong enough stream to aerate the pond. I tried it with the pump only and without the "pressurized" filter, and there was only a slight improvement.
Here's the best way to describe it: The old Little Giant pump was like a 21-year-old after a 6-pack of beer. The new Lowe's pump is like an 80-year-old with prostate problems.
I hope in the future Lowe's will stock high-quality American made pumps instead of shoddy but expensive Chinese products. But I won't hold my breath.
Unfortunately, my fish may have to.
Yours in algae,
Michael Bates
Comments (6)
Alright, Bates. Enough with the RACIST comments ALREADY. Always blaming the Chinese for EVERYTHING. Why, next you'll be blaming a Chinese because of some jackass Santa rolling on the BA. Right, Santa BUSTED for DWC, driving while CHINESE.
Posted by Paul Tay | March 18, 2007 7:44 PM
Posted on March 18, 2007 19:44
We should start a fish pond pump business.
We could call it Koi's R Us.
Posted by RecycleMichael | March 18, 2007 9:39 PM
Posted on March 18, 2007 21:39
All right, RM, that's enough carping out of you.
Posted by MichaelBates
|
March 18, 2007 9:44 PM
Posted on March 18, 2007 21:44
http://www.madeinusa.com/
Posted by meeciteewurkor | March 18, 2007 9:57 PM
Posted on March 18, 2007 21:57
Did you consider going to the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and buying 30 gallons of distilled water to hold the fish over until you could get the right stuff?
Posted by Shadow6 | March 19, 2007 7:49 AM
Posted on March 19, 2007 07:49
Aren't carp chinese, too?
In the context Michael wrote of, Chinese refers to a standard of quality in manufacturing, rather than the virtues of a nationality ("Chinese" is a nationality, not a race).
We used to make the same observations about Japanese manufacturing, but once they went high-end, high-tech, we quit criticizing their products. But I doubt that it effected the views of the true bigots of the world.
Michael's not a racist. We sometimes butt heads; but he's not a racial bigot.
~David Van
Posted by David VanRisseghem | March 21, 2007 11:59 AM
Posted on March 21, 2007 11:59