ProBites Announcement

[Duncan]

Some of you have been PM'ing and emailing me about the availability of ProBites. You have probably guessed by now that business arrangements have gone sadly adrift. Things were a bit too raw last week to make this announcement but, I'm both calmer now and thinking more logically and you as my customers are entitled to know. So I can put it off no longer.

To tell the truth, no question about it, this business arrangement was made in hell. It was a parasitic one, where only one party benefits at the expense of the other.

The shorter version is:

Imagine Samsung/Hoover/Nokia or any other manufacturer running behind one of their dealer’s back selling their product direct? No it would not happen, they would refer you to a local dealer. Even if they knew the dealer was suffering, they would at least have the common good grace, courtesy and good manners to contact the dealer in order to put them in the picture i.e. advise them of their intentions. This did not happen!

Fact: These Approaching customers said, they were using ProBites and made no secret of who they were, so he knew these were *MY* customers and chose to ignore it.

We are all aware that manufactures promote their products. However in this case it was the expectation that I would do so. I was advised that despite koiquest losing money on this venture, all the hard work I put into this Product in the UK, making it a household name was purely for my benefit and my benefit alone. The manufactures Nedkoi apparently would not benefit.
I’m sure all manufactures would love an arrangement like this.

Since getting involved with ProBites I have lost money” fact” I have not come out on top at any time, the makers knew this and think this is a normal way for their dealers to continue.

I was prepared to buy smaller amounts until the exchange rate picked up but after the revelation that became apparent two weekends ago that customers were being dealt with direct, that deal or any other are well and truly out of the window.

There are more issues but to continue would be futile.

FYI, I will not be now, or at any time in the future be purchasing or renewing agreements with ProBites for distribution. I cannot and will not deal with anyone when I constantly have to look back over my shoulder to see what they are up to.

The long and the short of it is. My business arrangement with ProBites has been strained for some time. Of all the business arrangements I have, this one has never run as smoothly as others. It took “me” at least 12 month longer to find out what my wife had been telling me for some time, namely, this guy only cares about a business arrangement as long as the money is rolling in and has no thought for others and how a prolonged business should run.

So if you want to deal direct you have my blessing.
If you want to apply for the ProBites UK franchise and want to be on your toes all the time, truly I will hold no malice, go ahead knock yourself out. Personally, I can think of more pleasurable ways of losing money.

i

[carlejo]

I'm sorry probites will be no more, but more to the point I hope you're ok and not 'too' out of pocket. At the end of the day it's 'only' a koi food and not worth losing sleep over, having hassles at home,people moaning about orders, etc..... we all know where it can lead..... keep your chin up mate, and thanks for all the previous excellent service ref probites.
all the best
Carl

[Davej]

Hi Duncan

Don’t stress over this Duncan, must be a pain seeing all the hard work you have put into PBs going to waste but at least the bleeding on your cash will stop and you will not have the hassel of dealing with them.

Believe me, there are those of us that believe the premium of Probites is that it carries YOUR endorsement, without such, the Brand value in the product evaporates.

Regards

Dave

[Andy H]

Sorry to hear that Duncan.

Shame you can`t make one that is so close to the original!

They have done the dirty then it`s the first and last time we buy them.

[GERRY5]

duncan, so sorry this has gone sour for you ,especially all the effort that has gone into it by yourself...as davej has stated without your endorsement the product has already been devalued ....

[Bob Hart]

Duncan,

Sorry to hear things have come to an end.

I know you go out of your way to ensure your customers always get the best product you can find and your service is second to noe. So to have some supplier taking the mick out of you, just shows he doesnt understand business ethics like you do Dunc. It's a good food, but if no one buys it he will go bust.

Just buy other food guys, remember Dunc did the donkey work for this in the UK and got shafted.

Keep smiling Dunc, we all appreciate your honesty and hard work

[Gazza]

Hi Dunc,

I think you already know my take on this and i have been waiting for the post to be honest

I know how hard you work on things like this and think you have made the correct decision for sure and i am 100% sure you will find much better ways to spend your time and hard earned cash.I am already using another food and will continue to do so and you never know you may decide to market another food and if so count me in

[Mike Snaden]

Hmmm... time to come outta the closet methinks...

Last year, Dunc gave me a whole pile of this food to trial, on the understanding that I gave it a 'review' of sorts after using it for a few months. Unfortunately, I refrained from being to keen about doing the review, as I was worried about the adverse effect it would bring. Last Summer, I tired it with our 'Tategoi Challenge' Tosai. Whilst the Kois condition was fine with this food, I couldn't seem to get them to eat enough of the stuff. What I mean, is what they didn't eat within the first couple of minutes, they would just leave floating, which in turn would lead to them not being too keen for the next feed. I found I had to really back the feeding off to find a level where they would eat it all. This actually cost me a lot of lost growth in the process. A few of the guys on here are aware of this scenario from last Summer. The other issue, and it was a major one, was that the food created the strangest kind of waste, which just congealed into an odd jelly-like substance that just kept the static K1 clumped together on the two 1700 gallon ponds that we run here (which had the Tosai in last Summer). This stuff would literally require getting my hands in there and pulling it apart to free up the K1. It didn't smell so good either. Other foods produced a nice loose waste that was eaqsy to flush away. After I ran out of this food, I then tried another Dutch food, which had a different effect insofar as the Koi just got too fat too quickly. The waste from this food was fine, aside from it discolouring the water a little. After this, I switched back to Japanese food. If any of you guys noticed the post, this is what I was alluding to in one of my posts on the 'Growing Go-Sanke to 80cm' thread a couple of months ago. That said, I do think that it is possible to 'get it right' with a food made outside Japan. Just hasn't been done yet.

Best regards,

Mike.

[andres]

Hi all


On another note and answering son of feeeeshponds question :

I already have 4 chapters of the new book written and this involves an in-depth look and explanation into water chemistry (how Ion’s work etc) the trouble with this is. To write this taking into account folks who have never understood chemistry in there life is very hard. You don’t want it to go above their head and it can look and appear childish and condescending if you want to simplify it for this audience so even the chemically challenged can get something out of it, trouble is this is the best vehicle to teach this subject, and I’m still struggling with this approach. There will also be an emergency treatment section for when things go wrong very quickly.

Hi Dunc....Been following your nightmare with the Koi food venture. Sorry it turned out this way. Business is ruthless at times, specially when partnering. One party always ends up working much harder than the other and so it crumbles. Keep up your hard work and it will pay off twenty times over....

On another note I'm exited about your upcoming book on water chemistry. I'm one of those who barely understands chemical interrelations. So as a reader you would have to slowly introduce me to chemical concepts and reactions. I think the average, above average and ultra koi hobbyist are a group of highly educated people who can understand complex concepts if simply presented.

Some three years back I build a 8000 gal pond. I have made several filtration upgrades to manage large and small particles. Now that my pond is mechanically sound I've moved my research into understanding water chemistry, my goal is to produce "magic water". My pond water has reached some form of equilibrium making it possible, I think, to breakdown its composition. I'm sure your book will help me tremendously.

BTW with my engineering background I began, several months back, to build a prototype that will continuously measure fresh water parameters. This devise (data loger) will store all data for a week and display it, real time, in Log form vs. time. The data can also be down loaded to a PC for further study and evaluation. I think, if I succeed, this could become a great teaching tool for understanding the pond's water parameters, their relationships and reactions to fluctuations triggered by events such as daylight, rain, water changes, RO, O3, meds, etc. Your book IMO is the educational link......... and a must for any seriuos Hobbyist. Hurry!