I asked about that skimmer on RC... I didn't get a lot of responses, but none of them were negative.  I ended up with a bakpak 2R though, since it was the same price over at J&L as an Excalibur skimmer.
Have you looked at 
www.mops.ca ?  I know that they sell the same skimmer at around 200 bucks.  It might be better to buy it through them after you've factored in shipping (plus its brand new).
-Richer