What is your biggest pet peeve about your LFS?

[Boomer1224]

I have been going to my lfs for the last 30 yrs it has gone through different owners all in the same family but the current owner is the best in a long time although he is mostly for salt water he stil gets a good supply of fresh water fish in and his chemical section and mechanical section cant be beat

 

[Boomer1224]

I have been going to my lfs for the last 30 yrs it has gone through different owners all in the same family but the current owner is the best in a long time although he is mostly for salt water he stil gets a good supply of fresh water fish in and his chemical section and mechanical section cant be beat

 

[krichardson]

Tong's Tropical Fish store in Fountain Valley California is a good example for a store that NOT giving customer store credit for trade in then turn around trying to sell it for profit right in front of your eyes as they writing down the price 10x higher than the credit you were asked them for store credit but they refused.

Is that the place that also has like a discount or a dollar store in another section of the building?

 

[Gourami Swami]

My only pet peeve about my LFS (which I used to be an employee of, years ago) is that they jack the prices of the fish a bit higher than they should, to be able to pay the 10-15ish people they have working at all times.
Not a huge pet peeve, store is great (absolutely fish Clifton NJ)

 

[AquaAlex1993]

It took mine 4 months to order in my BGK at 3", and they have terrible prices.

WOW!!!!!! Holy ****. BGK are very common, 4 months! JESUS CHRIST. What did they have to do? Go collect one in the Amazon?
Sounds like, just lazy ordering or just forgot about you until you reminded them.

Places over charging for fish given to them. I took a 5" scianochromis fryeri out of my male hap/peacock tank for bullying. Gave him to the lfs, went back a week later and another guy tried to sell him to me for $80. I only paid $20 when I originally bought him. The guy looked really embarrassed when I told him that's the fish I gave yall last week. I understand making a profit but that's a little extreme.

That is awful when they try to overprice trade ins. He was probably extremely nervous when you said it was yours before.

I forgot to add that to my list. Worse is when they drop it and they don't offer you a different fish or say to come back if it dies. I had a girl drop an oscar and took her at least a minute to catch it. I just died. She didn't offer to give me a different one either. The poor thing died. I'd rather net fish myself.

Wow. Terrible customer service. I would have spoken up and said give me a new one.

 

[AquaAlex1993]

My only pet peeve about my LFS (which I used to be an employee of, years ago) is that they jack the prices of the fish a bit higher than they should, to be able to pay the 10-15ish people they have working at all times.
Not a huge pet peeve, store is great (absolutely fish Clifton NJ)

Sounds like a common practice in business, although a really unfair one for customers, sometimes these stores will go up to over 40x the number price to make a huge profit, and it just sucks for us. It puts us in a difficult decision because we like the fish, we want the fish, and we end up buying it and losing a lot of money and by buying it, it encourages them to keep raising the prices. I think the less fish they sell, they will realize they need to lower prices.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I've never really had a pet peeve about a fish store. Maybe it's all about expectations. I don't expect them to provide what most customers refuse to pay for or what most customers refuse to ask for.

People on MFK, on average, know far more about fish keeping than the average LFS customer. Naturally, our standards and needs are different.

Most of these stores are not trying to cater to us. They cater to the majority of their customers, and that's why they do what they do. So, if I find a store that somehow can address even some of my standards, I'm pleased.

 

[TheLastKon]

I just hate the fact that most of them won't let me catch my own fish. I hate the fact that they chase the Fish down and it's all sorts of chaos in the tank. Much easier when you go in slow and they have no idea what's going on

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

The funny thing about Tong's fish store that after 8 months they couldn't sell the fish that my friend gave them and while I stood in front of the tank taking a picture to email him about his fish, the store owner came to me and try to sell it to me for 400 bucks. I replied "you're kidding me, this fish was gave to you for FREE 8 months ago from my friend", and he replied "really?" then shut up and walked away LMAO.

 

[appak]

Maybe I keep my expectations low so that things like this don't bother me too much... there are other, more important things, to stress over. this is a hobby, and is supposed to be (somewhat) relaxing...

Anyways, my take on some of the comments here. Not trying to start a flame war or offend anyone, just want to lend some perspective.

Also, remember, these are retail locations. They have to pay rent, utilities, insurance, employees, and a bunch of other overhead. Prices will reflect this. Some are also greedier than others, and add a bigger mark-up.

Oh, and no, I don't work at a LFS, don't own one, don't have any ties to one.

What is your biggest pet peeve about your local fish store? What pisses you off the most at your fish store?
For me personally it's a number of things, primarily the following:
1.) When they get in the fish that you want, it is often VERY VERY SMALL and not the size you need it to be plus it is expensive. The flagtail is a good example, been waiting one for a while and then when they get them in, they are 1.5''-2'' and way too small, it's feeders at that size. I was so frustrated and disappointed because I have been waiting flagtails for a while. When they told me that they had flagtails in stock, I was excited because I could get a trio of them, but boy when I got there it was really upsetting, it's never a good thing to leave the fish store upset and disappointed.

from my understanding, small fish are easier/cheaper to ship, easier to sell, easier to care for, easier to keep "on the shelf" for longer periods of time. Plus you don't have to dedicate an entire tank to one specimen. Ever notice how the LFS will always have that same bunch of huge oscars, silver arowanas, etc? The general population does not want to buy a huge fish. they want to grow it out (or they have no idea how big it gets, but "its cute i want it!!!")

2.) When I pick out a specific fish in the aquarium that I want, that's the one I want. Don't give up even if the fish hides under the rock or is hard to catch. Had an employee throw a ***** fit because I refused to accept a redhook silverdollar who wasn't up to my par and refused to catch another one and went to the back. Manager/Owner came back and caught the one I wanted in 1 min, man he is a good fish catcher. He gave me the redhook the guy caught for free so it's a win win. But, YOU ARE PAID by the MINUTE to be catching people fish so you should respect the customers.

Let's be honest. Nobody is paid by the minute. Chances are the employee is making minimum, and couldn't be arsed. No excuse, but consider the audience.

3.) When doing trade ins, most of the time, you will not get more than $30... the most common credit are 5, 10, 15, or 20 dollars depending on the fish species and size. but yet they'll turn around and sell it for more than double the credit they gave you, although sometimes, I can understand. Pacu,ID Sharks, and other monster fish are hard to take in and since it says trade ins welcome, they can't turn them away because if they do most likely the owner will write bad review on social media. But luckily, the big fish they get do sell quickly.

I'd assume LFS lose money on trade-ins, most of the time. Again, see point #1. Countless trade in fish will sit at the store, eat up an entire tank, eat food, and eventually just die. Sure, they marked up your $20 oscar to $60. Does that mean anyone's going to buy it? Don't expect to make money on trade-ins, unless it's a super rare and in demand fish.

4.) INCONSISENT PRICING....
for example, how does a wide bar black bar silver dollar go for $70 while a thin black bar goes for $20
These are the only things that make me frustrated from time to time, but other than that I love all the fish stores in my area. This goes for all the shops in my area not just 1 specific one.

wide bar != thin bar. different sp, different price...

1) expensive hardware

Eg: a 3ft made in china led light costs about $100-150 in LFS, i get the same from China website for $50 all in
a 4 outlet air pump costs $60 in LFS, i get mine for less than $20 include shipping

If you all can buy from china.... you all gonna have a wheel of a time

Try returning that China led that you ordered from China, when it breaks down after 3 weeks. Bet you'll have better luck returning it at the LFS.

I just hate the fact that most of them won't let me catch my own fish. I hate the fact that they chase the Fish down and it's all sorts of chaos in the tank. Much easier when you go in slow and they have no idea what's going on

Imagine what would happen to the LFS if you had your hands in there, and the fish bit you. Or you got cut on an ornament/rock. Or you fell off the ladder. Or you had gunk on your hands, and it poisoned half of their system.