acting stupid at lfs?

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My favorite is when people come into my work and try to play dumb with me and then realize I am not just a kid working at a corporate store ;)

"Bichirs or Polypterus? Well, Polypterus species are actually referred to as the common name 'Bichir', pronounced "brasheer", named after the person who discovered them.. There is a species called Polypterus Bichir Bichir, but you don't see them often.. my favorite species however, would be Polypterus Ornatipinnis, I enjoy their pattern as juveniles. Too bad you don't see more delhezi and retropinnis around town.. huh?"


(stunned look, walking away now, feeling stupid)
 
i usually watch the kids at petsmart or petco for a few minutes before i decide to talk to them. but i don't intentionally try to make them feel stupid.

one time i sent my son, Jason, to get me a bag of crushed coral. i told him it would be in the saltwater section, but he forgot that part. he asked the girl in the fish department where the crushed coral was and she showed him the bags of gravel under the display tanks. and they couldn't find the crushed coral, jason came home and told me that they didn't have any. i went in the next day, showed the manager where the crushed coral was and explained the situation and suggested that they give the kids a clue.
 
i work at a petstore in the fish department, and yes there are a lot of stupid questions but many people don't know so they don't understand that the question is stupid. just try to help them out as much as you can and set them on the right path. as far as acting dumb at a store, i don't believe it's acting dumb to ask a ? you THINK you know the answer to, after all you may learn something you didn't know (or at worst you will find out the person doesn't know their stuff). and IMO the best way to get factual information is by personal experience (keeping the fish yourself) as you can read whatever you want and it will give you a basis but you may not have the same experiences.
many people on this site know a ton, but ask a single question about one species of fish and many will have a different answer, just look over some forums about individual species and see for yourself the varying answers one gets.

IMO the best way to find out the knowledge of the person at a store is to just straight forward ask them what kind of fish they keep themselves, and that will usually give all the answer you need about their experience level
 
Lots of BS in this thread.

As if you (the customers) are all knowing of all fish info that you feel the need to test others? Besides, shouldn't you be doing your own research on the fish you are considering buying, and not relying on what a paid salesman has to say? Lets say someone passes your little quiz, from then on your going to purchase livestock from them without looking for other sources to confirm? When you research online, do you only ever read the first website on the Google listing?

I understand that FishKeeping has such a vast amount if information, not to mention that there are half truths and opinions and a dozen ways of doing the same thing... so I'm never afraid to tell a customer that I don't know much about something specific. If they are asking a question I don't know the answer to, I won't BS you, I'll ask someone or go to the computer and see what I can dig up. I'm not ashamed. There is too much to know, to be able to answer every question someone might have, without me dedicating my entire life and school education to it.

But if you are going to try and trick me asking if I prefer Polys or Bichirs more... shame on you. (I know their the same, but replace it with something I don't know). From asking this what can you tell about my experience level? Nothing. Just that I don't know anything about one fish family of thousands.

As for the people who said that they find some LFS employees that talk too much and you just want the damn fish... WTH? Fine whatever. Tell me how many of what fish you want, and bugger off until I come find you to take your money at the cash register. If you stick around and hover over my shoulder like so many do, I'm sure as hell going to initiate chatter about the hobby that we share in common. I might find something about your FishKeeping that I can offer help with, or let you know that certain fish are coming in soon.

Maybe I, the employee should be quizzing the customers on their knowledge to see if I want to entrust the customer with the livestock and health guarentee in your tanks at home that I know nothing about. Good greif.
 
Miles;2273084; said:
My favorite is when people come into my work and try to play dumb with me and then realize I am not just a kid working at a corporate store ;)

"Bichirs or Polypterus? Well, Polypterus species are actually referred to as the common name 'Bichir', pronounced "brasheer", named after the person who discovered them.. There is a species called Polypterus Bichir Bichir, but you don't see them often.. my favorite species however, would be Polypterus Ornatipinnis, I enjoy their pattern as juveniles. Too bad you don't see more delhezi and retropinnis around town.. huh?"


(stunned look, walking away now, feeling stupid)
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Id love to see that happen to you, your knowledge would blow em away LOL.
 
Westie;2263728; said:
Theres a big salt LFS near me that only highers highschool girls with big breasts. The good ones say,"I dunno, leeme find out." The dumb ones say,"Sure, he's yellow and goes great with blue fish!"
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Where is that one, I'll make sure and go :)
 
Where i work we specialise in malawi cichlids and ive kept them on and off i dont feel that i have a god enough knowledge and my boss really does, so should i have a customer who need specific advise or help ill go and find him.

And on the flipside, if my boss has a customer who needs help with say... Monster fish or characins he'll take them to me as those are my strong points.
 
I'm replying to the posters who say you shouldn't rely on the pet store to know things. When I was trying to get a four-lined pimelodus I drove a half hour to a chain store that didn't have one. The employee told me they had some when I called. I asked a couple of times to make sure, and they acted irritated. Well I drove there and the catfish wasn't even a species of pimelodus. If an employee doesn't know, they should just say so.

another place kept saying they would be getting some in. He seemed to think a four-lined was just a variation of pictus. I told him that they were different species, but the guy acted like I was an idiot. I even offered to tell the scientific name, but he wasn't interested. Spent weeks calling him back, because he kept telling me they would come in. Eventually gave up on that place, because he didn't seem to know anything. I had been directed to him when I called about ordering fish. I would think the real person in charge of ordering would know which fish they orderd.

Luckily, the next place that I drove an hour and half to was correct. They had me worried though, because they thought a four-lined was the same as a pictus when I got there.

I don't think pet store employees should know everything, but they should admit that they don't know instead of making up bs
 
Actually, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire describing the genus Polypterus and its Nile species Polypterus bichir in 1809.

Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, E. (1809) Poissons du Nil, de la Mer Rouge et de la Méditerranée. In: Description de l’Egypte, Vol. 1. (ed. Imprimerie impériale). Paris, pp. 1-52.

As I understand, the term "bichir" came from what Saint-Hilaire heard the natives calling it...which - after applying a French accent - sounded something like "bee-sheer". According to everything I've read, there are several acceptable pronunciations and the original pronunication is no longer veriably know.


Do I expect the average LFS worker to know this? No.

Would I expect the average LFS worker to let me know that a Polypterus gets big and will eat my other fish? Yes


Would I appreciate a LFS worker trying to demonstrate that he's God's gift to fishkeeping with an unsolicited diatribe on the origin of the name, "bichir"...incorrect as it seems to be? No


My advice: Treat your customers with respect. Whether you work for a LFS or any other retail establishment. Even if you do know more than them.


Same is true for customers. Treat the people serving you with respect.

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"Bichirs or Polypterus? Well, Polypterus species are actually referred to as the common name 'Bichir', pronounced "brasheer", named after the person who discovered them.. There is a species called Polypterus Bichir Bichir, but you don't see them often.. my favorite species however, would be Polypterus Ornatipinnis, I enjoy their pattern as juveniles. Too bad you don't see more delhezi and retropinnis around town.. huh?"


(stunned look, walking away now, feeling stupid)[/quote]
 
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