Favorite LFS "CUSTOMER" STORIES ...

[_Jessica_]

I...don't know what to say.

I know this is "customer stories" but I figured it's a good place to put it. I was told by my boss not to tell people how to properly cycle their tanks...and not for the "profit" reason you may think.

I explained the whole nitrogen cycle to a woman starting her first tank (complete with a diagram...), and told her she needed a SOURCE OF AMMONIA to kick off her cycle...that some people use feeders (not ideal), some people use shrimp in a pantyhose, some people put fish food in everyday, and explained what the test kit will show and what to do and blah blah. I guess she came in the other day and complained and cried to my manager that I had ruined her fish tank, and she has a huge ammonia "problem" now. Insert explicatives. Of course my manager yelled at me and asked WTH I would tell someone to put fish food in the tank without fish...*facepalm*. After explaining the friggin nitrogen cycle to my boss, she said well don't tell that to customers, they just won't get it, just tell them to let it run for a few days....

 

[TheCanuck]

You don't get it. These are tough times. Local fish stores are desperate to get livestock out the door. They know that the average fish purchaser won't ever grow a fish to adulthood. so they don't care that some uninformed couple comes in to buy a bunch of incompatible fish and throws them in a 30 gallon tank. They want the sales. I'm not defending the actions of the LFS. I'm just explaining what they want. There are 2 kinds of customers: The serious, informed aquarist and the rookie who has not a clue. Fish stores want both. They do not want their sales clerks to reduce a sale by discouraging a customer to not buy as many fish as the customer wants. Why do you think they often tell you lies or misinformation when you ask them questions about fish? Because they don't know and some of them do know, but they lie to get the sale. Once they realize you're a knowledgeable hobbyist, they respect and treat you differently. It's nice to care about the well being of fish, but the LFS has to make money to pay it's overhead. Local fish stores are cashflow businesses, with minimal reserves. I think most LFS owners do care about fish, but they also care about profit, just a bit more.

Agreeable.

Though this tough time thing is really starting to bother me. 90% of people didn't know the economy was bad until it was announced. I still think some fish stores have an ego problem. For the most part i say what you said applies most often. In this case i find its the ego part.

 

[mamapuff]

I guess I will add my story. I was "that" customer last weekend. I was looking thru the saltwater section and the guy was bagging something I pointed at, and a few minutes later I started walking up front to meet him. I passed a big snowflake eel, and saw him stuck inside a power head where the intake is. I flipped out and ran up and couldn't get the words out so I stuttered something along the lines of "um! that eel! he's he's stuck!!" the guy started grinning, and said he's fine. I turned back and looked again, and followed the cord down..... to the ground where it was laying.
Snowflake was chilling in his home. He pulled the power head out of the water to show me.

 

[coeus]

I guess I will add my story. I was "that" customer last weekend. I was looking thru the saltwater section and the guy was bagging something I pointed at, and a few minutes later I started walking up front to meet him. I passed a big snowflake eel, and saw him stuck inside a power head where the intake is. I flipped out and ran up and couldn't get the words out so I stuttered something along the lines of "um! that eel! he's he's stuck!!" the guy started grinning, and said he's fine. I turned back and looked again, and followed the cord down..... to the ground where it was laying.
Snowflake was chilling in his home. He pulled the power head out of the water to show me.

sounds like something they probably get a lot of questions about

 

[mamapuff]

sounds like something they probably get a lot of questions about

agreed.

It just caught me off guard so bad. I laughed so hard in the car though, thinking about what they said after we left.

 

[Darth Scohin]

I had a couple of customers that wanted goldfish....
What were they for, a Pacu and Oscar in a 30gal!
Told them how big Pacu get and not to feed them goldies.
They replied that's the only thing we've ever fed it...that's all it will eat....

BTW, I'm a Petsmart employee don't stereotype

 

[marth]

Ok, I don't work at the walmart fish section but i might as well...
Last time i went to buy fish from there, which was feeders for my bichir (also from there, I was going on vacation and my grandma was too scared of the "evil fish" to feed her) probably about a year ago.
I also was getting a flea collar for my mum's kitten.
I asked the lady in the pet section about flea collars and she was extremely helpful, she was actually going to college to be a veterinarian, so she helped a lot with how to care for this malnourished and flea ridden kitten we found.
Then I tell her I need feeders...and she freezes. Turns out, she was not trained how to get fish, and shes also scared of them (brother had a pirahna that he made bite her when she was a kid was her story). Of course, the cabinets are locked due to people helping themselves and stupid kids. I tell her to just unlock the cabinet, I'll get my own fish and show her how to do it. Amazingly, she does. At this time a bunch of people in the pet area see me setting up to scoop out fish, and come over requesting fish because this lady wouldn't help them. I proceed to spend the next almost hour scooping fish for people, helping them with tanks, and telling them whether they can really take care of fish or not. So yeah its cool. Then my mum comes over, freaking out on me because she heard the lady in customer service telling her manager that I stole the key and was taking fish. The manager knows my family and was like "sure, we actually let her get her own because she's picky anyways."

So yeah, I guess i have a history.
Also, I asked a lady working there before about what would be good companions for an eel, and she looks at the tag for the bichirs and is all like, pretty much anything. Really? Because my bichir just tore apart a plecostomous two days ago. I was asking about an eel my friend was getting...you know, a fire eel. She just was like "theyre the same thing, arent they?"

 

[_Jessica_]

Was bumbling around the fish tanks today at my store..spotted a lady looking at the JD's and she muttered something like "Oh, these are going to be here a LONG time!". I gave her kind of a quizzical look, and she goes "Ohh I had one one time, they are NASTY fish. Came home one day to find all my guppies gone and one of my swordtails sticking out of it's mouth! You guys shouldn't sell them, they are way too nasty." Cough..then she proceeds to tell me she flushed it. I'm not sure why people get their jollies off on telling a fish store employee how they subjected a healthy fish acting like it's supposed to, to a pretty slow and cruel death.

Also love the question "Can these fish go together?"..which ones? "Uh, all the fish? can they go together?" ...all the fish in the store? "Yes." Uh..no.

Oh and "Can I have that fish please?" Customer points to a blue devil or clownfish or something. "Sure...you know these are saltwater right?" "What's that?" or "What's the difference?" Had a customer debate with me that saltwater fish could probably adjust to freshwater, that it dosen't "seem" like that big of a difference.

 

[Darth Scohin]

Also love the question "Can these fish go together?"..which ones? "Uh, all the fish? can they go together?" ...all the fish in the store? "Yes." Uh..no.

Oh and "Can I have that fish please?" Customer points to a blue devil or clownfish or something. "Sure...you know these are saltwater right?" "What's that?" or "What's the difference?" Had a customer debate with me that saltwater fish could probably adjust to freshwater, that it dosen't "seem" like that big of a difference.

ROFL, I love that had someone looking for "Nemofish" (being at Petsmart we don't sell Saltwater fish (except for Dragon Gobies and Silver Columbian Catfish) When I told them they're saltwater they're like huh?

 

[Chaz88]

Today I was at the register to pay for a clown fish for my new Saltwater tank and the guy behind me asks "so which one of your fish died" I was confused and said "aaaa... none of them. Why?" "Oh, we have to come in and buy new fish at least once a month. They all just die" Him and his wife seamed to think that it was exceptionally funny that the fish die and get replaced at least once a month.

I tried to engage them about what kind and how they are keeping them, but it was no use. They just continued to laugh about how they are just cheep fresh water fish. Not expensive like the salt water fish I was getting. So they didn't need to do a good job of caring for them just buy new ones once or twice a month.

I stayed polite and left before I got real mad and told them off. It is the nearest store to me. I did not want to be asked not to return.