Favorite LFS "CUSTOMER" STORIES ...

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I just joined, and I'm so relieved to see this thread... I have so many stories like this, and it's good to know I'm not alone!

A couple of my favorites...

One woman came in wanting a bunch of not-for-beginner cichlids. My first response was to ask her how big her tank was, to which she replies, "Oh, it's BIG." So I inquire as to HOW big. The woman replies, "20 gallons."


Another woman came in with her daughter. They told me that had a "slithery thing" and wanted something pretty to go with it. They really wanted "those pink ones" and some of the "yellow ones". It took forever to figure out what they were talking about, but it turns out their "slithery thing" was a dojo loach, the "pink things" were pink kissing gouramis, and the "yellow ones" were yellow labs. They weren't very happy when I had to turn them down.

An older woman came in with her grandson to buy a pet. After picking up one of those tiny little Kritter Keepers (the smallest size, which would MAYBE hold a can of pop), she asks me to bag up a 6" oscar for her. I don't even think she could have crammed that big fish in that container if she had a crowbar!

Of course, the majority of customers I deal with have 10 gallon tanks or smaller. I'm constantly dealing with frustrated customers who don't understand why they can't have any of the "big, colorful fish". Is it that hard to do some research BEFORE buying a tiny little 10 gallon? Then there are the customers who ask for a "sucker fish" or "bottom feeder", and when I ask them "What kind?" they look totally stunned to find out there's MORE THAN ONE KIND!

Phew, thanks for letting me vent. I've had to hold all those stories in for too long!
 
OMG! I can't believe I almost forgot the best story of all!!

I was in a LFS admiring the fish when another couple walked up and noticed the jellyfish decorations. From a distance I suppose one might think they were real, but when you look closely you can tell they're plastic, and you can clearly see the fishing line connecting them to the bottom of the tank. Anyway, the woman says something along the lines of "Wow, are those real?" The LFS Employee--dead serious--says, "I think they're freshwater jellyfish."
 
God had a guy that had a 36gal and was getting a JD.

Me: Need a bigger tank eventually
him: No
Me: they outgrow the 36gal
him: Fish grow to the size of there tank

Long Story short he said he was experienced and knew that fish grow to the size of their tanks as his last JD lived for 3years....Seriously thats not long thats like saying a 3 year old goldfish is ancient its not.....Gosh if I had a dollar for every fish that didn't live a long life I could have bought my 180gal by now
 
Today a woman asks: "What food do I need for my fish?"
Me: "It depends on what kind of fish you have."
Her: "Just regular ones."
Me: "Hmm, you don't know what kind they are?"
Her: "No."
Me: "Well, are they freshwater or salt?"
Her: "No, just regular ones."

I showed her the Tetra tropical flakes and ran away, lol.
 
The other day, a guy came into the store I worked and bought 350$ worth of large pond fish, insisted I put a couple per bag and had an almost 200 mile drive back home (On Sundays we get a lot of people stopping in before they head home for the weekend).

BTW, he had one "large" pond in his backyard. I hope for his sakes (and the fishes) that it is VERY large.

In my defense, me and the manager talked to him about it for quite a while trying to get him to change his mind about that many fish and he said that he would "make sure they are okay".
 
TTTT;4177967; said:
Yesterday at the aquarium where I work/volunteer, I was showing off some animals from the 1200g tide pool (horseshoe crab, channeled whelk, spider crab, hermit crab) and someone came up to me and said, "Why do you have them in this pond? They should be free in the ocean! They aren't happy here!" I smiled and told her they are perfectly fine here because they have lots of food and no predators. She walked away in disgust at me :irked:
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LOL :ROFL:
We need to make a separate thread for this. Stupid zoo/aquarium visitors :ROFL:
 
Industrial;4186281; said:
The other day, a guy came into the store I worked and bought 350$ worth of large pond fish, insisted I put a couple per bag and had an almost 200 mile drive back home (On Sundays we get a lot of people stopping in before they head home for the weekend).

BTW, he had one "large" pond in his backyard. I hope for his sakes (and the fishes) that it is VERY large.

In my defense, me and the manager talked to him about it for quite a while trying to get him to change his mind about that many fish and he said that he would "make sure they are okay".
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What's that quote...a fool and his money are soon parted? Haha, they need to add on "especially when it comes to fish".

I'm starting to get a little amazed at the people with ponds that don't know a single thing about fish...they come in and ask which are the "pond fish". Some lady the other day bought 8 koi for her 125g pond (against my advice) and then asked if they needed to be fed.

I had this foot long shubunkin, he had ich pretty bad, maybe some sort of bacterial infection, and his tail had bloody streaks in it (I was working on getting him in better shape). I came in the other day to find him gone...someone bought him...I mean who would buy a $30 fish in that kind of shape?! I wouldn't have allowed him to be sold but my coworkers don't care.

Oh, the winner from last night! Dude has a 40g tank...he has been buying "lots of feeders" and they all keep dying. Talk to him about the nitrogen cycle, and ask how many he has been buying, he's been putting about 100 in at a time. :nilly: And of course, he bought 115 comets again. More money than sense, I guess.
 
I was in my LFS today, and to my horror, in about a 75 gallon tank, was a 1 foot baby STURGEON!! Yes, a sturgeon. I'm not sure what species, I wish I had my phone with me to snap a picture. From what I've read, most don't stay under 6-8 feet, so to offer this to the general public is just horrifying.
 
TTTT;4177967; said:
Yesterday at the aquarium where I work/volunteer, I was showing off some animals from the 1200g tide pool (horseshoe crab, channeled whelk, spider crab, hermit crab) and someone came up to me and said, "Why do you have them in this pond? They should be free in the ocean! They aren't happy here!" I smiled and told her they are perfectly fine here because they have lots of food and no predators. She walked away in disgust at me :irked:
Click to expand...

if she doen't like seeing animals in captivity then why is she at an aquarium :screwy:
 
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