Short sighted LFS

[Connor0729]

This is kind of long, so bear with me:
I brought some fish to an not so local fish store, about 55 miles, one way and brought a friend with me. Long ride but they are the only place that will give ANYTHING for fish. I made a deal with him via phone and e-mail before I went down there and had a firm commitment as far as trade value. I got what I wanted and planned on using the credit right away for fish. He had 6 Geos in the tank, 4 of one type and 2 of another. Fish were $30.00 each, 3 for $80.00, so I offered to buy the fourth for another $20, figuring that was fair. The owner wouldn't do it, he offered to go to $25 but absolutely wouldn't budge on the last $5.00!!!
I looked at my buddy, he looked at me and both of us just shrugged, meaning basically screw this. Funny part is, I had planned on dropping another $100 or so because he had some other fish I wanted and my buddy had about $200 in his pocket he was going to drop on some fish he had found in the store.
So for a measly $5.00, off the RETAIL price of fish he probably paid about $10.00 for, the owner lost out on a $300.00 sale and lost two customers, just for not being willing to be flexible at all.
Then after all was done and the 3 Geos were bagged up, he tried to charge me $10.00 tax on the fish I had essentially traded for. I flat out refused to give him the $10.00 for tax on a trade, so that was just the icing on the cake.
So to sum it up, it's the principal of the thing, the $5.00 would have meant nothing to him, it meant nothing to me monetarily but his ridiculous inflexibility not only cost him $300, it lost him 1 good customer, another possible great customer and a loss of several other potential customers as I'm telling all my local friends about this.
BTW: I will NOT post his stores name on here, that's a line I won't cross.

you've probably already realized it by now, but right now, it sure does suck to be you

 

[Greenspot]

Hmmm maybe you should have thought more about what you really wanted rather than letting your arrogance get the better of you.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Let me get this right.....


He gave you a good trade value for your fish, had descently priced geos, offered to take $5 off of the price of 4 geos, and had good enough fish that you guys would drop $300 in the store that day, but you leave because he won't go down $5 after he already had went down $5???

He wanted $30 for a geo or $80 for 3 geos, correct? At 80 for three geos you are spending about $26.75 a geo, and you refuse to deal with him because he offered you $25 for the last geo???

The $10 tax on a trade in may or may not be correct depending on how it went down... If you trade in fish, get store credit, and then buy another fish with the store credit, then the LFS owner has to charge tax as stated in state laws.

Overall, you need to quit complaining because you were in the wrong and it seems as if you lost a great LFS over your refusal to pay $5 when you say that $5 would mean nothing to you in terms of money...

Amen Brother!

 

[CHOMPERS]

its because of people like you with nothing better to do than pick on a small business owners that i would never consider opening up my own business.

There is no faster way into a mental institution than by dealing with the public.

 

[CHOMPERS]

you've probably already realized it by now, but right now, it sure does suck to be you

 

[BIGgourami]

Let me get this right.....


He gave you a good trade value for your fish, had descently priced geos, offered to take $5 off of the price of 4 geos, and had good enough fish that you guys would drop $300 in the store that day, but you leave because he won't go down $5 after he already had went down $5???

He wanted $30 for a geo or $80 for 3 geos, correct? At 80 for three geos you are spending about $26.75 a geo, and you refuse to deal with him because he offered you $25 for the last geo???

The $10 tax on a trade in may or may not be correct depending on how it went down... If you trade in fish, get store credit, and then buy another fish with the store credit, then the LFS owner has to charge tax as stated in state laws.

Overall, you need to quit complaining because you were in the wrong and it seems as if you lost a great LFS over your refusal to pay $5 when you say that $5 would mean nothing to you in terms of money...

 

[Bawb2u]

Interesting posts. Obviously I don't agree but I guess that's just part of life, right? I traded in fish for a very good price to him, he has already sold them for for much more than I got in trade and I expected that and even gave them him for that price so that he COULD make money on them. I realize that he's a business and has overhead and needs to make a profit so I don't have a problem with that. My only problem being I felt it would have been a little "nicer" of him to be more flexible on the fish I wanted, seeing as I was getting them for his retail price which, in virtually all stores is a 3x markup, so he wouldn't be even close to losing money, just not making as large a profit and I've spent quite a bit of money with him over the years. I also didn't feel and still don't that it was my responsibility to tell him I was going to drop a fair amount of money to get my way, that would have changed the whole dynamic and made it purely about money and less about a give and take relationship but obviously none of you feel the same way. I also don't feel as though I "lost out" on getting any other fish from the shop because with gas to get there and a 3x markup it's actually cheaper for me to do business with vendors on this site and pay shipping, than to deal with him any more, he just happened to have the fish in stock and I was going to be there.

 

[BIGgourami]

There is no faster way into a mental institution than by dealing with the public.

been there, done that, am there

 

[WyldFya]

Interesting posts. Obviously I don't agree but I guess that's just part of life, right? I traded in fish for a very good price to him, he has already sold them for for much more than I got in trade and I expected that and even gave them him for that price so that he COULD make money on them. I realize that he's a business and has overhead and needs to make a profit so I don't have a problem with that. My only problem being I felt it would have been a little "nicer" of him to be more flexible on the fish I wanted, seeing as I was getting them for his retail price which, in virtually all stores is a 3x markup, so he wouldn't be even close to losing money, just not making as large a profit and I've spent quite a bit of money with him over the years. I also didn't feel and still don't that it was my responsibility to tell him I was going to drop a fair amount of money to get my way, that would have changed the whole dynamic and made it purely about money and less about a give and take relationship but obviously none of you feel the same way. I also don't feel as though I "lost out" on getting any other fish from the shop because with gas to get there and a 3x markup it's actually cheaper for me to do business with vendors on this site and pay shipping, than to deal with him any more, he just happened to have the fish in stock and I was going to be there.

Cheaper doesn't mean better. With online purchases, you don't always see the fish you are buying. Why would he need to be flexible for a person not willing to pay his prices, while the next person in will pay that price. 3x mark up on fish is for a reason... they are alive, and they do die. Even the best fish stores on the planet cannot keep 100% of their fish alive. The losses that are taken are paid for with that mark up.

 

[dragonfish]

Cheaper doesn't mean better. With online purchases, you don't always see the fish you are buying. Why would he need to be flexible for a person not willing to pay his prices, while the next person in will pay that price. 3x mark up on fish is for a reason... they are alive, and they do die. Even the best fish stores on the planet cannot keep 100% of their fish alive. The losses that are taken are paid for with that mark up.

Amen!