Was i wrong

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cichlid savage

cichlid savage

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2006
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Was in my fav LFS and they had a fish labeled as a Red Terror. I however believed it to be a Myan (very common mistake) So I asked one of the staff who told me it was a Managuense (just read the sign on the tank) needless to say I was finished talking to him. So I asked another guy who is usually quite arrogant about his knowledge of fish. He told me that's what they were told they didnt get out a book or anything to verify it, in a very condesending tone. So I told him he should if not for his own personal knowledge to be able to properly advise his customers. He just rolled his eyes and walked away. He then told another guy I thought I knew more about fish than he did. (he didnt think I heard him). Anyway, I went to another clerk in the store whom I have a good rapport with and asked for his cichlid book. We then went and looked at the fish in the tank and compared it to the Myan in the book and a Festae (Red Terror). And its a Myan. As we were doing this the smart ass clerk asked me so is it a Myan?. I turn to him and said yes it is, I may not no more about all fish than you but in this case it seems I do. Was it wrong to snap back at him?

Sorry for the long post but i need to know if I should apologize.
 
well the snap back, really didn't add anything to your conversion with him. there's no need to apologize to him though. it wasn't anything major.
 
What you did was no more wrong than how they handled the situation. I know when I ran the auto parts store I never would have put up with any of my people talking to a custmer that way. A lot of places just go by what the distributer says and as most of us know thats not always correct. They do the best they can but it's difficult when handling large bulk orders. That said... no custmer should ever be treated that way and then be expected to come back. You had every right to react and they should have appreciated the correction and immeadiatly re-marked the tank.
 
It wasn't anyone in my store was it?!? If it was please let me know and the situation WILL be dealt with!!! That is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable behavior, especially in this business! Anyone worth talking to in this business should be MORE than willing to go "the extra step" to help the customer, especially in I.D.s on fish. Most of my I.D. questions on this site are on the behalf of my customers and to improve my own knowledge at the same time, in order to better help future customers. So PLEASE, if it was one of my employees, LET ME KNOW!!!

Oh yeah, you have no reason to apologize!!
 
The fish was from a trade in so I thought it would make sense to know what it was. No Jconley it wasnt anyone in your store. I dont want to turn this into a flaming session. The store is still my fav. The majority of the staff are very knowledgeable and will disscuss any aspect of fish keeping with you.
 
Cool, glad it wasn't any of our peons!:D:headbang2 That sucks to be treated that way, but at least you have some good people there to help you. We have a Uropthalmus in a tank with a managuensis, and it was mis marked as a Red Terror by someone here, so you can see how your situation made me a little apprehensive! :D
 
Want to get even just call the Better Business Bureau. Its a type of consumer fraud/theft. I went through this last year after dealing with the exact "Red Terror" festea scam and getting sold Uros. The store kept advertising them falsely after I returned my fish so I filed a complaint. No calls were returned to the BBB so they sent out a secret shopper to the store asking about buying the fish and caught them red handed. Never heard of the final outcome but I'm sure they are not selling Uros as Festae anymore. I just get tired of seeing consumers get ripped off! If they don't know what breed it is than don't post it. To your question above, I have been in wholesale and retail management for the last 12 years and believe in the "golden rule". You treat people the same as they treat you. If someone has a chip on their shoulder first try and kill them with kindness. If it still doesn't work a little reverse psychology of giving them it right back usually puts them in their place. This usually makes them realize that kind of a jerk they are being, and if not, you don't need them for customers anyways. In your case the workers a dink and don't worry about it. There are too many LFS to have to put up with that kind of crap. Find another fish shop to keep in business.
 
One of my lfs' has a tank full of Uro's and they're labeled as Red Terror on the label below the tank. Unfortunately they had written Festae with a marker on the glass. I told them twice that they were not Festae but rather Uropthalmus. Both times they said they would change it but didn't. Last Sunday, to be a wise-ass, I brought a razor blade and scraped the word Festae off the tank. I then went and told the guy and he said no problem that he's been meaning to do it anyway. Whether I believe him or not is a different story. I frequent this store and they know me by name so I felt it was ok to do that. I can't recommend that you try this approach at your lfs.
 
I know a cpl of the managers in the store if it comes to that I will go tell them but I didnt want to get the guy in trouble just point out hes a jerk.
 
Yeah that wouldn't be a good thing to try here......I've caught to many people doing that to try to cheat us and I don't react to well!:D My Celtic ancestry tends to rise! lol
 
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