A word about pet stores from an employee

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All im gonna say, a LFS employee is a salesperson. They are there to make a sale, that's it. IMHO most LFS will sell you anything to make the sale.


I'm going to disagree here but it may be because if I'm in the lfs I'm going to buy something (I just may not have figured out what).

I've been kindly talked out of impulse buys and bar one lfs, find I get good service. On the flip side, I think it's my responsibility to have a pretty good idea of the answer to any questions I may be asking.

However I may be a lfs junkie as off the bat, I can think of a half dozen things I'd like to buy :)
 
And some of fishkeeping is influenced by culture (thus, people think it's totally fine to go in and demand a goldfish despite having a 1 gallon tank). We go to carnivals and see goldfish getting handed out in tiny tanks to kids who don't know a thing about temperature or ammonia or nitrates or any of it and then they go home and wonder why the goldfish is dead with a bent spine and all their neon tetras were eaten. If you want to help change cultural perception, write to assemblymen and small-government type leaders asking them to stop carnival goldfish in your area. I did and I got an answer - we will be speaking on the phone. :)


I think this is great point and one of the most important raised. People are just too different IMHO. It's easy to say 'there's no excuse for not researching because we have smartphones' but it's very easy and reasonable to assume that a fish just needs water to survive if you don't know any different. Everyone remembers there first goldfish brought home from a carnival and is often their earliest encounter with the hobby.

If anything I sympathise with unaware folk walking in to a store and carrying out their first fish. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person and I still made the same mistake. Many of us, if not most of us only research after we have made a mistake and end up finding forums like this in light of errors. Those that know to research things before hand only do so because of previous bad experiences so it's easy to say in hindsight. After all going into a store and asking who they believe is an expert in the hobby is just about the best kind of research you can do.

If they don't choose to take the advice then that is a different story.

What really does my head in with LFS is the fact that they don't seem to understand that they would gain more custom if they did things properly and helped people from the beginning.

I actually prefer my chain store to my local 'mom and pop's store. They made my first experience with keeping fish a living hell and robbed me in the process.




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The fun thing is I applied to a pet smart and didn't get the job :D



But agreed, we don't "hate" the pet store employees but rather don't trust what they say.



Yes the pet store doesn't train for crap, but what's preventing the employees from going out and researching a little if they really cared? It's pretty simple to do.


Same here I applied for pets at home to work in fish department and never got it, it would be far better If they employed fish hobbyists instead atleast most of us no a lot of the info and they wouldn't need to train people really then, I do feel for some enployees, but it's a bit silly when like mine they can't even tell you what to feed a fish other then fish flakes, I actually ended up taking a list in for them to see,

I agree people should research themselves before buying ANY animal weather it's a stick insect or a dog, but I also think employees SHOULD research the animals there selling also they should be able to give the best advice,

There's always going to be conflicting arguments over how certain things are done, which is good because that's when new ways are learnt, as I said before no one is perfect at this and we learn new ways all the time,




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I agree with that statement about the goldfish at carnivals. I grew up with goldfish in a little tiny one gallon tank. I had three (Han solo, Leiah, and Luke. I was eight ?) and neither me nor my parents had a clue about ammonia and all the other readings. We didn't know about correct stocking. In fact, I didn't even know about any of this until about three weeks into my five gallon! The media portrays fish the same as they portray a meal or snack. Once it's gone, you throw it away and get more. I don't think it is the employees at all, I think it's just the standard way of thinking today. Yes, it is morally wrong but people who care are genuinely trying. I've gotten to do a lot of research but I do still ask people at petsmart for their opinions because I've found multiple stores that has workers who give good insight in a FRIENDLY way. I don't think anyone is to blame, it's just become the norm to see a goldfish in a fish bowl (unfortunately ?) It's very rare to see people who are truly educated on the topic.


•Just keep swimming•
 
They're not going to hire very knowledgable employees because it will lose them business.

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They're not going to hire very knowledgable employees because it will lose them business.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app


This is where they screw up. Especially if you are a small time LFS.

If I owned my own fish business I would have so much info plastered around. You could even set up a small standing computer terminal with a search function that gives you brief but important info on a specific fish. This would encourage people to do research whilst they were actually in the place.

All it takes is a few experienced hobbyists to see how you approach the trade and they are likely to recommend your store to beginners. Even if they don't by fish from you they are more likely to by supplies knowing that they are funding a well organised store that benefits everyone. You could even have a free water testing station. Dreams....


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This is where they screw up. Especially if you are a small time LFS.

If I owned my own fish business I would have so much info plastered around. You could even set up a small standing computer terminal with a search function that gives you brief but important info on a specific fish. This would encourage people to do research whilst they were actually in the place.

All it takes is a few experienced hobbyists to see how you approach the trade and they are likely to recommend your store to beginners. Even if they don't by fish from you they are more likely to by supplies knowing that they are funding a well organised store that benefits everyone. You could even have a free water testing station. Dreams....


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I would go to that store. Make it happen man haha
 
To the OP, Thanks for sharing on this thread. I believe we learned alot. About doing your own research and dont blame the employees. Great thread.
 
I agree. In a day with the internet in everyone's homes, phones, etc.......its the job of the pet owner to research the pet they are interested in taking care of. When I got back into fish, I researched everything as some things have changed since I used to have fish 15 years ago. I looked up everything I could find, and I benefited from it. People in general tend to be morons and like to place blame on others, instead of taking responsibility for themselves. Good post!

While I do think you should do some research on your own.. I don't agree with the whole moron aspect. That would be like me being a mechanic and you bringing me your car and me saying "Take responsibility of your vehicle, Google the problem and gain knowledge of the car you bought"

There is and will always be a person who puts a bad taste in your mouth no matter where it is.. Some people care about their jobs and others are in it jst for the paycheck. That's where the "customer" needs to make the right decision as to who to talk to.
 
While I do think you should do some research on your own.. I don't agree with the whole moron aspect. That would be like me being a mechanic and you bringing me your car and me saying "Take responsibility of your vehicle, Google the problem and gain knowledge of the car you bought"

There is and will always be a person who puts a bad taste in your mouth no matter where it is.. Some people care about their jobs and others are in it jst for the paycheck. That's where the "customer" needs to make the right decision as to who to talk to.

I always seek out the same people if I have had questions in the past. That's usually how it goes for any pertinent info anyone needs on a daily basis.

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I always seek out the same people if I have had questions in the past. That's usually how it goes for any pertinent info anyone needs on a daily basis.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

My LFS, Pet Supplies Plus, is pretty good. They don't have a huge fish wall like PetSmart, they have a few people there and if they're not sure... They tell you "I'm not sure, let me ask so-in-so they will know" Their employees tend to stay for a while too
 
Having worked in a lfs, hardware store, drug stores, and basically know retail intimately I will offer this bit of advice to the OP and anyone else who works in retail in a position to offer advice to potential customers,
master the art of reading a product label, paraphrasing it and then relaying that info back to the customer while standing in front of them, it makes you look like genius.
seriously, I many times did exactly that, read the label and then instructed the customer.
I would also read product info often during calm periods of work to bolster my knowledge.
I will often ask questions just to see what response I get. I have noticed that at the lfs I do 95% of shopping at they have figured out not to try and feed me BS about fish and products and when they do I just give them that "look".
But I will say that they do give me great deals and if I do have a problem with a fish it's no questions asked and they give me credit because they know I'm not a novice.


that is probably one of the best tactics for the hobbyist to take, develop a good rapport with a lfs and usually it precludes a lot of baloney and hassles.
 
While I do think you should do some research on your own.. I don't agree with the whole moron aspect. That would be like me being a mechanic and you bringing me your car and me saying "Take responsibility of your vehicle, Google the problem and gain knowledge of the car you bought"

although I may not have the experience or tools to do it myself, I always research stuff with my vehicles so I understand what is going on and whether or not my mechanic is being straight with me. ;)
 
All im gonna say, a LFS employee is a salesperson. They are there to make a sale, that's it. IMHO most LFS will sell you anything to make the sale.


That's not exactly true of all LFS. As someone who has worked in the pet industry and retail stores for a number of years, your argument is exactly what I would tell my customers when they wanted to buy something they didn;t need or shouldn't have. I would say " I am a salesman. I make my living by selling products. With that being the case, why would I be telling you NOT to buy something?" That usually got their attention. ;) But I also had the backing of the owners I worked for because they saw, with my ethics, they had more returning customers than 1 shot Sallys. But that also was during a time when fish keeping was a hobby mostly done by hobbyists.
Back when that 13 or 14 year old salesperson really was more knowledgeable than the customer.

That all being said, the pet business, as it is today, is mostly not run for the hobbyist but for the business man and as such, has to make profits. How much profit often determines the integrity of the store. This usually means hiring cheaper help and often unknowledgeable help. Unfortunately, I know a number of highly skilled hobbyists who opened fish stores only to fail because they were not good business people. But there are stores where good business and hobbyist like employees do exist. But how is a newbie to know which they are and where to go? Sadly, as earlier mentioned, it's usually after a bad experience in a shop and trial and error. A smart phone or the internet is not always the right answer as there are many sites with wrong or misleading information. Yes, you can look up where a particular fish originated from but what that site will probably not tell you is that what you are looking at in the store is not the wild version of the fish described and some or all of the information within will not apply to what you are looking at. THIS is where the knowledge of the store's employee makes or breaks a new customer or hobbyist. THIS is why it is important to notify the store's ownership that you won;t be buying from them because their salespeople are not qualified or knowledgeable enough or that their training regime is lacking in good information. Businesses need customers and when enough customers stop coming in, they will try to find out why and when enough people tell them why, they will either change or go out of business. It's that simple. I've said this before in other threads because I lived through it: The hobby changed when fish tanks became more about being a piece of furniture than the fish that were inside the tank. Little Johnny used to save his nickels & dimes to go to the LFS and buy some fish. Now, little Johnny has too many other distractions that cost more than nickels and dimes so in order to keep the business alive, stores needed to go after Johnny's Mom & Dad who had $$$$ to spend. That was then and this is now the fallout of that period in time.

I know this is a ramble but in a perfect world, only properly trained individuals would be selling things to properly qualified people. This is not a perfect world. It will only get better through your own actions. Stores go into and out of business every day. The good ones stay and the bad ones fail.... eventually. You become the deciding factor of a store's success. Big chain stores have their place but they should not be, IMO, the catch all for every pet. They have put many Mom & Pop shops out of business. Specialty stores can't exist if you compare their prices to the chain stores. They also can't exist if they have to meet those prices. So you can lay blame wherever you want but the bottom line is, if you want good service and satisfaction and someone to really care about YOUR success, YOU need to support them too.

Sorry for rambling but thanks for reading this. (y)
 
While I do think you should do some research on your own.. I don't agree with the whole moron aspect. That would be like me being a mechanic and you bringing me your car and me saying "Take responsibility of your vehicle, Google the problem and gain knowledge of the car you bought"

There is and will always be a person who puts a bad taste in your mouth no matter where it is.. Some people care about their jobs and others are in it jst for the paycheck. That's where the "customer" needs to make the right decision as to who to talk to.


I like the car analogy. When buying a tank, I'm really just buying the body. Filtration engine, air conditioning / heating, oils/etc, floor mats/carpet, decorations, tub of potpourri, what will it be transporting, maintaining/cleaning - these are all extra things to think about when buying. Quite complicated. You're going to need all the help you can get.

But.... I quickly googled 'goldfish care' and the first 9 articles were all ok. All said a bowl is too small although filtration / cycling seems a blind spot.

So I know it's easy to just look at fish size now and not what will be but sometimes I just wonder how people get in these situations of having a goldfish in a bowl? Is it cost? Fish are cheap/throw away pet? Too much info out there?

I think with a lfs I expect the basics. Is this fish a cold water fish? How big does it get to roughly? Stocking help would be appreciated but basically if you are buying a 4WD and that person has never owned one... So I've never seen the point of asking a lfs employee 20 questions, odds are some will be wrong answers. All I ask is do you keep fish? And if I can get a question in on their setup 5 minutes later I'll be happy.
 
They're not going to hire very knowledgable employees because it will lose them business.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app


Again, an overly broad statement. They hired me at a higher wage because I had extensive knowledge.
I've managed 3 diff pet stores over the years. They didn't have an opening for a manager, but they did hire me. I was desperate for a job at the time.

Most of us in the pet dept at my Petsmart had tanks or birds or some pets at home.

Knowledge varied, but I would put fish magazines in our break room to help people learn more. I encouraged the other employees to ask me questions and read on their own.

I have always been considered an ethical sales person. Sales are important, but when selling live creatures, their lives are the most important.

When I worked with reptiles, we often refused sales if the person did not have a proper set up.

I would not sell a parrot to someone trying to skimp on cage size. I always recommended larger cages for Canary's than were normally sold.

I would sell people with guinea pigs our starter kit but I would also give them website addresses so that they could DIY larger enclosures.

A good customer can tell when the employee cares about what they're doing. And they will return if they trust your knowledge and advice.

Our LFSs are not always the best. One was a hole. Dirty, poorly lit tanks.
Expensive equipment.

I do send other stores business. When people want a type of bird we did not carry, I sent them to a local bird store that also did adoptions.

Anyway. Bashing all chain store or LFS employees is NOT justified.
Many are inept or ignorant or jaded. Not all.

Tina
Coursair Whippets

Northern CA Whippet Fanciers Assoc

San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society

Past member of the Northern CA Herpetological Society

Falconer for 10yrs
Sighthound Rescue for 10yrs








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I think this is great point and one of the most important raised. People are just too different IMHO. It's easy to say 'there's no excuse for not researching because we have smartphones' but it's very easy and reasonable to assume that a fish just needs water to survive if you don't know any different. Everyone remembers there first goldfish brought home from a carnival and is often their earliest encounter with the hobby.

If anything I sympathise with unaware folk walking in to a store and carrying out their first fish. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person and I still made the same mistake. Many of us, if not most of us only research after we have made a mistake and end up finding forums like this in light of errors. Those that know to research things before hand only do so because of previous bad experiences so it's easy to say in hindsight. After all going into a store and asking who they believe is an expert in the hobby is just about the best kind of research you can do.

If they don't choose to take the advice then that is a different story.

What really does my head in with LFS is the fact that they don't seem to understand that they would gain more custom if they did things properly and helped people from the beginning.

I actually prefer my chain store to my local 'mom and pop's store. They made my first experience with keeping fish a living hell and robbed me in the process.




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I'm actually really happy to say I have never won a goldfish at a carnival or even wanted to win a goldfish at a carnival. Even if I played the game, I outright refused the goldfish if I won just because I thought about the fish I already had and their well being (that is because I grew up with a big tank and a fish-conscious parent, though, so I've been fish-conscious for literally as long as I can remember; I've had at least one fish tank throughout my entire life thus far). Of course I am not without my own mistakes, too. In kid land, though, I actually much preferred a HUGE goldfish stuffed animal. Now that would have been awesome.

But most kids don't have parents who know anything about fish, and even if they did they wouldn't want to break little Timmy's heart because he couldn't put his goldfish and his gouramis together.

Changing the cultural perception of goldfish - or fish in general - as a completely care-free pet is where it could start to get the general population to understand it since fish stores aren't reliable (my experiences vs. yours, big box shops vs. mom and pop inconsistency). Nobody wants to torture Goldie, they just don't know any better. You always see fish on the "easy pet" list. Yeah, I don't consider it easy. At all. And especially not risk free. There are pros and cons to every animal, and no pet is inherently easy.
 
Again, an overly broad statement. They hired me at a higher wage because I had extensive knowledge.
I've managed 3 diff pet stores over the years. They didn't have an opening for a manager, but they did hire me. I was desperate for a job at the time.

Most of us in the pet dept at my Petsmart had tanks or birds or some pets at home.

Knowledge varied, but I would put fish magazines in our break room to help people learn more. I encouraged the other employees to ask me questions and read on their own.

I have always been considered an ethical sales person. Sales are important, but when selling live creatures, their lives are the most important.

When I worked with reptiles, we often refused sales if the person did not have a proper set up.

I would not sell a parrot to someone trying to skimp on cage size. I always recommended larger cages for Canary's than were normally sold.

I would sell people with guinea pigs our starter kit but I would also give them website addresses so that they could DIY larger enclosures.

A good customer can tell when the employee cares about what they're doing. And they will return if they trust your knowledge and advice.

Our LFSs are not always the best. One was a hole. Dirty, poorly lit tanks.
Expensive equipment.

I do send other stores business. When people want a type of bird we did not carry, I sent them to a local bird store that also did adoptions.

Anyway. Bashing all chain store or LFS employees is NOT justified.
Many are inept or ignorant or jaded. Not all.

Tina
Coursair Whippets

Northern CA Whippet Fanciers Assoc

San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society

Past member of the Northern CA Herpetological Society

Falconer for 10yrs
Sighthound Rescue for 10yrs








Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Side note, whippets are cool! I want a lurcher!
 
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