My LFS is Worse Than Yours

[Spartachris]

Seriously. Today was the worst. After determining their prices were DOUBLE petco, Amazon, or whomever, I decided to give them one last try. They had a green dragonet that was $35. Facing liveaquaria.com's shipping, I decided to buy the little guy. He was hiding behind some rocks and corals, poking himself out every few minutes.

I told the girl I wanted him, she didn't see him right away, so she told me she would get the owner because she didn't "want to mess anything up." Fair enough. She disappeared for a few minutes then returned and said--no kidding--"Leave your name and number. When he comes out to the front of the tank, we'll fish him out and give you a call. She (the owner) doesn't want to mess with getting him out right now."

Seriously? $35 in hand, fish right there in the tank--I could see his face--and they sent me away because they didn't want to scare him out?

Their 200% markup and winning customer service has won me over. Online purchases only for me from now on.

Can you beat this one?

 

[Spartachris]

Hmm. I guess no one can beat it. I win. My lfs is the worst, just as I thought.

 

[jcolon]

Hmm. I guess no one can beat it. I win. My lfs is the worst, just as I thought.

In terms of ineptitude, lack of caring, lack of business sense and just plain not [Mod Edit] [caring] about what the customer wants ... then yeah I'd say yours has everyone else beat.

OR ... other members have an LFS that is so much worst than yours ... it's just too painful to post about it.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

nooo mines worse. never went to it again.

walked in and asked what dwarf mouthbrooders they had (i was still v nooby at the time) and they reccomend jewel cichlids. 1st mistake.
they then say sure your 10gal (now my fry tank!!) will be big enough. 2nd mistake.
they then reccomend some plants to go with them. i look in the plant tank and it is RIDDEN with snails, the dude says its ok they keep the algae away and have cool shells they take ages to breed dont take any notice.

i wasnt THAT noobish so i said id come back if i want the fish. i laughed when i read about how wrong they were. plus i noticed they had multiple neons with very swollen bellies. research later shown it was not egg-filled females but neon tetra disease.
any challengers? i think not :L:L

 

[mr.waffles1842]

are you seriously making a thread about bad lfs?

 

[stingrays4]

Hi yes a great idea but maybe not a good idea naming them??? A fish shop i went to a few years ago now. Me and me mate went on a 'shop tour' near Aldershot in the UK and after a nice long look around and everything looked good we went upto the counter to be served and was met with um i'm rather busy now from the young lad,as we watched him trying to catch a checker barb from a tank full of them and he couldn't! Me mate asked if he could help the lad willingly passed him the net and me mate caught the the checkered barb for another customer who was very gratefull,so yep for the next hour i watched me mate catching every body else's fish before finally serving ourselves - what a laugh! Apart from that i have been very very very lucky with my local fish shops!

 

[melosu58]

Online purchases only for me from now on.

I`m sorry about your experience. I dont want to get in a comparison of LFS but I do want to talk about your buy online statement. Even though yes you could probably get cheaper online you really cant see what you are getting. I`d rather pay a few bucks extra and see the fish that I`m going to buy. I want to see that it is eating and want to see that it`s healthy and does not have parasites. There is nothing wrong with buying online and many people do it but I just want to view what I`m going to get. Hopefully you can find an LFS you can trust.

 

[KcTx]

I really try to put my $$$$$$ into the Local guy 1st before I go online, but since I live so far from any shop I do my research and if it's a close I'll buy local. Or ask if they will get closer to the cost after shipping. If they won't I have no problem going online for my things. I have never purchased fish online but I think I'm going to get a reef cleaner pack soon.

BUT the 2 local shops I use are both solid dudes!
fish2morrow & Franks tanks both in Ft Worth, Tx

 

[picture_117]

I really try to put my $$$$$$ into the Local guy 1st before I go online, but since I live so far from any shop I do my research and if it's a close I'll buy local. Or ask if they will get closer to the cost after shipping. If they won't I have no problem going online for my things. I have never purchased fish online but I think I'm going to get a reef cleaner pack soon.

BUT the 2 local shops I use are both solid dudes!
fish2morrow & Franks tanks both in Ft Worth, Tx

Those are nice places! I'm not into SW as I believe franks tanks is, but I have visited them.


As far as bad LFS. One near had a mess everywhere, plants were way over priced. Also about every tank had a foot long pleco in it, they were for sale but they looked like they'd been there for some time. They also had no variety of fish. Was not the best place.

 

[KatieJ]

There's a LFS in southern California... "painted" tetras, mollies and cichlids everywhere. >.< When I explained to the owner how agonizing and stressful they were for the fish, she kinda just shifted on her feet and was all, "Well, they don't live very long anyway, only a couple of months if you take care of your tank."

And even better, she had a 40g-ish tank so full of goldfish that I couldn't see the back wall. It was literally a tank of orange.

...come to think of it, that place really should be shut down. There were cobwebs all over the tanks and some of the pipes over the open-water tanks were rusting, and leaking. And she was selling Bala Sharks for like, 20 bucks each, claiming they could be kept in a 30g. In schools.

 

[KcTx]

Those are nice places! I'm not into SW as I believe franks tanks is, but I have visited them.


As far as bad LFS. One near had a mess everywhere, plants were way over priced. Also about every tank had a foot long pleco in it, they were for sale but they looked like they'd been there for some time. They also had no variety of fish. Was not the best place.

I use Keller Farms in Haltom City, off Denton Hwy for FW. That a quality shop with a large selection.

Keller Farms - Largest fish, supplies, aquariums select in Dallas / Ft. Worth

 

[picture_117]

I use Keller Farms in Haltom City, off Denton Hwy for FW. That a quality shop with a large selection.

Keller Farms - Largest fish, supplies, aquariums select in Dallas / Ft. Worth

Yes I go there sometimes, I like their DW and they have a really good choice of cichlids.

I mainly go to The Fish Place next to ridgemar.

 

[Spartachris]

are you seriously making a thread about bad lfs?

Yes. I just had that mind-numbing experience and had to blow off some steam, and thought others might like too as well. No names.

 

[Spartachris]

I`m sorry about your experience. I dont want to get in a comparison of LFS but I do want to talk about your buy online statement. Even though yes you could probably get cheaper online you really cant see what you are getting. I`d rather pay a few bucks extra and see the fish that I`m going to buy. I want to see that it is eating and want to see that it`s healthy and does not have parasites. There is nothing wrong with buying online and many people do it but I just want to view what I`m going to get. Hopefully you can find an LFS you can trust.

The only other store is so bad you can't see the fish in the tanks, they are so dirty. The next closest store is 80 miles away. Too far to drive most of the time.

 

[mr.waffles1842]

good. just checking. i have had my own bad expiriences at pet stores before.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Personally I think I win; I have no LFS - our last one went broke about a year ago because their service was so poor, their prices were so high, and the place smelled like a outhouse when you walked in the door. Plus they almost never had anything you wanted on the shelf, but where always "happy to order it for you." Now we have to drive 2 hours to get to the next nearest not so local LFS.

 

[Johny]

One of ours constantly over stocks there thanks. One time we went in and they had SEVERAL tanks with figure 8 puffers. Each tank (20 gal it think) had about 30+ spotted puffers in them. Very few of them had any fins left and almost every one of them was puffed up.

Next time I went in they had a fish, don't know what kind, that barely fit in the tank it was in. The fish looked like something you would catch deep sea fishing. It was large enough it literally couldn't turn around in the tank. It just sat there and hovered in place cause it had no other option.

 

[Spartachris]

Man, that is just really sad.

 

[Johny]

I must have been really out of it when I typed that last post, cause I started out saying figure 8 puffers, then said spotted puffers. They were figure 8 puffers. I had just read a thread about spotted puffers right before I found this thread and that reminded me of the figure 8 puffers.

 

[huma-huma]

I must have been really out of it when I typed that last post, cause I started out saying figure 8 puffers, then said spotted puffers. They were figure 8 puffers. I had just read a thread about spotted puffers right before I found this thread and that reminded me of the figure 8 puffers.

i dont think you mentioned puffers enough... my lfs that i had a VERY strong bond with just took a VERY big hit to its reputation in my eyes... my 125 has a decent case of ich, after discussing and researching all other options, i decided to go the copper route (only because my tanks fowlr and always will be)... only to find out that copper also kills your beneficial bacteria....