Top things someone in Pet store Retail should know?

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Its really frustrating working at a petstore. Dont get me wrong, I love my job and I love the people that come and actually give a crap about the animals that they buy... BUT...

I cant tell you how often people blow me off when I tell them that fancy goldfish cant go in a bowl, or that comet goldfish get to be about a foot and change. Or that a common pleco should never go in anything smaller than a 75 gallon tank.

Heres an example. A very well dressed snotty woman comes in to the store with her three kids. I say "Hi, how are you today?" and she completely ignores me. She wanders around for a minute, then comes back with the smallest, cheapest bowl we have (about 1/2 gallon) and then points to the comets. "I want three of those fish. Kids, pick out the one you want."

I go on to ask her about what sort of tank she has (i never jump to conclusions about the product they have) and if its been cycled. She looks at me like I grew a third head and rolls here eyes. "Ive got a bowl. They are goldfish. They belong in bowls." She said this in a "DUH" sounding way.

I tried to explain to her that the comets get large and definitely need filtration as well as a very large tank or pond. I tried explaining that they can live 10-15 years, and that the oldest living goldfish was almost 45 before it died.

She started SCREAMING at me! Like full on yelling! "I can't believe I'm getting questioned like this over a 27 cent fish! This is ridiculous! What do you know, anyways? I have had goldfish in bowls before, and they last a whole year! Im done, I'm never shopping here again..." And she proceeded to throw the bowl on to my fish podium and walked out. My jaw was almost on the floor.

My manager heard about what happened and assured me "Good. I didnt want her to buy our 27 cent fish' anyways..."
 
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I know there's always a second side to every story!! It's good to see someone who works at a lfs that cares! But I don't think this rant was for every lfs worker by any means! I myself have talked to a few that actually knew something about fish! I can understand how you feel about people acting like this snobby woman did! I worked retail for years and sometimes people can be very RUDE and don't want to hear the truth!! Kudos to you for telling her like it is!!! :)
 
Talvari said:
She started SCREAMING at me! Like full on yelling! "I can't believe I'm getting questioned like this over a 27 cent fish! This is ridiculous! What do you know, anyways? I have had goldfish in bowls before, and they last a whole year!
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WHAT? A WHOLE YEAR! REALLY!??! ... WOW! How'd she manage to pull that off?

I guess she figured if she put 15 in that bowl and they last one year, that would equal the life span of a comet!
 
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I have an idea..... Have a store that sells fish, lke any other lfs, but only to people who have the right size tanks and are cycled. That might be illegal tho... and people might lie, so it would be good to require proof the tank and the cycle.
 
Wow, sorry to hear about that Talvari. That sucks, if it were me I would have told her to leave and never come back unless she pays for her rudeness.

I mean seriously, they need to have commercials or PSAs on TV, so many people are misleaded thinking this is an easy hobby!
 
My LFS makes you bring in water samples before you are allowed to buy a fish. They can't guarantee good health unless your water is up to standards. They also request to do maintenance on the tank at least once if you are a repeat customer so they have an idea of what is best for your aquarium
 
when in an lfs i always

look for people buying random fish even though im a customer and it is not my job. i try to help the aquarium store workers deal with people.

"hello there you do know that the fish you are purchasing gets a foot long and is aggresive toward the other fish you are purchasing correct?" which usually stops them in their tracks with weird look at me. then i say " Well anyway i help people with fish you can find me on this wonderful aquarium forum. It is called AquariumAdvice.com. i will be on every morning as fishkeeper88 so when you start having trouble with that fish let us help you with some freindly advice."

i have had people make the store workers put fish back after that.
 
Jlsardina said:
My LFS makes you bring in water samples before you are allowed to buy a fish. They can't guarantee good health unless your water is up to standards. They also request to do maintenance on the tank at least once if you are a repeat customer so they have an idea of what is best for your aquarium
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That is a good idea, but what if you are out and about and you know your tank water is fine, but you don't have a sample with you? I don't know, just wondering. :)
 
bruinsbro1997 said:
Wow, sorry to hear about that Talvari. That sucks, if it were me I would have told her to leave and never come back unless she pays for her rudeness.

I mean seriously, they need to have commercials or PSAs on TV, so many people are misleaded thinking this is an easy hobby!
Click to expand...


I wish I could. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to tell customers that. You know retail... "customer is always right" stuff. I've managed to convince more than few people to set up a proper aquarium instead of doing an impulse buy with a bowl... But its heartbreaking and borderline rage inducing when a customer completely ignores what you tell them and then brings back dead fish and blames you.

Its like... I'm sorry that the 10 guppies you bought to put in a brand new, uncycled tank died. No, its not my fault. No, the fish weren't sick before hand. I'm sorry the pleco, who I told you would not live long in a 10 gallon aquarium, died. And what kills me is alot of those people never learn! They just blame me, and then make a threat of going to petco instead. Go ahead. See if you have any better luck, cause I don't want to keep selling fish to someone who doesnt care.

My favorite line "Who cares? Its just a stupid fish."
 
Heres another good one for you... I had this couple come in and the girlfriend immediately picks up the 5 gallon tank on sale. I told her about the only thing that could go in there was a betta fish... If she wanted something else, she'd need a bigger tank. I told her if she was lucky, and if she bought a heater, she could do something small, like guppies.

Her boyfriend proceeded to tell her that I was wrong and she could put some of the "Chiclets" in there, and theyd be fine for the next year. Sure, they are only about a two inches right now... but wait about a month. They'll be twice that size! The "Chiclets" (cichlids!) in question? Tiger Oscars.
 
Wow Talvari you seem to be dealing wigh people like this on a daily basis. It's amazing how stuck-up and ignorant people want to be at times. I know we can't always have the perfect customers, but still, why can't they try to at least make an effort at listening!
 
redsea said:
That is a good idea, but what if you are out and about and you know your tank water is fine, but you don't have a sample with you? I don't know, just wondering. :)
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That would make it an impulse buy at that point. They are not fond of those either. Lol
 
The other day I was @ the lfs (seems like I spend my whole life there) and there was a guy looking at fish with his two young daughters. They pointed to the silver dollars and said "look at those daddy those are cool" and he said " well girls those are piranha fish and they will tear your hands to shreds if you ever put your hand in the tank!!" lol! I almost busted out laughing!! But I know they are from the same family, so I guess I shouldn't knock the poor guy but it was just so funny the way he said it!!! Couldn't be further from the truth, I own silver dollars and they are very timid and gentle fish! I explained to him what they really were but I'm not sure he believed me! Luckily he passed those up because I overheard him tell the sales associate he was looking for fish for a 10g!! The sales associate Thank God led him away from the fish that get large and took them over to swordtails and tetras area!! :)
 
Nu-Nu the eel said:
Pet store employes need to learn that black ghost knife fish dont fit in a 10 gallon.
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I agree.

They should also learn that selling a young couple a betta for a bowl the size of my phone they bought in concurrence with the betta is definitely not humane.
 
Talvari said:
I wish I could. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to tell customers that. You know retail... "customer is always right" stuff. I've managed to convince more than few people to set up a proper aquarium instead of doing an impulse buy with a bowl... But its heartbreaking and borderline rage inducing when a customer completely ignores what you tell them and then brings back dead fish and blames you.

Its like... I'm sorry that the 10 guppies you bought to put in a brand new, uncycled tank died. No, its not my fault. No, the fish weren't sick before hand. I'm sorry the pleco, who I told you would not live long in a 10 gallon aquarium, died. And what kills me is alot of those people never learn! They just blame me, and then make a threat of going to petco instead. Go ahead. See if you have any better luck, cause I don't want to keep selling fish to someone who doesnt care.

My favorite line "Who cares? Its just a stupid fish."
Click to expand...

Well ... I suppose you could take some consolation in that eventually reality sets in when these, or some of these people keep losing fish and $$$$$$$$. They'll eventually get fed up, frustrated and either quit buying replacement fish, or they'll get their act together and then start to research and join AA!(y)
 
Those fish store employes sell ppl fish that get way too big for their fish tanks. Most of them just want to sell their fish like the black ghost knife example.
 
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